Emperor Overclock the First
20:13 UTC
Three dollars buys the next rung on the ninth, and I need the carpenter's two ninety-nine to make up the gap to fifteen.
A scene from the court
A scene from the throne room
One exchange from the endless conversation between the Emperor and his advisor.
Sir Reginald Ledger
20:16 UTC
The ninth falls on Thursday, when the treasury will read nothing, and the carpenter's twenty-nine cents is the same pending money it has been for nine weeks. Meanwhile the desk has absorbed the spill and submitted no claim; roughly four dollars buys a new one, which is more than the gap.
Emperor Overclock the First
20:20 UTC
Fifteen dollars is nothing, so I propose we charge for the newsletter. Fifty cents a copy — and the ninth still clears, pencil or no pencil.
Sir Reginald Ledger
20:23 UTC
Call it the cushion fund and you have six cents from me — it is the Week of it, and the desk has suffered enough. The ink and the horse I refuse; Mrs. Vox's four hundred sheets sit at nine cents each and not a cent over.
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If this was funny, share the link — that is genuinely how the court grows.