Arthur’s POV
The first time no one comes to me with a problem, I don’t notice it at all.
That’s the strange part.
There’s no hollow pause, no dramatic absence, no moment where the world looks around and realizes the wrong pillar has been removed. The day simply… happens. Breakfast burns slightly because I forget the pan. A hinge on the south gate squeals until someone oils it. Two council members argue in the courtyard and resolve nothing, then laugh and go their separate ways.
No messenger finds me breathless.
No knock sharpens the air.
The world continues.
It takes until midday, when I realize I haven’t been interrupted once, that the weight finally lands.
Not relief.
Pride.
I spend the morning in the observatory again, replacing cracked glass panes with a group of students who
