§4 · Never Sign a Paper You Haven’t Read TwiceCanon · Oriana Kraft
Bern · the Bellevue · 1948
Johannes ran to exhaust the anger, becoming the fastest man in Basel — but he could not outrun the family name. What he could do was teach his son the rules.
“Never admit wrongdoing. Never sign a paper you haven’t read twice. And never, ever trust a man who smiles too much.”
— §4 · Johannes to Matthias, 1948
The place
Bellevue Palace, Bern
Where the papers of the Confederation are signed — and unsigned.
Book a room ↗from CHF 480/nightThe ritual
Read it twice
The Georg Contract, 1924, was read once. The ledger carries it as LIABILITY for the next forty years.
The scene, narrated
Johannes — Chapter 1, Part 2