Note:
This chapter is dedicated to Rhonda (Zzgirl). Thank you so much for gifting a spacecraft to this book yesterday. I was at a loss for words... and still, really don't know what to say. I hope this book wins the werewolf contest tomorrow so I can make you proud. xx
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"But would she really kill her own mother?" Sophie stared at Leland. There was a touch of uncomfortableness in her expression.
As the two of them sat outside, a cold wind blew past them and carried the voice of the happy lycan children and their guardian running along. This didn't seem like the best place to talk about it, but Sophie's gaze never strayed from her mate.
Leland half-wondered if Sophie would truly look at him differently if he had actually finished off Isolde back then. At that time, Isolde encouraged him to kill her to become the monster that he was… and he hesitated back then.
He didn't want to have second doubts anymore.
"Sophia, do you remember how we dealt with your horrible relatives in Hastings?" Leland glanced at her. Back then, Sophie married him for revenge and he did it as she asked.
"Yes, how could I forget about that, Leland?" A flicker of pain and mixed feelings appeared on Sophie's face. "I was so angry, so furious that they pushed me into the river and could have hurt my children."
"That's right." Leland's expression darkened for a moment at the memory. "We pay them for every horrible act they've done to us. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. If they commit a sin, they must atone for it."
Sophie bit down on her lip. "I… I sometimes think about them though. They were still my father's relatives. Did they really deserve to suffer in the streets? Was it too much? Was there still probably a better way to make them atone for it?"
"Sophia…"
"If all of us are always going to repay for every wrongdoing that another person commits to us." Sophie smiled sadly. "Our entire world would be filled with people who will always constantly fight among each other. We'd all be blind too."
Leland couldn't help but chuckle at the last part. However, he looked at his mate seriously. "I understand what you mean and you're thinking about forgiving them. They don't deserve it."
"If I'm filled with resentment and harbor constant grief, they won't even feel it." Sophie sighed. "I'm the only one who'll suffer and be plagued with thoughts about them."
"And yet if we didn't do what we did and punished the Limbergs… I'm sure that they would have hurt other people more, right?" Leland pointed out. "Not just you, Sophia."
Sophie took a deep breath and smiled uncertainly. "So that is where we start thinking that it's better off to kill them?"
"If these people are not dead, Sophia." Leland's voice was grave. "Who knows what else will happen? I should have finished off Isolde myself in order to assure that she wouldn't hurt anyone else."
"Like Eloise would kill her mother because she thought she was being held back?"
"Yes," Leland said. "Unfortunately, not all who give birth to children are meant to be parents."
Sophie agreed with his words. He was right. She had witnessed it far too often now."
***
Nicholas found himself staring blankly at the crowd of onlookers and yet he faked a smile. All of them were cheering for him, celebrating the sovereignty of Riga as he knelt down to receive the crown and finish the coronation ceremony at long last.
The one who was supposed to make him take the oath of coronation was his own father. There was no great church to take on the role of passage of sovereignty, instead, it was the royal family that reigned supreme.
On this occasion, the one who was going to precede the ceremony was going to be his mother. The queen's gaze was gentle and motherly, she forced herself to rightly crown her son despite her illness.
"Nicholas Hannenbergh, is Your Highness willing to take the Oath of Coronation?" Queen Marrianne spoke in a soft voice. If it weren't for the immediate silence of the crowd, nobody would have heard it.
Nicholas kept his head low. "I am willing."
"Will you solemnly promise and swear to govern the Kingdom of Riga and of your Possessions and the other Territories to any of them belonging or pertaining, according to their respective laws and customs?" Queen Marriane asked.
"I solemnly promise to do so."
"Will you use your power in the cause of Law and Justice, in Mercy, and to be executed in all your judgements?"
"I will."
"As it has happened for the past generations since the First King of Riga… I, Queen Marriane Hannenbergh, will grant, Crown Prince Nicholas Hannenbergh, the Sovereign Throne of Riga and appoint him as the new Ruler of the Realm."
Queen Marriane beamed as she took the crown held up from a pedestal and placed it on her son's head. The entire crowd exploded into celebration and cheers. Unlike the last time, there were no more incidents or accidents.
However, Nicholas felt numb.
He wasn't happy, sad or anything at all.
He may have become the King of Riga, but it was something that he always knew he'd have. He really just wanted this ceremony to be done, but there was that look in his mother's eye that made him swallow hard.
"I believe that His Majesty will be giving his first speech as the king of Riga." Queen Marriane announced to the crowd and smiled proudly.
Nicholas could have done the ceremony by himself if there were no more living parents. That was how the first king of Riga crowned himself when he lost both his mother and father during a war.
However, this time, his mother was expecting him to say something during his coronation speech. Nicholas glanced alongside the edge of the castle's stage where the nobility sat and watched from up close.
He saw the expression's of the highest Duke to the lowest Lord as they stood and clapped for his coronation. There were a lot of royal ambassadors and delegates as well who were also around to witness this event.
Lady Karenina and her father, Viscount Verhoven, all of them had their eyes on him.
Nicholas saw them as nothing more but people who all wanted something out of him. However, if there were people who always expected and demanded a lot from him, it would always be his own parents.
The new king, who didn't feel like a king at all, stepped out into the center stage.
"I take my place as the new ruler of the realm. However, the task of ruling the kingdom of Riga is a daunting task that no man, even a king, can do by himself alone and thus…"
It was an engagement proposal.
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From Missrealitybites:
I know you are all rolling your eyes at that last sentence. Hang in there XD
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m