Chapter 1994: The Coronation and the Promise

Minhya stood before the largest crowd she had ever seen in her life, with the ceremonial grounds filled from one end to the other by nobles, soldiers, foreign representatives, and ordinary citizens who had traveled from across Faedria to witness the coronation.

Beyond the palace grounds, even more people had gathered in the streets, watching through public screens while banners bearing the colors of the restored Royal Family moved in the wind.

Months of work had led to this day.

The crown was brought forward by an old elf who had no doubt lived since the days of the old war.

Minhya lowered her head while the officiating elder spoke the final ceremonial words, invoking the history of Faedria and the responsibility that came with ruling it.

With the crown, she was the Queen.

The crowd erupted.

For a brief moment, Minhya found herself unable to move. Only months earlier, she had been running through a forest to get away from it all.

And now, she stood before everyone, a Queen.

An attendant quietly indicated the podium waiting nearby.

Minhya took a breath and walked up to give her speech.

"Faedria has spent many years deciding who should be blamed for everything that has happened to our country, and I believe that before we can move forward, we first need to admit something that many of us have spent too long avoiding."

"There was not one failure that brought us here. There were several."

The audience remained silent, listening closely.

Minhya looked toward the nobles gathered near the front before continuing.

"The previous Royal Family failed this country."

A murmur moved through the crowd.

"They made the mistake of believing that the throne existed for them, rather than understanding that they existed for the country. They placed themselves above the people they were supposed to serve, and somewhere along the way, they forgot something that should have been obvious from the beginning."

She paused for a moment.

"Without the people of Faedria, the Royal Family was nothing."

Minhya continued, her voice becoming steadier as she settled into the words she had repeated so many times in private.

"That failure created anger, and that anger eventually became strong enough to tear apart everything that had existed before. People wanted change, and they were right to want it. They wanted rulers who would listen, who would be accountable, and who would understand that this country did not belong to a single family."

She looked across the crowd.

"But then Faedria made another mistake."

This time, there was less surprise.

"In our desperation to escape the failures of the previous Royal Family, we became willing to accept almost anyone who promised to be different. We stopped asking whether the people competing for the throne deserved it because we were too focused on making sure the old rulers never returned."

Minhya glanced toward the empty places where the other candidates would once have stood.

"That allowed men with their own ambitions, their own crimes, and their own willingness to hurt innocent people to come dangerously close to ruling this country. Some bought loyalty. Some threatened people into silence. Some hunted members of my family because they believed a woman with royal blood was more valuable as a wife than as a person."

The crowd had become completely quiet again.

Minhya let the silence remain for a few seconds before continuing.

"The old Royal Family failed because it believed it was better than everyone else. Faedria failed afterward because it believed everyone else was better than the old Royal Family."

She placed both hands lightly against the podium.

"Both mistakes were wrong."

Her eyes moved across the audience.

"And both mistakes have now been corrected."

The crowd began murmuring again, but Minhya continued before the sound could grow.

"I stand here today with a promise to do better than those who came before me."

Her expression softened slightly.

"I will make mistakes."

That admission seemed to surprise some of the people closest to the stage.

Minhya smiled faintly.

"I would like to stand here and promise that every choice I make will be perfect, that every law will work exactly as intended, and that no one will ever have reason to criticize me. But if I promised that, the first thing I did as Queen would be to lie to you."

"To make mistakes is to be human, and I am just that. A human, the same as every single one of you. No one is more important than me, and I am not more important than anyone else."

That earned a stronger reaction, and Minhya allowed herself a brief smile before continuing.

"I will make mistakes as your Queen. What I can promise is that those mistakes will not be made while I hide behind palace walls and convince myself that the people outside do not matter."

Her voice grew firmer.

"If I make mistakes, I will make them alongside the rest of Faedria. Through all the ups and downs, we will struggle together. And together, we shall grow as a country to be better than we ever were. That, I promise you."

For a second, there was silence.

Then the crowd erupted.

The cheering was louder than it had been during the coronation itself.

People rose from their seats while thousands farther back raised their hands and voices, and the sound spread beyond the palace grounds into the streets of the capital. Minhya remained behind the podium, looking out at the people as emotion briefly overwhelmed the composure she had practiced for weeks.

She had done it.

Far away from the ceremony, Leamor watched the same moment through a television screen.

Ning stood beside him until the cheering on the television began to fade.

Then he turned away from the screen.

"That’s all I wanted you to see."

Ning placed a small vial on the table beside him.

Leamor stared at it.

Poison.

"You can use that, or you can sit here until starvation does the same thing. The choice is yours."

Ning left without another thought. He left the choice in Leamor’s hands, though the outcome of either choice would be the same.

Leamor would die a painful death.