She Belongs To The Devil

By the time Theodore was back at the Palace, the Royals were already taking turns to spend some final moments with the late King.

Adeline and Claricia were sitting in one corner of the room while holding each other's hands and giving emotional support to each other.

And apart from that, the protocol for mourning their beloved King's death had already begun in the background.

The Royal Guards were already on their way to inform about the tragedy to the King's assistant Laurence and all the council members.

All the guards and the government officials were going to be busy in preparation for mourning and then passing on the monarch power from Dragomir to Adeline.

Theodore went and sat down beside Adeline. He was sad to see that Adeline was now looking like an emotionless doll. She was blankly staring at the dead body of her father. She was so lost that she didn't even realize that Theodore was now sitting by her side.

Theodore feared that Adeline would start to cry again if he was to say anything to her at the moment. So he just let her remain silent and slowly let her accept the death of her father.

After a while, Claricia saw Nigel outside the King's chamber. He had returned to take his mother to his quarter. He didn't want his delicate mother to get sick.

Claricia gave a hug to Adeline and left.

Adeline finally noticed Theodore by her side and asked in a whisper, "Theo, are you alright?"

Theodore had also been staring at the King's serene face. He turned his head to see Adeline and nodded.

Adeline intertwined her fingers with Theodore's and rested her head on his shoulder. Her dry eyes were giving pain to her so she said, "I'm going to rest my eyes for a while. Wake me up if someone needs me or if I need to do something."

"Do you want me to take you to our room?" Theodore wanted her to get some proper rest.

However, Adeline denied it. "No, I am fine here. I don't want to leave father alone."

Most of the family members had already left to rest for the night. They had to prepare for seven days of mourning, funeral, and coronation without getting any breaks in between. So they needed to get some sleep when they could.

Adeline, on the other hand, didn't want to leave her father with only maids and servants to attend to him.

Theodore simply kissed her head and lightly patted her hand. He wanted to tell Adeline that her father was not alone. But he thought that waiting for the right time was necessary. For now, he let her rest.

Morning finally arrived. It was probably the longest and hardest night for everyone who already knew about their King's death.

Royal messengers had already been sent to all three Kingdoms as well as the relatives of the Royals.

Flags of Wyverndale were already lowered to half to mourn the loss.

And when the morning sunlight fell on the land, the Palace announced the sad news to the public by ringing the huge bell nine times.

Those who heard the bell instantly fell down on their knees and began to cry and grieve. Those who were far were later informed by the messengers who walked around the villages and announced the news.

The whole Kingdom went into a great shock upon hearing that traumatic news.

Dragomir was the greatest King that Wyverndale had ever seen.

During the course of his reign, Wyverndale didn't go through any major wars. The Kingdom walked down the road of peace and prosperity. All four nations of the south were united by the treaties and were dependent on each other for trade and easy livelihood.

Dragomir was the pillar and the father figure to all the citizens. And to have lost such a King sure came as a shock to all of them.

On the first day after the King's death, all the close, as well as distant relatives of the Royals, arrived at the Palace to pay their final respect to King Dragomir.

While that was happening on one side, Adeline was already busy with the meeting with the council. In the meeting, the councilmen formally recognized her as the new Queen of Wyverndale.

After that, a closed ceremony was held in the throne hall where all the Royals and the councilmen had gathered to formally greet their new Queen.

The coronation would take place after the funeral but she needed to perform the funeral and other duties as the Queen. So, she was going to formally get the title in this ceremony.

A councilman stood beside the throne and addressed everyone, "I am deeply sorrowed by the untimely demise of our beloved King. I express my condolences to the Royal family and I hope that we will soon overcome this traumatic event together. But no matter how sad we are, we cannot leave the throne empty."

"Thus, we have gathered here to welcome our new Queen, Her Majesty Adeline to take her rightful position that was bestowed by Dragon Immortal and agreed upon by the late King."

He looked at the small crowd in front of him and asked, "If anyone wishes to challenge the decision of Dragon Immortal and the late King then now is the time to speak."

Of course, there was no one who dared to go against the Deity and the late King.

So the councilman gestured Adeline to come to the platform and take her rightful dragon throne.

Theodore held Adeline's hand and escorted her to the foot of the platform.

Adeline carefully climbed up the few stairs. She was still in an emotional wreck and it was a little hard for her when she saw that throne. She got flashbacks of her father sitting on that throne, laughing, talking, and giving out orders.

Her eyes instantly welled up and her throat got sore. If it was up to her then she wanted to turn around and run away to where her father was kept right now. She wanted to shout at her father that she was not ready for that huge responsibility yet.

But she knew that she didn't have that choice.

She deeply inhaled through her mouth and exhaled. She lightly touched the armrest of the throne and then touched her heart.

And she promised her father, "I will try to be a good heir, father. I will at least try to be half as good a ruler as you."

Adeline quickly wiped her tears and then confidently turned around to face her family. She sat on the cold throne, ready to take on the responsibilities as the Queen of Wyverndale.

After she took her seat, the councilman asked the Royals to greet their Queen one by one. Theodore was the first one to climb on the stage.

The Devil Prince bent on his knee and took the Queen's hand. He looked into Adeline's eyes and said firmly, "I pledge my loyalty to you, Your Majesty. Long live the Queen." He smiled at his wife and kissed her on the knuckles.

Likewise, all of the Royals followed Theodore and pledged their loyalty to their new Queen.

With the new monarch on the throne, Wyverndale was about to go through some turmoils, beginning with a great war that the Kingdom had ever seen.

And Adeline had to lead that war.

But Adeline was determined to protect her Kingdom even when the future seemed very uncertain at the moment.