Chapter 2: New Leadership
The hallway to the throne room was dark and cold. The windows and curtains were shut. The only lighting sources came from the dim light from the lamp on the wall.
Princess Amelia should be frightened, but she had to tell herself over and over again that she will brave herself to face the situation.
For her brother, she had to take this dark and cold path.
Her nose wriggled as the smell of burning oil lamp wafted to her nose. She never knew that the hallway would be this dark and cold.
How did her brother walk through this same hallway every day when he had to attend a meeting with their ministers or nobles?
The Princess hastened her pace when she saw the young adviser's silhouette standing at the entrance. She could see how his gaze softened when their gaze met. Amelia made an abrupt stop in front of her and suddenly, the footsteps behind her too came to an end.
"Greetings to Your Highness Princess Amelia," the young adviser, Damian Chase, bowed.
Amelia moved her body slightly and glanced at the entourage behind her. A line of maidservants and guards trailed after her as they wait for her instruction.
Then, she returned to the adviser and asked, "How was the situation inside?"
"They were briefed on the situation and now they were debating on the situation," Damien said and hesitated. "Your Highness, have you make up your mind? Are you sure that you want to do this?"
Amelia poked her head into the hall to get a better view of what was going on inside where a group of men was talking and discussing among themselves.
Once the news of the king's disappearance spread, the Princess had summoned over the other nobles to gather and discuss the future of the kingdom.
Straightening up her pose, Amelia then spoke softly, "I would not be here if I have not made this decision." She tried to be brave but was frightened of the implication of her decision at the same time.
Damian watched the Princess for a few seconds longer before he nodded. "Understood." A warm smile curled on his lips. He then leaned forward to whisper, "Your Highness, always remember, I will be beside you no matter what. Everything will be alright."
"Thank you," Amelia smiled weakly. She drew a deep breath and turned around, striding into the assembly hall with her fake confidence with Damian was following closely behind her.
The voices gradually stopped as she walked into the room.
Amelia was fully aware of how their gazes were on her. Although the men were briefed of her attendance during this morning assembly this time, the nobles could not stop but to stare at her curiously.
"Greetings to Your Highness, Princess Amelia," the Marquis of Hemi, Neill Speedwell, was the first to take the initiative to greet her. And soon, the others began to follow.
Amelia looked at some of the familiar faces and nodded. Then, she sat down gracefully on the winged chair on the right side of her brother's throne before she gave the young adviser a nod, a signal to let him proceed as planned.
Adviser Damian spoke something and soon the morning assembly began.
"Your highness," Viscount Ferik spoke. "I have dispatched the soldiers to search for His Majesty, the king everywhere. But none of them are having luck. I'm afraid that continuing the search for the king would be a waste of our source."
"A waste?" Amelia suddenly snapped at his choice of words.
The others bowed his head. Viscount Ferik had burly build and formidable aura, but at this time, he could not help but cower under the Princess's penetrating gaze.
"We are sending soldiers out to look for His Majesty, the King," Amelia continued. "Your king! How dare you say something like that?"
"But your highness," Baron Zato spoke "It has been days that the king went missing. Who knows what happened to him and his bodyguard in the woods. Perhaps we could declare him as de—."
Amelia shot another menacing glare to the elderly man. "My brother is alive! I knew that he is alive somewhere!"
"How could he abandon his people if he is still alive?" the Marquis spoke, displeased. "Your highness, you may not notice how serious this situation is for you were not much involved with the country affair. But this country could not go on without a king. The people would panic and suffer as the consequences."
Amelia leaned back to her chair and glanced at the adviser beside her. She watched him nodded encouragingly and recomposed herself. She returned her gaze to the nobles and said, "What are you suggesting, Marquis?"
The nobles turned to look at each other before Viscount Ferik spoke again, "Your highness, new leadership is required to calm the people. His Majesty is someone without an heir. Therefore, I'm suggesting that we should appoint a new king—an acting king to run the country."
Amelia swallowed, trying to muster her courage before she spoke of what she had discussed and rehearsed with the young adviser.
"I think, the Marquis of Hemi is the perfect man for this job," Viscount Ferik continued before the Princess could say a word.
Amelia paused. She peered towards the Marquis and watched him smiling in approval at what Lord Ferik continuous praise at his merits.
She had asked the young adviser of what will happen to the Noa Kingdom if she had refused to step in as the King's substitute. The adviser had told her that there were two men who would claim the throne: the Marquis of Hemi or the Duke of Jinan.
As the Duke was not presented during this meeting, of course, the Marquis was favored. According to Damian, the Marquis had a lot of supporters.
Amelia turned to look at Damian beside her and saw him nodded.
"No," Amelia cut the men from continuing their praise to the Marquis.
"No?" Lord Ferik blinked. "Your highness, what do you mean by that? Perhaps you have your candidate to step up as an acting king?"
"I will step up as an acting king," Amelia announced.
The hall grew silent and five seconds later, the nobles began to whisper words of their disagreement at her bold idea.
Amelia grasped the arm of her chair tightly as she was trying to control her anxiety. She closed her eyes in a brief second as she tried to remember what Damian had taught her to say.
"Your highness," the Marquis said with a chuckle. His head shook in disapproval. "You cannot step up as an acting king. You are a Princess. A woman ruling a country is unheard of. This is against our tradition!"
"I haven't read anything in our constitutional which says that a woman could not rule the country," Amelia retorted. She pulled out Asher's ring from her sleeve and held it up to showcase them to the others. "My brother—the King handed his emblem to me as a sign that I shall ascend as his substitute until he returns. Adviser Damian held a decree from the king to let me rule as his substitute. There is nothing improper about this."
On cue, Damian took out the decree and showed them to everyone.
Suddenly there was an uproar. The nobles recognized the king's writing and his seal. It would be impossible to counterfeit this decree.
"But your highness," Baron Zato said, "You must understand that this isn't appropriate."
"And I understand that my brother is still the king," Amelia said. Confidence flowed into her and she sat straight as she faced the nobles. "And his order remains as a king's order before a new king is appointed. Are you trying to defy his order to have me as his substitute?"
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