š Location: Palace of Gold ā Queen Leila's Wing
š° Time: Three days after the fall of the Kingdom of Wei
A special envoy arrived at Queen Leila's private wing.
His face pale, his hand trembling as he handed her a scroll, sealed with the imperial dagger.
Leila opened it slowlyā¦ her eyes scanned the words.
The message contained:
ā The declaration of imperial victory.
ā Confirmation of Wei's complete fall.
And at the final line:
"The full cleansing has been carried outā¦ by imperial order."
Leila rose slowly, steadying herself on the table ā
Not to hold her bodyā¦ but to brace her heart.
She whispered, trembling with a fear she had never known:
"Vaanā¦ what have you done?"
That night, she ordered her doors locked.
No one entered.
She emerged for no one.
But a maid, who brought her food past midnight, heard a faint voice from behind the door:
"Will Raen grow upā¦ and call his father a child-killer?"
No one answered.
---
š Across the Continentā¦ Half Trembled, Half Burned
In the western lands, the people cheered Vaan's name:
"The Emperor shows no mercyā¦ because he never forgets."
The poor said:
"At last, an emperor who won't bargain with enemies."
The soldiers said:
"No enemy will dare raise their heads again."
But the noblesā¦ they feared.
Farther north and east, in hesitant kingdoms, the mood was very different.
In the halls of the Kingdom of Sora, the council declared:
"Vaan is not a kingā¦ he is a quake beneath the earth."
And in Kalyon, the aging monarch whispered:
"If we don't uniteā¦ we will be the next Wei."
In secret, letters began to move between thrones and cloaksā¦
Marked with a new sigil:
"The Alliance of Justice Against the Tyrant."
And a new name spread like a shadow:
"The Sevenfold Light Pact."
A coalitionā¦ that could plunge the continent back into war.
---
Back in Vaan's palace, when he finally returned,
He stood on his balcony, gazing into the skies, whispering:
"Let them hate meā¦
So long as they kneel."
But behind him, in the shadows,
Leila stood watching, a tear in her eye sharper than any blade:
"But you're losing usā¦
One by one."