Crownless

Ⅱ

"Oh god I'm so nervous!" 

"Why are you nervous? I'm the one giving the speech!" Aurora exclaimed to her sister Amelia. Their parents chuckled at their daughters bickering, now used to them after all these years.

"We're all nervous, Rora. This is your first time giving a public speech! More excited than nervous, but still. We're so proud of you! We can't wait to see what you have to say to the youth!" Her mother explained, placing her hands on her daughter's shoulder. Liam came forward, standing next to his wife, wrapping an arm around her waist, and placing his other hand on Aurora's cheek in a comforting way. 

"We believe in you. Now go, the new generation is waiting for you." He told her encouragingly.

Taking a deep breath, Aurora walked on stage towards the stand that was there for her to stand behind and give her -hopefully- captivating speech.

The crowd cheers as they see their princess walk on stage. Some gasps are heard from here and there, as the princess is wearing normal clothes, looking like a normal teenager.

"Hey, everyone!" Aurora started, a bright smile forming on her face, showing her perfectly white teeth. "Excuse me for not being so formal, but let's be honest, formal is boring. Especially for our age, right?" She talked into the mic casually, her nerves dropping with every smile she saw from the audience. She's confident in herself now, so she continues talking without a single doubt.

"So I'm here today to talk to you guys, and see if we can make our kingdom better. And you all are the new generation. We are the future, so let's make it the way we want, are you in?" The crowd cheers loudly making Aurora grin.

"Quick question though, has any of you ever had a dream, but someone came and crushed it? has anyone made you lose hope in your dreams?" Lots of hands went up, making Aurora frown at the sight. How could someone shoot down someone's dream? that's just cruel.

Aurora walked down the stage towards the closest person with their hands up. It was a boy around 13 years old. She handed him the microphone, telling him to say what his dream was and why he gave up on it.

"My dream has always been to design cars and machines. I've always liked inventing a lot! But my dad said that I won't make it because I'm not special and that I can't invent anything good. He wants me to study law when I grow up, but I hate it." the boy said, breaking Aurora's heart.

"And did you give up?"

"I gave up on becoming an inventor, but that hasn't stopped me from making blueprints for new inventions though. I still do it because it makes me happy."

"That's great! Keep doing what makes you happy, that's the only way you'll succeed. I believe in you, you'll be a great inventor. Just don't give up, okay?" The boy blushed at her words. That was all he needed, someone to believe in him and give him a chance.

Aurora moved to the next person with their hands up, and she kept going until everyone has spoken. 

Moving to the last person who had their hand up, she gave the mic to a girl, around her own age possibly. She had dark brown hair and hazel eyes, a pair of glasses around her eyes. 

"Growing up, I've wanted to be a writer. I had a thing for books and stories ever since I was little, and I practiced it. But my parents always said that it's not a future to rely on, and that famous authors around the world just had luck by their side. So now I'm studying hard to get into a good medicine college to follow in my parent's footsteps."

Aurora saw something in the girl's eyes, she saw emptiness, she saw someone who had their hopes and dreams taken away from them. But she also saw great potential in her. 

"If writing makes you happy, that's what you should do. Remember that you're your own person, not your parents. You don't need to follow in their footsteps, take your own road to your own future." Aurora smiled at her. She then gave her a slip of paper, telling her that she'd like to be friends.

Aurora then walked back to the stage, making an announcement.

"Hearing all you had to say truly broke my heart. And I'm disappointed to see how many parents stopped their kids from following through their own path. But that's why I'm here." She stated "I'm starting a school, but not like a normal school that we probably all hate going to. This new school will have classes for everything a kid ever dreams of. We'll have professionals train you. If you want to invent, you can invent. You want to become a pilot? Well now you can train for it. You want to write, we have that too. And you all have my full support." She ended, a kind smile on her face. 

A banner rolls down from behind her, revealing the plan for the school.

"Kids and teens, I present to you, your escape from all the harsh judgement from adults. This is dream school; a place where you can build your own future, and build our kingdom along with it."

Cheers erupted from the crowd as she revealed the new plans.

Aurora smiled proudly at the people in front of her that are determined to build a better world for themselves.

Backstage, all royal family members were watching Aurora proudly as she interacted with the youth of the town. Aurora had done something no one else had done. She's finally ready to step out into the world as her own person with duties. She was now a full on princess.

'Maybe she'd be a great queen as well' queen Rosalind thought as she watched Aurora.