The war had ended, but peace came quietly—like dew settling after a long storm.
The land no longer groaned beneath the curse. The trees once twisted by moonlight stood straight again, and the rivers—those crimson, haunted waters—ran clear for the first time in a thousand years.
Yet in the heart of the stillness, one question remained:
Who was Aris, now that both beast and crown were gone?
---
1. A Kingdom Without a Throne
Aris stood before the empty palace of Eldoria.
The golden halls were cracked, vines curling around pillars that once gleamed with pride.
No servants, no guards, no court. Only silence—and the faint echo of her ancestors.
Eir had passed peacefully two nights after the battle. Her final words lingered in Aris's mind:
> "Lead without ruling. Heal without owning."
Aris lit a single candle on the marble altar and whispered,
> "The age of kings is over."
Then she opened the gates.
People—farmers, healers, craftsmen, even former soldiers—entered the palace grounds, no longer subjects, but equals.
For the first time in Eldoria's history, no crown dictated the sun's rising.
---
2. The Children of Dawn
Months passed.
From the ashes of war rose something new: the Dawn Circle.
It wasn't a royal court but a gathering of all kinds—human and beast alike. Wolves walked beside farmers; ravens spoke counsel to scholars.
Each evening, when twilight fell, Aris would climb to the balcony where her father once stood and watch the horizon breathe.
No transformation came. No howling curse. Only calm.
But sometimes, when the wind shifted, she thought she heard Kael's voice:
> "The blood remembers—but now, it sings instead of weeping."
---
3. The Monument by the River
At the River Plain, where the final war had ended, a monument rose—not of stone, but of living silver vines. They grew into the shape of a crown, open and unfinished.
At its base was carved a single line in the Old Tongue:
> "Balance is the only throne worth keeping."
People came from every realm to see it.
Some prayed. Some wept.
And every child of Eldoria learned the story—not of beasts or curses, but of a princess who became peace itself.
---
4. The Shadow Returns
One night, years later, Aris walked alone by the river.
The moon glowed pale and kind, and her reflection rippled softly on the surface.
Then a familiar voice spoke beside her.
> "You kept your promise."
She turned. The Echo King stood there—not in armor, but in the shape of a man, his eyes no longer burning.
> "I thought you were gone," she whispered.
He smiled faintly.
> "Darkness never leaves. It only learns to bow."
Aris reached out her hand. "Then stay. As balance."
The shadow bowed his head.
> "As balance."
He vanished into her reflection, merging with her light.
And for the first time since the beginning, day and night became one seamless breath.
---
5. The Dawn Eternal
Generations later, the tale of Cursed Royalty became legend.
Children told stories of the beastly kings and the girl who forgave the night.
In every home, people left a candle burning at dusk—not to chase darkness away, but to welcome it gently.
The crown of Eldoria was never reforged.
Instead, its fragments were scattered across the land, buried beneath trees and rivers, feeding the roots of new life.
And sometimes, when the moon and sun crossed paths, travelers swore they saw a silver-haired woman walking the fields, hand in hand with a shadow.
Both smiling.
Both eternal.
---
✨ The End ✨
"The beast was never the curse. The curse was forgetting that both beast and man were one."