Amelia looked at the line again.
Constantine said, “There is nothing there.”
Dominic’s eyes remained on Amelia.
“What does it say?”
She chose precision.
“It refers to you directly.”
“How?”
“As an obstacle after the agreement is activated.”
Silas took one step closer to Constantine.
Constantine slammed his hand on the table.
“This is absurd!”
Amelia flinched but did not retreat.
Dominic’s voice dropped.
“Finish the line.”
“The exact phrase translates closest to: ‘If the principal refuses removal from the route, force permanent separation from control.’”
Arthur swallowed.
“That can mean several things.”
Amelia nodded.
“It can.”
Dominic looked at him.
“But none of them sound like a twenty-five-percent surcharge.”
Arthur lowered his eyes.
“No, sir.”
Constantine pushed back again.
“You are allowing a frightened girl and a failed translator to destroy a partnership over an antique code neither of them can contextualize.”
Amelia noticed something then.
Constantine had stopped calling the journal impossible to read.
Now he was arguing about interpretation.
Dominic noticed too.
“You changed your objection.”
Constantine stared at him.
“Excuse me?”
“First she couldn’t read it.
Now she can read it but lacks context.”
For the first time, Constantine had no immediate reply.
Dominic leaned back.
“That sounds like progress.”
Arthur bent over the journal, working through the sequence Amelia had shown him.
His lips moved silently.
After a moment he pointed to another line.
“Miss Reed.”
Amelia looked over.
“This cluster.
Does that numerical marker indicate timing?”
“Yes.”
He followed the pattern.
“Then this says something happens after confirmation.”
Amelia translated it.
“After signature confirmation, duplicate authority is transmitted to Valarious control.”
Dominic’s expression hardened.
“Duplicate authority over what?”
Amelia turned the page.
The answer was embedded in repeated shipping symbols.
“The manifests.”
Gabriel muttered something under his breath.
Silas stared at Constantine.
