Chapter 785: Chapter 785 - 433: The State of the Imperial Capital

Dusk hung over the wilderness outside the Empire's northern gate like a veil of dirty gold.Two skinny horses blended into the sparse stream of people entering the city, their hooves crushing the frozen mud churned by wagon ruts, making a dry creaking sound.On the horse in front sat a middle-aged man wrapped in a linen cloak; the edges of the cloak were worn to fuzz and caked with dust from the road.He pressed his hood very low, as if unwilling to let any gaze linger on his face.His name was Valerius, and he was a Viscount.Riding beside him, the Knight Cassian wore no cloak, only buttoned his outer coat tight.The man had been silent all the way, even suppressing his coughs; his gaze never left the edges of the crowd and the road.Valerius knew Cassian did not believe in those soothing words that eased the heart; he believed only in the sword in his hand.As for Valerius. he preferred to put his faith in other things.He laid one hand against his chest.There, wrapped in oiled paper, was a sheaf of documents - more than one.On top lay one of the revised drafts of the New Imperial Charter.During the Fourth Prince's regency, he had been summoned to the palace's legal office, charged with revising and compiling the original draft.Line by line he had checked and weighed every clause, pressing idealistic phrasing back toward reality, breaking apart and rewriting any article that might lead to chaos.When the great Burst broke out, he was not in the Imperial Capital.At that time he was in one of the Empire's most remote territories, investigating the implementation of local courts.The roads were blocked; by the time he heard the news, the Imperial Capital's gates were already flying a different banner.He did not dare return; the scraps of information that trickled in afterward grew more terrifying each time.The legal office had been raided, its archives sealed; most of his colleagues who had remained in the Imperial Capital were likely already hanging from the city gate or the public square.Valerius stopped in that border province, lying low to wait out the storm.And now, nearly a year had passed.No matter how bloody the Empire became, someone still had to write documents, collect taxes, and pass judgment.