She didn't need to attend a tea party to know that the Duke of the Western Marches was secretly bankrupt.
She already had a duck sitting on top of his hidden ledgers. She knew the Empress's latest spy ring was communicating via hollowed-out chess pieces.
She knew the Minister of Agriculture was having an affair with his head chef.
She had more blackmail material stored in her eidetic memory than the Emperor's entire secret police force.
But Seraphina was quickly realizing a fundamental flaw in her operation.
'Information is only power if you can weaponize it,' Seraphina calculated, her dark eyes narrowing as she chewed her muffin. 'Right now, I'm just hoarding gossip. If I want to secure a permanent, untouchable foothold in this Capital, I need to monetize this intel. I need to sell it to the highest bidders, manipulate the markets, and build a shadow syndicate.'
Financially, she was set. Kaelus gave her an "allowance" that rivaled the GDP of a small province.
