Chapter 1991: Other Announcements

The announcement of Minhya’s claim to the throne of Faedria spread much faster than Ning expected. Within only a few days, nearly every major city in the country had heard the name of the surviving High-Elf woman from the old Royal Family who intended to challenge the three established candidates.

At first, most people assumed the claim would disappear almost immediately, not because they doubted her bloodline, but because Faedria had never seriously considered allowing a woman to take the throne directly.

The first wave of resistance came from the more traditional noble families, many of whom publicly argued that royal blood alone did not make Minhya eligible. Several of them insisted that she could strengthen another candidate through marriage, but that allowing her to rule herself would violate customs that had existed for generations.

Others disagreed.

The timing helped more than anyone expected.

News from Veronoth had already begun spreading beyond its borders, especially after Princess Elowen started pushing openly against the laws that prevented women from inheriting the throne before younger male siblings.

What had initially been treated as a personal dispute within the Veronoth Royal Family had slowly grown into a larger women’s rights movement, and people in other countries had begun paying attention to it.

Faedria was no exception.

"If royal blood is important enough that every candidate wants to marry her, then why is it suddenly not important enough for her to rule?" became one of the arguments repeated most often by Minhya’s supporters.

The question was simple, and that made it difficult to dismiss.

At first, Minhya was not officially recognized as a candidate at all. Several factions refused to acknowledge her claim, while others demanded that the matter be discussed before any decision could be made.

That only caused more people to speak up.

Eventually, the pressure became too difficult to ignore.

Faedria’s ruling council agreed to recognize Minhya as an official candidate.

When the announcement reached her, she sat quietly for several seconds before looking toward Ning.

"So that means they actually have to take me seriously now?"

Ning smiled faintly. "It means they can’t pretend you don’t exist anymore. Whether they take you seriously is another matter."

The three other candidates reacted almost immediately.

Some of their approaches were polite at first.

Representatives arrived offering cooperation, political alliances, protection, and even marriage proposals disguised as compromises.

She rejected all of them.

Some groups attempted to pressure her supporters, while others tried to spread rumors that Minhya was being controlled by foreign powers. There were even attempts to approach her privately and convince her that continuing the campaign would only place her life in danger.

Those warnings became more literal soon enough.

Ning dealt with the threats personally.

Whenever someone tried to kidnap Minhya, sabotage her campaign, or send people after her, Ning found them before they could get far. He did not always kill them, but he made sure every group involved understood that reaching Minhya would not be simple.

Emma helped whenever Ning was away.

Unlike Ning, she did not intimidate people by openly appearing in front of them. She simply remained near Minhya, watching quietly while making it obvious to anyone with enough sense that attacking would be a very bad idea.

Minhya slowly became more comfortable with both of them around.

What changed the campaign most, however, was not Ning’s defensive actions, but rather his offensive ones.

Ning began releasing information about the other candidates.

At first, it was only a few documents and records that showed illegal dealings, bribery, and coercion. Then came testimony from people who had been threatened into silence, followed by evidence of kidnappings, arranged disappearances, and attempts to force women with royal blood into political marriages.

The accusations became harder to dismiss as more proof appeared.

Ning made sure everything released could be verified independently. He did not want Minhya’s campaign depending entirely on people trusting him.

Some of the things they had done were so horrible that even their most diehard supporters began distancing themselves.

Over time, Minhya’s candidacy gained more and more legitimacy, to the point where she became one of the frontrunners in the entire thing.

Ning helped for as long as he could, but he could not remain beside her constantly.

There were still crimes happening across Conjora, people needing help, and responsibilities tied to Blackfang that he had neglected for weeks while dealing with Tritus, Jun’Tal, the academy, and Faedria.

Whenever he left, Emma remained with Minhya.

By the time Ning returned to regular hero work, his ranking had fallen to around twentieth place in New Limaro.

Though Blake didn’t seem angry at all.

"It’s happening," he told Ning. "The pendulum is beginning to swing in our favor. Everything you’ve done is having an overall positive effect that people can’t ignore. More and more of them are now voting for you."

Ning couldn’t help but smile.

"We’re going to rise again, aren’t we?"

Ning worked hard going forward, taking more sponsorships, accepting more interviews, and the like. He needed to make as much money as he could for the sake of putting it all back into the academy.

Around the same time, the President announced a major conference and called people from all around the globe. Many important figures joined in a massive conference hall in Conjora.

President Morstell stepped forward before hundreds of cameras and began by explaining that Conjora had been researching the relationship between Aullazire and awakenings. She spoke of the announcements they had made during the summit and how one of those announcements had been left out.

She introduced Jack, the Dragonborn, who could then turn into a massive golden dragon all on his own. When it was revealed that until about a year ago, he didn’t have that power at all, people were surprised.

When the President then explained that they had artificially given him the power, they were stunned.

"Today, I would like to announce that which the world has never before seen," she said, raising the vial for all to see. "The Awakening Serum."

The world would never be the same anymore.