Chapter 247 --247
Mahir looked at her steadily.
"I’ve read the Knight Collar Governance Charter from the original drafting period," Elara said. "Sections nine through seventeen specifically — the extraction protocol documentation, the consent frameworks, the oversight requirements." She paused. "The collars in their current configuration were never legally authorized under the Charter. The extraction function was added fourteen years ago under a discretionary amendment that bypassed the oversight committee. It was signed by the Empress Dowager’s office." Another pause. "It was never disclosed to the knights who wore them."
Mahir said nothing.
"That’s not a collar system," Elara said. "That’s a surveillance architecture designed to look like one." She looked at the document stack. "What you and every knight in this palace has been wearing — what you’ve been serving under — was constructed without your knowledge to function in a way you never agreed to."
Still nothing from Mahir. But something had shifted in his stillness.
"I can’t undo fourteen years," Elara said. "I can’t give back what was taken without consent. But I can end it, establish an independent audit of what was extracted and when, ensure the information is destroyed with documentation of destruction, and rebuild the collar framework from the original Charter specifications — which do not include extraction." She paused. "That’s what the review means. Not a technical adjustment. A full replacement with proper legal authorization and full disclosure to every knight involved."
Mahir looked at her for a long moment.
"You found this six days ago," he said. "When you found the amendment for the ninth prince."
"Four days ago," she said. "The connection between the amendment timeline and the collar extraction records."
"You’ve been carrying it for four days," he said.
"I needed to verify it before I said anything," she said. "Saying it without verification would have caused harm without offering resolution. That’s inefficient."
"Princess Elara," he said.