ALGTS: 4

After speaking to Lord, Celestria was fortunate to escape having to see the fate of the five nobles. She stayed with their wives... no, their widows and their children. They were all crying, silently but each tear was full of infectious bitterness. She too felt their sadness. After all, her mother could have very easily been one of these women, and she and her brother like their children.⁣

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Ah, how unfortunate. When Celestria had spoken out last night, she had only wanted to protect her family. No one else mattered. But seeing the women weep and their children wailing, she thought that she wanted to protect them as well.⁣

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“I will do everything in my power to protect you. You and your children. Everything I can...” she grit her teeth, embracing the youngest woman. It was no longer just her and her family. It wasn’t just these widows and their children. It was the knights that guarded everyone. It was the bakers and the cobblers and the tailors and the maids and their families.⁣

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Everyone, she would do everything possible to protect those innocent people.

The days following the public execution of five nobles, Celestria spent all her time in her home. Whenever she saw her young brother, only seven years old, she would embrace him tightly. He allowed her to do so, because he too knew that any one of her embraces could be their last. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳, Celestria thought as she kept her arms around her brother. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳. When she pulled back and stared at Haelan’s round face, she whispered, “I’ll make sure you’re happy and safe, Hae. I promise.”⁣⁣

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That evening, Celestria prepared herself for an outing. Her father was worried when he saw her elegantly walking to the front door with a veil upon her hair. “Where are you going Celestria? You know it isn’t safe to be out and about nowadays.” Celestria looked at her father, her face calm and controlled. She had the same color eyes as he did, and yet she never had noticed how much softer his looked. “I am the one that suggested that the Lord of Demons be our King, father.” At the mention of Lord, her father drew a sharp breath.⁣⁣

“What do you mean by that...?” Celestria turned to look at the door, her eyes hardening.⁣⁣

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“Then it’s up to me to make him a king that can protect his people.”