Ludwig arranged the last sheets of parchment from the pile, separating the ones that were ready to file away as completed tasks from the ones where the projects would wait until he returned from his trip. Once all were filed in their proper spots, Ludwig shut the cabinet and returned to his desk. There were still a few more scrolls laying there, his final tasks for the afternoon, along with some parchment where he had started taking notes on items to discuss with the other Suits in Oriasa next week.
Ludwig grabbed the one scroll he had deliberately set aside, and marched out of the King offices. This correspondence had puzzled him when it arrived earlier today, but perhaps Roderich would know how to reply to it. Ludwig had chosen to get some other tasks completed first, and planned to deliver this to Roderich while also taking a break from sitting at his desk.
Ludwig entered the hallway outside his office, and saw that the sunlight was brightening up the blue halls of the Shoburgh castle. As he marched towards the staircase, he mentally ran through the list of items he would need to bring with him to Oriasa, and all the items the four Spade Royals had to make sure were accounted for.
"It's this one here," Ludwig suddenly heard Matthew speak around the corner, "Do you remember it?"
"No I don't," Erika's voice answered, "How strange, I walk by this alcove every day."
Ludwig reached the main landing and glanced around the corner. The space between the King and Queen offices was made up of a couple parlours, with a small alcove in the wall between their doors. Matthew and Erika were standing there, staring at something there and chatting. Ludwig turned to approach them, just in time for Matthew to glance over and notice him.
"Ludwig, we have a question for you," Matthew addressed, "Have you ever noticed this urn here in the alcove?"
"An urn?" Ludwig repeated.
He reached the pair and looked into the alcove, finally seeing the urn they were staring at. It appeared to only be a quarter of an urn, propped off against the corner of a wall on a corner-shaped table, and was black with wavy vertical stripes of green and grey.
"I've never seen it before," Ludwig answered, "I don't know why you feel the need to fuss over it though. If you don't like it, then have the housekeeper replace it with something else. If you'll excuse me, I need to go talk to Roderich."
Before they could respond, Ludwig gave them a quick nod, then sharply turned on his heel to spin around and depart. He heard them start whispering to each other as he walked back down the hallway towards the stairs, and rolled his eyes skywards as he deliberately ignored the urge to decipher their mutterings.
As he went down the flight of stairs, he couldn't help but think of their strange behaviour. Matthew and Erika had been acting a bit strange lately, but it was easy enough to write off as them being lovebirds and sharing secrets. This trip to Hearts would surely do them some good, since they'll be able to see their brothers again. If they continue acting weird, Basch would immediately catch it and call for an intervention.
Ludwig reached the next landing and turned down into the hallway for the Jack offices, quickly reaching the main entrance. He gave a quick knock as he opened the door, only to find that Roderich wasn't in the first parlour. He shut the door behind him and walked down through the connecting corridor to the main section of the Jack's offices, where Roderich was seated at his desk looking at paperwork.
"Ludwig," Roderich greeted, barely sparing him a glance, "What brings you here?"
"I need to pick your brain on something," Ludwig explained, "I received this strange missive regarding an unresolved trade dispute along our border with Clubs, in the Shrewshaw Forest. Do you know anything about this?"
"A border dispute with Clubs?" Roderich repeated, looking up from his paperwork, "That does not sound familiar at all. May I see it?"
Ludwig handed over the scroll, and Roderich quickly took it from him. While Roderich unrolled the letter and read through it, Ludwig sat down in the chair just in front of the desk, with a sturdy wooden frame and plush blue cushioning. Roderich frowned as he shook his head, it was easy to tell he was clearly confused by the letter's subject matter.
"I have no idea what they're talking about," Roderich claimed.
"Neither do I," Ludwig concurred, "And if there were some unresolved dispute between Clubs and Spades, surely we would know about it. Have you heard of any economic issues coming from that part of the kingdom that we might have overlooked?"
"I genuinely cannot think of anything that could be connected to this," Roderich asserted, "All I can do at this moment is send back a request for more information. But since we're about to leave for Oriasa, we'd then have to wait until we return to learn of a reply. If the matter was urgent, they could rush the report to us in Oriasa, but there's a chance they arrive after we've already left to return to Shoburgh."
"Would Francis know anything about this?" Ludwig suggested, "We are about to meet with the Club Royals in Oriasa, we could bring up the matter with them."
"That might be worth a shot," Roderich assessed, "Hard to say what type of answer we'll get from him though. If there is a genuine issue that we don't know everything about, Francis might be clever and fool us into an agreement that benefits Clubs. We'd have to hear back from our sources first before coming to any arrangements."
"A very good point," Ludwig supported, "Can you get this information request out to Shrewshaw before we leave tomorrow?"
"I can send a messenger out within the hour."