Lucian woke earlier than usual, not because sleep had been kind to him, but because his thoughts refused to settle into anything resembling rest. The events of the past days didn't feel like separate incidents anymore; they were starting to connect in ways that made the palace feel less like a place and more like a mechanism adjusting itself whenever he came too close to its inner workings. He sat on the edge of his bed for a moment, staring at nothing in particular, before finally thinking one clear thought that cut through the rest: if something had been hidden, it would still have left a record somewhere.
That thought alone was enough to move him.
By the time he stood and adjusted his clothing, Rei was already outside his door as usual, silent and precise in a way that made Lucian briefly wonder if he ever actually left that position. Lucian glanced at him once before stepping out.
"Today," he said flatly, "we do something boring."
