I run to her. I hear a scream behind me, but I don't care. 

I stop before her with a very little gap between us and say with excitement, "Hey, princess, how are you? I just noticed that you don't have your horns. What happened to them? Did I mention you are looking beautiful as ever? But the Horns suit you better, you know. What is wrong, Princess? Why are your eyes widened? Why are you looking at the balcony?" 

She looks at me and says, "Elinshor!" 

Ah! 

I close my eyes for a moment and sigh. 

I let go of that coward's leg in excitement and ran to Vaelya. That scream I heard earlier must be his last scream. 

I say, "Even his own son didn't want him to live. So, don't let it bother you. Tell me about yourself, princess. How are you? And what happened to your horns?"

Vaelya stares at me for a while. Then she smiles so beautifully. 

She says, "I'll tell you everything after we finish what you’ve started. Don't you want to make me feel comfortable when I tell you something so important?" 

I say, "Of course, I want to make you feel comfortable and offer something delicious to eat first. So, you sit on the throne and rest a bit. I'll take care of the rest." 

She laughs a little and replies, "No. I want to stay beside you when you do something. So, let me accompany you, Hero Agni." 

"Sure, Princess, it will be my pleasure." I say with a smile.

I walk to the throne and say loudly to the ministers and the guard present in the room, "I am Agni Roy, the new king of Alnovir. Do you all have any objection?" 

They kneel before me and say in unison, "No, your majesty." 

I say, "Very good. Raise your heads." 

They stand up. I walk and stand before the ministers. 

I say in serious voice, "I know very well that you are also corrupted and helped the previous king in his evil doing. I want to punish you all. But you were doing that under the influence of the previous king. That's why I am going to give you a chance to redeem yourselves. From now on, you are not ministers. You are just counselors. Each of you needs to earn back your position as minister through your loyalty, patriotism, and talent. If any of you are ever caught in any kind of evil doing or betrayal. Mark my word, I'll make sure your scream is heard throughout every part of the kingdom. I assure you, Even if you can't prove your worth to me, I'll never stop paying your salary. And if you don't want to serve me, leave this castle tomorrow morning with your family and your belongings. I won't force you." 

All ministers kneel before me. One of them says, "We give our loyalty to you, your majesty." 

I say, "No. Give your loyalty to Alnovir." 

All of them say in unison, "We give our loyalty to Alnovir." 

I say, "Good enough for now." I turn to the guard, "Inform every person in this palace to be present in this royal court as soon as possible." 

The guard says, "As you wish, your majesty." 

I say, "Before that, send some guards to remove Corlious's body from here and clean up the blood." 

Vaelya says, "Um....I killed some guards when I was coming up here." 

I say to the guard, "So, you are the lucky one." 

The guard says with fear, "Yes, your majesty. Should I tell some soldiers of our army to do what you asked, your majesty?" 

I say, "Yes. And you will find the previous king's body in the yard. Take as many soldiers as you need. Take all the dead bodies in a certain place and keep them in a way that in the morning, their family can say proper goodbye to them. Always remember to respect those dead bodies. And write all their names, their family member’s names, and their residences. Later I will help their family according to their situation." 

The guard says, "As you wish, your majesty." 

I ask, "What is your name?" 

The guard hesitantly replies, "Nordial, your majesty." 

I say, "Nordial, this is a very important task. Don't mess this up. Now go, do as you're told." 

Nordial says, "Of course, your majesty." Nordial leaves. 

One of the counselors says, "Your Majesty, I am Lukemir. may I say a word?" 

I say, "Yes, you may." 

He says, "The order you just gave is very unfamiliar to us. The dead won't bring any values; it brings only losses. But your majesty, you even showed your kindness to the dead, even though they were mere guards, a previous king, and a prince who wanted to kill you. You even thought about the families of the dead. You are truly kind, your majesty. I am...we are honored to serve you." 

"It's just a normal thing to do, Lukemir. It can't be called kindness. An individual maybe my enemy. But his dead body is not my enemy. Lord Ram, an avatar of God Vishnu, taught us that enmity ends with the death of the enemy. So, no one should disrespect anyone's dead body. And their families didn't do anything wrong. Then I cannot let them suffer. I have to make sure that they live. Yes, this may feel unfamiliar to you. But it falls on my duty." 

The counselors bow before me.

I turn to Vaelya and startle. She is looking at me. 

I ask hesitantly, "Did I say anything weird, Princess?" 

Vaelya smiles and says, "Of course not, your majesty. It's your thoughts that make you different than any of us." 

I reply, "I am not anyone special, princess. And please call me by my name, Princess. As you always have." 

Vaelya comes close to me and whispers, "Only if you call me by my name." 

I smile and reply, "As you wish, Princess Vaelya." 

"Much better, Hero Agni." Vaelya says with a smile. 

Six soldiers come to the door. I allow them to enter. Four of them take away Corlious's dead body, and two soldiers clean up the blood. After that, they leave.

Vaelya says, "So, you are a king now, Hero Agni?" 

- "Yes. I have to be one if I want to do what I am planning to do. You don't like it, Princess Vaelya?"

- "I love it, Hero Agni. I will always accompany you."

- "I am honored, Princess Vaelya. Now take a seat; you must be tired."

- "I am not, Hero Agni."

- "This will be long. So take a seat and relax, Princess Vaelya."

- "I am not just a princess, Hero Agni. I am also a general of an army. So, this will be nothing to me."

- "If you say so, Princess Vaelya."

After a few minutes, Nordial calls from the doorway, "Your Majesty." 

I reply, "Yes." 

He says, "Everybody is here, waiting for your permission." 

I mentally prepare myself and say, "All of you have my permission. Come in." 

A crowd wearing royal dress enters into the room. I can't count them all. 

I remain silent for a while. 

Then I say with a loud voice, "Ladies and gentlemen, I am Agni Roy. I am responsible for the deaths of King Elinshor and Prince Corlious. I take this throne, this crown, and this kingdom into my possession. From now on, I am the king of Alnovir. If anyone has an objection, speak." 

Everyone remains silent. 

If I am not mistaken, in front of the crowd stand the previous queen and her daughter. I just announced the death of their two family members. But I don't see any sadness or intention of taking revenge in their expression. They seem to be tense about what will happen next. 

Were Elinshor and Corlious hated by all?

"I have an objection." A man speaks loudly.

I look at him. A tall man wearing royal dress. Age must be around 40. His expression is filled with greed. 

I say, "Introduce yourself." 

- "I am Dariwar. The General of the army of Alnovir."

- "Alright, Dariwar, state your objection."

- "I want to kill you and take the throne for myself. So I am challenging you to a duel."

- "Are you sure you want to do this?"

- "Of course. I can defeat hundreds of weaklings like you in the blink of an eye."

Vaelya bursts into laughter. 

"Weakling?" She says in the middle of laughter. 

I say, "Hey, Princess Vaelya, you are destroying his confidence. Let him fight first." 

Vaelya controls herself and says, "Yeah, sure, Hero Agni."

I say to Dariwar, "I accept your challenge. Actually, among this crowd, I don't like your expression. You seem to be full of greed. I acknowledge you as a threat. I have to either kill you or imprison you. I don't want to kill you just because you are greedy. So, I'll imprison you after the duel." 

He smirks and says, "You talk very big for a weakling." 

I say, "Maybe so. Now where do you want to fight?" 

He says, "Right here and now." 

I say to Nordial, "Give him a sword." 

Dariwar says, "No. A spear." 

I say, "A spear then." 

Nordial gives Dariwar a spear. Everyone moves and creates a space to fight. 

The fight begins. 

Dariwar attacks me with a very good speed. But still slow for me. I easily dodge his every swing. He steps back, panting. 

He says, "Don't just dodge, attack me, weakling!" 

I say, "If you insist." 

I clench my fists and activate my dark blue flame. I push off the floor with my toes and get close to Dariwar in the blink of an eye. Then strike a punch on his chest. He flies backward, straight through the balcony. 

I hear a scream, and after that, a thud sound. 

Ah! 

I totally forgot about the balcony. 

Vaelya says, "Don't think much. If you imprisoned him. I would've killed him there. That kind of man shouldn't be spared. As you said before, he was a threat." 

I reply, "Yes. You are right, Princess Vaelya." I sigh. 

I look at Nordial. 

He says, "I'll tell the cleaning team about the addition." 

I close my eyes and nod. Nordial leaves. 

Everyone in the room claps. So, they didn't even like that one. I am not surprised, though. That man seemed to be worse than Elinshor.

One of the counselors says, "Your Majesty, give us your permission. We want to spread the name of our new king through out the kingdom." 

I say, "Sure. But before that I need to go somewhere else, now."