A sigh escaped the kings lips.
Aldirk Zeppelin VII stood at the balcony's edge, his hands resting on the railing for support. The white marble was cold beneath his fingers, a small comfort against the bone-deep weariness that had become his constant companion. He was tired—so tired—but he smiled anyway. It was a warm smile, genuine despite everything, the kind of smile that had once made his people believe they could conquer the world.
The silence that followed was not uncomfortable.
It was heavy.
Thousands of people stood beneath the palace balcony, their faces turned upward, waiting for the voice of the man who had carried the crown of Aerthos for decades.
From where she sat among the officials and nobles' families, Jamie watched the king carefully. Not with her eyes alone. The colors around him told a different story.
His Intent. His weariness.
Yet despite that the color surrounding him remained warm. Not bright or overwhelming, just warm. Like the dying embers of a fire that refused to disappear. Jamie tilted her head slightly.
"My people." He began to speak, his voice carrying across the courtyard with the practiced ease of a man who had addressed his people countless times before. It was weaker than it had once been, thinner, but it still held the warmth that had always made his subjects feel seen.
Aldirk's gaze drifted toward the distant horizon.
"When I was young, I believed the world was simple."
A few children in the crowd leaned forward.
"The good people would always win. The righteous would always be rewarded. The innocent would always be protected."
A faint smile crossed his face.
"I believed that if someone worked hard enough, if they were honest enough, and if they cared enough... then everything would eventually work itself out. The kingdom would prosper simply because it deserved to prosper. I believed that the sun would always rise, and that the darkness would always retreat."
A quiet laugh escaped him.
"I was a foolish young fawn indeed."
The crowd laughed softly. Even some of the nobles smiled.
Jamie noticed it.
The king was not speaking down to them, he was speaking with them.
"I was wrong."
The smile faded slightly as a murmur rippled through the crowd.
" As I grew older, I learned something. The world is not so simple."
The wind moved through the courtyard, carrying the scent of hydrangeas.
"There are days when good people suffer. There are moments when those who do the right thing are still punished. There are times when people look around and wonder why the world they live in is not the world they were promised."
The colors of the crowd shifted. Jamie noticed them.
Some became darker.
Anger.
Frustration.
Pain.
A farmer near the front carried the deep color of resentment. A mother holding her child carried the dull color of exhaustion. A young man in the crowd carried the sharp color of anger toward the nobles above.
But they listened.
"And perhaps that is because the perfect world we imagine..." Aldirk looked down.
"...does not exist."
The words hung in the air. A few nobles shifted. Some looked uncomfortable. Others remained expressionless.
"The ideal world is something we chase. Something we strive toward. But it is not something that simply appears because we wish for it."
Aldirk leaned forward slightly, his grip on the railing tightening.
"But that does not mean we should despair."
His eyes sharpened.
"It does not mean we abandon hope."
The king looked toward the banners fluttering above the balcony.
"We have faced adversity before. King Kael I faced it when he unified this kingdom over a millennium ago. The heroes of the Heroes of the bygone Era faced it when they fought to preserve our way of life. Our parents faced it, and their parents before them."
His voice strengthened slightly.
"They did not inherit a united kingdom."
Aldirk smiled.
"They built one."
A few people in the crowd began nodding. The wind blew harder. The white hydrangeas surrounding the palace swayed, some petals floating in the breeze.
"We remember them not because they lived in perfect times.We remember them because they endured imperfect ones."
Then—
Aldirk coughed—a harsh, rattling sound that seemed to shake his entire frame. The sound immediately changed the atmosphere. His body bent forward slightly. Several attendants rushed forward, their hands reaching out to steady him.
"Your Majesty!"
One reached out. Aldirk raised his hand, a gesture of dismissal that was both firm and gentle.
"I am fine," he said, though the lie was obvious to everyone. "I am fine."
The attendants hesitated, then retreated. The king remained there for a moment, gathering himself then straightened, forcing strength into his spine.
"I am aware."
His voice was quieter.
"I am aware of the struggles my people face."
The crowd became still.
"The rising prices while wages stagnate. The difficulties of daily life. The uncertainty that many families feel."
His gaze lowered.
"I know that some of you are fighting for a better tomorrow, even if your methods are... misguided."
A hush fell over the crowd. The word 'Revolution' hung in the air like a challenge.
This caused murmurs. Even the nobles reacted.
"The fact that such desperation has reached the point where people believe revolution is their only option..."
His expression became heavy.
"Means I have failed as king."
King Aldirk Zeppelin VI bowed his head.
The gesture was small, but its impact was immense. A king—a king of Aerthos—bowing to his people. The courtyard froze for a few moments, then gasps rippled through the crowd. Even the lords on the balcony stirred, their carefully composed expressions flickering with surprise.
Elias leaned forward, Maria frowned and Araba covered her moutj with a hand. Jamie blinked. Even she had not expected that.
Aldirk continued.
"I am your king. It is my duty to protect you, to ensure your prosperity, to make your lives better. Not to make lives harder."
His voice carried.
"It is my duty to create a future where children do not inherit the burdens of their parents."
He raised his head.
"I have not done enough. There is no excuse I can give that will erase the hardships you have endured."
Silence.
"I will make things better. I will find a way. " His hand pressed against his chest.
" I will not rest until Aerthos is the kingdom it was meant to be. I swear on my life."
The crowd remained quiet.
"I ask you..."
He looked at them.
"Please—put your faith in me. One more time."
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then a voice rose.
"We hear you, Your Majesty."
Another followed.
"We understand."
But not everyone was moved. In the crowd, Jamie's eyes flickered. Some bore the hot colors of anger—deep reds and oranges that pulsed with barely contained fury. Others bore the mild colors of passivity—muted yellows and greens that suggested resignation rather than hope. And scattered among them, a few bore the cold grey of cynicism.
A man near the back scoffed.
"Pretty words."
Another muttered.
"Promises won't fill empty stomachs."
"Performative," one of them muttered, loud enough for those nearby to hear. "He says the right things, but what does he actually do?"
"A liar," another agreed, her voice sharp. "He's been promising change for years."
Most of the crowd, however, was silent. However, they had all been touched by the King's words, by his admission of failure.
Jamie watched the colors around the crowd.
The anger did not vanish.
The frustration did not disappear.
But something else appeared.
A small light.
Hope.
Even if it was fragile.
Even if it could break.
It was there.
Aldirk raised his head, a faint smile returning to his face. "Thank you," he said simply. "Thank you for your understanding."
He paused, and then a glint of something mischievous appeared in his eyes.
"You know," he said, "I once tried to address the council while wearing my nightclothes. I thought it would make them take me more seriously."
A ripple of laughter passed through the crowd. Even some of the nobles on the balcony smiled.
"Turns out," Aldirk continued, "they just thought I'd lost my mind. So I've learned that appearances matter. Which is why I'm wearing this very uncomfortable ceremonial robe instead of my favorite night dress."
The laughter grew louder.
"And I promise I will try my best not to make another speech that puts everyone to sleep."
The crowd laughed.
Jamie found herself smiling slightly.
'He's strange.'
The King was good at this—at connecting with people, at making them feel human.
Then Aldirk's expression grew serious.
"But now," he said, causing the laughter to fade instantly., "I must speak of something that weighs heavily on my heart that must be adressed."
The colors changed.
The attention of everyone gathered moved.
Succession.
The lords on the balcony leaned forward. The princes and their mothers stiffened.
Aldirk paused for a long moment. He looked down toward the square. Down toward the ordinary people. The ones whose lives would be most affected by the outcome of this decision.
"I have twelve children," he said.
"And each one of them has a unique soul and their own different personalities. Their own strengths. Their own beliefs. Their own dreams. I am proud of each of them."
He glanced back toward the empty throne draped in white silk. Queen Afriyie. His first love. The woman he had lost too soon.
Aldirk placed a hand over his heart.
"I love them all equally."
The wind passed through the courtyard. A single white hydrangea petal drifted from above. The king reached out and caught it.
He stared at the flower for a moment then smiled and allowed the wind to blow it away.
"A kingdom cannot stand divided. A ruler must be chosen not by the circumstances of their birth alone but by merit. By capability. By the wisdom to understand that the crown is not a prize to be won, but a burden to be carried."
He turned back to the crowd.
"Which is why I will not name an heir today. I will not rush this decision. I will observe. I will deliberate. And I will choose the one among my children who is most worthy to lead Aerthos into the future. This I swear."
He gazed over the people gathered.
"This festival," he said, "is a reminder that even in the harshest winters, spring eventually returns. The flowers bloom. The sun rises. And Aerthos endures." He smiled, his eyes meeting his people's.
"This too shall pass. Better days are ahead. I promise you."
He took a step back, swaying slightly. The attendants moved forward, but again, he waved them away.
The crowd bowed, a wave of white flowing across the courtyard as thousands of heads lowered in reverence.
West Cardinal Ljudevit Mlinar stepped forward, his white robes catching the morning light. He raised his hands, his voice carrying across the square with the practiced cadence of a man who had performed this ritual countless times.
"Let us pray," he intoned.
"Let us give thanks to the Divine for this kingdom, for the flowers that bloom, for the peace we share. Let us offer our gratitude for the wisdom of our King, and for the promise of brighter days."
Heads bowed. Hands clasped. The crowd fell into a collective silence.
Jamie had already stopped listening.
Her attention was elsewhere.
During the King's speech, she had been watching the colors of his intent. The colors that radiated from him were warm. Soft. Gold and gentle blue and pale green. They pulsed with a steady rhythm, the colors of a man who truly believed what he was saying. He was not lying. He was not performing. He was an honest person, and he had touched the hearts of the people.
she focused elsewhere.
The revolutionaries were there, hidden among the crowd. She could feel their heat, their hunger for change. And there were those who opposed the revolution, their colors colder, harder, more rigid. Her gaze shifted to the balcony where the princes and their mothers sat. Her attention caught something far more interesting.
She noticed something else.
Her eyes moved toward the princes, toward their mothers and the colors surrounding them.
Ambition.
Fear.
Pride.
Desire.
Indifference.
Hopeful.
Cold.
Resigned.
the princes and their mothers were a tangle of conflicting intentions directed towards one another, a web of interconnected goals. The combination of colors radiating from the gathered royalty was... quite an interesting cocktail.
She tilted her head.
"Oh..."
A small smile appeared.
This festival, Jamie realized, was going to be a lot of fun.