Long Live The Queen: Music and Peace Ending [Spoilers] [Part 4]
Week 36
(Studied Voice in the morning.)
You have nothing more to learn about Voice.
(Studied Public Speaking in the afternoon.)
The invasion of Nova is proceeding. Your coastline is under Shanjian control. Soldiers have marched through villages, trampling fields and frightening citizens.
A diplomatic delegation from Shanjia has requested access to the castle to discuss terms - most likely, for your surrender. You lack the strength to hold off their armies, and surrendering now will save many lives. It would seem that you have no choice.
Almost no choice.
Your fiance, Duke Talarist of Sedna, has sent you a message. He does not personally command enough soldiers to turn the tide against this invasion, but his king in Talasse is eager to discuss a formal alliance.
If you flee the capital now, you should be able to evade the army and reach the Talassian border.
Menu: [Run away] [Meet with diplomats]
Player chose: Meet with diplomats
You prepare yourself as best you can to meet with the representatives from Shanjia.
You expected diplomats and a military representative, a general or an admiral. You did not expect the handsome man decked in jewels who now stands before you - a man announced by your servants as Togami, King of Shanjia.
Elodie, Crown Princess: (King-consort, he should be, if even that much. He's a common musician who married his way onto the throne.)
Elodie, Crown Princess: (And he's a Lumen, too!)
Togami: My dear young lady. How difficult this must be for you. So much responsibility at such a tender age.
You yearn to slap the false sympathy off his oily face, but you force yourself to remain calm.
Togami: War benefits no one, don't you think? Such a terrible waste. Better to settle things in a civilised manner.
Togami: A contest. A game, so to speak, with Nova as the stakes.
Togami: Should I win, then your domain will submit and accept me as Overlord with no further resistance.
Togami: Should I lose, then my army will leave your domain in peace and shed no more blood.
Elodie, Crown Princess: What sort of game?
Togami: It is well known that Nova is ruled by Lumens. As it happens, I too possess the powers of a Lumen.
Togami: I propose a formal duel. My powers against yours. The winner takes control of Nova, the loser... dies.
Elodie, Crown Princess: Your game by your rules, for my life? That doesn't sound fair to me.
Togami: The rules of formal dueling have been passed down for centuries and must be upheld.
Togami: It is important that we do this by the ancient codes.
Elodie, Crown Princess: Why should I?
Togami: If you refuse, then the war will continue.
Togami: I'll sweeten the deal. If you meet me in a formal Lumen challenge, I'll call off the invasion even if I win.
Elodie, Crown Princess: Really?
Togami: I swear it by the gods. Nova will be free and safe.
Elodie, Crown Princess: Why take that risk? You're winning the war.
Togami: It's not your land that I want. It's your crystal.
Togami: To gain your power, I am willing to wager my own. Shall we begin?
Elodie, Crown Princess: (I don't like this... But what choice do I have?)
Elodie, Crown Princess: (He was a musician, once, before he married his way into power. Can I use that?)
Menu: [Accept his terms] [Sing to him] [Refuse outright]
Player chose: Sing to him
Elodie, Crown Princess: Wait! We're civilised people here.
Elodie, Crown Princess: And if I might die... I need to compose myself first.
You have only one chance for this, one hope to touch the heart of the man beneath the monster. You know so little about him, but he is a father who was once a musician. Music may reach him where nothing else can. And so, you begin your favorite song.
You were afraid he would be impatient and order you to stop, but it seems that at least for a moment, he is listening.
Togami: ... Pretty. What is it?
Elodie, Crown Princess: Something my mother used to sing to me.
Elodie, Crown Princess: She was the Queen. She was always so busy, but she loved me.
Elodie, Crown Princess: When she had time to be with me, to hold me, to play and sing... I miss those moments.
Togami: Are you crying? How pathetic.
Elodie, Crown Princess: Don't you sing to your children?
Togami: That is no business of yours.
Elodie, Crown Princess: Isn't it?
Elodie, Crown Princess: If we fight - if I defeat you somehow, then your children will miss those songs.
Togami: Well, then. Perhaps you had better lose.
Elodie, Crown Princess: And what happens then?
Togami: What?
Elodie, Crown Princess: When you've killed me and taken my crystal. What do you do then?
Elodie, Crown Princess: You came from nothing and made yourself a King. But that wasn't enough for you.
Elodie, Crown Princess: So you pushed the boundaries, you conquered territory, you came after Nova.
Elodie, Crown Princess: After me, do you go home to your children?
Elodie, Crown Princess: Or do you go after another crystal, another domain?
Togami: Be quiet. You know nothing of the world.
Elodie, Crown Princess: You have the world! But if you're not happy, what's the point?
From the shocked murmurs on the part of the Shanjian delegation, you can guess that no one has dared to talk to the King like this in a long, long time.
You hold your ground, meeting his eyes with your own, willing him to listen to you.
Elodie, Crown Princess: It doesn't have to be like this. You and I - we could be friends. We could learn from each other.
Elodie, Crown Princess: We could be part of something greater than ourselves. A new peace.
Elodie, Crown Princess: And you can sing to your children.
Togami: I... have not sung in a very long time.
Elodie, Crown Princess: I'll teach you my songs.
You hold out your hands to him, open and empty.
Elodie, Crown Princess: We can do this.... together.
For a long moment, he stands frozen.
Then, at last, he sighs, and places his hands in yours. And, just like that, the war is over.
You visit the royal treasury and check your available funds.
You have seven thousand, four hundred and ninety gold lassi and fifty-four silver tilassi.
Week 37
(Studied Decoration in the morning.)
(Studied Decoration in the afternoon.)
The Shanjians have retreated to their own territory, and the mood throughout Nova is one of cautious optimism.
It is not so easy to replace the lives lost and the damage already done, but it is still a relief to believe that it's all over and nothing worse is coming. Small celebrations are being planned in many towns and villages.
Your popularity is rising. It would seem that everyone loves you.
Almost everyone.
Musician: I have a great deal of news to report. Everything we suspected was true, and worse.
Musician: Were you aware that your Aunt Lucille is a Lumen?
Elodie, Crown Princess: She what?
Musician: I found her journals. They were in code, of course, but no match for my talents.
Musician: Your aunt intends to take over Nova and rule as an unstoppable mother-daughter Lumen team.
Elodie, Crown Princess: Charlotte is a Lumen?!?
Musician: No. Your aunt intends to give her your power. And your crown.
Elodie, Crown Princess: ...
Elodie, Crown Princess: Where are the journals? I want to see them.
Musician: If I had taken them, she would know her secret was exposed.
Elodie, Crown Princess: Then there's no proof?
Musician: 'Proof' is a thing that rarely exists, Your Highness. There is always doubt.
Elodie, Crown Princess: (If this is true, then she has to be stopped at once, whatever the cost.)
Elodie, Crown Princess: (If it's not true, I would be attacking my own best support. My family.)
Elodie, Crown Princess: (There may be a way to test whether this agent is telling the truth...)
Menu: [Decide Lucille is guilty] [Decide the musician is lying] [Ask about Charlotte's powers]
Player chose: Ask about Charlotte's powers
Elodie, Crown Princess: These journals... did they say anything about what magic Aunt Lucille was trying to train Charlotte in?
Musician: Well... It sounded like she already has some kind of healing power, but that can't be right.
Elodie, Crown Princess: No... it's true.
Elodie, Crown Princess: Thank you for your services. Go now. I will deal with this.
You will now have to decide what to do about the Mervan serpent's nest.
Elodie, Crown Princess: (Was Uncle Laurent involved in this, or was it all Lucille?)
Elodie, Crown Princess: (And Charlotte... How much did she know?)
Menu: [Execute Lucille only] [Execute Lucille and Laurent] [Execute Lucille, banish the rest] [Execute the entire family] [Banish the entire family]
Player chose: Execute Lucille only
With a heavy heart, you sign the orders.
You visit the royal treasury and check your available funds.
You have seven thousand, four hundred and ninety gold lassi and twenty-four silver tilassi.
Week 38
(Studied Flexibility in the morning.)
(Studied Reflexes in the afternoon.)
Time has slipped by you so quickly. Only two weeks remain before your birthday celebration, and your official coronation as Queen. Have you done enough to build a stable Nova?
You visit the royal treasury and check your available funds.
You have seven thousand, four hundred and eighty-nine gold lassi and eighty silver tilassi.
Week 39
(Studied Reflexes in the morning.)
You may now play Sports on the weekends.
(Studied Reflexes in the afternoon.)
Your skill in Reflexes is now 50. You may not increase this skill until your other Agility skills are 25 or higher.
The castle is buzzing with preparations for your upcoming coronation. Ministers press you with details for your favorite colors and flowers and so on.
You are happy to collaborate with the designers to ensure you are shown off to the best possible effect. You are still so young, after all. Good design will help a lot in making you look like a Queen.
Others are more interested in the subject of your marriage.
It can't take place until you are of age, of course, and considering all the preparations (and the need to recover from the coronation) not for much longer than that. Still, it doesn't stop people from buzzing around full of ideas and suggestions.
You take to the court for a few games of tennis. Feel the thrill of competition!