---
In the courtyard, a scene unfolded near a counter.
A noble-looking man shouted at a clerk. "This is illegal," he snapped, voice sharp enough to slice paper.
The clerk did not look up. He continued writing, calm as a man ordering breakfast. "It is legal," he said. "You signed."
"My daughter did not understand," the nobleman argued, and for the first time his confidence cracked. "She did not know what the clauses meant. She thought it was only a temporary arrangement."
The clerk finally looked up, eyes tired and merciless, as if he had heard the same lie a thousand times and stopped caring on the second day of his first month. "Then perhaps you should have explained," he replied. "Or perhaps you should not have used your child as a receipt."
