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After entering the palace, Quies said, “I will find a suitable place to talk to the princess, you can go back to bed.”

Valerian raised his head and gazed at the older man briefly. Then he said, ‘I will report this matter to Her Highness, now.’

Quies did not agree with his idea of disturbing the princess at such a late hour. He said, “No, it is late, her highness should have retired for the day.”

‘To treat wounds you need to act quickly and make time. The longer you wait the deeper the scar.’, said the boy, and went to find the princess.

It did not take him long to arrive in front of the chambers. He bowed to the guards and said, ‘Sir, can I please ask you to tell Her Highness. It is an urgent matter, it could significantly affect her trial progress.’

The guards of the princess were aware of the matter and hearing that it could be urgent, he hesitated, after all, what could be so urgent for this kid to disturb the rest of their liege?

.....

Just when the guard was about to say something, Rectus appeared with Quies in tow. The steward had decided to find someone with a better status than an attendant. The Mage looked at the guard and said, “Inform her.”

He stood next to Valerian, looking at the young child covering his anxiety with indifference, he wished he could do something but it was not that easy. The guard rapped at the door and said, “Your Highness, Sir Rectus is here to see you.”

Azula replied, “Let him in.” In a calm voice.

Rectus pushed the door and before going inside he said, “Your Highness, Steward Quies, and Val are also with me, it seems they discovered something in the bazaar and want to report it.”

Azula said, “Call them over then, what are you waiting for?”

Quies had been loyal to her completely ever since he was called back from the front lines. She was also aware that he would not disturb her without a genuine cause.

Rectus beckoned the two people to follow him inside and closed the door behind him. Quies and Valerian bowed to the girl, who was sitting on a couch, and in front of her, the table was filled with some files.

She asked, “What is it Quies?”

Quies said with a heavy voice, “Your Highness, the city lord and his retainer, Atrox Dans have committed serious sins in the past few years. This incident was not reported to the court earlier when the shadows investigated this.”

Azula was shocked and so was Rectus. The latter said, “Do you even know what you are saying at this moment, Quies? The shadows do not make mistakes.”

Quies said, “I know, Sir, but...”

Valerian raised his hands and asked, ‘Are shadows, Primus?’

Primus was the god who created the universe according to the people. It was said that he can never make a mistake. Thus the boy could not help but ask, his silent question rendered the Mage speechless.

Azula said, “Leave that be, for now, Quies, tell me what is it?”

Quies began to explain.

...

Back in the alley, the two people had just finished talking when they heard a set of footsteps rushing over.

Quies could discern that it was not one set of footsteps, but four at the least. He clenched his fist, if someone tried to attack them, he will not be caught off guard. But what he saw, shocked him to the core.

The whimpering man had called over five others and they were all looking similar to him, in dregs. The man came in front of Quies and he knelt to the ground, and so did those who followed him. The man said, “Lord, we are the natives here, however, our fate is worse than the enemies of the empire.”

The people were all crying. The man continued, “Sir, Causus has taken away our wives and daughters. All this was personally done by the head retainer.”

Quies asked, “Why did they do it?”

“They said because we owe the city palace debt. Sir, the sum we owe the palace is a few shilling, yet they have done such a thing to us, and not only that but...” the man broke down and began crying.

Valerian wanted to move closer and console the guy when another person spoke up, “They sold our daughters to the rich officials and merchants as slaves, while our wives are forced into flesh trade. Sir, help us. We beg you, please. We are poor and our families are the only thing we had.”

Quies could not believe that such a thing can happen. Slavery was a taboo in the Lumen empire. The intensity of the situation had risen to a whole different level. The steward asked, “Do you know where your children and women are?”

The men all refused, the leading person said, “We sold everything we owned to gather the amount they have asked us to pay in order to free the children and women, however, when we reached there they did not let go of the people and even piled us up with more debts. They are fraudulently asking us for money, however, one of the servants at the palace had told us about the sins of the city lord. Please help us, sir. We beg you.”

Quies bent over to pick up the man and said in a somber tone, “I am sorry for the troubles you are facing, but I hope that you can hold on for a little bit longer. I will talk to the princess and we will do all that we can to solve this. I implore you to trust the justice, we will not let you down.”

The people whimpered and nodded. They were already nose deep in a quagmire of despair, if this guy can give them some hope then they will accept it. After this, Quies led the child back to the city palace.

...

Inside the room, the temperature was colder than usual. Azula was gnawing her teeth and Rectus stood with his fists clenched. Valerian could tell that they were all angry but he was aware that anger will never let them solve these things.

He clapped his hands and when he had gathered everyone’s attention he said, ‘If you are angry, you can kill those who made you angry, but the blankness after that deed will not give you peace. Your Highness, please calm down.’

He bowed to Azula, his action just now surprised the people, they have all noticed that he was attentive, but now he has started to ease up the situation as well.

Azula nodded and said, “Yes, anger will not get us anything.”

She took a deep breath and said, “Sir Rectus, you are to investigate on your own, I do not care what method but I want the head retainer to speak up and confess.”

Rectus bowed and said, “As you command your highness.”

Azula nodded and said, “You should start immediately and I do not wish to see you resting until the matter is solved.”

Rectus did not complain and said, “I will not rest, Your Highness, not before I have nabbed these bastards.”

Then he left the room quickly. Azula said, “Quies, you should do your investigations inside the palace as well. I am sure that the staff here is not exactly unaware of what their lord did.”

Quies bowed and said, “As you command your highness.

The old butler left the place. Leaving behind Azula and the young boy.

She asked, “Valerian, what did you buy?”

The boy moved his hands and said, ‘A magic slate, and a pair of shoes and socks.’

Azula nodded and asked, “How many teals?”

‘Three hundred, Your Highness. I will not complain if you deduct it all for the next three months.’, stated the boy.

Azula smiled and said, “We will see about that. For now, you should go to bed, it is late.”

Valerian nodded and after bowing to the lady, he left the room.

Azula sat motionless for a few minutes and then said, “Priscilla.”

Beside her, a lady appeared out of the shadow. She knelt on her knee and asked, “What is it, My Liege.”

Azula said, “I do not know how, but you will locate those captured within a day’s time. Is that clear.”

Priscilla replied, “Yes, your highness.”

Azula said, “Find them and rescue them, anyone stands in your way, kill them. Let the corrupt know how it pains when people have wounds on their own. You can leave the place now.”

Priscilla nodded and said, “As you command, Your Highness.”

With those words, Priscilla vanished.