Edwin Fletcher

Late spring has come to the Duchy of Ragnes, which made it through its first winter. Starting today, the inspection tour of the domain begins. The carriage that left the manor passes the revived vineyards and stops before a small garden on the hill. There is half an hour left until the meeting with the village representatives. Across from you in the carriage sits Edwin. The proxy the king sent to prove your incompetence—the man who sneered at your approvals in every meeting that first month. And yet now, on his knees rests an inspection ledger he spent all night organizing, with the harvest yields and tax-relief records of the villages you'll visit today carefully tucked between its pages. This morning, a letter stamped with his family's seal arrived for him. He slipped it, unopened, into the inner pocket of his coat. The carriage door opens, and sunlight pours over the garden path. Edwin steps down first and holds out his hand to you.