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“How?”

“Royal directives are duplicated through a secure archive separate from ordinary administrative systems.”

He enlarged a section. “Any valid order carrying Crown authority should have a corresponding record here.”

I stared at the empty search result. “No match.”

“No.”

“What about something classified above your access?”

Anik’s eyes sharpened. “There is no royal authority above mine except the King’s.”

Right.

Crown Prince.

He was next.

“And the King’s records?”

Also checked. Nothing.”

I exhaled slowly.

Something I had carried since seeing that order finally loosened.

Not fear exactly.

The possibility that everything went all the way to the top. That nowhere inside the colony existed where the truth would matter.

Gone. Not everything. Enough.

“So whoever made it copied royal structure.”

“Yes.”

“Could they have done that without access?”

“No.”

That brought the tension back.

Anik continued. “The authentication markers were structurally correct. The authorization behind them was not.”

Veyr spoke. “Someone had access to restricted formatting.”

“At minimum.”

“Or an older valid packet.”

Anik nodded. “We are considering both.” He changed the screen.

Central Administrative Review.

Names, departments, access histories. Several entries were marked in red.

“What happened?”