Date: TC1853.06.20 (Same Day, Afternoon)
Location: Luminous Haven - Formal Reception
Lord Marcus Drayton had spent thirty years building his family's grain monopoly across the eastern provinces.
He understood leverage. Understood how to control populations through food supply. Understood that whoever controlled grain controlled everything—peasants needed to eat, cities needed to be fed, and armies needed provisions. House Drayton had built its fortune on that fundamental truth.
Which was why the scene before him made absolutely no sense.
