They brought her in bleeding. That wasn’t what I ordered. I told them to find the man who vanished with my money, not drag his daughter through my doors. But when a debtor disappears after selling every inch of his empire, someone always takes his place. The Council called it necessary—said she might know where he ran, or that she could pay what he left behind. But this isn’t about debt. It’s about testing me. Fourteen months in power, and they still wait for me to prove I’m not just a name on a throne.

She stood there, rain soaking her coat, blood marking her lip like a cruel reminder of the world she’d escaped. Her father’s world. The same world that built mine—men in silk suits with diamond cufflinks and rot beneath their smiles. He was one of them once, sharp and fearless, the kind of man who’d make deals over whiskey and threats. I almost admired him for that. Until he ran. Until he left his debt—and his bloodline—to face what he started.

I dismissed the guards, their footsteps fading into silence. She didn’t look away, and neither did I. I poured her a glass of water, set it on the desk between us, and studied the reflection trembling in it.

“He’s more of a coward than I thought,” I said at last, voice low, steady. “Once, he looked like a man. Now he hides like a shadow.”