Monarch's Rebirth: Chapter 17

Many started throwing flowers in the midst of cheering. Many colourful flowers that are in many different types and forms. The hues of all the flowers mixed together to create a mess of dye on the roads. I hope the construction company doesn't mind.

"So many people are cheering us on! This is so much fun! I love parades!" She exclaimed. "It's nice to have people cheer for you, isn't it? It's even better when it's a whole nation." I told her through telepathy.

"It really is! I wish these opportunities would come more often!" She replied back.

The parade would go through pretty much the entire city. We would be going to the graveyard where my parents are buried. I questioned the place but I thought for a moment about it and came to the conclusion it wouldn't be so bad to give a speech so close to my parents' bodies.

The flowers just kept on coming in countless numbers. It was quite overwhelming but I kept smiling and waving through it. Amelia climbed onto my head and started to wave and smile with me. She was having a blast in the parade while I was thinking of what to do during the speech.

We turned a corner and were near the centre of the city. People from houses were now cheering and the decorations seemed to have become even better as we get to the centre.

"Papa! The decorations all look so pretty! So many lanterns and designs!" She exclaimed. "They really are! They were all done by the people too. We had no hand in this at all." I replied back to her.

Alexander came close to me once more to speak. "Parades are fun, aren't they?" Alexander shouted through the crowds cheering.

"They are! I wish my father was here though." I replied to him.

"Your father is proud of you I'm sure of it! He must be proud of a son that is willing to help his people no matter how arbitrary the requests and work is." Alexander told me.

It felt quite special coming from Alexander, someone known to be cold and harsh on everyone. It seems that I did manage to thaw his cold and stern heart after all. It will be an accomplishment I'll take to the grave!

I recognized the road we were on right now. It was the same road where I caught the young boy from stealing. I wondered what he was doing now at a time like this. I wish he would be cheering me on with his family and holding nothing against me. Youngsters are quite unpredictable.

Nevertheless we paraded through the city with flowers being thrown at us from the sides and an ear deafening cheer coming from the same sides. I was getting quite tired of the cheers but I couldn't just stop them.

"How long is this going to go on for? I'm getting tired of it, papa!" Amelia asked, also being tired of the constant cheering.

"We're nearly done, dear. Just around the corner and we would be at our destination." I told her, hoping to keep her spirits up. The cheering won't stop but at least I can calm them when I do the speech.

We turned the corner and found a stretch of road with florist shops. They were all sold out of flowers and only had a few potted plants left on display. This kingdom is scary.

Amelia looked at the empty flower stores and became amazed just like me. "They bought all the flowers!? These people are insane!" She exclaimed.

"Talk about having pride. Nonetheless it's for us and I'll take this gesture with open arms!

In the midst of the crowd I recognized a familiar face. A face I thought I'd not see again. The familiar brunette hair that covered her left eye. She hid underneath the shade of her store as we went past.

I looked at her while going past and she stared back. Our eyes met each other but she looked away quickly. I give a quick smile before turning around as well and facing the front.

"Who was that? You seemed to know her." Amelia asked, skeptical of who that was."

"No one, to be honest. It's just someone I met once and I remember." I explained to Amelia, hopefully easier to explain to her than to Alexander..

"O~h, what's her name?" She still asked.

I sigh and think about what I should say. "Kathlyn. Kathlyn Watson is her name. She's just a florist that I met before going to war." I told her.

"Oh. I see! She looks really pretty! I wanna meet her!" Amelia exclaims.

"Maybe during the festival." I told her while rubbing under her chin.

We finally reached the podium which was setup right outside the cathedral. The cathedral had the graveyard right next to it and so it was made here.

The crowd slowly gathered as we got off the horse. Felix takes our horses and ties them behind. While walking up the stairs I turned to see the crowd that gathered and I was shocked to see how many people arrived. I assumed just over the tens of thousands but this looked more than just that many. This looked like an entire nation was here!

Alexander also saw the crowd and became astonished. "A-Artorius… is this normal…?" He stuttered.

"I'm not sure myself.." I take a deep breath. "Maybe this is normal."

We walked onto the stage and we could see the crowd for miles on end. It was quite cramped and covered pretty much the entire capital. I was quite nervous by now and even Amelia was trembling by the size of the crowd. I could feel her body shake while she sat on my shoulder.

Felix also walks up the stairs and looks at the crowd. He was also shocked for a moment but did not react. No one reacted as we did not want to seem nervous.

I took a deep sigh and closed my eyes. I imagined the battlefield once more. The slaughtering I did going from town to town, city to city. The massacre that I did singlehandedly and the last moments I shared with Lukas. It all came back to be in picture perfect memory.

I opened my eyes and looked at the massive crowd that were waiting for me to speak. They all stopped cheering and celebrating and awaited my speech.

"Citizens that have gathered here today. As king I am proud to see so many faces in the crowd. Rich, poor, old, young, all have gathered here in front of me as I give this speech. This is the official declaration of war between the Aberdeen kingdom and Faunus kingdom has ended and the diplomatic ending would soon take place."

The crowd erupted into an euphoric cheer. Everyone shouted as I declared the end of the war but I was not finished with the speech.

"Many of you have lost family in this war. Friends or loved ones that you cared so much about. They were all buried with respect and would be immortalized in history as protectors of this land from evil. King Lukas and my family had quite a long history but in the last moments I shared with him we agreed on one thing, the end to this century long conflict. The saga that started with my grandfather and has continued to me. We both have agreed on making this the last chapter and page. Now we will flip open a new book and start writing a new story."

The crowd chattered amongst themselves as if it's wrong to honour a king after his death.

"Nevertheless we are going to celebrate the victory with pride and joy! Let our old stories and tales be put behind us and us humans in the Rigel empire celebrate like the brothers and sisters we are. To those who have lost someone in the battle… I apologise. I tried my best to fight this war alone but I could only get so far with my horse. It's a shame that we lost many in the battle, may their souls rest in peace and their families remember them for centuries to come.

A moment of silence was held for the fallen soldiers. I felt ashamed as a king to have casualties in the war on my side. Even if I lost a significantly smaller portion than Lukas, a life is a life and I wished to protect them all.

"With all that being said, I hope you all can forgive me of my past actions and look at me in a new light. I tried my best to fight this war on my own and with minimum casualties. I promise this kingdom to be a pacifist and safe nation. It will thrive under my administration, thank you."

The crowd once again erupted into a cheer as I walked down from the podium. Felix and Alexander followed behind with Felix. Amelia had garnered quite the attention too since she stood out like a sore thumb on my shoulder.

"Felix, what else do we have now?" I turned around and asked him. "We can pay respect to King Theo if you wish to." Felix replied back,

I looked at Alexander and thought for a moment. "Sure, let's go."

We walked over to the graveyard that was next to the cathedral. It always impressed me of the size of this entire graveyard. The size of this entire capital is quite astonishing, I wonder how big the capital of the empire is.

As we entered the graveyard I felt the same as when I entered the day before the war. The same heart squeezing feeling that I felt.

"Is everything okay?" Alexander asked, seeing me in distress.

"I'm… alright… It's just a bit difficult seeing their graves." I replied.

"Papa! Are you alright?" Amelia exclaimed, also concerned.

"It's okay. I'm okay." I said softly through telepathy.

We slowly walked over to their graves and halted just a few metres away. I took off my crown and let the moment of silence start.

Amelia gets down from my shoulder and bows down in front of their graves.

The silence went on for sometime and I thought about the war one last time. I thought about Lukas and his last wishes. My heart felt heavy but I took a deep breath to calm down.

"Right. Let's have some fun."

We turned around to take our leave. It was time to look past the wars and other issues and celebrate the glory that I had on the battlefield.

I smiled and looked to my right at Alexander. "Let's have some fun. We have the entire day and we can do whatever we want."

Alexander gave a cheeky smile before facing me. "Where do we start?" He asked with a big smile on his face. "Let's just start from wherever. First let's leave our horses."

Felix went to untie the horses while we walked back to them. Amelia floated onto my shoulders and hung on. "Don't start floating around in public, a floating red fox is something I don't want to see in the news tomorrow." I lectured her.

"Okay~!" She exclaimed.

I mount Blizzard and get ahead of the rest before they could even mount their horses. I was not in a rush but I felt like just leaving them behind for a bit.

I gathered quite the crowd around me but they did not bother me as they were all too busy celebrating. I had quite a lot of people stare and point out at Amelia which she noticed as well. "Papa… a lot of people are staring and pointing at me… I feel creeped out!"

"It's okay. You will get used to it soon enough. You're on the shoulders of a king after all." I reassured her.

"O-okay." She muttered under her breath.

Some time had passed and Alexander finally caught up. "Why leave us behind!" He exclaimed.

"Not sure to be honest. I just wanted to leave Blizzard and have fun at the festival."

"People are questioning what is on your shoulder. Is it okay?" Alexander asked me as we trot through the crowds of people. "I'm not all worried about it. It's expected since you don't see a crimson coloured fox everyday."

Alexander fell silent after and we continued through the city in silence.

Felix suddenly comes closer to me and asks, "How will you celebrate? As a king you will just gather all the attention. Isn't it going to be difficult?"

"Well I can't just sit indoors and do paperwork all day. It's my victory and everyone except me celebrating seems wrong, doesn't it?"

"You aren't wrong."

We made it to the palace after quite the difficult journey through the crowd. Taking different routes to not be caught up in the crowd. Nevertheless we made it and Felix took Blizzard back to the stables.

A gentle breeze always blew past in the courtyard of the palace. There is always a breeze that flows here constantly. It was mostly due to the palace being at a higher altitude and being over the walls of the city.

"I noticed something. You were smiling at someone in the crowd, weren't you?" Alexander asked as I took in the cool air.

I was surprised he even noticed that. "You did? You have some good eyes. It was not really someone special, just someone I talked to for a few minutes." I replied.

"Who was it~" Alexander asked once more in a more annoying way.

I sigh and get ready for what's to come. "She's a florist. I met her in the graveyard the day of the war. We talked for a few minutes but I left because it was getting late."

Alexander giggles as I explain to him how we met. "I see. Well I have something else to ask."

"Go ahead. Ask."

"What happened in the realm with the God of Death? I'm curious how someone like you acted with a God."

It was an interesting question now that I think about it. I never really showed respect to Mori, even going as far as to call him by his name rather than a title.

"Arrogant is a good way to put it. We had a really odd connection between us. I knew he was a God and he knew I was a mortal, yet when I acted with arrogance he let it slide. I'm wondering why he did this but I knew my limits on how much of a prideful mortal I should be,"

Alexander seemed unfazed by what I told him. I acted like a brat in front of a God. "I imagined something like this to happen. I wouldn't have believed you if you told me this but you have proof. Your story matches up with the dragon and everything else. There must be something you're hiding from everyone."

I smiled at him as he said that. He wasn't wrong. I would've admitted to being from another world or life but I felt it was something I cannot reveal.

Our conversation was cut short as Felix came back from the stables. "We can carry on with the celebration, my lord."

A small smile breaks out from my lips as Felix comes back. "Right then, let's have some fun." I said out loud.

"Let's go! I want more food!" Amelia exclaimed while pumping her paw into the air.

"How do you balance on my shoulder so easily? It's quite surprising even when my hands move around while walking." I was curious how she had such good balance.

She looked confused and thought for a moment. "It's quite easy for me. I just grab onto your shoulders gently and I can balance."

"Is that so? You have quite the control over your body to hang on."

Outside the palace was quite the sight to behold. The entire city had turned into a festival with simple and colourful lanterns, pop up shops that sell everything from food to expensive artifacts. It was like being in a yearly festival where the entire city turns into a playground.

Alexander and Felix both marvelled at the busy streets full of people. I realised that there are a huge number of different races as well. There were dark elves who had grey-ish skin and red eyes, forest elves who had pale skin and a slender build, beasts from different tribes such as the wolf tribe and the avian tribe. A huge diversity of race.

We could only be astonished for so long till we gathered the attention of people as well. It was inevitable but I couldn't stop this from happening, no one could.

We unsurprisingly got surrounded by a mob of people. Many were asking questions and such but I could not hear any of them due to how loud most were being.

Amelia barely hung on to me and nearly fell off. I was scared I would lose her or she would fall and get trampled in the mob of people. By a stroke of luck some guards came to push away the mob that surrounded us.

"Do you need protection, sire?" One of the guards asked me.

"I'd rather not have a forcefield around me, thank you." I told him off.

The guards went back to their positions as they were still on duty. I felt bad for them as they are still on duty during a festival. Must be hard for them to not spend time with their family and be standing around.

"Should we send them all back home?" I asked Felix to see his opinion.

"We can if you wish to. I will notify them if that's what you desire." Felix replied back.

I smile and nod at Felix. He understands and leaves to notify the guards of my decision.

Alexander walks up to me with a curious look on his face and says, "It's a smart choice but wouldn't theft be higher?"

"It's alright. Felix understood that I'm not sending all of them home. There will be some that stand."

"How can you both understand each other so well?" Alexander asked.

I had no answer to the question so I just looked at him and thought. "Answer me!" He exclaimed

"I don't know." I told him before turning around and leaving.

Alexander huffs and lets the question go. "I guess I'll never understand a king."

"Let's get some food from that stall. I'm quite hungry." I told Alexander.

Alexander agrees and comes with me to one of the stalls selling skewers and other food items. I was looking at the skewers as they looked quite tasty.

"Papa! I want this!" Amelia exclaimed while pointing at the skewers.

"Sure, I was deciding on them too." I said out loud which confused the shopkeeper.

Alexander stares at the food thoroughly as if he was calculating the calories in the food. I pop him out of his thought bubble when I realise he's been staring for too long. "Just pick what you want! I'm the one paying anyway." I scolded him

"Alright, fine! A skewer as well I suppose." Alexander said while scratching his head.

I was surprised how soft he had become. At first he did not even smile in public but now he was acting all human and natural. Strange.

I handed Amelia one of the skewers which was too big for her. She somehow managed to hold it with her mouth and start chewing on the tender skewer meat.

"Let me hold it for you. It will be easier." I told her while taking her skewer from her mouth.

She hung onto the skewer with her life and did not want to let go. "It's okay~ I can eat it on my own!" She says as she barely hangs on to the skewer.

I shake her off the skewer and let her climb onto my shoulder once more. "That will be five silver coins, sire." The vendor asks as I deal with Amelia's shenanigans.

I take out my coin purse and hand him the said amount. I bought one extra so when Felix would come I could hand it to him.

"Is the other one for me?" Amelia said with sparkling eyes looking at the two skewers in my hand.

I held the skewer she was eating near her so she could eat. "No, this one is for Felix. Be happy with yours."

"Okay~!" She said while chewing through the skewer.

I took a bite of the skewer and felt the taste explode in my mouth. The meat was tender and well prepared and the skewer itself was fresh and hot. The vegetables on the skewers are well done as well, it was not too burnt or too raw, just the right amount. The seasoning on this was the perfect amount too!

"These skewers are amazing!" I said while devouring the rest of the skewers. Amelia also did not hesitate in eating up the entire thing in just mere seconds.

I turned back to see where Alexander was and to my surprise he was buying more. I laugh seeing how much he loved the skewers that he would go for seconds.

Felix comes back after notifying the guards of the day off. I handed him the skewer which he took a bite of and also loved. "Oh my, these skewers are amazing!"

I smiled and pointed towards Alexander who was stuffing his mouth with skewers. Felix turns around to see Alexander with a mouthful and we both start laughing.

I hand him a gold coin to pay the vendor and be done with the skewers. Alexander catches it and places it on the vendor's table before coming to us.

"Well, where to next?" I asked Felix since he had seen the area.

Felix takes the lead and makes us follow him. "Let's get deeper into the middle since that's where most of the best shops are."

We followed Felix and looked around the area for shops we are interested in. We walked past Wilkin's store which was packed to the full! From the corner of my eye I also catch Vincent in the bustling pub. Seems like he got the job.

Felix stopped abruptly and we got confused seeing this. "I suppose we can split up from here. If you both wish, that is."

I pondered if we should split up and came to the conclusion that we should. I'd like to look around the place with Amelia. It's mostly due to the fact I was gathering more and more attention which would make the enjoyment a bit more dull than it should be.

"Felix, stay with Alexander. I'll go alone with Amelia." I spoke out.

Alexander looked at me as if I just betrayed him. "Why? Let's just stay together." He said, slightly angry from my decision."

"You might gather less attention than me. It will be much more entertaining without being swarmed by a crowd. Just standing here we've already gathered a crowd." I told him as I pointed out at the crowd of people that surrounded us.

Alexander looked around and saw the people stare which made him nervous. "I-I see… Well then, have fun alone, I suppose." He said before taking off with Felix.

I sigh and look around me. The crowd only noticed me and Amelia and didn't even try following the other two.

"Being a king really is annoying sometimes…"