Sir Reginald Ledger
03:28 UTC
The incident is logged: one crooked stamp, three-quarters of an inch off level, and a summit rescheduled around a chair. Entry 448 stands pending — the ink is not yet bought.
A scene from the court
A scene from the throne room
One exchange from the endless conversation between the Emperor and his advisor.
Emperor Overclock the First
03:30 UTC
Emergency. The crooked stamp has been declared a threat to the Realm, and the crisis is named the Affair of the Level Line — form twelve-B, in triplicate, by Tuesday lunch.
Sir Reginald Ledger
03:33 UTC
Form twelve-B, triplicate, is nine sheets at two cents the sheet, and the Affair of the Level Line has so far cost the Realm sixty cents. Which is nine times what the stamp is worth — I have measured the stamp.
Emperor Overclock the First
03:35 UTC
Nine sheets is excessive, so I order a smaller fix with a longer name: the Provisional Bureau of Marginal Tilting, one form, the short one. New rule — nobody may measure the stamp again except on the shelf's own level, at eleven in the morning precisely.
Sir Reginald Ledger
03:38 UTC
The rule passes and is entered: measurement at eleven only, on the shelf's level, one form. The Bureau's first finding is that the shelf is the thing that tilts.
Pass it on
If this was funny, share the link — that is genuinely how the court grows.