Chapter 17 - AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR
One crisp autumn afternoon, a dark, modest carriage pulled up outside the academy grounds.
Julian, who was packing away survey tripods in the courtyard, looked up as an elderly woman dressed in simple gray traveling clothes stepped down from the carriage. She moved slowly, leaning on a dark wooden walking stick.
It was Lady Elizabeth Van Doren—Cedric’s estranged older sister, who had abandoned the family estate twenty years prior after publicly condemning her brother’s ruthless greed.
Julian approached her guardedly, his hand resting on the wooden gate. "Lady Elizabeth?"
The elderly woman looked at Julian with deep sorrow in her faded blue eyes. She bowed her head respectfully before him.
"Master Vance," Elizabeth said, her voice raspy with age and emotion. "I have traveled three days from the southern coast. I came to offer you and your mother the profound, formal apology of the honest branch of the Van Doren bloodline."
Julian paused, observing her weary, sincere face. "You carry no blame for your brother's crimes, my Lady."
"I knew Cedric was a monster," Elizabeth whispered, tears glistening in her eyes. "I tried to warn the provincial council years ago, but no one listened to a woman speaking against a magistrate. When I heard that my brother had been stripped of his titles and sentenced to the dark dungeons, I felt no grief—only shame that his blood runs in my veins."
She reached into her velvet satchel and pulled out a small, heavy iron chest bound in brass straps.
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"This belonged to our family before Cedric corrupted our name," Elizabeth said, offering the chest to Julian. "It contains the original land deeds to the northern timberlands—lands that Cedric illegally annexed from local farming families decades ago. I ask only that you use your authority as chief surveyor to return these lands to their rightful heirs."
Julian took the iron chest, his heart warming at this final act of justice. "Your request will be carried out to the letter, Lady Elizabeth. You have restored honor to your name today."
