Heart of Gold (Fall of SGE AU)

Golden King

Okay I am so sorry for the song choices, but I go by the vibe I get while writing the chapters. Also, I am warning that this chapter has some things that could put people in a bad state of mind. 

An opportunity eventually came for Midas' dream to come true. There was a weak kingdom falling apart. The monarch had no heirs and he was about to abdicate. There was danger of a minor war as many nobles wanted the crown for themselves.

Midas took a risk and left Maidenvale to ingratiate himself to this other king. He soon became in charge of the finances here, and especially dealt with the treasury. Midas played dumb and ignorant with the others, but he knew what he was doing. 

He pretended to be the king's closest  and most trustworthy friend and when the abdication finally took place, Midas was proclaimed the next king. 

This led to great scandal in the Woods and rebellion from the nobility.  Newspaper headlines read, "Clown Takes the Crown. " However, with money, Midas was able to silence them all. Not that he was happy to part with it, but what had to be done had to be done. 

In the end, he became quite popular. A majority of people liked him well enough, but concealed an enormous amount of pity for him. To the public and even to many of his attendants, he appeared vain, petty, and even downright foolish. It was a surprise how he even made it this far at all. The common people thought Midas was pretty harmless and certainly not evil, but they were unhappy about taxes and Midas' seeming carelessness and apathy about serious poverty issues they had in general. And they had heard rumors that their king would spend whole hours counting his coins.

Midas kept up good relations with other kingdoms, especially encouraging a healthy amount of trade. His golden touch was useful for once. Kyma's father eventually forgave him and became one of his closest allies.

At first, he was proud of himself. He had come a long way from being a nobody from Gavaldon. But then, the unhappiness came back. The feelings that never seemed to leave no matter what. In fact, it had hit him then that he had thousands, if not millions, of people looking up to him, in reality a horrible person that shouldn't even exist. His life would be full of meetings, parties, and another hell. Maybe an even worse one than school. Besides, he felt like a total stranger. There was nobody he knew nor really cared to know. He knew that if anyone knew who he truly was, they would hate him. Maybe if Rafal was still alive, he would hate him too. After all, he was almost a god compared to a nobody Reader. At least not value him as much as he valued Rhian or even James. He even gave a second glance to James, he cried for losing James, but not me. Betrayed me without a tear. What is it about him that I don't have? What does Rhian have that makes him worthy for Rafal to sacrifice everything, and even die, but I don't?

It was with this in mind that he asked Rufius to work in his kitchens instead of Foxwood.

"But my bakery is flourishing!" Rufius griped. "What else am I going to do here?"

"If you want, you can just start a new bakery here. Or you can put your skills to good use because I have millions of parties, balls, and events. Besides, don't you have well-trained workers, any way? And there's always annual visits to see how things are."

"Fine," Rufius conceded. Over time, Rufius became more than merely a baker. He became the main attendant and eventually a courtier following Midas around and having to serve his every whim. It was comical to see overemotional  and clumsy Rufius in such a high position, even wearing embroidered coats and golden fibulas. Surprisingly, he endeared himself to all, even the most snobbish of the aristocrats. And nobody denied that his bread and pastries were well-done.

Midas made his capital "Midas City" and he had a new castle built. It was magnificent and one of the most beautiful things in the  Endless Woods.  The river could be seen from the highest towers, and the gardens were verdant, lush, and lovely. The rose garden was Midas' favorite for some reason he couldn't quite place, and he shut it up from pubic view. It was his place to think and be alone. It was actually where he could have the slightest peace. Only the people he allowed were able to go inside, and he hardly allowed anybody to go in anyway.