The throne chamber settles into a careful hush. Empress Xifeng returns beneath the narrowed light, while Magistrate Wei and Archivist Shen remain by the evidence table, the register, petition, and brass tally aligned between them.
Empress Xifeng
You asked for a private word before departure. Speak freely, Kareem Bishop. Wei and Shen will preserve the record, but neither will interrupt you.
The brass tally gives a faint, measured click. Its pointer remains fixed toward the Moonwell Gate, marking time without urgency. Xifeng does not look at it. Her attention stays on Kareem.
Magistrate Wei
What you say here can be sealed from the wider court, if that is your wish. It will not be dismissed as rumor.
Archivist Shen
Nor will uncertainty be treated as deceit. A confession may contain doubt and still be truthful.
Empress Xifeng
Then let this be a quiet room for truth. What have you been carrying that you could not place before the throne?
“"I am scared. My brain still hasn't come to terms with magic and time Traveler or whatever I did. Now I got to meet the queen of fairies. Since I am surround by crazy I might as well do something" I look at the empress, "if I make it back alive, wanna have dinner with me?"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Diplomacy, rolled +1)
Kareem Bishop
I am scared. My mind still has not caught up with magic, time travel, or whatever brought me here. Since I am surrounded by things I cannot explain, I might as well do something honest. If I make it back alive, will you have dinner with me?
The invitation settles between the throne and the evidence table, startling in its plainness. For one breath, even the tally’s measured clicking seems distant.
Empress Xifeng
Yes, Kareem Bishop. If you return alive, I will have dinner with you. Not as a sovereign receiving a petitioner, but as Xifeng receiving the man who asked.
Empress Xifeng
Fear does not disgrace you. It tells me you understand the size of what stands before you. I have watched courtiers hide fear beneath ceremony until it made them reckless.
Magistrate Wei
The Empress has answered him plainly. That is rarer than any formal audience.
Empress Xifeng
At dinner, you may tell me what this world still gets wrong. In return, I will tell you what I can about Titania, and what I have chosen not to place in the record.
Her promise deepens the protection around Kareem, but narrows the silence she has kept. Beside the register, the gold-script beneath the petition glimmers once, then fades.
“I am surprised and excited. With renewed energy we head to the Moonwell gate”
SUCCESS (Great Agility, rolled -2)