Cleora’s face went red imdiately. Raayani maintained her composure better, but there was a definite tightness around her eyes.
Jolthar sat down without any sign of embarrassnt.
"Very well, thank you. Your villa is quite comfortable."
"I’m glad to hear it," Milan replied, his tone perfectly innocent even as his eyes sparkled with barely suppressed laughter. "Though I should ntion the walls are perhaps thinner than one might prefer for... complete privacy."
"We’ll keep that in mind," Jolthar said calmly, reaching for bread.
The servants who brought additional dishes all had suspiciously neutral expressions that didn’t quite hide their knowing smiles. One younger maid actually blushed when she set down a teapot near Raayani.
Milan slid a folded newspaper of Streetledger across the dining table.
Jolthar glanced at it once, then unfolded it.
The headline was large.
Deliberately ugly.
BARON RAISED BY BLOOD AND BED—IMPERIAL LAW TO REVIEW CLAIM
Below it, the words cut sharper than any blade.
A soldier of the Kaezhlar clan.
The death of a sitting baron.
A relationship with the baroness soon after.
Summoned to the Law Ministry for a "Murder charge."
Cleora stiffened the instant she read it. Raayani’s jaw tightened, her calm cracking just enough to show teeth beneath.
Jolthar, however, rely chewed his bread.
"So," he said evenly, "they’ve decided to make it public."
Milan leaned back in his chair, fingers steepled.
"Not they. Two very specific n."
He tapped the paper once.
"Duke Hernais of Rothgard. Elder brother of the late baron. And Richardus."
Raayani looked up sharply.
"Richardus again."
"Yes," Milan said.
"Always Richardus when rot is involved."
Cleora folded her arms.
"They’re accusing Jolthar of seduction. Of manipulation."
"They’re accusing him of convenience," Milan corrected.
"A soldier who killed a baron, then stepped neatly into his title and his household. To certain eyes, it looks less like fate and more like ambition."
Jolthar finally set the paper down. His voice was calm, but there was iron beneath it.
"They are not giving air to breathe."
"No," Milan agreed.
"But you beca one all the sa, baron, leader of the strongest trade city. And that is the problem."
"You have no idea how fevered this city has beco."
He leaned forward now, seriousness replacing amusent.
"Tell , Jolthar, who made you baron?"
Jolthar didn’t answer at once.
"Actually, no one. People just started calling as I took care of things around the barony."
Cleora then said, "He is the baron of Tekkora."
Jolthar looked at her and smiled. "Cleora, a baron is so foot soldier promoting to upper ranks; one needs to be officially recognized by the Emperor."
"That’s right," Milan said quietly, "I know you have every right to be called the Baron of Tekkora, but the law doesn’t work that way. They are going to spin this on you too. For now, they seem content with the murder charge."
"Though I can’t say they will be silent."
Cleora snapped, "So they’d rather pretend he was a criminal than admit that he had made great contributions to the empire?"
"Exactly," Milan replied.
"The law of the Imperium does not care how power is taken—only whether it embarrasses the throne afterward."
Jolthar’s eyes darkened. "
Then Duke Hernais and Richardus aren’t the real threat."
"Yes and no," Milan said.
"They’re opportunists. Useful ones. But the true danger is precedent."
He gestured to the paper.
"A common soldier rising through violence and legitimacy? Becoming a lover to a noblewoman? If the Law Ministry accepts this as lawful, others will follow. If it condemns you, then they remind the world that power flows only one way."
Raayani spoke softly, dangerous now.
"Upward."
Milan nodded.
"Always upward. Never sideways. Never earned."
Cleora turned to Jolthar.
"They’re not trying to take your title. They’re trying to make an example of you."
"Yes," Milan said.
"And they will summon you under the guise of legality. Questions. Hearings. Delays. A slow strangling."
Jolthar leaned back, utterly unshaken.
"So, we wait and see what these greedy ministers are capable of."
Milan said, "The law is not your enemy here."
He smiled, sharp as a knife.
"It’s the n hiding behind it."
"All right, all right, enough with the drama, and eat, everybody. I’m starving."
Jolthar was already shoving food in his mouth.
Cleora and Raayani looked at each other. In their ti with Jolthar, they understood one thing: Jolthar was a man of action, and he would deal with it.
They ate in relative silence, the two won still recovering their composure while Jolthar seed entirely unaffected by the situation.
Milan occasionally made casual conversation about the city or asked general questions about Tekkora’s developnt.
They were perhaps halfway through the al when the sound of marching boots echoed from the villa’s entrance hall. Multiple sets, moving with military precision.
Milan’s expression shifted imdiately from amused to alert. He set down his cup and stood. "Stay here."
But before he could leave the dining room, the door opened and a captain of the city guard entered, flanked by four soldiers. The captain’s face was professionally neutral, but there was sothing apologetic in his eyes as he looked at the assembled group.
"Jolthar Kaezhlar?" he asked formally.
Jolthar set down his bread and stood.
"Yes."
"I am ordered to bring you to the imperial court imdiately. Proceedings have been scheduled for today regarding charges of barony’s embezzlent and murder."
The room went still.
Barony’s embezzlents?
"Wait, what do you an embezzlents? Isn’t the charge only about the murder?"
"And the trial was set today?"
Milan’s voice was sharp.
"That’s impossible. Justiciar Halvren agreed to five days."
"I don’t know anything about that, Your Highness," the captain replied.
"I have orders signed by the Justiciar himself. The trial is scheduled to begin within the hour."
Cleora stood abruptly, her chair scraping against the floor.
"This is absurd. We were given ti to prepare a defense. You can’t just—"
"My lady, I’m only following orders," the captain interrupted gently.
"I don’t make the schedule. I’m just told to bring Jolthar Kaezhlar to court."
Raayani’s eyes had gone cold as ice.
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