The next days passed with the deceptive smoothness of a palace pretending nothing had teeth.
House Vale remained under investigation. Their name sat in the public feed like a body nobody had covered yet, and every noble house connected to them suddenly discovered urgent reasons to issue statements about transparency, loyalty, and full cooperation with imperial authorities.
Andrea was moved on the third morning.
Not to prison.
That would have been too simple.
He was transferred to a diplomatic residence on the edge of the eastern compound, a pleasant modern house with pale stone walls, reinforced windows, a private garden, medical staff, and enough hidden security to make the place less a refuge and more a beautifully furnished cage. Officially, he was being allowed to rest after the strain of the investigation and medical distress.
Unofficially, Arion had put him somewhere safe.
For himself and for everyone around him.
