Marina stepped into the Governor's office, her boots stirring up a layer of dust that had settled undisturbed for years.
Though they had cleaned a portion of it the day before, it still looked as though chaos had reigned here for decades. The heavy scent of neglect clung to the air, a mixture of damp wood, old parchment, and disuse.
Stacks of paper were haphazardly piled across desks, their edges yellowed with time. Some were barely held together, ink smudged and peeling away. Cobwebs draped from the ceiling corners, catching the weak morning light that seeped through the grimy windows.
The last proper documentation in the office came from centuries ago—proof that the previous governors had not even bothered to visit this space, let alone manage it.
Aeger had been a battlefield between the El-Shihara Empire and the Western Empire for a century, leaving it without a proper government until ten years ago, when the twin kings took the throne. Now, what should have been the nerve center of Aeger's administration was nothing more than a tomb for forgotten responsibilities.
Marina trailed her fingers over the wooden desk at the room's center, leaving a clean streak in the dust. She exhaled sharply.
"A century without a governor in residence?" she muttered, her voice edged with disbelief.
Camilla, one of her trusted administrative officers and a subordinate of Leslie, wrinkled her nose as she surveyed the dilapidation and informed Marina of their current status. "It's worse than we thought. The last few governors either fled, fell into corruption, or were too weak to enforce any kind of order. Most of the administrative staff don't even bother showing up. They've taken on… other professions."
Marina's hazel eyes flicked to her. "Other professions?"
Camilla's lips pressed into a thin line. "Hosts, courtesans, private servants for the nobles. The governor's office is a title on paper—nothing more."
A muscle twitched in Marina's jaw. Aeger had been left to rot while its people clung to whatever means they could to survive. The nobles had carved out their decadent paradise atop the suffering of the lower districts. She turned back toward the dust-ridden desk, her fingers tightening into a fist.
"We start with infrastructure," she said firmly. "If we can't even get proper sanitation, we won't keep any workers."
Camilla nodded. "The women need proper washrooms. The only available ones are in the Grand Palace, and this morning, we saw entertainers… engaging in activities there."
Marina pinched the bridge of her nose. "Wonderful."
Leslie, ever pragmatic, tapped his pen against his clipboard. "Let's start with plumbing. The only functioning sewer system is in the palace; everything else gets dumped into the city. That's likely the cause of the disease outbreak."
Another staff member stepped forward hesitantly, holding out a memo. "We received this from the Grand Palace this morning. It looks like one of the overlooked reports the kings didn't bother reading. It's vague, but it describes an outbreak in the slums. The symptoms match those of cholera. The nobles want the affected individuals removed… and disposed of."
A grim silence fell over the room.
Marina's fingers curled tightly around the memo, her expression darkening. "They want them buried in mass graves," she concluded, disgust heavy in her voice.
Leslie exhaled sharply. "It's easier for them to pretend the problem doesn't exist if the victims are simply erased."
Marina's gaze swept over her team.
They came from the South and the Middle Regions of El-Shihara—lands where sanitation was a given, either because of a structured empire or because of the clan-driven order in the Southern waters.
They had never needed to worry about something as basic as access to clean water. But here, in Aeger, it was a privilege reserved only for the elite.
She straightened. "Then we fix it. But first—I want to see my staff."
The registry listed thirty employees.
Only two showed up.
Marina's expression darkened. She couldn't expect her people to do everything alone, not in a city where half the population despised them.
A deep-rooted prejudice ran through Aeger—many still blamed the Southerns for their downfall in the war against the Western Empire, seeing the South's past diplomacy as cowardice, a betrayal that had led to Aeger's decline. Sending her people out blindly into a city that loathed them would be a death sentence.
"We need the original staff back," Marina decided. "Track them down. Offer them increased pay, protection from the nobles, and the promise of actual reform."
As the search for the former staff began, another crisis loomed. Reports of the disease outbreak spread, confirming that the lack of sanitation and clean water had led to a full-scale health disaster.
Her first step was finding those responsible for Aeger's public works.
She turned to Luca, a Peregrine falcon shifter—one of the finest espionage specialists her elder brother had assigned to her. "Find Juan," she ordered. "He used to manage public works."
Luca was gone in an instant, and within the hour, he returned with Juan's location. The man, once an essential figure in Aeger's maintenance, now worked as a noble's asset manager.
Marina met Juan in a dimly lit study, where candlelight flickered against stacks of ledgers and scrolls. The man sitting before her looked weary, his once-proud posture weighed down by long nights of servitude. Shadows clung beneath his eyes, and his fingers trembled slightly as he pushed his glasses up his nose.
He barely looked up, his mind buried in the endless cycle of numbers and ledgers that dictated his existence.
The world outside these walls had long since become a distant murmur to him—a realm of chaos and nobility's whims that he had learned to ignore.
But today, something was different. There was an unfamiliar presence before him, one that did not belong to a noble demanding another reallocation of wealth or a scribe delivering a request.
"Juan," a firm voice cut through the heavy silence. "I am Marina Velkas, the new governor."
His pen stilled. His tired eyes flickered upward, registering her face for the first time. Confusion clouded his expression, followed quickly by skepticism.
"Governor?" he echoed, as if the word itself was foreign. "I had no idea there was a new one. No announcement. No decree."
Marina nodded, unsurprised. "Then let me catch you up."
"The palace did not bother announcing anyways," Marina stated, her voice unwavering. "And I suspect they assumed no one in Aeger would care."
Juan let out a dry chuckle, though it lacked amusement. "They assumed correctly. People have stopped looking to the governor's office for leadership. The only laws that hold here are those of the nobles and the whims of the twin kings."
Marina stepped forward, closing the distance between them, her hazel eyes burning with quiet resolve. "That is about to change."
She placed a contract in front of him. "Come back to the governor's office. Three months' pay upfront. Immunity from noble interference. Your daughter needs medicine—work with me, and I'll make sure she gets it."
Juan hesitated, his fingers hovering over the parchment. "You really think you can fix this city?" he asked quietly. "It's been rotting for decades. The kings—"
"—have their own games," Marina interrupted. "But I have work to do."
Silence stretched between them before Juan exhaled deeply. He reached for the pen, signed his name, and sealed his return to the governor's office.
Juan was resourceful, but years of neglect couldn't be undone overnight.
Under his guidance, Marina's team located an abandoned sewer duct that was still functional.
Within two days, they established a temporary washroom for the governor's staff—preventing them from having to endure the humiliations of the Grand Palace's public facilities.
However, Juan's knowledge only covered the areas surrounding the governor's office. He provided names of other workers who had kept the city's remaining infrastructure from collapsing during the wartime. They were willing to support her efforts, but without complete blueprints of the underground systems, water distribution maps, and sewage networks, true reform was impossible.
Which meant Marina needed access to the civic records.
Which meant she needed the kings' permission.