The East had been set aflame in the course of a single night, and none could stop the raging flames anymore. The human prince's heartfelt coronation speech had sparked a firestorm of discussion amongst those who heard what he had asked of the people of the East.
It was taken as a wake-up call for many, but there were some who still could not take what the prince had said to heart. They were beholden to their dead kin, unable to let go of their burden, their duty despite what they had heard that night.
They understood. But even so, they could not forsake everything that had been lost to the flow of time. These hard-boiled elders knew that the young prince had spoken truth, but it was not the truth they had sworn themselves to. To let go would mean letting go of everything that had defined their generation and that scared them.