Cost of the Crown (UNREVISED VERSION)

Periwinkle

Two more months passed and the people of Madara infiltrated the Orient. Their king is inside the walls of the Orient thanks to Sandra's weak rule.

Hans woke up in the castle with Sandra waving an envelope at him.

"I see your brother has sent you a message." Sandra smirked. "Do you wish I read it to you?"

"No thank you..." Hans rubbed his eyes as he took the envelope.

Sandra left with a smirk on her face. The moment her steps weren't so close, Hans opened the envelope to see a letter covered in brown stains. He noticed that the words were the same colour as the stains and he deduced that Eric did not use the same black ink that he'd use for his other letters.

"I wonder what he used." Hans murmured. He set aside his blanket then proceeded to the window with his letter. He felt chills down his spine as he read the letter. Eric was marching inside the walls of the Orient, leaving a trail of red over the once purple paths and it worried Hans for he knows that the person he cared about could be in the village, killed like a calf. While reading, he occasionally looked at the view of the villages from his window and how busy it looks. He sighs, thinking about both Eric and Maria.

As Eric's troop continue marching towards the castle, Sandra was in the court with the people and her ace, Clara.

"It's been seven months, still no decision?!" Sandra yelled as she slammed her hands onto the pedestal.

"Cassandra, understand that this is a fragile decision and it should be taken in seriously." Clara glared.

"Shut up Clara. We do not know when the other kingdoms will take this opportunity to attack! Every man, woman and child who doesn't live under a rock knows that King Cedric dies and so is his sister, Princess Maria. They will take this into their advantage and finally set our kingdom into flames since they couldn't do it when we had a ruler. Now tell me, is it not urgent for us to have a decision?" Sandra argued.

"I agree with Lady Cassandra..." counsel said.

"How in the mother'e name can you agree with her?! You all will put our lives in danger. She has not been a great queen since she took charge!" The head representative replied.

"I can't help but agree my lady..." Clara agreed. "You have not yet tended to any of the problems that you were tasked to solve. I did your job for you since the problems were not going to solve itself and if I did not help that we are handicapped by two royals."

"So what are you implying, Clara?" Cassandra eyed the ace.

"What Lady Clara is implying is, this matter requires more deliberation." The head representative replied.

"To cut things short, you are not eligble to be queen. I must suggest someone else to take the throne." Clara glared.

While they all debated inside the court, Feliz was looking at her memories one by one. They started with red.

The memory was red but it was clear who was who. Gold outlined every character and it felt nostalgic for Feliz. A king, slain on the battlefield as he defended his allies who were retreating. He died along with his right hand man. Red, on the golden desert and grief struck the castle. The date, August 31, kept on flashing in front of them. It was supposedly a special day after all.

The queen in the castle was getting worried with every envelope she received.

"Mom, where's dad? He promised to be here..." the princess asked.

"I know darling... He did promise to be back by your birthday... But you need to understand..." The queen said as she held her daughter's hands.

The doors of the castle opened. An injured herald was limping his way towards the queen as he held the crown of his king.

"My queen... The king... The kingdom... Danger..." He said as he caught his last breath. He dropped dead in front of the queen and the princess. His hand let go of the crown and sent it rolling to the queen's feet.

"M-mom..." the princess called...

Feliz's eyes widened at the girl. She held Cedric's hand as she trembled. "I am that girl?"

"Yes... You did not understand what was happening at the time." Cedric frowned.

The queen looked at the fallen crown silently as she trembled. Tears fell from her eyes continuously as she was at loss for words.

The eldest prince came from the library. He saw his mother crying and his sister was in shock so he called for her, "Maria!"

Maria looked towards his brother as she was on the verge of crying. He opened his arms, then Maria ran towards him. He hugged her and told her that everything will be alright.

"Maria, let's go to your room..." the prince held Maria's hand as they both went to her room.

As they stepped inside Maria's room, she started crying louder. The prince sighed and carried his sister to her bed.

"Cedric... Where's dad?" She asked her brother.

"He's gone to a better place... Someday we'll see him again..." Cedric told Maria.

"When can I see him?" She asked.

"I don't know... But someday... I'll tell you when I see him again..." Cedric smiled.

"Really?! You'll do that for me??" Maria smiled.

"Yeah... Good night... Happy birthday..." Cedric closed the lights then left the room.

Maria smiled then went to sleep. The moon was shining brightly on the castle as the stars lit up the kingdom. The queen saw all of these on the castle balcony as she looked over the town inside the walls.

"There's still hope..." She softly said then walked towards the throne room.

She approached a maid then she told her,"Call the royal knight."

The maid bowed down then left the queen to call the royal knight. The queen sat on her throne as she thought of a plan. Still her husband's crown resting on the king's throne.

"Eduard... Why did you leave?" She sighed, looking at the throne beside hers.

Footsteps echoed throughout the throneroom as she longed for her husband.

"My queen, you called." An armored man knelt before her.

"Yes... I did... Ready the troops, we will defend what is ours. I calculated the enemies' arrival at the strike of noon three days from now." The queen said.

"But Queen Victorina... Half of our troops are injured and the quarter are left dead. Who is left to rally?" The knight asked.

"Just trust me on this... Their king is armed with one of the mightiest magic in this world and so are we. Let's use it to our advantage." Queen Victorina said as she cracked her knuckles.

The knight nodded then he was dismissed. But before he took a step furthur from the throne, he heard Queen Victorina say, "Don't fret, I will lead the army."

The clock struck midnight after Queen Victorina dismissed the knight. She looked at her husbands crown, her green eyes filled with dread and anger. She put the crown on her husband's throne, next to hers before leaving for the kingdom treasure. The two crowns glowed as the colours transitioned to gold.

"This might take a while... Do you want to take a break?" Cedric asked.

"I don't think I need anything but my memories." Feliz told Cedric sternly.