Dawn had barely touched the capital's towers when a steady knocking echoed against the door of Louai's office...
It was not urgent knocking... but a steady rhythm...
Three knocks.
Then silence.
Then one knock.
Louai raised his head from the maps spread before him, and looked at Seron, who had spent his third nearly sleepless night among documents and calculations.
He said quietly:
"Corvin."
Seron nodded. That rhythm was known to only one man.
The guard opened the door.
Corvin entered with slow steps, but something was different.
For the first time... he was not carrying his wooden chair...
And for the first time too... he was clutching a black leather bag with both hands, as if it were heavier than a bag of papers should be.
His eyes stopped on Louai.
Then he said without preamble:
"Close the door."
The guard obeyed.
And the three men remained alone.
Corvin approached the table, placing the bag upon it with extreme care, so that even the sound of leather scraping against wood seemed louder than usual within the silence.
He said, exhaling slowly:
"This is everything we found."
Louai did not reach for it immediately.
Instead, he asked first:
"How many men did you lose?"
Corvin looked at him for a moment.
Then he answered:
"One man."
Silence fell.
Then he added, his voice lower:
"And two will never carry a sword again."
Louai did not comment.
But he understood the message.
Every paper inside that bag... had been paid for in blood.
He opened the lock.
The scent of old paper and ink emerged.
He began turning through the files one by one.
Purchase contracts.
Accounts.
Transfers.
Assumed names.
Shipping records.
Customs seals.
Signatures.
Every page was a piece of Kasian's economic empire.
Seron sat beside him, reading with astonishing speed.
Only minutes passed before Corvin said:
"There is something you should know."
Louai did not raise his head.
"Speak."
Corvin sighed.
"The main vault was open."
Louai's hand stopped.
He raised his gaze slowly.
"What did you say?"
"When we entered..." He paused briefly, as if replaying the scene before him. "...it was not broken... and it was not locked... it was open."
Louai's brow furrowed.
"Was it empty?"
"No."
"Then?"
"Files were missing."
Silence fell.
This time... even Seron stopped reading.
Louai said quietly, his calm more dangerous than anger:
"How many files?"
Corvin answered without hesitation:
"I cannot say for certain."
Then he added:
"But from the shape of the gaps... I believe at least a fifth of the cabinet was removed before our arrival."
Seron looked at Louai.
"Approximately a fifth of the documents."
He did not answer.
He kept looking at the bag.
Then he asked one question.
"Did you see signs of forced entry?"
"No."
"Dead guards?"
"No."
"Broken locks?"
"No."
Louai closed the bag slowly.
And said:
"Then... whoever took them had the key."
Silence settled inside the office.
The kind of silence born not from calm... but from an excess of possibilities.
Seron spoke at last.
"There are four possibilities."
Louai looked at him.
He raised one finger.
"First... Kasian moved the files himself days ago."
He raised a second finger.
"Second... there is a higher partner who took them."
The third.
"There is a traitor within his network who got there first."
The fourth.
He hesitated briefly.
"Or... someone else was watching Kasian all these years... just as we were."
Corvin did not move.
But he said one sentence.
"The fourth possibility is the only one that frightens me."
Everyone looked at him.
He said quietly:
"Because we never saw anyone."
Seron returned to the papers.
And began arranging them by date.
He was not reading.
He was searching.
For something.
Anything.
And after minutes...
He stopped suddenly.
He leaned closer...
Then pulled out three pages and placed them before Louai.
"Look."
Louai read.
Then the second.
Then the third.
He did not understand.
"What do you mean?"
Seron said:
"These three transfers... they all came from the same account... and arrived at the same destination... but..." He pointed to the signature. "...the signature is different."
Louai raised his head.
"Forgery?"
Seron shook his head.
"Better than forgery. The person who wrote these signatures... deliberately made them different."
Corvin approached.
"Why would he do that?"
Seron smiled for the first time in days.
But it was not a smile of relief. Rather, the smile of a man who had found a larger puzzle.
He said quietly:
"Because the forger tries to resemble the original. But here... the person wants us to notice the difference."
Silence fell once more.
Louai whispered:
"A trap..."
Seron answered:
"Yes. But the question..." He raised the paper to the light. "...is the trap inside the documents... or are the documents themselves the trap?"
Louai stood and walked toward the window.
The capital was slowly waking. People opening their shops. Carts crossing the streets. And none of them knew that a few papers on that table... might ignite a war within the Imperial family.
He said without turning:
"Begin copying. But..." He turned this time to Seron. "...do not copy anything before verifying it twice."
Seron nodded.
"Understood."
Then Louai turned to Corvin.
"I want the names of the men guarding that port over the past two weeks."
Corvin said:
"And why?"
Louai smiled a small smile.
"Because I am no longer searching for Kasian."
He paused briefly.
Then continued:
"I am searching for whoever was watching Kasian."
At that very moment... a quiet knock rose at the door.
This time... only one knock.
The head servant entered and bowed.
"Your Highness..." He paused briefly. Then he said: "Empress Myra... requests your presence immediately."
Louai raised his eyes toward Corvin.
Then toward Seron.
And said only one sentence:
"If she is summoning me now... then she knows."
The path to the western wing was not long...
But it felt to Louai longer than any path he had traveled since this game began.
The guards stood in their usual places.
The servants bowed as they always did.
Everything seemed normal.
And that disturbed him most.
In the Imperial palace... when everything seems normal, know that something abnormal is happening elsewhere.
He stopped before the wing's door.
The guard did not ask his name.
He opened the door directly.
As if he had been waiting for him for a long time.
He entered.
He closed the door quietly behind him.
Myra was not in the center of the hall.
Nor was she sitting on her small throne as usual.
She was standing before a vast map of the Empire hanging on the wall.
Her hand moved slowly over the trade routes.
From the ports... to the mines... to the capital.
Without turning, she said:
"How many files were missing?"
Louai froze.
He did not answer.
She smiled faintly.
"Then my instinct was correct."
He turned slowly toward her.
"Who told you?"
She finally turned to him.
"I did not ask who stole the documents." She stepped forward. "I asked you only... how many files were missing."
Silence fell.
Then Louai said:
"You know more than you say."
Myra raised her fan and closed it slowly.
"And you are less intelligent than I thought."
He did not grow angry.
Rather, he smiled.
"That is not an answer."
"Nor was your question worth one."
She walked toward the table.
Set two cups upon it.
Filled the first.
Then the second.
And gestured to him.
"Sit."
He remained standing.
She smiled.
"The first lesson in ruling... is knowing when to refuse to sit."
Then she sat herself.
"And you have succeeded in that."
Louai remained silent.
She said, looking at the cup:
"Do you know the difference between a politician and a merchant?"
He did not answer.
"The merchant loses money." She raised her eyes to him. "But the politician... loses people."
Then she took a small sip.
"And both think they are the cleverest."
Louai finally spoke:
"You did not summon me to teach philosophy."
"True." She set the cup aside. "I summoned you because you are about to make a mistake that cannot be repaired."
"Presenting the evidence?"
She shook her head.
"No." She paused. Then she said very quietly: "Believing it."
His brow furrowed.
"What do you mean?"
"You believe that documents mean the truth." She smiled. "Documents only mean... that someone wanted you to see them."
Louai said:
"The documents are genuine."
"And did you see them being written?"
"No."
"Then how do you know?"
He did not answer.
She continued:
"Every document... can be forged. Every seal... can be imitated. Every signature... can be copied." Then she leaned slightly forward. "But... do you know what is the one thing that cannot be forged?"
He looked at her in silence.
She smiled.
"Motive."
A moment of silence passed.
Then she said:
"Let me tell you something. Kasian is not the stupidest man in this Empire. Nor the cleverest. But he has one advantage." She paused. Then continued: "He leaves nothing behind... unless he wants it to be found."
Louai felt her words collide directly with what Seron had said an hour ago.
Did she know? Or had she arrived at the same conclusion herself?
He said:
"Then you are defending him."
She laughed. A short laugh. Quiet.
"If I were defending him... you would not be breathing right now."
Silence fell.
Then she said:
"Do you know why Kasian stayed by my side all these years?"
"Because he carries out your orders."
She shook her head.
"Wrong. Because he carried out what the Empress could not do herself."
She approached the window.
The garden was still.
She said without looking at him:
"Every Empress... needs a monster."
He raised his head.
"Monsters are not raised because they are beautiful." She turned toward him. "...but because they keep other monsters away."
Then she added in a voice cold as ice:
"When everyone sees the monster... no one looks at the hand that released it."
For the first time since the meeting began... Louai found no answer.
She noticed that.
And smiled.
"You are beginning to understand."
He said quietly:
"So Kasian was your tool."
"Was." She stressed the word. "But now... he has begun to think he no longer needs the hand that released him."
Louai stepped forward.
"Then you want to bring him down."
She shook her head.
"I want to save the Empire."
"Even if that requires sacrificing him?"
"Even if that requires sacrificing you as well."
Her face did not change. As if she were speaking of the weather.
Louai said:
"Then why did you summon me?"
Silence fell.
She smiled.
Then she said a sentence that made him feel the ground shake beneath his feet.
"Because the man who took the missing files... was not one of Kasian's men."
He froze...
"What?"
But she did not finish.
Instead, she returned to her seat.
And closed her fan.
"Go."
He said sharply:
"Who is it?"
"Not the time."
"Answer me."
She smiled a barely visible smile.
"If I told you now... you would not go to the Emperor tomorrow."
Silence fell.
Then she added:
"And if you do not go... then I lose."
He looked at her for a long time.
For the first time... he could not tell: was she trying to help him... or was she pushing him toward a larger trap?
He turned slowly.
And headed toward the door.
And before he opened it... she said without looking at him:
"Louai..."
He stopped.
"When you enter the throne room tomorrow... do not look at Kasian first. Look at your father. If he smiles... do not bring out any document."
Louai left without a word.
And Myra remained alone in the hall.
After minutes... a hidden side door opened.
And an elderly man in simple robes emerged from behind the wall, having listened to the entire conversation.
He said in a low voice:
"Did you tell him more than you should?"
Myra answered, returning to look at the map:
"No..." Then she ran her finger over the capital. "...much less."
Louai did not leave the western wing immediately.
He stood in the long stone corridor, staring at the columns stretching before him, while Myra's words echoed in his head.
"If the Emperor smiles... do not bring out any document."
It was not advice.
It was a warning.
Or perhaps... a threat.
He no longer knew.
When he returned to his office, he found Seron still buried among the documents.
The table had almost disappeared under piles of papers.
Seron raised his head as soon as he entered.
"I found something."
Louai approached.
"Is it important?"
Seron answered without lifting the paper from before him:
"It depends."
"On what?"
"On whether you want the truth..." He raised his eyes. "...or whether you want to win."
Silence fell.
Louai said:
"Explain."
Seron took three documents and placed them side by side.
"These three contracts are genuine."
Then he placed a fourth.
"And this one..." He paused. "...I cannot be certain."
Louai examined it.
He saw nothing different.
Even the seal matched.
The ink similar.
The paper of the same type.
He said:
"Where is the problem?"
Seron smiled faintly.
"Not in the paper. But in its writer."
Seron took out a small notebook he had kept for years.
He opened it.
Then pointed to several notes.
"Since I began working in the Treasury... I had been recording a strange habit."
Louai looked at him with surprise.
"Which habit?"
"Kasian."
"What about him?"
Seron said:
"He never signs any document directly. Never."
Louai's brow furrowed.
"And this one is signed in his name."
"Exactly."
Silence fell.
Seron said:
"Either this is the only document in which he broke his habit... or someone wanted us to believe it came from him."
There was a knock at the door.
Drian.
He entered quickly.
But he closed the door behind him just as quickly.
"Prince."
Louai looked at him.
"Speak."
Drian said:
"My men in the market."
"And?"
"Kasian." He paused for a moment. "...is selling iron."
Louai looked at him with surprise.
"What is strange about that?"
"At a higher price."
Silence fell.
Seron said:
"That is impossible."
Drian nodded.
"That is why I came."
He approached and placed a small report on the table.
"Two days ago he was flooding the market. Today... he refuses to sell except at a high price."
Louai looked at the numbers.
Then at Seron.
Then he said:
"So... he does not want money."
Seron said slowly:
"Rather, he wants something else."
Louai sat.
And began to think aloud.
"He flooded the market. Forced me to hold onto stock. Then raised the price."
He suddenly raised his head.
"He is not trying to make me lose."
Seron looked at him.
"Rather?"
Louai said:
"He is trying to make me sell at the moment he chooses."
And before he could finish... the guard entered.
"Your Highness."
"What?"
"Prince Kasian..." He paused. "...is waiting outside the office."
The three looked at one another.
Drian said immediately:
"I refuse the meeting."
But Louai shook his head.
"No."
Then he said quietly:
"Let him in."
Kasian entered alone.
Without guards.
Without servants.
Wearing simple clothes, unusual for him.
He looked at the three faces.
Then smiled.
"It seems I interrupted a meeting."
No one answered.
He approached the table.
His eyes fell on the documents.
But he did not touch them.
He said quietly:
"Beautiful."
Louai said:
"Did you come to admire the papers?"
Kasian smiled.
"Rather, I came to admire the man who thinks papers win wars."
Louai said coldly:
"You are nervous."
Kasian laughed.
"Do I seem so?"
"You came yourself."
"Because messengers corrupt words."
Silence fell.
Then Kasian said:
"Let me ask you a question."
Louai did not answer.
But Kasian continued.
"How many documents in that bag?"
Louai looked at him.
"None of your concern."
He smiled.
"Then you no longer know."
Seron felt the conversation heading toward a dangerous place.
But Kasian did not look at him.
He kept looking at Louai.
"Do you know... what the difference is between me and you?"
Louai said:
"Say it."
Kasian stepped closer.
"You..." He pointed to the bag. "...spend years gathering evidence."
Then he pointed to himself.
"But I... spend years creating it."
Silence fell.
Kasian smiled a small smile.
Then he took a folded paper from his pocket.
He opened it.
Looked at it for a moment.
Then... he tore it in half.
Then four.
Then eight.
The pieces fell to the ground.
He said quietly:
"Do you know what that was?"
No one answered.
"It was a genuine contract."
He looked directly at Louai.
"And now... if you found it torn in my office... half the Empire would swear I was trying to hide evidence."
He stepped closer.
"Do you understand? Evidence... does not become truth because it exists. But because people want to believe it."
Louai did not move.
But inside him... doubt began to seep in for the first time.
Were some of the documents he had obtained... planted by Kasian himself?
Kasian read this hesitation in his eyes.
And simply smiled.
He had hit his target.
He turned toward the door.
And before he left... he said without turning:
"By the way..." He paused. "The vault Corvin entered... is not the vault I was afraid of."
Then he left.
And closed the door quietly behind him.
The office remained still.
Until Drian finally said:
"He was lying."
No one answered.
Seron said after a long moment:
"Perhaps." Then he looked at the bag. "...and perhaps he wanted us to think he was lying."
As for Louai... he was not looking at the door Kasian had exited through.
He was looking at the documents.
For the first time... he no longer saw them as evidence.
But as questions...