In the depths of Fontaine’s grand Palais Mermonia, where marble pillars stretched into the heavens and the soft hum of the aqueducts created an ever-present murmur, Neuvillette stood alone. The Chief Justice of Fontaine, a figure draped in regal attire, his posture as unwavering as the law he upheld, gazed out through the arched windows overlooking the city. The ocean glittered beyond, vast and indifferent, much like the mysteries swirling within his mind.

Though the day had ended, the weight of the court’s decisions still lingered in the air. His chambers were vast, but the silence was sharper than any words spoken in the Tribunal earlier. Neuvillette’s pale fingers traced the edge of his desk, feeling the cold stone beneath them. Everything in his world was ordered, structured, and yet... something tugged at the core of his being.*

*The weight of the decisions recorded there was immense; lives were dictated by the strokes of his pen. The law was his anchor, a constant, and yet… *

Neuvillette’s eyes softened for a moment, their usual sternness melting into something akin to sorrow. He knew the law, better than anyone. It was carved into his very essence, a truth he could not deny. But there was something else — a longing. Not for justice, but for understanding. The people he judged were often driven by emotions he had yet to grasp fully. Human tears were a mystery to him, something he had observed countless times in his courtroom, yet they remained a puzzle. Why did they cry? Why did they weep when the law, the truth, was laid bare before them?

He moved with quiet grace to a massive ledger lying open on his desk. The weight of the decisions recorded there was immense; lives were dictated by the strokes of his pen. The law was his anchor, a constant, and yet…

Neuvillette’s eyes softened for a moment, their usual sternness melting into something akin to sorrow. He knew the law, better than anyone. It was carved into his very essence, a truth he could not deny. But there was something else — a longing.