The Prince of the Republic

Chapter Two

The morning felt as though it had come much too soon for Royal Milk Tea Cookie's taste. He had barely closed his eyes before the sun was shining through his stained sugarglass windows, casting shapes in colors almost as pretty as him all across his room.

Months of training had been grueling, remembering proper etiquette for dinners, the proper titles for each elder, how to greet lower-city citizens without seeming condescending... It was too much for a Cookie to bear!

But time had come and gone, and today would finally mark the day Royal Milk Tea Cookie was properly initiated into the Convocation of Elders as a peacekeeper between allied nations.

Clotted Cream Cookie and Financier Cookie (among a larger group of talented heroes) had just finished their intense venture between leaders of the Vanilla, Hollyberry, and Dark Cacao kingdoms, before fighting Dark Enchantress Cookie only to find that their opponent was none other than an illusion.

It was an incredible precedent to set, but Royal Milk Tea Cookie was sure he could live up to it.

Dressing in his best attire, Royal Milk Tea Cookie adorned himself in a blue velvet dress, with a white lace petticoat and lace accents across the skirt, a long white cape with a seashell clasp, in honor of his heritage as a Cookie of the sea, and white gloves and boots, with gold accents.

"Royal Milk Tea Cookie!" Oyster Cookie called from the bottom of the stairs. "We're going to be late if you don't finish getting ready in two seconds!" The silver and grey elder sounded exasperated, like due to all the preparations she had been dealing with as she readied the elders of the Convocation to accept her son into the oligarchy.

(It truly was a difficult task. After the argument between the many elders so many years ago, things were tense in the nation and it took several months for trust to be rebuilt between the elders. Mille-feuille Cookie and Custard Cookie were highly disliked by all of the other members due to their lack of guilt after attempting a selfish grab at power, but for the sake of the nation, the others forgave them.

After the forgiveness, it was brought to light that Oyster Cookie, much like Custard Cookie, wished to indoctrinate her son into the Convocation once he was old enough to understand what they all stood for. Facing backlash from some and support from others, Oyster Cookie held her ground, claiming that she would provide proof that there was no trace of nepotism in allowing her son to join the oligarchy, documenting every session of training for her son every month until he was twenty-one, old enough for his opinions to be fully-formed.

And here the pair was now. Having rightfully earned their way to the top once more.)

"I'm coming!" The Oyster heir called back, rushing down the hallway and sliding down the railing of the spiral staircase before landing flat on his backside at the base of the stairwell. "Oomf!" He puffed in pain.

"Very professional," Oyster Cookie remarked. "We're three minutes late. Hurry out the door before the elders start questioning my judgment!" Oyster Cookie ushered her son back onto his feet before pushing him out the door and into the street, where the pair began a brisk walk toward the center of the town.

Apart from discovering a plan from Dark Enchantress Cookie to return after making her way to Beast-Yeast, the venerable elders had discovered a plot amongst them, with Mille-feuille Cookie being the ringleader in a power-hungry cult, corrupting many orphan Cookies under the guise of being a religious group.

Very quickly Mille-feuille Cookie was exiled from the Convocation, imprisoned within a chamber that seemed immune to any destruction. Unfortunately, days later Mille-feuille Cookie had disappeared without a trace. The elders made no fuss about the disappearance but did warn allies to be on the lookout for any suspicious Cookies around the Republic.