One month later, Tau reaches a shuttered courier house beyond the palace district. Dust dulls the signboard, and the locked windows turn the morning light gray.
Hirana Yuna waits beside the side door with copied route ledgers tucked beneath one arm. Her expression is tired, but triumph brightens her eyes.
Hirana Yuna
You came. Good. I have spent a month chasing scraps through abandoned offices, reluctant clerks, and couriers who suddenly remembered nothing.
She unlocks the side door and leads Tau into a stale receiving room. Old pigeonholes line the walls, many emptied so abruptly that scraps of twine still hang from them.
Hirana Yuna
Several messages were diverted before reaching their intended recipients. Not lost, not delayed. Redirected, then quietly erased from the route books.
Hirana Yuna
The pattern reaches palace business, council correspondence, and household instructions. Whoever arranged it was testing how exposed the royal household has become.
Hirana spreads the copied ledgers across a scarred table. Inked lines cross and converge around the palace district, forming a network that is still active somewhere beyond the shuttered house.
✓ Quest Accepted
Establish a trustworthy lead from the courier ledgers
“I turn towards Hirana. “Whoever is doing this has to have inside access to the palace.” I say. I rub my neck nervously. “This will be a lot harder than it looks.” Suddenly, little footsteps sound near the entrance of the room. Hirana scrambles to hide the papers and I start to move towards the door until the footsteps round the corner. A little messenger boy runs around, spots me, and shuffles up to me to hand me a message with a seal. He says it’s from the Prince before he runs away. I look towards Hirana and open the message. She comes around to me as we read that the King and Queen have fallen ill.”
SUCCESS (Fair Perception, rolled +1)
Tau Heathsburough
Whoever is doing this has to have inside access to the palace. This will be a lot harder than it looks.
Tau turns toward Hirana and rubs his neck as footsteps patter near the entrance. Hirana swiftly gathers the route ledgers and slips them beneath a loose stack of empty folders.
A little messenger boy, a young boy in a loose brown tunic and knee-length trousers, with a narrow freckled face, rounds the corner, slight and wind-flushed, with brown hair, a green cap, and a sealed message clutched in both hands. Tau’s phobia constricts his attention around the sudden approach, but Keen Senses isolate the boy’s quick steps and the scrape of wax against parchment.
The Messenger Boy
This is from the Prince.
The boy presses the sealed message into Tau’s hand, then scurries back around the entrance before either of them can question him. The seal bears the prince’s unmistakable mark.
Tau looks to Hirana and breaks the seal. She comes beside him as he unfolds the letter, and together they read that the king and queen have suddenly fallen ill. The prince orders Tau to come to the palace at once.
Hirana Yuna
Then the palace is not merely exposed. It is already under pressure, and Ruouh needs you now.
“I nod, and ask for the papers she showed me so that I could work on it inside the palace. She gives them to me, but right as I am about to leave, she hugs me, stopping me in my tracks. She says, “Please stay safe Tau.” I am taken aback by her sudden remark until she teases me and lets me go. I rush out of room and try to find the prince”
FAILURE (Mediocre Persuasion, rolled -1)
Tau Heathsburough
Give me the route papers. I can work through them inside the palace and find where the diversion begins.
Hirana hands over the copied ledgers. Tau secures them beneath his arm, and Knightly Etiquette keeps his thanks formal while Courtly Insight weighs what she is not saying.
As Tau turns for the door, Hirana catches him in a sudden embrace. His phobia constricts his breath at the unexpected closeness, stopping him before he can take another step.
Hirana Yuna
Please stay safe, Tau.
Tau remains taken aback for one suspended moment. Hirana releases him with a crooked smile, and her teasing returns before the tenderness can settle.
Hirana Yuna
There. Now you can stop staring and go rescue your prince from whatever trouble he has found.
Tau rushes through the palace district toward Ruouh’s tower, but the prince is gone. Palace guards block the sealed stair and report that Ruouh went to the king and queen’s apartments. The route is clear, but Tau must choose that path instead.
✓ Quest Accepted
Find the source of the palace message diversions
+ New Item Acquired
Copied Route Ledgers
“I quickly walk over to the King and Queens apartment but when I arrive, the blue-robed council member is standing by the door, and when I try to pass him, he moves in front of me. He denies my passage. I hold out my letter with the princes seal on it, but instead of letting me go, he snatches the letter, reads it, and says it is not an invitation from the King or Queen. I try to convince him by saying I am the prince’s primary guard, but he only shakes his head and blocks the door. Then, behind me a hear a woman’s voice. I turn around and tears fill her eyes as she says how she wasn’t allowed in either and how she wanted to comfort the Prince in such a time as this. I realize she is one of the suitors in the court. She introduces herself as Nashia Lambeau.”
FAILURE (Mediocre Persuasion, rolled +1)
Tau reaches the king and queen’s apartments at a quick walk. The blue-robed councillor stands before the sealed door and steps directly into his path.
Tau’s hand finds no letter with the prince’s seal; it is not in his possession. Deep-seated Phobia constricts his breath beneath the councillor’s stare, while Knightly Etiquette keeps his posture formal and Royal Guard Armor marks his authority.
Tau Heathsburough
I am the prince’s primary guard. I must enter and attend him.
The Blue-Robed Councillor
No. You have no invitation from the king or queen, and the prince’s private summons does not overrule this door.
Courtly Insight catches the distinction: the councillor is denying access by royal invitation, not claiming Ruouh is absent. The blue-robed councillor blocks the entrance again, leaving no honest passage through him.
Behind Tau, a young adult woman in a finely cut dark-green court dress approaches, her auburn hair pinned neatly and tears bright in her eyes. She stops several paces away.
The Tearful Court Suitor
They refused me as well. I only wanted to comfort the prince in such a time. My name is Nashia Lambeau.
“I turn towards the suitor and bow my head. I introduce myself as well. She then talks to me about how the Prince has been confiding his trust in her and sharing his troubles with her, and how they have grown so close. Suspicion creeps through my body but I say nothing and keep listening to her talk. If this was true, why hadn’t the Prince told me? Why hadn’t I seen them together? Suddenly, the doors to the King and Queens apartment open as an ashy-faced medic walks out, completely distraught. I use this as an opportunity to call Ruouhs name down the long hallway before the blue-robed councilor abruptly shut the doors. He starts yelling at me to leave, but then Ruouh opens the door and sees me. His eyes widen and he calls me inside. Suddenly, Nashia bursts into tears and flings herself at the Prince. Ruouh is forced to catch her as she falls. He looks startled as Nashia clings to him, wiping away her tears and saying how much she worried about him. Ruouh looks at her coldly”
SUCCESS (Mediocre Persuasion, rolled +2)
Tau turns toward the tearful court suitor and bows his head. His formal bearing remains steady despite suspicion gathering beneath his composure.
Tau Heathsburough
My name is Tau Heathsburough. I serve as Prince Ruouh’s primary guard.
The Tearful Court Suitor
Ruouh has trusted me with his troubles. He has confided in me throughout this ordeal, and we have grown very close. I only want to be there for him now.
Tau Heathsburough
If that is true, why has Ruouh never told me, and why have I never seen them together?
The apartment doors open. A distraught young adult man in a pale medic’s coat stumbles out, his ash-gray face and trembling hands revealing the gravity of what he has seen.
Tau Heathsburough
Ruouh!
The blue-robed councillor snaps the doors shut and orders Tau to leave, but the prince opens them again. His eyes widen at Tau before he calls him inside. Nashia bursts into tears, flings herself forward, and Ruouh catches her. She clings to him, wiping her cheeks and saying how worried she was. Ruouh looks at her coldly.
Quest Complete
Establish a trustworthy lead from the courier ledgers
Attribute Upgrade: Perception Fair→Good
New gift: Basic Ledger Reading