"Let me investigate."
The room became quiet.
Jack looked directly at the king.
"I'll find out who was working with Harlow."
Akshay stared at him.
Then slowly nodded.
"Fine."
The decision seemed reasonable.
Logical.
Responsible.
Exactly the decision a king should make.
Yet Kai felt uneasy.
Again.
That same feeling.
The one he'd had ever since meeting Jack.
Not suspicion.
Not certainty.
Just discomfort.
Like a puzzle piece that almost fit.
Almost.
---
Later that night, long after everyone had gone to sleep, Kai sat alone on a palace balcony.
Rain continued falling over Yggdrasil.
The city lights shimmered below.
Beautiful.
Peaceful.
A lie.
---
Kai reached into his pocket.
Something he had taken from the abandoned building.
Something he'd forgotten to mention.
A torn piece of paper.
Recovered from beneath the broken table.
Most of the writing had been destroyed.
Only a few words remained readable.
Kai stared at them.
And immediately felt cold.
Because one of those words was:
Akshay.
Another was:
Removal.
And the final surviving word was:
Ceremony.
For the first time, Kai wondered if the conspiracy wasn't targeting Yggdrasil itself.
Maybe...
It was targeting the king.