As autumn deepened, the chilly evening breeze had completely replaced the sweltering breath of summer. Wind from the northern plains swept through the treetops outside the office, rustling the leaves that were about to fall in the sunset. Two leaves were caught by the wind, spinning all the way through the open window before landing neatly on the desk beside a pen that was racing across the page.
Heti's attention was drawn away by the fallen leaves. She looked up toward the window, and the hand signing documents unconsciously came to a stop. When she saw a flock of migrating birds passing through the clear, lofty sky, the Empire's Grand Chancellor could not help but smile faintly and murmur to herself, "It's autumn again... This year has finally passed mostly peacefully."
She snapped her fingers lightly, and the window closed under invisible magic. With a crisp click, the autumn wind, which had become overly cold with evening approaching, was shut outside. Heti lowered her head, returning her attention to the documents that seemed impossible to ever finish. After checking them once more, she prepared to sign her name at the bottom.
But an inexplicable chill suddenly ran through her, making her signing hand tremble and nearly leave a deep streak of ink across the paper.
Heti froze. The Imperial Grand Princess frowned, then muttered with a mixture of amusement and helplessness, "Could Rebecca have come up with something again... No, I must be overthinking it. Her project has been very stable lately, and I approved additional funding not long ago... I'm probably just too tired."
She laughed at herself and gently rubbed her forehead, but her gaze could not help drifting to a filing cabinet nearby—inside were the financial summaries for the first half of the year and the financial