Emeric's full account, delivered over the following two days once his genuine fear had given way to careful, grateful cooperation, provided Valthoria with something it had never quite managed to secure through any of Cedric's previous, more carefully deniable schemes — concrete, traceable evidence. He spoke haltingly at first, still visibly braced for punishment despite Alex's repeated assurances, and only gradually settled into something resembling honest, unguarded testimony."A man approached my family six months ago," Emeric explained, sitting across from Alex and Torren in the council hall with the particular exhausted honesty of someone finally free of a burden he'd carried alone for far too long. "My father owed considerable debt to a merchant house we later learned was secretly controlled through several layers by Lord Cedric himself. The man offered to forgive the debt entirely, in exchange for one task. Enroll at Valthoria's university under a constructed identity. Gather in