New King

After having recounted everything that had happened, the Ababiel Squad finally caught up with the situation. Knowing that the former chief of Garuda Squad betrayed the team, they planned to initiate a full-on defensive strategy to anticipate any potential attacks. Each commander in chief ordered their respective department to prepare all the things necessary for tomorrow’s coronation ceremony, including assigning each important figure with several high-level guards. Although they didn’t know how or when the next attack would be, they assumed that it was very likely that they would take advantage of tomorrow’s ceremony to make those enemies be on the spotlight. Since it was already announced to the public that they were going to hold the ceremony tomorrow, it was deemed out of the question to change the date of the ceremony.

After the meeting, the whole palace resumed to have dinner. The King invited everyone who came to the palace to eat together, alongside the Ababiel Squad and Horahua royal family at the dining table. The King and the Queen kept talking about how proud they are of their son and kept bringing up his childhood memories to the guests on the table, up to the point that it embarrassed Yujin. They couldn’t believe the boy that they raised together had grown to be the next King of the nation.

According to Virtue Vault’s tradition, the heir of the monarch–– the firstborn child of the King and the Queen–– ascended to the crown when they turned 25. The same was also true for a Premier to assume his position as a Temple Member at the same age. According to Solusia religion, a person was considered “wise” enough once they reached the age of a quarter of a century. Once the Crown Prince became the King, the former King and Queen would change their status to Prince and Princess. However, for the title of the Holy Monastic, it could only be passed down once the current one passed away.

After dinner, the Ababiel Squad offered a tour around the palace and the area around it to Garuda Squad which they humbly accepted. They toured around the palace together while planning a strategy for tomorrow’s security.

Half an hour before midnight, Xiaohui and Haneul made a secret plan. They secretly met each other at the corridor a few yards away from their room

“How are the preparations?” Haneul whispered to Xiaohui.

“All good. We just need Yumi.”

“Alright. Let’s go.”

The two of them knocked on Yumi’s door. After a while, someone opened the door.

“Who is––”

Meixia opened the sliding door while rubbing her eyes. She was sleeping because she had to wake up early in the morning.

“Hey, is Yumi in there?” Haneul asked.

“Y–Your Divin––” Meixia exclaimed in surprise.

“Sssh!” Haneul closed her mouth before her voice roared through the hall.

Since it was almost midnight, everyone was asleep already. They didn’t want to wake up anyone, so they needed to keep their voice down.

Meixia saw Xiaohui bringing something. She then asked them.

“Why are you bringing a cake?”

“We are going to surprise Yujin for his 25th birthday. For that, we need Yumi to help us,” Xiaohui answered.

Meixia just remembered that the ceremony was on the day of the Crown Prince’s birthday. She then immediately woke Yumi up to let her know.

“What? Right now?”

She was sleeping when they came to her room. She then saw the cake and immediately knew what was going on.

“What do you want?” Yumi said, annoyed.

“Come on, use your fyx skill!” Xiaohui begged her.

“Seriously?”

Yumi could’t believe that they asked her to use her fyx skill for something like this. Since it was her brother’s birthday, she had no choice but to comply.

The four of them then went to Yujin’s room. In front of his room, several guards were stationed to guard the entrance to his room. Nobody could enter without permission.

They walked slowly towards the room. Xiaohui brought the cake, Haneul held the balloons, while Meixia held a birthday cracker for the surprise. Meixia was being piggybacked by Yumi, while Yumi’s hands touched Xiaohui’s and Haneul’s backs.

Yumi’s fyx skill was invisibility. She could make herself and anyone she touched invisible. The more people she turned invisible, the less amount of time she could keep her fyx skill activated.

After walking super slowly to avoid any suspicious sounds, they finally reached in front of the room Yujin was sleeping. They saw the guards and needed to find a way to distract them. They then threw a pebble towards the garden. The sound distracted the guards and they immediately went to find the source of the sound, leaving Yujin’s room unguarded. After the guards left, they slid the door and opened it slowly, making as least sound possible.

Seeing that Yujin was still sleeping, Haneul poked him to wake him up. He was fast asleep that it took several attempts for him to wake up. Finally, after being shaken violently by Haneul, Yujin finally woke up.

“Who––”

Yumi then deactivated her fyx skill and let them reappear.

“Surprise!” all of them shouted.

Meixia opened the birthday cracker, shooting confetti at Yujin.

“Happy birthday, Yujin!”

Xiaohui and Haneul immediately grabbed Yujin and raised him up to the air. They celebrated his birthday right at midnight. Yumi and Meixia smiled looking at their ridiculous behaviour. Yujin looked overjoyed.

“How did you get past the guards?”

“Well, we got her to help us,” Xiaohui said, pointing at Yumi.

Yujin immediately understood. Since it was a big day for him, they stationed multiple Royal Guards around his room to anticipate any unwanted situations, so it was really odd as to how they could get past them. After hearing that they used Yumi’s fyx skill to get past the guards, everything finally made sense to him.

The five of them then enjoyed the cake brought by Xiaohui. Although they weren’t expecting Meixia to join, they happily welcomed her in the party. Yumi was thinking of inviting Haru to the party too, but since he had to wake up early tomorrow, she decided not to bother him at this late. After they all enjoyed the party, they returned to their respective rooms to rest for the night.

The next day, at 9 in the morning, everyone was gathered at the throne room to spectate the Crown Prince’s crowning ceremony. In front of the throne, there were the King and the Crown Prince, as well as the Holy Monastic between them who acted as the moderator for the ceremony. The Queen and the Princess–– Yumi–– stood by them, watching the coronation from the side.

“We will now begin the crowning ceremony.”

The Holy Monastic announced the commencement of the coronation ceremony. The ceremony was conducted in front of a large audience, including the civvie. Every department of the Royal Guards was in attendance, led by the members of Ababiel Squad. There were also some state governors and ministers who attended the ceremony, standing at the second row of the audience. Behind them, the citizens of Chiroptera State were watching the ceremony, including a representative from Kizetsuya Clan, Yamato Kizetsuya.

Meanwhile, Haneul stood at the very front row, with Haru by his side. Haru was the person in charge for escorting the Holy Monastic, but since he was moderating the ceremony, he got assigned to escort the Premier up close. Haru personally asked the Holy Monastic to assign him to guard the Premier, since it was his dream to meet him in person.

The King then took his crown out of his head and handed it over to his son.

“I, King Yudai Horahua, hereby abdicate my crown to pass it down to my firstborn son, Prince Yujin Horahua, to let him ascend to the throne as the next king of Virtue Vault Federation.”

Yujin knelt and lowered his gaze, bowing in front of his father to let him put the crown on top of his head. He placed his hand on the floor and the other on his knee, demonstrating a formal and courteous pose for the ceremony.

“I declare the new King of Virtue Vault Federation, Your Majesty King Yujin Horahua!” the Holy Monastic proclaimed.

Once the crown was placed on top of Yujin’s head, Yujin stood back up and looked at the audience. Everyone in front of him knelt before him. Yumi and Yujin’s mother who had been now demoted into a Princess status both also bowed before him. The Premier was the only one standing upright, as he held a higher status than Yujin and anyone else in the nation.

“Long live the King!” Yudai shouted, followed by the audience in unison.

Everyone clapped their hands merrily. The new King gave them a gracious smile, looking elegant.

While everyone was clapping and cheering for the new King, Haru spoke to Haneul. He had been waiting for this moment his entire life.

Haru pulled a lighter from his pocket that he had always brought everywhere he went, a token of farewell from someone special who left him at the monastery where he was raised. He then showed it to Haneul.

“It’s been so long.....

Brother.”

“!?”