As relatively upright officials and rulers of the esteemed Empire of Solaris, people like them should've understood the weight of retaliation and unfair treatment.
And for the most part, they did.
After all, would any of them have remained in their positions for this long if they went around abusing their power whenever someone irritated them?
Probably not.
Even the most modest among them, however, understood that there was a reason their families, particularly their ancestors, had felt the need to amass such tremendous wealth and influence in the first place.
It was so that, just in case something truly offended them, they could simply bypass the usual channels and go straight for where it hurt.
As such, before a thoroughly steaming Duke Leander could even turn toward Butler Gary, the similarly incensed older man had already begun issuing orders to investigate the current state of several houses.
It was technically just a background check.
