The sun was streaming through the windows when Victoria walked into the kitchen, looking perplexed.
“It’s resolved,” she told William, pouring coffee. “I just got an alert from HR. VP Miller was fired for cause this morning. Apparently, an automated compliance sweep caught him hiding the Vane files and sending misogynistic emails about me.”
“Automated?” William asked, buttering toast for Leo. “I didn’t know we had a system that sophisticated.”
“Neither did I,” Victoria admitted, relief washing over her face. “I thought I was going to have to fight a war to find that mole. Maybe Malcolm set up a protocol before he left?”
She looked over at Leo, who was eating his cereal, watching a cartoon on his tablet.
“We’re lucky,” Victoria sighed. “Whatever happened, it saved us.”
Leo crunched his cereal. He didn’t look up. He didn’t smile. He simply continued to eat, satisfied that the threat to the Queen had been neutralized. He was the Silent Prince, and the power vacuum left by his grandfather was being filled, one secret at a time.