Louai did not move...
He remained holding the small paper, his eyes returning to the sentence written on it again and again...
"If you have reached here... you are only one step behind."
It was not the words that caught his attention... but the way they were written...
Straight, calm letters, carrying neither the tremor of a fleeing man, nor the haste of one about to die. But the handwriting of someone who knew with certainty that this paper would reach a specific hand...
Drian said, scanning the room again:
"He left minutes ago."
Louai shook his head...
"No."
He turned to him.
"Look at the tea."
Drian approached the cup. He raised his finger above it without touching it.
No steam rose from it. But it had not completely cooled.
He said:
"About half an hour ago."
Louai smiled faintly.
"That is what he wants us to think."
Drian's brow furrowed.
"What?"
Louai approached the small hearth in the corner of the room...
The fire had gone out... but the ash was still intact.
He picked up a piece of burnt wood, then broke it with his fingers.
It crumbled immediately into dust.
He said quietly:
"The fire went out hours ago."
Then he pointed to the cup.
"But the tea... was poured after that."
Silence fell...
The picture began to take shape in Drian's mind.
"Then... someone entered after the owner disappeared."
"Exactly."
Louai raised the paper again.
"And placed this message."
The two began searching the house.
The search was not random. But slow... methodical.
They searched the places that fugitives do not search... but rather, those who want to leave something without anyone seeing it.
Drian opened the cabinets. He found nothing.
He lifted the carpets. Nothing.
Even the wooden ceiling... was empty.
He said finally:
"The house is too clean."
Louai answered:
"And that is the first clue."
Drian looked at him with surprise...
Louai said:
"Men who live alone do not tidy their houses this way." He paused briefly. Then continued: "Someone else arranged it."
Louai approached the bookshelf...
He was not looking at the titles. But at the dust.
He ran his finger over one of the shelves. Then stopped. He smiled.
There was a small spot... cleaner than the rest of the shelf.
He pulled out the book there. Nothing happened.
But when he returned it... he noticed the shelf move, ever so slightly...
He said quietly:
"Help me."
Drian held the other end of the shelf.
And they pushed together.
A faint sound of friction came.
Then a narrow cavity opened inside the wall.
The two looked at it at the same time.
It was empty.
But... at its bottom... a small metal piece rested.
Louai picked it up.
It was an old coin.
But not a coin for circulation. Rather, a copper piece engraved with a balance scale... through which a broken arrow passed.
Drian did not recognize the symbol.
But Louai kept looking at it for a long time.
"Do you know it?"
He answered after a moment:
"No." Then he smiled a smile Drian did not understand. "But I have seen it before."
At that moment... a faint sound came from outside the house.
Not footsteps. But the sound of stone rubbing against stone.
Drian raised his sword immediately.
But Louai... extinguished the lamp.
The room plunged into darkness.
He whispered:
"Do not move."
Seconds passed.
Then... they heard footsteps.
Not the steps of one person. Nor two. Several people.
But they did not speak. Nor run. They moved with complete discipline.
The footsteps approached the door. Then... stopped.
A heavy silence fell.
Drian whispered:
"Are they breaking in?"
Louai answered in a voice barely audible:
"No."
"Then why did they stop?"
Louai closed his eyes for a moment.
Then he said:
"Because their leader... is waiting for us to make the first mistake."
Outside...
Five men stood distributed around the house.
Their faces covered.
None carried any emblem.
One of them stepped forward.
Then raised his hand only.
The entire group stopped.
He looked toward the dark windows.
And said in a very low voice:
"He turned off the light."
One of his men asked:
"Do we enter?"
He shook his head.
"No."
"Why?"
He smiled coldly.
"Because the prince who turns off the light... is not afraid."
He raised his eyes toward the roof.
"He is waiting."
Inside the house...
Louai smiled.
Drian said with surprise:
"What are you smiling about?"
He answered:
"Now I am certain."
"Of what?"
"That these men... are not Kasian's men."
Drian looked at him in astonishment.
"How did you know?"
Louai said:
"Kasian's men break in. But these... study."
Then he placed the copper coin inside his pocket.
And took a calm breath.
And said:
"And this means... that the game has become larger than we expected."
Outside...
The masked man kept staring at the house.
Then he said quietly:
"Withdraw."
One of his men looked at him with surprise.
"But the prince is inside."
He answered without shifting his gaze from the door:
"Precisely for that reason... we will let him come out."
Then he turned.
And left.
While Louai remained inside the house... knowing that the first confrontation with the true enemy... had not begun with swords. But with a deliberate withdrawal.
Louai did not leave the house immediately.
He remained standing in the middle of the room, his eyes slowly scanning every corner.
He felt that something was still out of place. Not because the house hid another secret... but because whoever arranged it wanted to leave a certain impression.
Drian approached.
"Shall we leave?"
Louai did not answer.
Instead, he returned to the table, and took the ceramic cup between his hands.
He turned it once... then twice... and suddenly smiled faintly.
Drian said with surprise:
"Did you find something?"
Louai placed the cup back exactly as it had been.
Then he said:
"No... but I understood something."
"What?"
"The man who left the message..." He paused for a moment. "...did not want me to meet him."
Drian's brow furrowed.
"Then why did he leave it?"
Louai looked at the folded paper.
"So that I would know he exists."
Silence fell.
Then he added:
"There is a great difference between searching for a ghost... and knowing that the ghost is also searching for you."
They left the house.
The sun had risen a little higher, and the markets began to fill with people.
The carriage returned to the main roads.
But this time... Louai did not speak a single word during the entire journey.
He was assembling the pieces of the board inside his head.
The open vault. The missing files. Myra's warning. Kasian's smile. The message. The coin. Then those men who withdrew without a fight.
All of it... seemed to serve one purpose.
But that purpose... remained unclear.
When the carriage approached the Imperial Palace...
Drian noticed something.
Several noble carriages had stopped before the gate.
And the guards were searching those entering with unusual thoroughness.
He said:
"Something has happened."
Louai raised his head.
He had barely descended from the carriage when the head of the guard himself approached him.
He bowed respectfully.
But his features were tense.
"Your Highness... we have been looking for you."
Louai asked quietly:
"How long?"
"About an hour."
"And why?"
The guard looked around, then lowered his voice.
"An Imperial order has been issued."
Louai's steps stopped.
"Which order?"
"An emergency council is to convene inside the palace."
Drian looked at Louai.
This was not within any known schedule.
Louai asked:
"And who has been summoned?"
The guard answered:
"Members of the Imperial family... and the heads of the great houses... and the head of the Church."
Louai and Drian exchanged a quick glance.
Louai said:
"Has the meeting begun?"
The guard shook his head.
"No. The Emperor has not yet entered the hall."
At that same moment...
Inside one of the corridors leading to the meeting hall...
Kasian walked with steady steps.
One of his advisors approached him.
"Your Highness... our men confirmed that Louai has returned."
Kasian did not stop.
Rather, he asked as he continued walking:
"Has he entered the palace?"
"Now."
He smiled a small smile.
"Good."
The advisor asked:
"Does that change anything?"
Kasian answered quietly:
"If he has returned... then he did not find the man."
He paused for a moment.
Then he added:
"But if he found him... he would not have returned so quickly."
In the western wing...
Empress Myra stood before the window.
The handmaiden entered.
"Your Majesty."
"He has returned?"
"Yes."
Myra sighed slowly.
"Thank the heavens."
The handmaiden hesitated.
Then she said:
"Should that not worry you?"
Myra smiled a barely visible smile.
"If he had remained outside the palace... I would have lost the ability to protect him."
The handmaiden raised her head in surprise.
But Myra continued before she could ask:
"The most dangerous place for Louai... is not inside this palace. But outside it."
On the other side...
The Emperor stood alone inside the throne room.
No ministers. No guards. Only him.
And before him, two reports.
He opened the first. Read it. Then closed it.
He opened the second. Read it more slowly.
Then raised his gaze toward the window.
And said in a quiet voice, as if addressing someone absent:
"So... you have finally begun to move."
The head servant entered at that moment.
And bowed.
"My lord... everyone has arrived."
The Emperor closed the two reports.
Then rose slowly.
And asked only one question:
"And has Louai arrived?"
"Yes, my lord."
The Emperor smiled a small smile... a smile no one had seen.
Then he said:
"Then... let us begin."
The throne room was not crowded...
But neither was it quiet.
That kind of silence born not from emptiness... but from waiting for a single word that could change the fate of an entire Empire.
The marble columns rose until they disappeared into the ceiling, while the morning light reflected off the polished floor as if it were a wide mirror, allowing no one to hide a trembling foot or a hesitant glance.
The senior ministers stood in their places.
The commanders of the Imperial Guard stood along the walls.
And the nobles... each watched the other more than they watched the throne.
Because everyone knew... that the real battle today was not between two princes. But between the future the Empire would choose.
The great door slowly opened.
Prince Louai entered.
He was not accompanied by a procession.
Nor did he have dozens of guards behind him as Imperial family members usually did.
He carried only a black leather bag.
The same bag that had become the subject of dozens of rumors over the past days.
Dozens of eyes rose toward it. And that did not escape Louai.
But he did not slow his steps. Nor did he quicken them.
He walked at the same rhythm... the rhythm of a man who knows that every step is accounted for.
On the opposite side... Kasian stood quietly.
His hands behind his back. His face free of any emotion.
And he did not look at the bag. Instead, he looked directly at Louai.
Their gazes met for a moment.
Neither spoke. But each understood the message.
"We have finally arrived."
To the left of the throne... Empress Myra sat.
Her fan closed. And that alone was enough for those who knew her... that she did not intend to intervene. Or... that she intended to intervene at the moment no one expected.
One of the handmaidens approached her and whispered something.
Myra did not answer. She only gave a small nod.
Then returned to looking at Louai. Not as a mother... but as a politician measuring the weight of every movement.
The Master of Ceremonies stepped forward.
And struck his silver staff against the ground.
Once.
The sound echoed throughout the hall.
"His Imperial Majesty... approaches."
In a single moment... all heads lowered.
And the rear door of the throne opened.
Emperor Moran II entered.
He wore no armor. Nor the crown of war.
But the black Imperial robe, which appears only in sessions where irrevocable judgments are issued.
He advanced with steady steps.
He sat upon the throne.
Then... he did not speak.
A second passed.
Then another.
Until the silence itself began to press upon the chests of those standing.
The Emperor slowly raised his gaze.
It passed over the ministers.
Then over Myra.
Then over Kasian.
And finally... it settled on Louai.
He smiled.
A small smile... barely visible.
And at that very moment... Louai remembered Myra's words.
"If the Emperor smiles... do not bring out any document."
He did not move.
His hand remained far from the bag.
Myra watched that from a distance.
And for the first time in years... a flash of brief satisfaction appeared in her eyes.
As for Kasian... he noticed it too.
His calm smile vanished for a very brief moment.
Brief... but it was enough.
He realized that Louai... was no longer moving alone.
The Emperor finally broke the silence.
He said in a quiet voice... but one that reached the furthest end of the hall with clarity.
"Prince Louai."
Louai bowed in respect.
"My lord."
The Emperor said:
"I have received word that you requested this session."
"Yes, my lord."
"And I have also received..." He paused briefly. "...that you carry enough to bring down a man."
Silence fell.
Then he continued, fixing his gaze in his son's eyes.
"But before I allow you to open that bag... answer me one question."
No one moved inside the hall.
Even the sound of breathing became audible.
The Emperor said:
"If you prove your brother is a traitor... are you prepared to bear the price that the entire throne will pay, not only he?"
The hall froze.
And no one looked at the bag anymore... but at Louai.
Because everyone realized... that the trial... had not begun with Kasian's trial. But with the trial of Louai himself....