Inside the room.
Justin Battleson listens to the fading footsteps of Charlotte Thompson outside, gradually becoming distant and then disappearing.
His legs feel as if they've been filled with lead, so heavy that he can't move them even half an inch off the ground.
The man who commands the entirety of Druarus' business world now stands in the cold, solitary room like a child who has lost his toy, helpless and pitiable.
He doesn't know how long it takes before he finally shifts his gaze woodenly to the desk beside him, where the books are in complete disarray.
If Charlotte Thompson had paid attention to this place from the beginning, she would have probably been very surprised.
Justin Battleson is not someone who carelessly scatters his belongings.
And so, Justin Battleson's gaze slowly settles on those disorderly books.
At the very bottom, a corner of something suppressed emerges.
