NOVEL WEB Chapter 249: [Extra] Coronation of King Rian Azure
As times passed, things changed, and people entered new phases of their lives.
The old Duke Karl Blewitt was forced to relinquish his title after a bout of ill health and internal power struggles in the Blewitt family.
Florence and Hespera had children together.
Queen Aurelia and her queen consort Iris Helios had children together.
Pollux and Hadrian had children together.
Adrienne and Tierri had children together.
Alexius and Cassiopeia had children together—
King Edric suddenly realised just how many decades had passed when Alexius’s children were old enough to run up to him and call him “grandpa”.
He thought back to how he had been too busy when Rian and Alexius had been young—and look how they had grown up! (He would never admit that they were like him in many ways.)
Edric’s old friends (such as Leopold Aegean and Raoul Mauveine), one by one, were retiring, resting, holidaying, and spending time with their grandchildren. He was stuck listening to nobles arguing and reading lengthy legal documents.
He wanted to spend time with his grandchildren too and listen to them calling him “grandpa”. He didn’t want to be forced to tell them to leave because he had work to do and see that disappointed look on their faces.
Reluctantly, Edric examined what Rian (and Ayden and Alexius) had done.
Eventually, he mustered up the courage to speak with Mira. “It appears that Rian has finally become tolerable and barely acceptable. I shall graciously abdicate and allow him to become king. But heed my words, if he steps out of line, I’ll take over once more.”
Mira patted him on the hand. “I respect your choices, my dear. I welcome the opportunity to take a break and see the grandchildren. The ladies are also planning a cruise to the Hraun Islands, and we could visit Leopold in the Aegean fief…”
Edric felt a sense of relief. Mira’s words helped clear his doubts and bolstered his spirit.
Edric had Rian come in for a meeting. For his personal sanity, Mira was there as well.
“I’ve decided to pass the throne on to you,” Edric said.
“Oh? When?” Rian asked, no change in his expression.
Edric glanced at Mira. Mira gave him an encouraging look.
“In a few months,” Edric said.
Rian raised an eyebrow. “Is someone controlling you?”
Edric scowled. “If you don’t want to ascend then I’ll pass the position over to Alexius!”
Rian blinked. “Oh.” He looked at Mira.
Mira nodded, confirming the matter.
Rian’s eyes started to glow and the corners of his mouth curled up. “I won’t let you down!” His words were directed to Mira.
“I’m sure you’ll rule well,” Mira said gently.
Rian gave his Imperial Mother a hug. “Thank you.”
Edric pretended to be standoffish. However, when Rian approached him for a hug, he accepted it. “If you step out of line—” he warned.
Rian hugged him tighter. “Don’t worry, Imperial Father! Do you need help planning your post-abdication holiday?"
“That won’t be necessary, my dear,” Mira said before father and son could start squabbling.
Rian gave her another hug, and then hugged Edric again as an afterthought, before dashing out to find his husband.
Edric crossed his arms. “Hmpf, he thinks a hug makes up for his improper behaviour!”
Mira hid a smile. Who was the man who accepted his son’s hug?
After King Edric’s future abdication was announced, the Imperial Palace launched into preparations.
The level of gossip wasn’t high, for avoiding-treason-just-in-case reasons.
The Rosewood residents were outliers, as they were worried about a different matter: what that meant for their Marquis Rosewood. Would he stay as their Marquis? Would the title of prince consort supersede? Would Marquis Rosewood force them to vote for an acting-Marquis?
When they heard that Ayden Rosewood wasn’t going anywhere, many residents gave a sigh of relief.
(What they didn’t know was that Ren Xiyang had asked people in the Rosewood Group about whether he should step down; they gave him a resounding no!)
The abdication ceremony happened first.
King Edric handed the crown, ceremonial sword, ceremonial spell book and other kingly ceremonial items to the head of the church of the Saintess and the Prime Minister. He gave a speech and declared his abdication.
There was a week to appropriately celebrate King Edric and ‘mourn’ the end of his rule.
Then, there was the accession ceremony, in which Rian was formally proclaimed as sovereign by the Imperial Council.
The coronation ceremony itself happened several months later.
The coronation ceremony was steeped in tradition. From when it was held (a certain number of days after the former regent’s abdication or death) to where it was held (the Imperial Palace), to the schedule, the standing positions of key persons, and their clothing, this was all dictated thoroughly.
The main departure from tradition were the communication mirrors, which were set up to show the scene of the coronation across the kingdom and beyond.
On the day of the coronation, Rian was dressed in ornate and heavy attire reserved only for kings on special occasions.
Ren Xiyang, as the consort of the new king, was also dressed in ornate clothing reserved for male consorts.
At 11 am exactly, the coronation begun in the throne room of the Imperial Palace. Everyone present was dressed formally, almost all standing except for those who needed a floating chair.
Important dignitaries entered and were announced first: including the old king Edric, old queen Mira, Queen Aurelia and queen consort Iris, and King Firestone and Queen Firestone.
The choir sang as Rian and the procession behind him (which included Ren Xiyang) walked slowly into the throne room.
The head of the church and the Prime Minister stood at the far end, awaiting them.
The head of the church began: “Today, we are gathered here to witness the coronation of the new king of the kingdom of Sedaveria…”
The words of head of the church and the Prime Minister were serious and formulaic. Rian’s responses similarly followed the script as he solemnly vowed to serve and govern the kingdom.
The formal (boring) words of the coronation ceremony made Ren Xiyang sleepy. He kept awake by focusing on Rian.
On the outside, Rian was calm with a grave and powerful aura. On the inside, Rian was almost overflowing with excitement.
Rian accepted the royal robes, royal ring, the royal gloves, ceremonial sword, and the ceremonial spell book. As the head of the church of the Saintess crowned Rian, a pillar of light shone down upon him, enhancing his aura of kingship.
Step by step, Rian ascended the stage. He turned around, standing on front of the throne, and looked back down at those in the throne room.
“All hail King Rian Azure,” the Prime Minister said.
“All hail King Rian Azure,” the Sedaverians echoed.
“We pledge our allegiance to King Rian Azure.”
“We pledge our allegiance to King Rian Azure.”
“Marquis Ayden Rosewood, step forward,” the head of the church of the Saintess said.
Ren Xiyang stepped forward. He followed the script and was appointed as Duke Rosewood and the Prince Consort of King Rian. He had a new heavy robe draped on him and small crown placed upon his head. Then he ascended the stairs and knelt in front of Rian.
“I, Prince Consort Duke Ayden Rosewood, will be faithful and true and pledge my loyalty to you. Long live Your Majesty.”
“Arise, my consort.” Rian said, his eyes full of warmth.
Together, they stood side-by-side and looked across the throne room.
“Long live the king!” the Prime Minister said.
“Long live the king!”
“Long live King Rian Azure! Long live Prince Consort Duke Rosewood!”
“Long live King Rian Azure! Long live Prince Consort Duke Rosewood!”
The choir burst into song. The sound of cheers could be heard faintly from all the people gathered outside the Imperial Palace, watching via giant mirrors. Magical lights sparkled around the newly crowned king and prince consort.
Rian gave measured nods, acknowledging his new subjects.
Only Ren Xiyang knew just how hard Rian was suppressing his smile.
Following the coronation was a procession through the city, late lunch-afternoon tea at the Imperial Palace, and the court banquet at night.
Rian was the brightest person, both literally and figuratively. Ren Xiyang was always by his side.
The night passed and the new day—and era—arrived.
King Rian’s rule felt markedly different from King Edric’s. King Rian brought a new energy to the kingdom. He embraced change and new technology. He was almost always friendly, and never shy of showing his love to his consort.
(Together, they quietly changed the standards on desirable masculinity.)
King Rian showed his love of his consort in many ways, including through the roll-out of things that used to be solely available in the Rosewood fief.
Royal heralds were deployed across the kingdom to provide news to all citizens. King Rian regularly made an appearance during important events through the communication mirrors across the kingdom. Regular information updates helped create an air of expectation and desire for the many proposed changes, which in turn increased acceptance for new initiatives.
The old king Edric kept a close eye on Rian’s activities at first. But under the combined power of Mira and their grandchildren, Edric slowly let go of his tensions and learned to relax.
He played with his grandchildren. He went on holidays with Mira and brought back gifts for his grandchildren. He saw the forests and lakes and beaches of Sedaveria and thought about writing an autobiography (or having a biography written about him) commemorating his reign.
He taught his grandchildren and their friends how to duel. He took the train, Imperial class, in style. He attended social events at the Imperial Palace. He sat with his old friends and reminisced about the past.
Mira also welcomed her retirement. She believed that Ayden was a very capable person and had many capable people around him. (Rian, too.) The kingdom was in good hands.
Rian’s staff comprised of many nobles and commoners, mages and non-mages. One of the most well-known was Mr Dinan, who was Rian’s assistant then financial lead for many lucrative projects and the administrative lead for the association of future leaders.
Callum Dinan had joined when King Rian was still a young prince. His Highness had saved his sister and pulled his family out of poverty. He had changed their lives, and Callum was forever grateful to him. His sister slowly got better; eventually, she was able to go to school and join Prince Rian’s team of staff too.
Callum’s work had initially consisted of double-checking of calculations. Then, he had helped keep accounts for one of Prince Rian’s projects. Callum’s sharp merchant mindset slowly switched on and he started thinking about how to make more money for Prince Rian. Prince Rian was receptive to his tentative suggestions, which gave Callum confidence to suggest more ideas.
Now that Prince Rian had become King, Callum’s role was elevated, as he became the finance lead on several kingdom-wide projects aimed at boosting the economy.
The kingdom had so many moving parts. Changes that King Rian implemented seemed easy on the surface, but in reality, there was a lot of hard work in the background. Callum was proud to be part of King Rian’s entourage and he was proud to contribute to the kingdom.
Some contributors (heroes) had little to no fame.
Gary was the best manservant. He did good work and asked no extraneous questions (unless the Crown Prince/King wanted him to ask a question).
Gary was responsible for cleaning the king’s personal quarters. What did he see in those quarters? Why, nothing in particular. He held no judgement and no expectation. His face was calm whenever King Rian gave him bags of gold as a reward; his sparse comments were always to King Rian’s liking.
As for Gary’s personal life, he preferred not to tell outsiders. Rest assured that he was living a fulfilling life.
However, at least Gary had a name. King Rian had many Royal Guards; they were always surprised whenever Rian called them out by name, since they thought he didn’t know.
King Rian’s Royal Guards had suffered a lot over the years. All the attempted assassinations weren’t worth mentioning, those were easy to deal with. No, the problem was that King Rian never got rid of the habit of jumping out of the window! King Rian never grew out of disguising himself and escaping with Duke Rosewood! How could they do their job if King Rian kept doing such things???
Over time, the Royal Guards did gain some level of calmness. However, King Rian’s Royal Guards had to fulfil strict fitness and strength requirements. When they retired from being personal guards to Palace guards, new, fresh guards had to replace them. Thus, there was a fresh round of suffering for a fresh round of guards.
After their shifts, Rian’s Royal Guards and ex-Royal Guards sometimes gathered for a meal. They couldn’t say much, given their secrecy contracts. They mostly commiserated via knowing looks.
Meanwhile, some important personnel weren’t known at all.
Rian’s secret agents had seen much and done many things. They conducted surveillance in Sedaveria and beyond. They found sensitive information. They were involved in orchestrating the coup of Angio. They assisted Rian in his romantic pursuit of Ayden Rosewood. They were the ones in the implementing Rian’s adult-only business ventures.
These agents had ordinary cover lives; most of them were employed by Rian under different job titles, such as assistants, servants, guards, or staff. They had real cover jobs and serious undercover jobs.
Without these secret agents, many of Rian’s plans wouldn’t have been as effective.
They were unsung heroes. Their names may never be publicly attached to what they did, but their contributions were invaluable.
Mira: *pats Edric on the hand*
Ren Xiyang: *pats Rian on the head*
Rian: I win!
Edric: (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
Otto: I suffered the most!
Royal Guards: We beg to disagree. At least you have a name.
Secret agents: We don’t have names and we don’t appear in the background as often as the guards! We don’t even know each other so we can’t get together and commiserate!
One more chapter to go…!
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