Chapter 197

Chapter 197: Chapter 197

"Y-Your Highness," Dilya stumbled over her words, visibly distressed.

"Caedos is just fine," He corrected, lifting his head from the documents on his table.

"You-You... but you can’t possibly mean that, Your Highness." She hurried over to his reading table, placing her hands on it.

"I wouldn’t make a decree if I didn’t." Caedos remained calm in the face of her tumultuous emotions. "Avalan has survived for a millennium without a King, it can continue to do so."

"That was simply because it was waiting for its rightful King! Please reconsider, Your Highness." She urged with a hint of desperation.

Lady Dilya had spent the past few months with the Crown Prince, she knew how especially difficult it was to change his mind when he was set on something, so without even knowing, she had begun to despair.

"...Abolish the crown?!" A loud and enraged voice could be heard from a distance outside the open door that Dilya had forgotten to close in her panic. "Preposterous! Step out of my way! I’m going to have a word with His Highness."

"Crown Prince Caedos! What are these preposterous rumors spreading through the city?" General Urien’s booming voice arrived before he did.

Caedos had never seen the old Hellhound so heated, not even when he was trying to endlessly convince him to take the throne.

"I would say an official decree is far from a rumor." He said calmly.

"That...That is simply taking things too far!" Urien blustered. "You can take as long as you like until you feel ready to take the throne. There is no reason to completely erase Avalan’s history."

"Please, take a seat, General Urien." Caedos gestured, "Let’s have a discussion."

Urien accepted the invitation, fuming all the while. "There is no reasonable explanation for completely eradicating the throne," He kept on.

Dilya quietly invited herself to take a seat as well. The captain who had tried to slow down General Urien’s enraged charge silently made himself scarce after closing the door.

"Avalan is whole now but our enemies remain, what will happen in the event of another attack where I am defeated and killed?" He calmly addressed the fuming Hound.

Urien’s torn, silver-speckled ears were pressed down in anger, his powerful arms crossed over his chest.

Caedos went on without input from the older Hellhound, "I have no heir so even if Avalan isn’t completely reduced to rubble, its people will return to their shackles, and this time, it will be until their deaths."

He leaned back in his seat, his eyes cold, his words final. "Hellhounds need to forego royalty for survival."

"Even then, such measures are far too drastic-"

"My parents are never coming back." Caedos cut in, his voice softening.

A cold silence fell over the study, one that even the setting sun couldn’t thaw.

Caedos rose to his feet, "My decree is final."

With that, he turned to leave the study, he was no longer bound to the desk piled high with documents.

In truth, Avalan had been restored by the people, the most he had done was return them home. The absence of a King would make little difference in the new lives they had rebuilt for themselves.

The rest of the city received the decree he made as well as they could, most weren’t sure what that meant for them. But over the next few weeks, they would soon come to see that very little would change in their lives, and soon they would adapt.

Caedos returned to his room, it was familiar yet not so. Lady Dilya had prepared this room for him, saying it was his, yet he had never spent a day in it prior to his return to Avalan. It felt empty without a pale-haired Vampire quietly sitting in it.

He took a bath and joined the occupants of the castle for dinner without urging from Lady Dilya.

The matronly Hellhound found a smile at his arrival, inviting him to sit next to her. Although she still struggled to accept the Crown Prince’s decision, she might find it easier if he joined them to eat more often.

There were a lot of mistakes over his title at the dinner table but Caedos paid no mind to them, in time the new changes would become seamless.

"Where is General Urien?" He asked, noticing the Hellhound’s absence almost instantly.

Dilya looked sheepish, "I’m afraid he strained himself too much that he’s now running a fever." She relayed.

She was young when the Great War broke out, so she had only a faint memory of the past King and Queen but General Urien had known them personally and held them in high regard, so he took Caedos’ decree rather hard.

"He’s sturdy. He’ll live." Caedos said dismissively, focusing on his meal.

Dilya silently agreed with that, maybe it was easier for her to adapt to the new changes than she thought. After all, if there was a much better alternative, she would prefer that the young Crown Prince didn’t shoulder such a heavy weight all alone.

-+-

"Your Majesty," A gold-haired Demon went down on one knee, bowing to the figure in front of him with a hand over his heart.

They weren’t quite in a room, save for the giant gold throne seating the figure, there was nothing else, nothing but immaculate blue skies and fluffy clouds.

Or at least, it appeared that way at first glance. Rather the room was completely carved out of clear crystal, gold rays piercing into the ethereal room.

"A Hellhound referred to as the Hound King has awoken the golden flame." He relayed shortly.

The figure he spoke to was shrouded in golden light, completely obscured from view.

"Hmph." The figure coldly snorted after a long silence. "Perhaps they are not all useless." His voice was threaded with immense power, it rattled the hearts of whoever listened to it.

However, the Holy Demon relaying the information was unshaken, rising to his feet undaunted. He had learned more, of the liberation of the Hellhounds by the Hound King and the war brewing between the opposing factions in Flaeris. But those were inconsequential drivel so he merely bowed and took his leave.