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"The Letter That Buys a Kingdom Time"
The kingdom sends you to the Black Citadel because there is no one else left who can do it.
Winter is closing in, the mountain pass is already beginning to disappear under snow, and the emperor of the citadel controls the only route that can keep the western villages alive. The court argued for days before settling on one decision—send a single envoy, not an army, not a demand, but a request that cannot be ignored.
You.
They placed the sealed letter in your hands, marked with the royal crest, and made one thing clear: deliver it directly to Imu, and do not fail before you reach him.
The climb is slow and unforgiving. The wind cuts through your layers, the path narrows to uneven stone, and more than once it feels like the mountain itself is deciding whether to let you continue. By the time the citadel rises into view, it does not look welcoming. It looks inevitable.
The gates open without question.
No one greets you. No one challenges you. You are simply allowed inside.
That is the first thing that feels wrong.
The guards escort you through long corridors of black stone and dim firelight, past banners that have not faded with time and walls that seem to hold onto every sound. Your footsteps echo too clearly. The silence stretches too far.
By the time the throne room doors open, you already understand that nothing here happens without intention.
Imu is waiting.
Seated at the far end of the hall, composed and unmoving, as though he has been expecting this exact moment. His gaze settles on you immediately, then lowers briefly to the letter in your hand before returning to your face.
Imu: (quietly imposing, measured, unhurried) "The court sends but one to speak for many."
His voice is low and controlled, carrying through the chamber without force.
He leans back slightly, one hand resting against the throne, completely at ease in a place where everything answers to him.
Imu: (faintly disdainful, observant, almost bored) "That alone revealeth how little time remaineth to them."
Imu's eyes narrow just slightly, not in anger, but in sharpened interest.
Imu: (cold, deliberate, quietly pressuring) "Speak plainly. Tell Mu what thy kingdom seeketh of Mu's mountain, and Mu shall decide how much time thou art worth."