I wake up and see the same old ceiling above me. I slowly get up and stretch out my kinks and head for the door, mostly out of habit and not because of my own desire to do so. Wandering the corridor, the servants and guards greet me with smiles and I respond in kind but just feels...empty.
I head to the throne room and sit in complete silence. It's been three days since my brother's death and my coronation soon after, my parents have been the ones running the kingdom since I've not been doing anything. The other territories that were probably considering on rejoining us immediately changed their minds and only gave us congratulations and condolences and left afterwards with the planned discussions about joining us a "consideration". The plan we had to take the other territories quickly ended in failure. I just don't know what to do. This is supposed to be my brother's throne, my brother should be king, not me! He should've had plans! Not me!
I continue to stare blankly around the empty room when my mother enters with a bang on the doors. "Leo, you need to stop it, we've sent spies to know who killed Louise so if you want to avenge him, strengthen the kingdom first."
"How!? I don't know what to do!?" I yell in a mix of anger and sorrow, tears streaming down my face. "This was supposed to be Louise's job, not mine! He should be king, not me!"
My mother approaches me and suddenly smacks my head hard. "Ow! What was that for?!" I look at my mother who now has tears in her eyes.
"To wake you up! Louise is dead! You're the king! Now go and fulfill your promise to him! What kind of face will your brother have if he sees you sitting there and letting what's left of our kingdom die? What will he think of his beloved little brother whom he entrusted the kingdom to just sit around without fulfilling his promise? What kind of face do you think he'll make when he sees we collapsed during your reign when you promised to strengthen the kingdom back to its golden age?"
I recall my promise to Louise. How we would play with wooden soldiers as our army as they decimate the other kingdoms. How we expand Lumiere so as to reach an extent greater than the height of our power back in the past. How we were full of smiles whilst resting on the courtyard promising to fullfil it together. What am I doing? What would my brother think if I rule like this? I need to get my act together. Seeing that my mother has an obvious point, I closw my eyes and take a deep breath. "You're right Mother, I'm sorry. I don't know if I'll be as good as Louise would've been, but I'll try."
My mother looks at me smiling as she wipes away her tears. "I know you'll make us proud. An I'm sorry for smacking you on the head."
She starts stroking my hair in a motherly way but I try to reject it out of embarrassment. "I'm fine Mother, I guess I really needed that smack to make me realize what I need to do."
My mother smiles at the comment. "Then that's good."
She was about to leave when I call her back. "You say you and Father sent spies. Were those your private ones?"
"No, we sent our kingdom's spy network, not my private ones as they're still returning from their last mission. Why do you ask?"
"I want you to send out yours as well. When they return, tell them dig up whatever they can find about the whole fiasco that happened."
My mother nods at my words. "Okay then. Once they return I'll be sure to pass it on. And I know the perfect person to head it. As her part of her training."
"Train? You mean to tell me you plan on sending a novice?" I ask with surprise.
"No no, quite the opposite in fact. She may be seventeen years old but there's no denying her skill. I see her as an integral part of our spy network."
"Who? If that spy's as good as you say she is then maybe I have plans for her."
"Elena..." My mother simply states.
"Elena...and what's her last name?"
"She's not comfortable with revealing her last name to anyone. It's got a...history with the kingdom..."
"Well I'm the king so you can tell me." I insist wanting to know my subordinates' background first before truly putting my trust in them.
But to my dismay she still shakes her head. "No, it wouldn't feel right to reward her loyalty by going against her request. Even if we 'are' the ruling family."
I sigh in acceptance. "Fine...but I'll have to find out about it eventually. If she wants to earn my trust then she better tell me everything. Even any dark experiences. I won't be satisfied with just a show of loyalty as that can sometimes be a show and nothing more."
My mother smiles when I dropped the subject. "Yes, I'll be sure to tell her that when she returns."
She turns to leave but takes one more look at me. "You're more similar to your brother than you think you know? How both of you think and move are really similar."
And with that, she leaves me alone with my thoughts.
This is gonna be quite a complicated matter...
...
Several more days past and my parents and I are hard at work trying to rebuild the kingdom, but at those days, I still await the spies with their report. Day after day I ask but they always say there's no news. My mother's spies meanwhile were sent out and finally after two weeks, they've found who sent the assassins. All the while our kingdom's official "spies" are just mum. Everytime I arrive at their headquarters, they do nothing but laze all day and even disrespect any messengers I send in my behalf so I had to go personally. With my guards in tow.
One of these days those idiots are going to get taken care of. I simply lack the legal means to put them permanently out of commission. Though I can simply order their mass arrests, no doubt it'll sow fear in the people. And that is something I wish to avoid as much as possible.
But thankfully, Mother's spies are useful and I gather my parents and generals as the spies arrive.
Three spies walk in, all females with all of them covering their entire bodies from head to toe with dark hooded robes with the one in the middle having her face obscured with a red mask. This girl walks in front of her two companions and bows just ahead of them indicating she's the leader of the three. "My king, we have the report."
I nod. "Good, now who sent the scum who killed my brother?"
The spy swallows hard. "It was Cistan your highness."
I am stunned by the declaration. "W-what?" Cistan? How could it be them? And why?
My parents are confused by my stunned expression and Captain Robert explains the reasons. And most specifically, my attraction to their princess.
They widen their eyes at the explanation. "Oh my..." No other word escapes from the mouth aside from that.
The generals meanwhile just sit in silence but I notice General Frederick having a murderous glare at the table. Apparently during the battle, he had an opportunity to come face to face with the one that killed my brother, however he ignored him and proceeded to plow through his underlings instead. Though I know he wasn't to be blamed as he was surrounded on all sides, he continues to curse himself for allowing that man to go through.
"Do you know the reason why they did it?" My father asks which snaps me from my disbelief.
The spy talking to us shifts uncomfortably. "Well, it seems Princess Sierra has been engaged to the crown prince of Tollen so that may have played a part. We believe it may be to show their loyalty or through bare coercion, either way, we're certain that it came from their direction. Unfortunately, this is simply our hypothesis for the reasoning behind the assasination. The true reason is unknown even to us as the assailants covered their tracks well. Even our Capital City was wiped clean of their fingerprints."
"Thank you, you may leave," I reply and the spies immediately file out.
My mind is a mess. How could it be them? We've never had hostile relations with them for so long. The last time we were at war was... The Coalition War. But apart from that, there were no armed conflicts. The last time we had a disagreement with them in some form was-
"...three days before the coronation..." This realization made me grasp my throne hard, wanting to hear a crack. "Of course...she was never fully satisfied with her verbal tirade and maybe thought of showing it through force as well...You damned woman, I will make you suffer for this."
"My king, I'm not certain about the perpetrators. But I'm certain about one thing, the order came from someone in Cistan." A voice states and I look up to see the masked spy. "That's the most I could dig up with what little dirt left. I apologise."
The spy bows but I motion her to stand. "It's fine. It wouldn't be surprising if they swept their tracks as well as they did. But disregard it for now, I must first need to sweep up the opposition within the Kingdom here first and foremost."
"Yes my king." She turns to leave but what I said next stops her in her tracks.
"I never ordered you to do it now didn't I? But then again, I also ordered you to leave along with everyone yet you stayed. And knowing that Mother would have informed you of our conversation, then that means you stayed because you're ready to reveal what you've been hiding. Now Elena, who are you really?"
In response to my question, she turns around to face me and removes her hood and mask revealing bright auburn hair and shining crimson eyes on a pale face. This surprised me as those features are the most recognizable in our kingdom's history...
"I am Elena Astenos. Granddaughter of Tirion Astenos and daughter of Eleazar Astenos. Former leaders of the rebellion against the Lumieri crown."
Snapping out from my surprise, my eyes darken and I call for the guards who immediately barge through the door and aim their spears at Elena who in turn just raises her hands.
"You're very brave to mutter that name in front of the Lumieri Royal Family. Considering the fact that your family should be crawling with maggots right now after what your family did."
My anger was in my opinion, within reason as her family orchestrated the scattered rebellions throughout the kingdom during my grandfather's reign. Ironically it was the day of my birth thirteen years ago. Once a prominent noble family, and now wiped out to the last living relative as punishment for the carnage the made that only served to weaken Lumiere even more. At least, they should've been wiped out...
"How are you alive?"
"When your grandfather was wiping out my family, I was given to a merchant friend by my mother just before your soldiers arrived. And afterwards, burned our estate down with her inside along with another child to cover my escape." She just replies with no emotion whatsoever.
"How have you evaded detection long enough to be discovered by my mother?"
"Not long. In just a few months the merchant was killed in the aftermath of the rebellion and I wandered from town to town trying to survive by any means. Your mother found me when I idiotically mistook her for just a rich baroness and tried to rob her blind. I immediately got captured by her guards. But instead of turning me in, she took in as one of her private guards in training, giving me to one of her soldiers who has never had a child. Even after discovering my origins, she never thought of exposing me or having me killed. She simply continued to watch me and when I asked why she won't turn me in, she stated, "You're different from your family. Their legacy won't be yours if you never wish to have it. You can make your own." That and she says my talent would be wasted if she had me killed or arrested."
I just sit in silence as she continues her story. Absorbing every bit of it.
"And now here I am. The last member of the family that further weakened the kingdom and paid the price for it with their lives. Now asking the king of the very nation my family rebelled against to allow me to serve him.
"And do you think I will allow it after knowing what your origins were?" I ask staring at her straight in the eyes, looking for her true response, not her verbal one.
"I am what I am. I can never change that. But my name does not carry out what I desire."
I raise a brow at the comment, interest piqued. "Oh? And what is your desire?"
She looks at me straight in the eye and I see her burning passion through it. "To regain my family's honor."
As she announces her declaration I continue to look at her to see any wavering in her expression, but there is none. All I see are pure eyes wishing to right her family's wrongs. Pure eyes that won't betray. Eyes that I can trust.
I ease back in my throne and motion the guards to be at ease. "Very well, I can see the determination in your eyes. It would be a waste to kill you with how much your passion burns. I will put my trust in you. Make sure you don't squander it else you'll end up like the rest of your family."
"Yes my king, you don't know how much it truly means to have your trust in me." She replies with a bow.
She turns around to leave but I ask her one last question. "You don't feel any anger at us for what we did to your family?"
She pauses as if to mull over the answer. Afterwards, she takes a deep breath and faces me once again. "I would be lying to say I never felt any anger for the Royal Family for what they did as they were my family in the end. But I understand why you did it and there was no one to blame but my family for what happened to them. They had everything, but they still lusted for power. They knew what the price would be should they lose and they lost. My anger is simply a little girl's immaturity at the time. But bit by bit that anger dissipated the longer I stayed with the Roses. Now, there is nothing but desire to rebuild what my family destroyed."
"Again, not a lie." I say to myself as her eyes filled with resolve continue to resonate.
"Then I'll be relying on you. Be sure to do your most." I say with finality.
"Yes my king, I'll endeavor to do so."
I soon dismiss her along with the guards and I relax on my throne and stare at the marble ceiling.
"Time to rebuild the kingdom then." I say and give a sigh. But as soon as my mind thought back to a certain golden-haired girl, a feeling of darkness rises up in me. "And afterwards, avenge my brother. And if it was really you princess, I'll be sure to make you suffer to such a degree that you'll wish for death."