Kaiden arrived at the Kingdom of Peace riding his horse, surrounded by an elite group of the Imperial Guard and army commanders who had sworn loyalty to him after his coronation. This kingdom was once forgotten; its people were unmentioned and unvisited. But Kaiden did not forget... for he had visited them once as a stranger, and they had welcomed him as William's disciple, not as a nobleman, believing in his word rather than his office.
The people gathered in the great city square, their faces hesitant, swaying between fear and hope. They knew of Kaiden, but they did not yet know what this new Emperor wanted from them... yet they came to listen. Kaiden stood atop the platform in his majestic black attire, with Fionaria's blue shawl on his shoulder as a symbol of peace. One of the guards stood in the square, then raised his voice to announce to everyone that Emperor Kaiden would speak now.
"O freemen in the land of oblivion..." Kaiden began, his voice carrying across the square.
"I did not come to you as a ruler demanding loyalty, but as a human being carrying an old memory. I came to you a year ago, without a crown, without a title, and you opened your hearts before your doors. Today, I return to you with a crown... but it shall not be a barrier between us. Rather, it is a vow I renew: that no people shall be neglected in my reign, no weak shall be oppressed, and rights shall be restored to their owners."
He looked out at the silent crowd. "I know that you were hiding yourselves from the world, fearing the injustice of the previous Emperor, the taxes, the conscription, and the executioners. But know now that this era has ended. Starting today, three new academies and a public hospital shall open, with direct support from the Imperial Treasury. Everyone who was unjustly exiled or imprisoned during the previous reign shall have their dignity restored and be released. And I declare that the Kingdom of Peace has become a beating heart in this Empire... not a forgotten margin!"
Voices rose in astonishment, then applause, and then tears. Kaiden continued with a decisive tone, "From this land, the model we dream of shall be built—the model of justice.
And from this kingdom, the reform of the entire Empire shall begin." He concluded his speech with a final promise. "I will not rule you with fear, but with the trust we planted in each other's hearts since our first meeting.
Today, I return to nurture and protect it... as the Emperor of the people, not the Emperor of the throne."
After the speech ended and the crowds gradually dispersed, Kaiden remained standing for minutes, contemplating their faces as they left, as if they carried something deeper than words. He felt a warm breeze pass, resembling old memories... memories of his first visit to this land. As he was descending the platform, he heard the soldiers guarding him repelling a girl who wished to meet him. With a calm smile, Kaiden ordered them to let her pass.
"Do you remember me?" The voice came from the girl, soft yet possessing a confidence that was absent in the childhood of yesterday. She had bright eyes and hair tied with a blue ribbon.
Kaiden said hesitantly, "I feel like I know you... but..."
She smiled and replied, "I am the one who told you that your voice was beautiful, the day you sat with us and sang when you first came."
He looked at her in surprise, a warm glint appearing in his eyes. "You? You have truly grown... how have the years passed?"
"I was young... but I did not forget," she said with a smile. "That night, I told my mother that I met a knight who sang to us instead of carrying his sword. She told me that the men who do that are the ones who change the world."
Kaiden fell silent for a moment, then said in a low voice, "And do you still see that my voice is beautiful?"
She laughed. "Now it is more beautiful, because it has come to carry the Rule along with the Dream."
Kaiden bowed his head slightly. "Thank you... you do not only remind me of a beautiful past, but you remind me why I started all of this." He then asked her for her name.
"Serin," she replied. "And I am ready to teach the children in the academy you ordered to be built today."
Kaiden smiled at her. "Then it is you now who will plant hope... just as you planted it in me one day."
After finishing his conversation with the little one, the caravan's horses walked slowly among the trees, where the sunlight seeped quietly through the branches as if touching the faces of the men on the road. Kaiden returned to this land as a leader carrying promises and principles. Yet his heart noticed what went unsaid. On his right, he saw Eugene separating from the procession.
It was not a military order nor an emergency, but a step driven by something deeper.
Kaiden did not speak; he only caught his friend with a brief glance as he headed toward a dirt path leading to an old residential neighborhood. He only said to himself that the place was not strange to him, as if his feet knew the way before his memory.
When Eugene returned later to the camp, the night had spread its darkness, and the fire was blazing in the center. He sat near Kaiden in silence, and the Emperor initiated the conversation with a light tone. "You were not with us... it seems your heart has another path in the Kingdom of Peace."
Eugene looked toward the flame and smiled a sad smile. "Remember when we came here the first time? About two years ago, when we were searching for the legacy of our master William, my father... there was a lead pointing to this kingdom." He went silent for a moment. "We were investigating, observing, moving cautiously. And one night, while I was wandering alone in the market, I met her... She was selling perfumes with her mother.
Simple... her eyes gray like winter clouds, and her voice low as if she feared the world would spoil its tone of sincerity. Her name is Liana. She didn't know me. She didn't ask where I came from, or what I was doing. She only treated me as if I were a passing man, deserving of respect... and attention."
Kaiden smiled a slight smile, and Eugene continued. "The next day, I returned to the market for no reason... then the matter repeated, without arrangement. She loved poetry, and believed that books could heal people. I spoke to her about William, without mentioning his name, and about a young man searching for nobility in a lost world. She listened as if she were hearing a story from another world. And one day, while we were searching an abandoned house, I was injured in my arm during the collapse of part of the ceiling. I thought I was strong enough, but the blood exposed my vanity. I resorted to her house without thinking. Her mother treated me, and she... she was sitting beside me, holding my hand with a gentle smile."
Eugene paused, his voice dropping slightly.
"Kaiden... I wasn't ready for love then. I had nothing to offer, and I didn't want to wrong her with a promise I couldn't fulfill. So I left with you the next day without a word of goodbye.
And I left behind a heart... that is still waiting for me. Today... I returned. I knocked on her door. She was standing there, in the same simple dress, and the same look. She said nothing, only smiled. As if time had not moved between us. I told her that I have returned... not as a shadow, but as a man who chose a path, and wants to keep a little of the light."
"You haven't told me all of this before," Kaiden said, placing his hand on his friend's shoulder.
Eugene laughed. "Because I didn't know it was real until now. I am now... engaged, my friend, just like you."
Kaiden sighed and said smilingly, "If your heart is at peace, I will not object. But you know, these dreams are difficult to maintain in the midst of all this."
"That is why I will fight for this dream," Eugene replied confidently.