Monarch's Rebirth: Chapter 24

"I can't wait for the meeting, honestly. The end of this war." Alexander said as he sat down on my bed.

"The war ended already. This is just the epilogue of this mess."

I threw an apple at Alexander and he caught it. I gave him the apple seeing that he must've not eaten anything like me either. "Thanks for that."

Alexander checked his watch to see the time while taking a bite off his apple. "Forty minutes left till we go downstairs." He said with a mouthful.

"Still remember why you are doing all of this for me?" I asked Alexander to see if he also forgot that we had a project to work on.

He had a smirk on his face when I mentioned it. "Yes, I do. The train project." He said softly.

I gave him a smile and continued eating my grapes. "Let's finish it when we get home."

ALYSSA'S POV

I sat on my bed, waiting for my clothes to come. Artorius said he would send someone with clothes for me.

"Miss Alyssa, I have your clothes. May I enter?" One of the maid's voices came through the door.

"Yes, you may."

The maid enters with a beautiful dark blue dress. The dress glittered from the light shining through inside the room.

"This was Lady Serena's idea. She picked this out for you, my lady."

So it was her idea… She's really nice.

The maid placed the dress down on my bed and left the room, closing the door behind her.

The dress really was beautiful. I got up and unfolded it to take a look at it properly and it was stunning. Even the size was perfect about it. Lady Serena has really good eyes.

The petticoat was tight even with the lacings undone. The hard part about putting all of this on would be the lacings which were at the back.

I tried to reach backwards and do the lacings myself but I was unable to do it.

"What do I do…" I muttered under my breath while struggling to reach the lacings.

Suddenly the door flung open and I freaked out. I turned around to find Lady Serena entering the room wearing a dazzling and beautiful dark green dress. She looked as pretty as ever and I couldn't believe someone who was as old as her could still be as beautiful.

"I'm sorry Alyssa, I should've come here before. I knew you would have difficulty wearing the dress." She said while walking over to me.

She walked with dignity and power. Wherever she went people bowed down to her elegance and beauty. She was the definition of a queen.

"Let me help you." Lady Serena said while tying up my petticoat's lacings.

"T-thank you…" I said softly while staring at the mirror.

"My~ you look beautiful with just the petticoat. White really suits you." She said with a big smile on her face.

I blush and shyly look down. "I'm honoured." is all I could say to her.

She helped me put on the kirtle and lace up the sides as well. After that she also helped me put on the blue gown that she picked and provided for me.

"This dress was once mine, you know? It was a gift I received when I was around your age. It fits you perfectly, doesn't it?" She told me while tying up the back laces of the dress to a near perfect fit.

"I see… It's really nice to this day. You must've looked beautiful in this gown."

"Ask Alaric. When he saw me in this for the first time he was head over heels for me! We were at a ball when we first met and he was just a young prince. Ah~ young love, it must be nice being young and being able to love anyone you want as a princess."

I laughed as she told me how her and King Alaric met. I never had this experience in my life. Even when I went to school I never found someone I liked. Many aristocrats proposed to me but I rejected them all.

"I never fell in love so I can't tell."

I picked up one of the necklaces from the box I was provided. There was a large lapis necklace that fit perfectly with my sparkling blue dress. I helped myself to it and tied it on and took a look at the mirror, it was perfect.

"No pressure. You will find yourself a loving husband one day!"

I turned around to face her after finally being done wearing the dress. "You look beautiful, my dear." She said while fixing the collar of my dress.

"Thank you, Lady Serena. You've helped me a lot since I came to the castle. I feel better now."

I had to thank her for all she has done. I came to the castle as a broken mess just two days ago but now I feel better.

She gave me an approving nod and a warm smile with it. "Let go of the past and make a better tomorrow. I think Artorius explained it last night."

"He did." I simply said, nodding my head.

"And you understood it?"

"Yes, Lady Serena."

She gave an approving grin and embraced me in for a hug.

"You've grown up well. There's only ten minutes till the meeting. Let's go together."

I followed her out of the room to where the meeting would be held. The meeting would be held inside the castle in the meeting room. I remember my father saying he had meetings here many times with King Alaric and Lady Serena. I always listened to what he said and wanted to go there myself. This time I would be fulfilling that dream of mine.

ARTORIUS' POV

"Damn it, Alexander! Stop stealing my grapes!" I exclaimed while chasing down Alexander in my room for taking all the grapes from the room.

"But they're so good! Let me have them!" He said while standing opposite to me, holding the entire grape branch.

"Let's share it! Come on!"

Felix walks into the room as we quarrel over grapes and becomes surprised.

"I came into the room thinking there would be two nobles having a chat but instead it's two spoiled children fighting over grapes." Felix teased us.

We both looked at him and were frustrated. "Wait till you have tried these grapes!" I shouted back.

Felix laughs hysterically and takes a seat on a chair while Alexander finally agrees with me to share a few grapes.

Amelia ate one of the grapes and realised how good they are. Her eyes lit up and she tried to go for more.

"Nope. You had steak, be happy with that." I told her while pulling away the grapes from her goblin stomach that would eat anything.

She puffed her cheeks and looked at me with an angry but adorable expression.

"There's ten minutes left. We should be present within five minutes." Felix said while looking down at his pocket watch.

"Let's go then. Enough fighting over grapes." I told them as I gobbled up the grapes and walked over to the door.

The both of them followed behind me as I opened the double door. I took a deep breath before pushing it open. Memories flowed in from my past life as a reminder from where I came from.

"I will always be here for you, Sung Hei. Your parents will never leave you."

The sentence that my father said to me as a child living in the slums. It came back to me to remind me of my past.

I pushed open the door and stepped outside. Felix took the lead and we followed behind him. He turned right and to our surprise, Lady Serena and Alyssa came out of the room and our eyes met.

"Oh, good morning Artorius. I didn't expect you to be heading to the meeting now." Lady Serena spoke out seeing the three of us walk out.

I stepped forward to talk to her, "We were waiting for just the right moment. Seems like we had the same idea." I said with a huge smile on my face.

Though what caught my attention was not Lady Serena who would also be attending the meeting but the princess behind her.

Alyssa's dress was a beautiful midnight blue colour that sparkled. I could hardly believe she was Lukas' daughter because of how different he and Alyssa are. One was a power hungry sociopath while his offspring is a shy and fragile princess.

Unlike last time she did not look like a mess, rather she looked like an actual queen today. I didn't realise how long I gawked at her till she blushed and looked away.

I snapped out of my daydream and stared in a different direction. Hoping no one else realised.

"Follow us to the meeting room then. We all can show up together." Lady Serena says before taking the lead and walking away.

Felix and Alexander came up behind me and patted me on the shoulder. "It's okay, there's no bad blood between you two." Alexander says before giggling to themselves.

I sigh and keep walking along with those two. Lady Serena was leading while Alyssa followed right behind her. The three of us followed both of them with me slightly in front of the both of them.

Alexander and Felix were giggling and talking to themselves but I couldn't make out what they were talking about. I felt annoyed that I didn't know but I let it slide.

The meeting room was on the third floor of the castle. It was similar to my own in my palace but it was much, much bigger than my own. It was made for large scale meetings between kings, supreme kings and even some nobles.

We made it to the third floor and walked through a dimly lit up hallway. It was quite nerve-wracking to walk through such a hallway to a secured room. The hallways had guards with suits of armour from head to toe. I cannot imagine how much protection follows Alaric around.

In front of us was a large double door which had two guards standing parallel to each other. They saw us coming and bowed down even though they wore such heavy armour and carried huge halberds taller than themselves.

"Lady Serena, his majesty is waiting inside." The guards notified us before opening the near ten feet door that weighed as much as elephants.

Slowly the doors creeped open, making a terrifying sound as the door hinges held the heavy doors together.

Inside was an equally dim lit room with a massive round table in the middle. I don't understand why the meeting room has to be so dark as a lit up room would make more sense but it does cater to the dramatic atmosphere of serious meetings.

Alaric sat on his chair with two of his assistants with him side by side. The room slowly brightens up as the light artifacts are set to a brighter setting. Alaric looked through Lady Serena and Alyssa and looked right at me. I could tell he was staring straight at me.

He gave a wide smile, I nodded and smiled in return as we entered the room. Lady Serena sat next to King Alaric while I sat a bit further away. I sat opposite to Alyssa who was sitting in the middle of the table. Alexander's seat was the furthest from Alaric and Lady Serena at the complete other end of the table, closer to the door.

Felix would stand behind me as he was still my butler rather than a noble. I wondered what his background is, where he came from and all of the more personal details.

My train of thoughts about Felix's backstory was quickly popped as Alaric coughs to get the attention of the entire room.

"I'm happy Alyssa is feeling better and fit to attend the meeting. We will keep it short and quick so that we can announce it to the anticipating public outside the castle."

Public? Not those annoying paparazzis and whispering citizens!

"Now to begin this meeting. Let's get the obvious out of the way. The war between the Faunus Kingdom and the Aberdeen Kingdom was a landslide victory for the Faunus Kingdom."

I get a cheeky smile as he says out loud my first military victory. Thanks past me for learning how to strategize war.

"The armies both had losses, however. The estimates count a thousand on the Faunus army's side while the astonishing twelve thousand loss for the Aberdeen army."

Right. Losses.

"The Aberdeen are having to pay war reparation for the damages caused on the Faunus kingdom side. But there's a catch. Since this was technically a civil war this reparation can be pardoned. I as the supreme king of the Rigel empire would allow this pardon if King Artorius accepts it."

And he puts me in the spotlight.

I was stunned that he would make me pick if they should pay for what they did or let them off the hook. I took a look at Alyssa who looked to be staring at me this whole time. She looked emotionless but I could read her face like an open book. She was willing to pay up.

"Artorius, the decision is in your hands." Alaric says as he looks at me with a devious plan in his mind.

"That is quite the heavy decision. I would first like to point out my thoughts and views on this before I say my answer. Firstly, this war could've been prevented from happening if we all could make Lukas understand that continuing with a century old saga would be a mistake."

The meeting room looked at me, shocked as if I just revealed something surprising. Nothing surprising in this but I played along.

"That would've been the case if Lukas wanted it. He did not want to carry on this either, yet for some reason he did it. He was delusional. In his dying moments when I held him on the battlefield like a comrade, as he slowly bled out in my arms, he told me himself to end this war once and for all."

Alyssa became shocked and I could see tears form on her face. I tried my best to not give this news too hard to her but this is all I could do. I'm an insensitive person after all.

"He wished to go back to normal life as a king. He wanted to be with his family and his daughter in his dying breath, not in the arms of his lifelong enemy's son. His dying wish to me was to not hold any grudges against his family. Considering his final wish and my own humanity, my final decision is to pardon it."

The room filled with joyful smiles and approving nods. I looked at Alyssa and realised the weight that was lifted over from her shoulders. This should give her peace of mind for the rest of the meeting.

"Very well, Artorius. A wise choice. I pardon the war reparations of the Aberdeen Kingdom to the Faunus Kingdom."

Alaric stamps off a paper which I assumed was the bill for the reparations. I felt quite happy about the decision but I still wanted some of the money. I would've taken the war reparation if I was not given this option.

"Now that this is out of the way, the next part is the borders. There are no differences made in the border so everything stays the same from the past. No major village, town, city or fort was captured by the army. So this brings the final part of the meeting, the diplomatic ending."

Finally, the end of this. After this I really want to go back home and just have a nice bath.

"Both Alyssa and Artorius would need to sign this peace treaty. Read the terms carefully before signing it. If there is anything wrong and you would like to discuss it then we are always here."

Felix takes the peace treaty and hands it to me. I took a look at the treaty and started reading it in my mind.

"This treaty marks the end of the war between the Aberdeen and the Faunus Kingdoms. If both parties agree to all the terms and conditions then there should be a signature of the current reigning monarch."

I took a glance at Alyssa who was reading the treaty quite thoroughly herself. She seemed to have taken the role of queen quite well already.

"Both kingdoms agree to stay at peace for eternity. Both kingdoms agree to support the empire rather than stray off and become rivals. Both kingdoms vow peace between each other. Both kingdoms will stay passive against each other for a decade. Both kingdoms will join forces if any other empire makes aggression towards one of them."

These seem like childish rules on a playground. Can't blame them as this is a civil war, there's barely any treaties needed.

I glanced at Alexander who was sitting awkwardly at the round table, hoping to get out of this situation as soon as possible. Why was he here anyways?

Alyssa gave her signature on the treaty and so do I. The paper gets taken to Alaric who staples the two pages together and hands it over to his assistant on his left.

"Finally, Alexander. You joined Artorius in the war as an outsider. Your army fought and faced some casualties. Since this is an international matter and not a domestic matter I need you and Alyssa to listen to the conditions carefully."

That answers my question. This will be interesting to see. I didn't drag Alexander into this, he did it himself so he will have to speak for himself.

"You had twenty out of your three hundred casualties. Thirteen of them were injuries and the other seven were deaths. Since this is a case where you helped Artorius you are treated as another party. Since this was a civil war and you picked a side you will have to be given reparations and I cannot stop that from happening, unless we had Lady Florian here."

Who is Lady Florian now? Seeing as though he addressed her with a title she must be another supreme king, or queen.

"The absence of Lady Florian means we cannot pardon this reparation. We provided you with the reparation papers, you fill out what you would think will suffice for the casualties. If it is too outrageous we have to force you to change it to something more sensible."

Alexander seems to be in quite the tough spot now. He seems quite confident, more stern and cold. He is giving off an odd aura.

"Papa, Alexander's aura changed." Amelia told me from under the table. I forgot she was sitting on my lap all this time.

"What colour is it? Is it bad or good?" I asked her, hoping for good news.

I felt nervous as to why his aura would change. "It's… a blue-ish green. That means he's nervous but calm."

Thank god. "At least it wasn't bad."

The paper gets handed to Alexander who looks at it for a moment. He held his pen and thought really deeply for a few seconds before writing something on the paper. It was short but there was a lot of tension.

He hands the page to the assistant who gives it to Alaric. When Alaric read what Alexander wrote, his face showed a stunned expression.

"T-ten gold coins? Are you sure this is enough?" Alaric stuttered as he said out loud the price that Alexander wrote.

He's smart.

"Your majesty, I only helped out Artorius because he is someone that needs to be kept alive. He's a genius and we have a plan to revolutionize the transport industry that has been a key factor in our civilization. We wanted to tackle this on our own but now we see the opportunities. I do not need any kind of payment in gold or other sorts, I just need Artorius safe and that's what I have."

Alexander, stop. You will make me cry.

Alaric's face expressed curiosity and interest. Just what I needed. "Hm, I see. Well the price isn't outrageous, it's something I believe Alyssa can do. Ten gold coins it is."

He stamps it and gives it to his assistant who keeps it in his hands. I smile at Alexander who for some reason went back to his old ways of being cold and dense.

"I want to speak about this project you two have been working on after the meeting. I'm quite interested." Alaric told me as he looked at me.

The assistant hands the paper to Alyssa who needs to sign it to make it official. I wonder how he would be presented with the ten gold coins.

"I think the meeting is over. We can now announce the end to this war properly, forever." Alaric says with a smile on his face. It looked as though a few of his wrinkles disappeared when he said that. He was stressed too.

All of us get up from our seats after Alaric gets up. Alaric takes the lead as the door opens and we walk out together. Alexander and I came close to each other and seemed like he would talk to me.

"He will definitely want to help out in the transport sector. If we get his help then the cost will be easy to deal with." Alexander whispered to me as we walked through the hallway. "You're smart. I was thinking of the same idea but didn't know how to tell him."

He gives me a warm smile and walks off in front of me. I couldn't tell if he's trying to be nice or trying to be dense.

"When are we getting food?" Amelia groaned as we walked through the long hallway and downstairs.

"You ate in the morning, why do you want food already?" Slightly frustrated by her constant bugging for food.

She puffs her cheeks and grunts. I pay no attention to it afterwards and keep walking.

We made it down to the foyer where Alaric stood for a moment in front of the door. He turned around and faced us all.

"Artorius, come to the front. It's best if you step out first and address the crowd." He told me while giving me a devious smile.