“The Visocul, invented by Sevan Talor two years ago as a new form of communication among people between long distances. Its first prototypes were released internationally six months after its official launch with the people of Dailora being the only ones as of now to own fully tested Visoculs from the first mass production cycle. Sevan Talor, son of…”

On the way to the High Court of Justice, Aris made sure she wouldn’t waste a single second. Two weeks of studying the legal procedures and historic debates of Shanri might not be enough to fool whatever scribe they assigned to her. She kept on reciting the main current events that occurred in the country of knowledge, making sure she spoke them with the confidence of a native Dailoran. 

“...and the opening statements of the parley must be no longer than five minutes. A timekeeper will keep track of both parties’ opening statements as well as work with the scribe to cross-reference each argument made in reference to the academic fraud case at hand-”

The sudden squeal of the carriage wheels cut her off. 

“Miss Anumea, we’ve arrived at the High Court of Justice,” the coachman announced from the drivers’ seat. He then rounded the carriage and opened the door for her, giving her a hand as she walked down the steps. 

The coachman’s a better gentleman than Irwin, Aris commented quietly. 

As she exited the carriage, she took in her surroundings. The High Court of Justice was situated close to the royal palace and was headed by the Minister of Justice. It was where the kingdom’s trials, civil disputes, legal documents, and other matters were handled and kept. Students studying to be court scribes also spent most of their time here as a way to acclimate them into their possible future work environment. Marble columns supported a grand portico with a symbol of scales at the very top. At the bottom of the stairs stood an older man with two younger people behind him, most likely scribes. As she approached, he moved closer as well.

“Ah, Miss Anumea, I presume?” He said, his arms stretched out. When she was close enough, he stuck his right hand out. 

Instead of taking his hand, Aris made the gesture of tipping her nonexistent hat. 

“My apologies, I’m so used to this custom it must’ve slipped my mind for a second,” she lied, taking his hand and giving it a firm shake. 

His hand is sweaty, she noted in her head, trying to fight the grimace that was about to form on her face. 

“No, no, please. It is I who should’ve been more mindful,” he replied. “I am Mikhan Weryth, the Deputy Minister of Justice.” 

“Oh, Deputy Minister? I didn’t expect such an honor for a simple student such as myself,” Aris said, putting a wide smile on her face. 

“Well, I couldn’t just let just anyone welcome the honored guest of Marquess Basileus,” Deputy Minister Weryth explained. “I know how close your relationship is with him.”

Ah, this kiss-up, she commented in her head. 

He continued, “Which is why I have taken it upon myself to conduct your tour personally.” 

She tried not to let the sudden jolt of panic show on her face. Even after two weeks she barely memorized enough to fool a court scribe but now she had to fool the Deputy Minister of Justice?

“Deputy Minister, there’s really no need,” Aris stressed, trying to steady her voice. “I wouldn’t want to take up your time. A man of your caliber must be so busy-”

Her compliment had evidently gone straight to his head as he let out a chuckle. “Yes, well, I couldn’t pass up a chance to tour a student of the Scholarium as an alumnus.” 

Another jolt of panic shot through her. 

“You- you graduated from the Scholarium?” She could feel her blood pressure spike slightly.

“Yes!” He admitted and then added, “Most wonderful four months of my life.” 

“Oh…” Aris stretched out the ‘h.’ “So you were an exchange student?” 

The question seemed innocent enough but this earned a slight chuckle from one of the scribes behind the deputy minister while the other one’s eyes widened. The man seemed to frown slightly at her choice of words. 

“If you want to use the technical term for it, I suppose so…” he trailed off. “But enough about that. Let us start the tour.” 

Without waiting for her to respond, he turned around and headed towards the entrance of the High Court. Aris walked past the scribes, who stood unmoving, as she followed him up the stairs. The central hall of the building was completely open with a single velvet carpet leading from the main entrance all the way to the other entrance straight ahead. The floors were marble as well, with the deputy minister’s and her footsteps echoing loudly as they walked. The walls on the left and right were lined with door after door with no hint as to what could be behind them. 

“The archive room is just right through here,” Deputy Minister Weryth explained, opening the second set of double doors. “Remind me again what your thesis is?” 

“The impact of multicultural integration on social hierarchies and class systems,” Aris replied. By now, this phrase had been ingrained in her mind. “I believe looking at Vemalla’s legal procedures might hint at another angle I’m working on.” 

“How interesting,” his voice seemed to dull slightly. “May I ask what angle that is?”

“Deputy Minister,” she started. “I’m sure you must remember, but students’ theses are confidential matters.” At least she wasn’t lying about this. 

The deputy minister let out a cough, mainly to try to hide his embarrassment. “Of course, I remember. I was just testing you, you see.” 

If he had been facing her, he would be able to see the clear ‘Yeah, right’ look on her face right now. Their arrival at a door prevented him from speaking any more about all of the memories he made during his time at the Lumine Scholarium. He pulled out a set of keys that was attached to his hip and flipped through them. The door to the archive room unlocked with a soft click as he ushered her inside. 

Aris didn’t have to hide her surprise. 

The archive room had a ceiling much taller than the hall they had come in front. Shelves and shelves of books, files, and paper filled the room with the only light coming from the line of windows on the opposite wall. Each aisle had its own ladder that reached the highest shelf. It wasn’t like the room was exactly impressive like the exterior of the High Court was; it was more or less messy and crowded to say the least. 

“Right this way, Miss Anumea,” the deputy minister said, beginning their tour. “I thought it was a little odd you specifically requested to tour the archive room first, but as a Scholarium alumnus, peculiar research areas are not new to me.”

“Of course, Deputy Minister. I’m so glad to have a tour guide with a similar way of thinking as me,” Aris said, fighting the urge to roll her eyes. 

The man let out a sound of satisfaction at her response. Clearing his throat, he said, “The archives of the High Court of Justice are a sacred place where our most important documents from each trial are kept. All documentation is sorted in chronological as well as alphabetical order.” They stopped at the first row of shelves. “The oldest cases the High Court has handled are along these shelves. Starting here we have…” 

Aris backed away slowly to the end of the shelves, peering behind her. The room had four windows that shone light on the middle shelves. She could sneak away now while the deputy minister was busy talking about the civil disputes and his ‘alumnus’ status at the Scholarium, but she decided the safe bet would be when they got closer. Unfortunately, that also meant having to hear this man talk for who knows how long. She put on her best smile and nodded along to whatever he said

________________________ 

Where am I…who am I…what year is it?

“-don’t you agree Miss Anumea?”

Aris blinked once. And then twice. Her eyes refocused to meet the self-satisfied grin of Deputy Minister Weryth. She gulped as her eyes darted to the court document he was holding. 

Now would be a good time to discover I have the power to see through paper, Aris thought bitterly.  

“I… don’t believe I’m well-versed enough on the topic to comment,” she said finally. 

“Understandable,” the man nodded, putting the document back on the shelf. “Alas, not everyone pays so much attention to such details as I.” 

She breathed a sigh of relief. Thank Zephyria for his ego.

She followed him as he rounded the last shelf to the next aisle. 

Finally, a window! Her mind screamed. 

As Aris zoned out once again to the deputy minister’s ramblings about an old civil dispute, her eye caught the attention of something outside. A blur of black whizzed past followed by a slow blob poking out from the exterior window sill. Irwin knelt near the bottom of the window and waved slightly to get her attention and put up a thumbs up. He was already in position and all that’s left to do is to make her way to the window without Deputy Minister Weryth getting suspicious. 

They made their way through this aisle relatively quickly, something about “boring domestic violence” cases that almost forced her to say something had she not been on a time crunch. At the end of the aisle, she grabbed the thickest-looking series of documents she could find and shoved them into the man’s hands. 

“Deputy Minister Weryth, I have always found this topic so interesting,” Aris said, turning him so he faced away from the window. “And we are in the perfect place for you to explain to me every detail of how it occurred.” 

For someone whose knowledge was the basis for his pride, he sure fell for that too quickly. 

“I would be delighted to, Miss Anumea,” he said, excited to show off whatever knowledge the document needed of him. “If you see here…

Aris slowly backed away as she loudly gave him vague responses consisting of ‘mhm’ and ‘of course.’ As she reached the window, Irwin’s head had peeked out from underneath until he was standing straight up. 

What took you so long? He mouthed through the glass.

He talked too much, she explained.

What?

Nevermind.

What?!

Nevermind!!

She then searched the frame of the window, and then the head, the sash, and even under the sill. There was nothing. His last reminder from last night echoed in her head. 

“Remember, all you need to do is to unlock the window and keep him distracted. I’ll take care of everything else.”

“Are you sure the windows have locks? Seems like it would make break-ins more frequent,” she had asked. 

“Of course, the blueprints for the High Court confirmed as much.” He had reassured her. 

After realizing there was nothing, she glared at the young marquess through the glass.

What? He shrugged.

There isn’t a lock, she tried mouthing.

He narrowed his eyes. 

There. Isn’t. A. Lock! Aris moved her mouth slower.

He squinted even more. 

“There isn’t a lock!” 

Silence. 

“What doesn’t have a lock?” A voice that definitely wasn’t Irwin’s asked. 

She whipped her body around as Irwin threw himself on the ground outside. The deputy minister had turned around and was now staring at him with his arms crossed and a single eyebrow raised.