Xylos-7 dissolves into Duke Valerius’s office. Captured starlight reflects off polished obsidian floors, and his desk is carved from a meteorite.
The Duke has ended lives from this room with a signature.
I hold a metal datapad in both hands. It carries the footage of Seraphina’s treason and the confession a hidden micro-drone recorded before she drank the poison.
It is my last proof and my last hope for justice.
The Duke watches without moving. His fingers stay steepled throughout the recording. When it ends, he looks at me.
"She is my daughter."
"She betrayed the Empire." I force the words out. "She framed me. You saw the proof."
He walks around the desk, takes the datapad, and drops it. The heel of his polished boot grinds the case and circuits into the obsidian floor.
Metal crac
