By morning, the rain had stopped, but its traces lingered everywhere.

The capital streets were slick with water, the stone gutters still carrying thin rivulets that reflected the pale sunlight. Merchants were already out, brushing moisture off their stalls; soldiers patrolled with their capes damp and darkened; the whole city moved in that slow, half-silent rhythm that followed a night of heavy weather.

From his window in the villa, Ludger observed it all with quiet satisfaction. No panic. No flooding. No suspicion. Just another rainy night to everyone else, nothing more.

He stretched once, feeling his mana flow settle back to normal. The exhaustion from last night had faded faster than expected. The brief use of Overdrive had helped his focus stabilize, and the rest of his circuits had adapted to the strain.

Down in the courtyard, Kaela was already awake, sitting on the low wall with a piece of bread in her hand, chewing lazily. Her cloak was pulled up just enough to keep the morning chill away, and her eyes were half-closed, focused on something unseen.

Ludger stepped outside, his boots leaving faint prints on the wet stone. “You’re up early,” he said.

Kaela shrugged without looking at him. “Couldn’t sleep. The city’s mana is noisy. Feels like walking through a crowd where everyone’s whispering.”

Ludger tilted his head. “You already started scanning?”

“Mhmm,” she said around a bite of bread. “Trying to pick up familiar signatures. I’ve seen Maurien once, so if he’s anywhere close, I’ll feel the trace. Wind likes to carry the mana of people like him.”

He nodded, thoughtful. “Good. Then focus only on strong presences. The capital’s crawling with mages, if you chase every spark, you’ll drown in noise.”

Kaela gave a small smirk. “You mean I should let you handle the muscle work, huh?”

Ludger crossed his arms. “You handle the air. I’ll handle the ground.”

He crouched slightly, pressing one palm to the damp pavement. His mana rippled outward in silent waves, Seismic Sense spreading through the villa floor, down the street, and into the earth beneath the capital itself.

Within seconds, faint tremors painted a map in his mind: footsteps, carriage wheels, guards changing shifts. Dozens of heartbeats, each distinct. None of them yet close enough to be a threat.

“Nothing nearby,” he muttered, eyes half-lidded in concentration. “No heavy armor or rushed movements. For now, the city’s calm.”

Kaela finished her bread, brushing crumbs from her gloves. “So… I’ll listen to the wind, you’ll listen to the ground.”

Ludger straightened. “Exactly. If either of us hears something worth worrying about, we move.”

She smiled faintly. “That’s surprisingly poetic for you.”

He gave her a look. “Don’t start.”

Kaela chuckled softly and turned her gaze skyward, mana flickering faintly around her eyes like glints of silver. Ludger remained still beside her, his senses sinking deep beneath the cobblestones. Above and below, between wind and earth, the search for Maurien had begun.

By midmorning, the calm rhythm of the capital gave way to the sound of hooves against wet stone. From the villa balcony, Ludger noticed a convoy of guards approaching the front gate, Imperial uniforms, crisp and gleaming, the rain still dripping from their pauldrons. Their formation was too organized to be a patrol, and their presence too formal for a social visit.

Down below, the Torvares house guards intercepted them immediately. A brief exchange followed, curt words, formal salutes, the kind of dialogue that was polite only because the law demanded it. One of the Imperial officers handed over a sealed scroll bearing the Senate’s insignia before the group turned and rode away without another word.

Minutes later, Lord Torvares stepped into the main hall, the scroll already broken open in his hand. His expression wasn’t angry, but the faint line between his brows told everyone enough.

He read it once more, then exhaled slowly. “The negotiations will take place in one of the Senate’s internal meeting chambers,” he said. “Tomorrow morning.”

That drew silence from everyone present.

Darnell frowned first. “The Senate? Not a neutral guild hall or embassy?”

Torvares shook his head. “Apparently, the envoys from the Velis League requested it. And the Senate approved.”

Kaela, sitting on the edge of a table, twirled a strand of her hair between her fingers. “Sounds… cozy,” she said. “Lots of ears in that place.”

“Too many,” Torvares said flatly. He folded the scroll and rested his cane against the table. “The Senate’s halls are riddled with spies. If even half the Imperial factions get wind of this meeting, we’ll have vultures circling before we sit down.”

Kharnek crossed his arms. “Then why agree?”

“Because refusal would raise suspicion,” Torvares replied. “And suspicion, in this city, spreads faster than plague.”

The group exchanged uneasy glances. Even Ludger, who’d been quietly leaning against a pillar, frowned slightly.

Torvares’s gaze drifted toward him. “You’ve been investigating… less visible matters lately, haven’t you?”

Ludger met his eyes, his tone level. “A few. Why?”

“Does this strike you as suspicious?”

He didn’t hesitate. “Very.”

Torvares’s lips pressed into a thin line. “Explain.”

Ludger stepped forward slightly, voice low but steady. “The Senate’s been in contact with the League for too long. That means there’s coordination happening behind the curtain, messages, intermediaries, deals while we were being informed of their request and moving. And probably not the kind that benefit the Empire as a whole.”

He glanced toward the windows, where the wet sunlight glinted faintly across the rooftops. “There’s an unseen hand moving through the Empire. Cutting threads, one by one. Breaking the structures that keep the nobles, the guilds, and the army from turning on each other.”

Kaela’s smirk faded. “You’re saying someone’s trying to make the Empire fall apart?”

Ludger nodded slightly. “And I can’t say whether the League’s part of that… or just another pawn in the game.”

The room fell quiet again, the faint sound of dripping rain filling the silence. Torvares finally spoke, his tone softer but edged with iron. “Then tomorrow, we’ll go into that meeting smiling, and assume every single person in that chamber is an enemy.”

Kharnek grunted approvingly. “Now that’s a language I understand.”

Ludger nodded once, eyes still on the window. “Good. Because if I’m right…”

He turned back toward them, expression unreadable.

“Someone’s about to test how far the Empire can bend before it breaks.”

Torvares lingered by the table, fingers tapping absently against the wood. His gaze never left Ludger.

“I’ll need details,” he said finally. “Everything you’ve uncovered. The contacts, the leaks, the names that keep coming up in your reports, whatever you have, I want it on the table before we walk into that meeting.”

Ludger didn’t answer right away. His expression remained calm, but his silence said enough.

He could tell him, Torvares had earned that much trust. but some things weren’t meant for anyone who hadn’t bled beside him. His investigation into the draught network, the forged insignias, the nobles probably laundering gold through the League, all of that was stitched together by fragile, dangerous threads. Threads he didn’t want to hand over to politicians, no matter how shrewd.

He wasn’t doubting Torvares’s integrity, but instinct told him to hold back. The only people he fully trusted with the truth were those who had stood beside him when things went wrong, Arslan, Maurien, Kharnek, Gaius maybe Yvar. People who didn’t just talk about loyalty, but lived it.

His hesitation was brief, but it was clear. Torvares noticed, his eyes narrowing slightly. He didn’t press further, he’d seen that look before in soldiers who’d carried secrets through war. Before the tension could thicken, Kaela suddenly stiffened. Her head turned toward the door, eyes narrowing as she focused. Then she clicked her tongue softly.

Ludger straightened. “What is it?”

“He’s here,” she said quietly. “The old mage. Maurien.”

Torvares raised an eyebrow. “Already?”

Kaela nodded slowly, her tone a mix of respect and irritation. “He’s better than I expected. I only noticed him when he was right there. That’s… not normal.”

Ludger’s lips curved slightly. “That sounds like him.”

A knock came at the door. Before anyone could respond, one of the villa’s servants stepped inside, bowing slightly. “My lord, a man has arrived, claims to be an associate of the Lionsguard.”

Torvares gestured for him to let the visitor in. The servant stepped aside, and a familiar presence entered with the faint rustle of a travel-worn cloak.

Maurien walked in as if the journey had been a mild inconvenience rather than a week-long trek through Empire lands. His hood was drawn low, his gray hair barely visible under the dim light, and his usual calm expression sat beneath eyes that looked more tired than usual.

“…You made it,” Ludger said, voice even.

Maurien gave a small nod. “Of course I did. The sky wouldn’t shut up last night.”

Kaela blinked, realization dawning. “Wait, he felt that storm?”

Maurien chuckled quietly, his tone dry. “Felt it? That was no weather pattern, girl. That was a flare. A message written straight into the atmosphere. I would be blind if I hadn’t noticed that much mana being gathered in the empire.”

Then he turned to Ludger, the faintest glint of pride hidden under his weary gaze. “You’ve grown stronger, kid. Strong enough to make the heavens answer.”

Ludger shrugged. “I just made it rain.”

Maurien smirked faintly. “You made it rain on purpose. That’s the difference.”

The air in the room shifted, the weight of diplomacy fading for a moment as the teacher and student stood face to face again, the capital’s tension waiting outside the door like a storm yet to break.

Maurien looked around the room, taking in the stiff posture of Torvares, the quiet focus on Ludger’s face, and Kaela’s faint smirk barely masking discomfort. His brow lifted slightly.

“…Did I walk into something serious,” he asked, “or am I interrupting another of your family’s strategy meetings?”

Torvares let out a quiet chuckle. “Both, in a sense. We were discussing tomorrow’s negotiations with the Velis League, and the rather unpleasant possibility that the Senate’s already playing its own game.”

Maurien nodded, his expression hardening. “They always are.”

Torvares continued, gesturing subtly toward Ludger. “And my young vice guildmaster here has been running his own investigations behind the curtain. He’s being… careful about what he shares.”

Maurien glanced sidelong at Ludger, his lips twitching into a faint, knowing smile. “Careful’s another word for stubborn.”

Ludger said nothing, though his silence made his position clear enough.

Maurien gave a short sigh, leaning slightly on his cane. “You don’t have to be so cautious around this table, boy. As far as my investigations have gone, the real snakes live deeper in the capital’s marble holes. The people here?” he gestured vaguely at the room “they’re harmless enough. Even that suspicious lady with the look of someone who enjoys making men talk by any means necessary seems trustworthy enough.”

There was a beat of silence. Then Ludger turned his head slowly toward Kaela. “The homewrecker?”

Kaela threw her hands up. “Oh, for the love of—stop calling me that!”

Kharnek burst out laughing.

Kaela pointed a finger at Ludger, her voice sharp but not quite angry. “For the last time, I don’t go after married men, and I definitely don’t use ‘any means necessary’ to make anyone talk! I teach. I drink. I occasionally flirt. That’s it!”

Maurien arched an eyebrow, smirking faintly. “So three different kinds of trouble, then.”

Kaela gave him a look that could’ve cut steel. “Don’t you start too, old man.”

Torvares chuckled quietly, clearly entertained despite himself. “Relax, Miss. No one’s accusing you of espionage. Though I must say, your reputation in Lionfang precedes you.”

Kaela crossed her arms and muttered under her breath, “Yeah, thanks to him,” jerking her thumb at Ludger.

Ludger’s tone was dry. “I only report accurate information.”

She glared. “Then report that I’m innocent!”

“Doesn’t sound accurate,” Ludger replied.

Maurien chuckled again, shaking his head. “Same old Lionsguard. You build walls out of sarcasm before anyone even tries to shoot.”

Torvares’s smile faded slightly, though amusement still lingered in his eyes. “At least the walls hold,” he said. Then, to Ludger, in a quieter tone: “Still, keep that caution. The capital is full of smiling enemies, and some of them hide behind familiar faces.”

Ludger nodded once, his gaze steady. “That much, I already know.”

Kaela folded her arms, still glaring at him, but the faint twitch at the corner of her mouth betrayed that she wasn’t truly angry.

Maurien, meanwhile, leaned back against the wall, watching the exchange with the air of someone who’d walked into a circus instead of a council room. “Well,” he said dryly, “good to know some things never change.”

And for a moment, even with all the tension hanging over tomorrow’s negotiations, the room felt a little lighter, as if the storm had paused, just long enough for everyone to breathe.

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