Chapter 18: You can stay here
Thalen froze, the corners of his mouth twitching as if unsure whether to scowl or smile.
A bead of sweat rolled down his temple despite the morning breeze.
For a long moment, no one spoke.
Then, with a forced chuckle, he straightened his coat and tilted his chin slightly.
"I don't answer to small-town messengers," he said with mock calm. "I act under the authority of the Lord Chamberlain himself. I'm... his personal emissary."
Riku blinked, visibly surprised — or at least feigning it perfectly.
"Really now? That's quite the coincidence."
He stepped forward, not with aggression, but with that same unsettling calm.
"I remember reading a judgment authored by the Lord Chamberlain during my scribe years. A noble's son shoved a baker's apprentice in the capital's southern market — just a push, nothing fatal. And yet the Chamberlain had him publicly imprisoned for three days. Do you know why?"
Thalen didn't respond.
Riku continued, his voice quiet but cutting.