Chapter Text
The venue was set up similarly to the Princess’ arrival party: lots of plants and symbols from both nations decorating the hall. Rows of chairs lined either side of the center aisle leading up to the altar. Outside stood thousands of citizens waiting to see the happy couple make their debut as husband and wife.
The only Native guests allowed inside the building were high ranking Sumeru officials and friends of the royal family. Members of the court of Fontaine as well as diplomats from across Teyvat made up the rest of the seats.
Kaveh peeked out at the crowd in awe. He’d never seen so many important people gathered in one place before. Even the Iudex, now Dragon Sovereign, of Fontaine sat stiffly in the front row. To think he’d come all this way for the event, the prince couldn’t take his eyes off him. According to reports, Monsieur Neuvillette had never been known to travel outside the confines of Fontaine, so this is certainly huge.
Perhaps he underestimated just how big this wedding was. It was a royal wedding after all.
But was matrimony really the only way to reap the geopolitical benefits? According to Azar it was, but he made it clear how shallow he thinks of people. Building trust and partnership isn’t reliant on familial ties and prestigious blood. It goes much deeper to something innate in human nature. Understanding.
Understanding how someone thinks, what motivates them, listening to what they think and sharing thoughts of your own. Communication. Sitting down and discussing matters with another person in a comfortable setting can do wonders more than a political stunt marriage, but people like Azar and even the Iudex are stuck in their old ways of thinking. Politics are everchanging and ever progressing. That’s because of input from new generations.
As much as Kaveh believed in his ability to express and enact this way of thinking, it was no use when Azar held Alhaitham’s safety over his head. As long as that fact remained true, Azar would get his way.
It was time for him to stop fighting.
“Now presenting Prince Kaveh Paradisea, heir to her Majesty’s throne and the light of the people!” The people he was about to betray to save his best friend? Kaveh felt no honor in that title nor his introduction, but he stepped out and made his way to the altar with practiced grace.
The guests clapped and cheered for him as he walked by. It briefly made him wonder if there might’ve been a smile on his mother’s face if she had been able to attend. She was still far too sick to appear in public, much to her frustration if Kaveh were to guess.
Would she have been proud to see him fulfill the needs of their people with this union? Would she have told him as such? Maybe he was clinging on too hard to a past version of her or maybe that little boy inside him wanted her approval more than anything in the world.
The orchestra plays loudly and in perfect pitch as flower petals are scattered onto the aisle in preparation for the princess. It feels just like a fairytale.
“I now ask that the audience rise to welcome his wife-to-be, the honorable Princess Navia Caspar di Rosula of Fontaine!” The resounding sounds of chairs being scooted as guests stand from their seats fills the hall and the prince began to get nervous.
This day has finally arrived and yet all he can think about is how much he wished to find Alhaitham’s face in the audience staring back at him.
The music picked up again suddenly, signaling the arrival of the bride.
Slowly, but decisively, Princess Navia stepped around the corner and onto the aisle. She still wore the ruby red gown he’d seen not long ago in all its glory. A resounding gasp echoed around the room when she appeared. The audience was stricken by her beauty; the lighting in the hall giving her jewelry an incredible luster that was comparable to moonlight sparkling along the surface of a desert oasis.
The traditional scarf around her head was now pulled forward to hide her face as she walked, but shear enough that she could see where she was going.
Kaveh held his breath as she made her way toward him. She really was perfect in every sense. Just not for him. She deserved someone who would love every aspect of her that made her special - Someone like Clorinde.
He didn’t know how, but he would find a way to make them happy.
His resolve was doubled when she reached the altar, and he pulled back the scarf from her face. Her eyes were watery and red. Not so much that anyone in the audience would notice, but Kaveh could tell. She must’ve been crying before coming out here. His heart ached at the sight. No one deserved this.
Despite the pain in her eyes, she smiled at him. She was being so strong. He smiled back to her kindly. Unspoken words shared between them. Here we go.
The officiant welcomes everyone for being a part of such a ‘momentous occasion’ and Kaveh just wants this to be over as soon as possible.
Then it was time to deliver their vows. Not the vows they’d made to each other just a half hour ago in secret, but the real deal. The vows that would signify their marriage until the end of time.
The officiant reads off the vows as Kaveh sweats through his suit. He seems to be reading them at a turtle’s pace with how slow the world around him seemed to get. This speech alone would take years off his life. Far too late but also far too soon he was turning his head to the prince and asking if he accepted Navia to be his wife.
This was it. With two words, he seals his fate.
He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. The words were hesitating on his tongue. He looked at Navia then behind her at Azar. His eyes shot daggers into his body. An image of Alhaitham crosses his mind. His only way forward was to say the words.
“I-”
The doors to the hall slam open violently, startling everyone in attendance. A loan figure stands in the doorway and Kaveh’s heart leaps out of his chest. The last thing the prince would’ve ever expected to see: Alhaitham, covered in dirt and blood. Sword in one hand, a flower in the other.
It wasn’t just any flower. It was a mourning flower. Kaveh would recognize the elusive plant from a mile away. A vision that’d danced through his head as he waited to fall asleep. A flower that’s history was filled with nothing but suffering, but symbolized a comfort to him that was impossible to put into words.
“Thought this would complete the arrangements… but it looks like I was a bit late.”
His favorite flower. And his favorite person.
He’d gone out into the desert for a mourning flower. Visions of the last time he’d seen his father flash through Kaveh’s mind. Conflicting emotions were welling up like an overfilled teacup, but he needed to focus on what was in front of him.
He was frozen in place at the sight much like everyone else in the room. Azar was the first to recover.
“Seize him!” he barked orders to the guards waiting on standby.
The guards march forward immediately, ripping away Kaveh’s brief moment where they were the only two people on earth.
The prince leaps in front of his friend and puts his arms out to block them, “STOP!” he cried. His efforts stop the guard from attacking, but they seem unsure of which orders to follow.
“Get away from him, Kaveh!” Azar snarled.
“I won’t!” Kaveh stands his ground despite his senses telling him to back down. What am I doing?! His body had moved on its own to protect Alhaitham, but he doesn’t know what more he can do, so he turns to his friend frantically, “How’d you get here?!”
“Did you really have so little faith in me?” Alhaitham smirked despite his exhaustion. “I’ve never once lost a game of chase.”
“You know all the shortcuts.” Kaveh stated in realization, his gaze growing soft and chest burning brighter than the desert sun. He’d missed him so much. But this wasn’t the time to be sentimental. He’d crashed the royal wedding and was a wanted man! “Wait! Are you stupid!? This is the worst place you could be right now!”
“No, it’s the place I need to be right now.” He winces as he stands up, “I am not letting you get married.”
“W-what?! Like ever?” Kaveh stutters out in surprise, his face blushing furiously. But he shakes it off easily when he takes in the state of the man next to him, “You’re injured, Haitham!”
Without a word, Alhaitham pushed past him and faced the audience, a smile on his lips. The one Kaveh recognized from countless lost games of chess. It meant one thing: He saw absolute victory.
With these stacked odds?
The silver-haired guard pulls out a piece of paper that’d been shoved into his pocket haphazardly and steps to face the startled audience, “Correspondence between a one Sir Azar of Sumeru and Fatui operatives stationed in Fontaine, detailing the transport of highly illegal drugs into this Nation. With Captain Clorinde, Princess Navia, Prince Kaveh, along with various palace employees as witnesses of my whereabouts within the last four weeks, as well as this flower serving as proof, I plead and prove myself not guilty on all charges of treason and attempted murder, and instead charge Sir Azar with said charges along with blackmail and coercion.”
Kaveh’s jaw drops to the floor in disbelief. He looks around the room seeing almost every person including Navia and Azar in a similar state of shock.
“B-but how?” Navia speaks under her breath.
“You were gone for two days?! How could you have possibly…” The prince starts to question but stops himself. He should have been used to these incredible feats of intelligence by now, but Alhaitham still finds ways to surprise him. “Actually, never mind.”
High-ranking members of the Sumeru government begin to stand from their seats to check the evidence, but Azar decides to jump into action at that moment.
He jumps at Navia and holds a knife to her throat, “I-I’ll kill the princess if anyone takes another step!”
Bad move.
Monsieur Neuvillette rises from his seat. In less than a second, it’s over. Azar was sprawled on the ground drenched to the bone before anyone could even blink.
So that was a power of a Dragon Sovereign…
“While the accusations made against you are not within the realm of my authority to punish, threatening our princess is another story entirely.” Neuvillette speaks righteously, clearly more than just a little peeved. “Even if you somehow escape the laws of this nation, the Court of Fontaine won’t so easily let you slip by for this.”
His demeanor shifts entirely when he turns his attention to Navia. “Are you injured?” Worry etched into his features.
She rolls her eyes, “I’m fine! I could’ve handled that guy on my own, Neuvillette!” Her face was blushing in embarrassment as she shouted at him childishly. It was kind of funny to see someone talk like that to a man of such stature.
“Forgive me, Navia, but that man was making me particularly irritated.” The Sovereign said apologetically.
“Whatever, I get it. I just wanted to be the one to beat him up, but now I lost my chance.” The princess pouted.
The Iudex all but sighs and ignores her complaint, “I take it the wedding is called off?” he asks awkwardly, and she suddenly looks to Kaveh.
…
The crowd had begun to stir outside in the delay. Shouldn’t the newlyweds have come out by now to greet them? They had no idea of the events that had just transpired within the hall, so when the door to the balcony opens and they see the long-awaited couple walk out hand-in-hand, they cheer loud enough to be heard in Inazuma.
“We come here today to see you in celebration of a wonderous day in our two nations’ histories.” Kaveh begins to address the crowd once they’ve settled down, “But not one forged by a union of love.”
Members of the audience start to murmur and shift uncomfortably. They whisper things like, ‘What does that mean?’ ‘Did they not get married?’ ‘What is he talking about?’
They have every right to be confused right now, but Kaveh hopes they can come to understand why they’ve decided to do this. “Rather, we stand before you all to celebrate a partnership forged on trust and common interest.” He explains. “No longer should we stick to the old traditions of political unions when we ourselves represent a new generation of world leaders and a shift in our nations’ powers.”
“This partnership will be successfully spearheaded by myself and the prince from our respective nations we hold so dear, to hear from you, our people,” Navia speaks up, addressing the people of Sumeru for the first time and the viewers from Fontaine for the first time since her father passed. “Tell us what it is you need and what it is you want because what it means to be a leader is to listen to your plights and ease your burdens.”
The crowd is holding on to their every word and it makes Kaveh smile widely. “So, yes, we stand before you not as husband and wife, nor as lovers, but friends prepared to do anything for the good of our countries.” He says, “Thus I urge you all for your support as we do our best to forge this new chapter of Sumeru and Fontaine together.”
His final words float in the air for a moment and the prince fears for the worst. That is until a lone member of the crowd shouts, “You’ve always had our support, Prince Kaveh!” It was Claude, the owner of his favorite winery. To think he came all this way to see the wedding.
It warmed his heart and seemingly the hearts of those around him because soon enough the streets below were filled with the cheers of his people. The people he thought he’d betrayed by not wanting this marriage then again by steeling himself to obey Azar’s whims.
They were happy for him, happy for Navia.
He had his freedom back. His freedom to choose. His life was once again his and he felt like he could sleep soundly for the first time in months. But there is still something more important. He rushed back down the hall with a single person on his mind.
But that person wasn’t there.
“Where is he?” he questioned a guard who watched him look around frantically.
“Alhaitham collapsed after you and the princess left, so he’s been moved to receive medical treatment.” The man supplies.
Kaveh let out a sigh of relief that he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He wasn’t a fugitive anymore. It still wasn’t great that he was injured, but he knew better than to think something would take him out so easily.
He took himself to the medical wing easily, asking the nurses for an update and then bidding his time. His condition was stable, and his wounds were treated, he just needed to rest. Apparently, he’d been going nonstop since he’d left that night.
The night of the kiss.
Kaveh blushed self-consciously. What was he supposed to say when he saw him again?! Before he’d been so caught up in the moment it hadn’t crossed his mind, but now- now it was all he could think about. Fresh air would do him some good, surely.
Once again, he found himself on a balcony overlooking the world below him, but this time he was accompanied by hope. The hope he once locked away to protect the people he loved.
With the setting of the sun, the city below was set alight with life and celebration. Lanterns and glittering lights danced around the city below like fireflies in the summer sky and his people celebrated the new hope for their nation. Food, drinks, laughter, and warmth were decorating every inch of the nation he loved with all of his heart. And now, he could finally reach them.
It was truly beautiful. He could stand here and watch for hours and the smile on his face would never leave. He was happy.
“Don’t even think about it, my prince.” A tired voice states sarcastically from behind him. “I don’t have the energy to catch you right now.”
He whips around, “I wasn’t going to jump, stupid! I was admiring the city!” Kaveh folds his arms in annoyance, but he lets it go. “Shouldn’t you be resting?” he asks, searching Alhaitham’s face.
His forehead had been bandaged and blood and dirt wiped away, so he could finally get a good look at him. He’d been wrapped up here and there, but Kaveh had seen him look much worse. The conclusion made his chest feel lighter. The lights of the city danced in the reflection of his eyes as they stared at the blond for a long time.
“I’m fine. There will be time later to rest.” Alhaitham speaks, but his voice is uninterested. Like there was something important he was waiting for.
Kaveh didn’t know what to do or say now, so he decided to stop thinking entirely. He ran up to Alhaitham and hugged him closer than he ever had before, holding him tight but careful of his injuries.
He hid his face in the other man’s neck, “I missed you so much.” The words trickled out. Alhaitham was so warm. He briefly felt like a kid again huddled next to his friend to hide from the nightmares that plagued his dreams. “I’m so happy you came back.”
That was when Alhaitham pulled back. He studied his face like a difficult manuscript he’d found in the library. “I will always come back to you.” He said like it was so simple. Like the world wasn’t shifting entirely.
Kaveh started to blush again, but it came with a twinge of guilt. Whatever you do, don’t think about the kiss.
“Even though I’ve hurt you?”
Don’t bring it up.
“You wouldn’t.” was his answer.
Don’t.
“But I have. The night you left… I hurt you, didn’t I? I’m sorry for that.” They both knew what he was referring to. Not when he’d hit him, but after. After the kiss.
“That-” he looks away now, not meeting his gaze. “I was selfish. I can’t be hurt by your valid reaction to me overstepping. You are the one who deserves an apology.” He looked regretful as he took another step back.
The blond watched him closely, “Why did you do it?”
That seems to spur a reaction out of the younger man. His face asked a thousand questions his voice couldn’t say. “Why did I kiss you?” he apparently decided on.
Kaveh nodded.
Alhaitham took a steady breath in and out. He hadn’t expected Kaveh to ask such a question of him. Shouldn’t it be obvious what a kiss means? Maybe not to him. Maybe he’s overthinking this like he does with everything else.
“I did it because I didn’t want you to keep thinking that I had feelings for Clorinde. I thought showing you would be easier than telling you. At least that’s what I told myself in the moment. The real reason I did it was because I’ve always wanted to. The real reason is that I was frustrated that you still hadn’t realized that I only have eyes for you. No matter how you want me in your life, I want to be there: living it with you. You shine so bright. I couldn’t imagine looking at anybody else.” He might be saying too much, but he’d been keeping this in long enough. If now wasn’t the right time, then the right time would surely never come. His eyes met Kaveh’s, “I love you.”
Kaveh’s eyes were blown wide, and his heart was beating out of his chest. There was no way he could reason this as a misunderstanding now. He’d said it clear as day. Alhaitham loved him. He had loved him for a while.
“Y-You really feel that way?” he struggled to get the words out. So many emotions were flooding his system at once.
“I don’t… think I can say it any clearer.”
Kaveh took a step forward, closing the distance Alhaitham had made. His eyes glowed with new life as he failed to hold back his laughter. “You really aren’t a robot!” he grins.
Alhaitham sighs, “Laughter is still better than the last rejection I got, I suppose.” He says as he jokingly starts turning away to leave.
“Wait!” Kaveh laughs again grabbing his arm to turn him back around, “Don’t be like that! You know I didn’t reject you!”
“You didn’t?” Alhaitham raises a brow. It’s obvious what he’s trying to do. Kaveh glares at him until they enter a challenge of who’s backing down first.
Their eyes dare each other, a silent battle conveying so much without breathing a single word. Kaveh’s eyes were the first to flicker down to the other’s lips.
“Isn’t it obvious.” Kaveh smiles agitatedly.
“I’m afraid it’s not. You’re going to have to tell me what you want, Kaveh.” His voice was low. A secret between them, just like this moment. “I can’t read your mind.”
Kaveh knew what he wanted, but it was too embarrassing to admit. How did Alhaitham say what he felt so easily? Surely compared to everything else he’d been through over the last month telling his best friend how he felt couldn’t be that hard.
“I… I want you to kiss me again!” he hid behind his hands in shame. It sounded even more stupid coming out of his mouth than he thought. He stumbled to right his words, “B-Because I feel the same! I uh- I love you too, or whatever.” He muttered the last words childishly. His own confession came out rushed and lame and like an emotionally constipated tsundere in one of those books he’d read from Inazuma. He wanted to crawl up into a hole.
So much for all those dreams of romantic atmospheres, perfect encounters, and poetic declarations. Then again most of his life rarely went to plan as it is.
Alhaitham, on the other hand, looked more than pleased. He was sporting a loud blush and a smile that could rival the most gorgeous architecture in all of Teyvat. “Why didn’t you say so sooner.” He tilted Kaveh’s chin up and slowly connected their lips for what could easily be considered the most perfect kiss in the whole world.
Sparks flew throughout the prince’s whole body once his brain caught up to the feeling of Alhaitham’s lips against his own. Despite seeing it coming, he had no way of preparing himself for how right it felt. Sure, they’d done this once before, but that hardly counted. Both of them were still as inexperienced, being sheltered or inherently uninterested in most other people, as would be expected of them. But it hardly mattered if teeth clanked and noses knocked a few times when they both smiled uncontrollably into each kiss until the whole world disappeared around them.
Alhaitham held him like he was his entire world, not like he’d break if he held too tightly. He held him in a way that told him the answer he’d always yearned for; The reason he stayed by his side all these years: Because of devotion and an utter want to do so instead of pure duty to the royal family.
It made Kaveh feel truly wanted for the first time in a long time. Not just for his looks or his family’s power, but for him. The little kid who wanted to win every game and every argument, crying when things didn’t go his way. The teen who put on a front of perfection to hide any raw emotions from slipping through. The adult who tries to shoulder everything on his own until he buckles beneath the weight.
Alhaitham saw through every one and still loved him.
And Kaveh loved him back. For as long as he’d been in his life, he’d loved him. Before he knew him, he loved the idea of him: A friend his age to play with. Once he met him, he loved the challenge it brought him: Trying to crack open the shell of the mysterious kid who wouldn’t talk. Then he loved the frustration of losing to the prodigy over and over because it made him push himself further. As they grew, he learned to love his quirks too: The way his eyebrows knit together when someone would explain something incorrectly or how he’d fall asleep on an open book because he’d forget to go to bed. Eventually, organically even, they became parts of each other’s whole. A constant in an inconsistent world.
Kaveh loved his best friend.
The two came up for air at the same time, chuckling like awkward teens, faces red. Then Alhaitham turns around and Kaveh hears what sounds like a sniffle. “Haitham?” he questions cautiously with a hand on his shoulder. “Are you crying?!” he gasps in disbelief.
The formerly stoic guard rubbed at his eyes fervently, “Am not.” He lies boldface. Kaveh rolls his eyes and flips him around to see his wet eyes and runny nose. He should probably think it was gross, but all that went through his mind was: Cute!
He can’t help but laugh, “Are too! What’s this about?”
“You have no idea.” He starts like he’s about to tell an enlightening story, “I’ve been waiting for this moment my whole life.”
Kaveh’s face steams, “Your whole life? You haven’t even known me that long, Haitham.”
“Haven’t you learned by now not to underestimate me?” he says with a sniffle and a dead serious expression.
Again, the prince rolls his eyes and laughs, “You’re actually ridiculous.”
“Only for you.” The guard says as he wraps his arms around Kaveh’s waist and lifts him off the ground.
“And sappy. EW!” Kaveh tags on and cackles as Alhaitham squeezes him tighter. “Where’d the asshole who I know and love go? I miss him.”
“He’ll come back once the flippant pretty boy who I know and love stops trying to be all self-sacrificing and serious.” Alhaitham puts him down.
Kaveh hums and looks him up and down, “I guess I can finally say you desperately need a bath and we’re burning those clothes.” He still hadn’t changed from his desert grime mixed with blood soaked clothes and smelled like death.
“It would be my honor to bathe for you, princess.” He says in a bow that makes Kaveh blood boil familiarly.
“I hate you.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
-
After Kaveh ensures that the doctors released Alhaitham and he didn’t jump out the window or something equally stupid, he leaves to check on his mother’s condition.
Alhaitham offered to come with him, but Kaveh insisted he stank so bad it’d send her into cardiac arrest. He would be fine on his own and Haitham could use the rest. His hands shook as he reached for the door to her hospital room. She’d been sent somewhere in the Akademiya for specialty care as soon as Azar was arrested.
Entering the room, you’d think it was empty if not for the beeping of the machines. His mother’s body lay frail and still, only a slight rise and fall of her chest told him she was even alive. It was hard to see her like this. She was once a proud woman, strong. She held her head high and would detest being seen by even doctors in this state if she were well enough to say so.
“We aren’t sure how long she’ll be out for.” A doctor appears behind him in the quiet room. “Our team has done everything we can for her now. She was fighting the poison without proper treatment for who knows how long. It’s a miracle she was moving as much as she was before she collapsed.”
That’s right. Kaveh remembers her fit once she was informed of Azar’s betrayal. She’d tried to march down to the holding cell herself to confirm it. She’d been yelling about ‘lies’ and ‘Akademiya bastards’ before finally running out of steam halfway down the hallway and passing out.
“Is it something she can recover from?” he asks.
The doctor looks to the ground in silence. Probably not.
Kaveh honestly feels numb. The news that his mother was on her deathbed didn’t shock him. It didn’t make him cry out or pray for a miracle. It felt like news of a distant relative you met once when you were a baby passing away. It was sad, but he’d come to terms with the death of the mother he knew long ago. He’d lost both his parents in the desert on that day. He had no tears left to cry for the person who simply pretended to be her up until this moment. It was a cruel way of thinking, he knew that, but only he could judge how he felt about this situation. Not another soul could understand his experience with her. Not even Alhaitham.
Maybe hours, days, years from now he’ll cry over her, but right now he’s numb.
He needed to plan for what comes next. Does he take up the thrown in her stead? Will the elders accept him and his new way of leadership, or should he simply let the Great Sages of the Akademiya decide what to do in the queen’s absence?
He doesn’t have long to dwell on his decision before more doctors come in to discuss what he knew about the poison and arrangements for the ‘worst case scenario’ of her death. There was endless paperwork to fill out and important people giving their condolences and messengers bringing flowers. Hours went by like this until another knock came to the door.
Expecting more flowers, since more and more began to arrive as news spread about the Queen’s state, Kaveh was surprised to see what appeared to be a little girl in a nurse’s uniform with… horns? Antennae? He’s not quite sure what to call them. Perhaps she’s what they call a Melusine? But aren’t they supposed to look a little less… human?
“Is this where Queen Faranak is at rest?” she asks to which Kaveh’s brain scrambles around her phrasing. She wasn’t dead yet!
“This is where she’s resting, Sigewinne! Not at rest. That makes it sound like we’re at her grave!” another voice follows the young girl (Sigewinne?) in the room. One Kaveh recognizes instantly as Navia.
She smiles as she sees him sympathetically. “Kaveh, this is Nurse Sigewinne of Fontaine.” She introduces the young lady formally to which the girl gives a bow before making her way to his mother’s side. “Would you mind if she examines the queen?”
Kaveh shakes his head. “N-not at all. Nice to meet you, Miss Sigewinne.” He guesses he shouldn’t be surprised that this little girl is a nurse given that the shady businesswoman, Dori, has quite the small stature as well.
Another guest is quick to arrive once Sigewinne begins her examination, the Iudex himself. “Apologies for barging in unannounced, Prince Kaveh Paradisea.” Neuvillette says. “Although she was not given an invite to the wedding, I had brought her along to study the local flora and once I heard of your situation, I rushed to bring her here.”
“She’s the best doctor in all Fontaine and possibly the world!” Navia boasts on the girl’s behalf.
Kaveh simply nods, “I thank you, but I’m afraid there isn’t much to be done as far as I’ve been informed.”
Navia puts a hand on his shoulder reassuringly then Sigewinne begins to speak. “You’re right. Here, she may only have a few weeks at best, but she’s not a lost cause entirely.” She explains. “I’ve worked with victims of this poison made from Morelle Noire and studied what works and what doesn’t. I’m confident I can reduce the symptoms and save her life, but I’ll need to do so in Fontaine, so I can watch over her personally.”
“You can really save her? That easily?” Kaveh was stunned.
“Easy isn’t a word I would use.” The nurse puts a finger to her chin. “The process will be long. She may need to stay in Fontaine for years under my care.”
“I see.” The prince contemplates.
So, he’s in a similar situation as before: he would either need to hand over the throne to the Akademiya or take it up himself. He’d grown up being taught that the Akademiya would take every chance to steal power from his family, so handing it over seemed like an attack against what he stands for. Then again that is just the old way of thinking. The Akademiya isn’t foreign to him; he studied there after all. Letting them figure it out would finally free him from all the suffocating responsibilities.
The offer was tempting, sure, but leaving others to pick up his mess isn’t the kind of person he is.
He’d find a way to make this work out for them - all of them.
-
~Afterward~
It’s not long after that that Prince Kaveh is crowned King of Sumeru alongside his personal consultant/partner, Sir Alhaitham, and a court consisting of the Six Great Sages of the Akademiya. It was not at all a smooth process and there will be plenty of bumps in the road, but for now Kaveh is happy serving his people while also enjoying his own personal freedoms like visiting his favorite wine vineyard with his partner.
Relations between Fontaine and Sumeru grew stronger every year, especially knowing that the Queen was under treatment there. Navia was given the freedom to create her own organization in Fontaine called the Spina Di Rosula, a dream hatched by her late father to protect citizens in her own way. She visits on occasion along with Clorinde and Kaveh smiles when he sees the two hand-in-hand.