Sunlight, filtered through stained glass depicting a calming color, cast prismatic diamonds across the floor of Neuvillette's office. The Palais Memoria, usually abuzz with bureaucratic fervor, seemed to hold its breath in silence.

Neuvillette, the Iudex of Fontaine, sat in his high-backed chair, an unyielding sentinel amidst the sea of parchment. Papers, neat and meticulously labeled, sprawled across his desk.

“Good evening. I hope you have not encountered any unpleasantness today,”