"Recorded, Your Majesty," the secretary said, eyes shining as if she'd just composed poetry.
Heena eyed him. "Stop looking at me like that. You're going to give me cavities."
He coughed into his sleeve to hide a laugh.
'''
### Evening: finally, silence
At last, as the sky faded from gold to violet, Heena dismissed the last attendant and closed her study door behind her.
Her chambers were dark and mercifully quiet.
She kicked off her boots one by one, let the heavy cape slide to the floor, and didn't bother calling maids to undress her. She staggered to the bed and dropped face-first onto the mattress.
System 427 floated down, landing near her shoulder like a small, overcautious cat.
"Host?" he whispered.
She groaned into the pillow.
"For the record," he said softly, "today you terrorized half the palace, broke three corruption arcs, rewrote imperial protocol, and scared a system-backed heroine and her father so badly their bloodline is going to have nightmares for weeks."
