Chapter 504: The Heir Takes the Stage

Ethan's POV

The tension in the room was thick, an invisible battlefield where words were weapons and silence was a strategy.

Chris leaned back in his chair, his presence alone commanding the room. Then, with deliberate ease, he gestured toward Classic.

"Your Majesty…" Chris said smoothly, his voice carrying through the hall. "Take the stage."

Every eye turned to Classic.

For a moment, he didn't move. But then, with the same quiet confidence I had seen in him since childhood, he stood.

The air shifted.

He wasn't just Chris Blackwood's son anymore.

He was the one they would judge, the one who would either rise or crumble under the weight of the empire.

Classic stepped forward, his posture straight, his expression unreadable. His gaze swept over the assembled rulers—the King of England, the Queen of Spain, the Emir of Saudi Arabia, and the many others who had come to witness this moment.

I watched carefully. This was his first true test. Not in power—but in presence.

He reached the center of the stage, where my men had already adjusted the microphone. The silence was deafening.

Then, Classic spoke.

"I stand before you not as a prince, not as an heir, but as the man who will decide the future of this empire."

His voice was strong, controlled.

"You have witnessed the Blackwood Empire reshape the world. You have seen how my father's rule has secured power beyond borders, beyond treaties, beyond the fragile institutions you call governing bodies."

Some flinched. Others listened intently.

"But today," he continued, "I do not ask for your approval. I do not seek permission."

I glanced at Chris. He was watching with sharp amusement, testing.

Classic stepped forward slightly, his gaze locked onto the most powerful rulers in the world.

"The Blackwood Union is not a request. It is an evolution. And those who understand that will not be left behind."

A challenge. A declaration.

Chris smirked.

And I knew—the real game had begun.