Rafael had recovered enough to return to the imperial office.
He could have continued to work from home - no one would have questioned it, and Gabriel in particular didn't care where Rafael sat as long as the work arrived when it was supposed to. Gabriel had his own schedule to survive: consort duties stacked like a wall and a teething Arik who had decided that either parent was acceptable as long as he was attached to them at all times.
So Rafael showed up.
And 'they' were in the office, by 'they' meaning Irina with a neat stack of documents and the careful patience of someone used to palace chaos; Alexandra, who had apparently mistaken the imperial office for a social salon; Gabriel with Arik attached like a tiny, angry ornament; and Edward, who only materialized when signatures were needed for household orders and the bureaucracy demanded blood.
Rafael stood near the desk with a file under his arm, composed enough to fool strangers.
