The news that Theodore Miller had woken up swiftly made its way to the royal palace. Still, it would take time for the courtiers to organize the court ball. Therefore, it was decided that the ball would be held four days after Theo was ready to be discharged.

At the same time, Manavil was suffering from an unprecedented demand boom. The king had decreed that wine and performances would be released onto the streets to make up for the fact that only nobles could attend the court ball. The amount of wine required was so large that it sent every merchant still in town after the Annual Magic Contest aflame with avarice.

“Alcohol! We need alcohol! Hey, is there anything left in the warehouse?”

“No! We ran out a long time ago! Why is there an event this large so soon after the Magic Contest?”

“You don’t have enough booze? If there’s no stock at this store, go and wrangle some from the merchant companies!”

“This is the first time in my life that we’ve ever run out of pork!”

No one, including...