The Treasury of Shadows [ENG]

Written by John Paul Bantigue WOLFE & EU (feat. WOLFE) BMI • IPI/CAE 01366401460 © 2025 John Paul Bantigue ℗ 2025 John Paul Bantigue • JP Bantigue Records jpbbantigue.com Court of Masks album: https://suno.com/playlist/b08dd599-b196-4425-81c3-b84f3b3e3eac Coins breathe like embers in the dark. Gold upon gold, and more beneath— tribute carved from the common’s grief. Columns rise on their breaking backs, yet all they see are gilded cracks. Every oath comes wrapped in lace, yet trembles still before my face. For coin is law in courts like these— and law bends easy for men like me. Hear the ledgers sigh, hear the coffers groan. Every drop of light is a debt I own. I am the Duke— keeper of the night’s cold gold. Every chain you wear is a story that I sold. If the crown should break, I’ll forge another throne— for wealth is just a blade, and the blade is mine alone. Silk in my step, but steel in hand; tribute flows like blood through land. A single smile can freeze your breath— a single nod can summon death. They toast to peace while pouring lies— but I see truth in shifting eyes. The court may dance, but I decide whose gilded shadow stands beside. Hear the ledger’s cry, ink like liquid sin. Every trembling purse is a vow I win. I am the Duke— treasurer of whispered oaths. Empires burn or bloom depending on my loathes. Should the mask detach, should your secrets show— remember wealth is stone, and stone decides the flow. (wealth remembers…) (wealth devours…) Gold keeps tally when the night turns sour. I am the Duke— master of the unseen chain. Every fortune bends under my domain. Let the Court of Masks pretend they hold the throne— but the treasury of shadows is mine, and mine alone. (mmmh… let the coffers sleep…) For morning breaks only when I decree.