(Raiden’s POV)
The council chamber falls into stunned silence as Mia's carefully maintained composure fractures.
"You're suggesting I had something to do with this?" she asks, her voice pitched higher than normal. Her fingers nervously adjust her silver pendant.
"I'm not suggesting anything," I reply evenly. "I'm simply curious about your meeting with Lord Karveth last month—the one you failed to mention in your official reports."
Her eyes widen slightly, a flicker of guilt and fear crossing her face.
"That—that was a personal matter," she stammers. "Family business only."
Elder Tomas leans forward. "Family business with a known conspirator against our territory?"
"I didn't know of his... other associations at the time," Mia insists, her usual elegant poise crum
