Nicholas realized it was better to get this coronation over with so he could finally move past it. "Alright, mother. I will do this for the sake of the kingdom and our sake as well."
"I'm proud of you, son." Queen Marianne smiled and yet her eyes suddenly became misty.
"Mother…" Nicholas touched her arm. He could tell she was feeling nostalgic and sad because her husband was not around to witness this important event.
"I know that your father would have also been thrilled to see this day come. He was never the best at expressing love, but please know that he did. That was why he was so hard on you," she said.
Nicholas felt his heart suddenly ache at those words and he gently offered his mother a handkerchief. He grew impatient with this woman standing beside him, yes, and he had hated his father.
However, he wouldn't be here if not for them.
Before the two royals could go outside however, the door quickly opened and revealed a hooded and undistinguishable man. "Your Majesty, Your Highness! Lycans have entered the gates of the city."
The Royal Lycan Hunter prevented the Crown Prince and Queen from leaving his chamber and told them to stay put. However, the Queen's expression immediately became haunted and she staggered back as if hit by a terrible slap in the face.
"L-Lycans?!" Horrified and petrified by the news, Queen Marianne stumbled back and was fortunately caught by her son. Traumatic memories flooded Queen Marianne's mind as she remembered her poor son who got kidnapped by them when Nicholas was just a young boy.
She didn't want Nicholas to see any of them and trigger his memories. Who could guarantee that the crown prince's memory wouldn't come up to the surface if he saw the lycans?
No, the queen didn't want to take any risk.
"Ahh…."
Nicholas caught the queen before she fell. However, he quickly passed her on to the Royal Lycan Hunter's arms. He felt his blood pound at the sudden news and he heard the screams of the residents of Livstad outside.
Panic quickly spread and entered the city center. The shouts of his people angered Nicholas and he remembered the news that came when his father was reported dead. The late King William was grasping his lycan-slaying dagger back then.
The memory taunted him sorely and incited the crown prince to make a move.
"Stay here, mother," Nicholas said. He gave the royal hunter a look and then proceeded to shut the door behind them. He rushed out of the hallway and could see numerous soldiers, guards and hunters all moving out to interlope with the attackers.
"Nicholas!" Queen Mary's cries echoed loudly in his rooms.
He could still hear his mother's cries, but Nicholas felt nothing but cold and sheer determination overcome him. All of his guards, soldiers and hunters were flooding out the doorway of the castle.
The young prince felt a faint memory rekindle back in his head. Memories of when his father harshly trained him to learn how to use a sword and dagger… back then, Nicholas was a disappointment to his father.
However, now, Nicholas felt like his senses were sharp, his reflexes quick as he quickly snatched a sword from one of the slower soldiers and finally made his way out into the heart of Livstad.
Left and right, there was commotion in the streets and he could see numerous innocent civilians running away and trying to escape the wrath of the monsters. These lycans were already transformed.
Great-sized feral wolves descended on men, women and children alike. Commoners received the worst of the brunt of the attack as they were left in the open streets, whereas the others were in more secure places.
Nicholas could see that the nobles who stayed close to the castle were already entering to hide. A mother was trying to lift her child up towards the walls and crying out, but nobody paid any heed.
Among them, he even saw Karenina and her father shuddering away in fright. The man dragged his daughter into the safety of the castle and left the commoners and helpless people to the open attacks of the lycans.
"Your Highness!" cried out the citizens and nobilities who saw him.
Nicholas felt his heart become enraged and he leapt across the castle's foyer and descended into the streets of Livstad. With a sword in his hand, the crown prince stepped forward and met his foes.
He knew that he needed to find the strongest lycan, their leader and vanquish them.
Around him were fleeing civilians, some royal hunters and soldiers fighting amidst the crowd. A feral lycan rushed past Nicholas to attack a family lagging behind and he stabbed them quickly with a sword.
Blood gushed out and the lycan somehow threw him a confused look, but he didn't pay it any heed. Nicholas pulled his sword out and ventured forward. He avoided soldiers trading blows with lycans, ordinary people and fought against the invaders.
Back when they had killed William Hannenbergh, the Lycan Pack had taken advantage of the darkness to conceal them and outnumbered the group that were with the King.
Now it was obvious that this seemed like a suicide attack. Attacking in broad daylight was still a great feat, but Nicholas felt it in his bones that his people, the kingdom of Riga would vanquish them.
The bloodshed and the sight of innocent people littering the streets now fueled Nicholas with anger. Without paying any heed to his own safety, Nicholas engaged further and further away from the castle.
There were fewer soldiers and hunters to guard his back, but Nicholas didn't care at all. Somewhere along the infighting inside of Livstad, the crown prince finally saw a lone lycan standing at the back and protected by some lycans.
Nicholas expected the Alpha to fight at the front of the battlefield, but all he could see was an elderly lycan, whose fur was ashen gray and with yellow eyes communicating with his men.
"Go forth!" the elderly lycan roared and encouraged the lycans to venture forth towards the city. "They might outnumber us, but we are stronger! Better! Let us end this now!"
Nicholas grasped his sword tightly in his hand and lifted it. Without another word, he aimed it at the elderly lycan and threw it towards him. Instead of the lycan dying however, some other lycan got impaled instead.
The elder lycan, Brin's eyes widened and then quickly met the gaze of Nicholas. He was confused for a moment with his nose but looking at the young man's appearance made him remember everything clearly.
Alpha Leon once bit a young prince's neck and turned them into a lycan as a gift. Back then, Isolde was not among the Blood River Pack and was focused on torturing Leland, but Elder Brin remembered it and couldn't help but find it ridiculous.
Brin laughed and pointed at Nicholas.
"Get him! Once we have his head, the kingdom will be ours!"
Since Nicholas' weapon was thrown aside, he was weaponless. The crown prince gritted his teeth and started retreating back to join the rest of his royal soldiers and hunters.
A lycan pounced at him, but with strength that he didn't know he had within him, Nicholas threw the lycan back to his companions and ventured backwards. The royal hunters and guards pushed forward and continued with the engagement.
It took several hours of harsh fighting, a great number of deaths on both sides before the remaining lycans made their retreat and the royal army became victorious at a heavy price.
It was all over.
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