Chapter 15: The Record of Silence
Lucius didn’t speak until he was back inside the car.
The guard followed without question, the door closing behind him with a soft hydraulic hiss. As the engine purred to life, Lucius sat in silence for a beat, the city’s gilded district passing slowly beyond the window. His blue eyes didn’t move from the road, but the line of his jaw was tight.
"Find out who he is," he said finally.
The guard didn’t blink. "Yes, Your Highness."
"I want the full report in the next hour."
The car turned smoothly down a narrower lane, the buildings growing older, more ornate. Lucius tapped his thumb once against the armrest, his thoughts circling like a hawk over water.
The boy hadn’t bowed. Hadn’t stammered. Hadn’t even flinched.
He wasn’t just another ambitious protégé under Serathine’s care—Lucius had seen dozens of those. This one was different.
The car pulled into the North Wing’s secure entrance, an underground port shielded from public view. Fluorescent lights flickered to life overhead as the car eased to a stop. Mael opened the door without waiting for a signal.
"Your office is prepped," the guard said. "And your secretary’s already inside."
Lucius stepped out, wordless. The echo of his footsteps on polished concrete followed him through the corridor, the air cool and sterile in the way only government architecture managed.
Inside his private office, sleek and soundproof, his secretary, Ilar, stood waiting beside the digital wall display. The glass shimmered with pale blue text—files already decrypted.