NationStates

It has been barely a week since the abdication of former Kong Sebastian Merrimack, a move that had surprised almost everyone, and had left the National Assembly temporarily stunned and confused. However, in an act of surprising beauricratic skill, the National Assembly got together and made a decision on the future of the nation, and it's government. After a intensive vote and discussion between the provincial representatives, the verdict came in. A well balanced Constitutional Monarchy would be formed, with a democratically elected prime minister to serve along side the monarch as a representative of the nations interests both at home and abroad.

Then came the difficult party, deciding on a new monarch, two primary candidates were selected, the former Queen Philippa, and recently knighted Lady Adrianna, and known supporter of the nations movement towards democracy. With the candidates selected, the National Assembly bored once again, and the nations future was decided. Lady Adriana won the vote by a respectable 155 to 95 margin.

That is what Felix had to prepare his men for, as he watched them performing the drill again for the eighteenth time. The men of the 32nd Special Mountain Regiment had been selected to be the formal royal guard detachment for the coronation proceedings. He nodded with approval as his men executed the drill with near perfect precision, although perfection was not the goal. His men had been selected due to their skill and ability in combat, as much as for how they looked in uniform. They were not for show, and the weapons they would be carrying would be just as real as they were.

He thought a bit about the new Queen, he had known her before her election as a Queen, and while he had never admitted it to anyone, had developed a spark for the Lady. However he had been reluctant to actually approach her on the matter, having enjoyed the conversations they regularly had, and he had felt no rush to change that. However, he had a job to do, and his romantic troubles could wait, or at least he hoped that they could.

The event was being held at an old, pre collapse relic, a mansion that had belonged to a former president of the nation, whom had been killed by an assassin just following the events of the collapse. The mansion had far outlived it's former owner, being built to past, and it's size, while modest by royal standards, had meant that it had been repurposed into a govermental building.



It was here, that the new era of democracy was about to begin.

Prince Alexandre, Duke of Alencon marched into the place that would host the coronation of his granddaughter. The Duke was a towering mountain of a man, standing at 6'7", with broad shoulders and short-cropped white curls, striking against his dark caramel skin. His eyes were dark brown but were alight with intelligence and alert observation. The Duke, even at seventy years old, was solidly built, his back was straight and steps sure and unaided. A thin faded scar sliced down the right side of his face, giving him a menacing look. The Duke wore a simple black and silver military uniform, decorated with his many, many medals and honors, along with a blue sash across his chest and combat boots as he marched inside.

The Duke, who'd lost and gained much over the last year, had recently risen to be Prime Minister of the Celestial Empire, and he had watched with great satisfaction as he saw King Sebastian fall, and be replaced with his favorite grandchild, Adriana. The violent death of Queen Philippa was a shame, but the Duke would shed no tears over the dead Genoise consort. The fiery destruction of Villa de Leans was not a tragedy to everyone, and the shattered alliance between Colfico and Genes was, if not by the Duke, was seen as a bonus to the Emperor, who courted the Genoise. Best to keep their entire focus, the Duke and his nephew had decided. It was an uneasy alliance the Duke and Emperor had, but one that thus far worked.

For the moment, the Duke's focus would be on Colfico. His goal, simplified, was to re-strengthen the relationship that had deteriorated between Andeja III and Sebastian. The Duke shared in his granddaughter's liberal ideals but wished to observe to see their implementation and be assured that she was strong enough to hold onto the reigns both for democratic progress and the Deritain-Colficoan relations. On a more personal level, the Duke was eager to see his granddaughter, who'd he'd not seen in over two years, and, if need be, be able to protect her from those who might attempt to maliciously influence her. And in this theatre of personal interest, the Duke had brought with him his eldest son, Count Kaiko of Godey, and his younger grandchildren, siblings of Adriana.

Kaiko and Mariam, the Count and Countess of Godey were a proud pair of parents, walking arm-in-arm, Kaiko in a morning suit, Mariam in a pink gown. Kaiko himself had once been a king, albeit when he'd been a child, and he had lost his kingdom during the Great Collapse. This fact made him nervous for his eldest child, and he feared that her time on the throne would not last long, either from forces abroad or by the very ideals she held so close to her heart. Mariam shared her husband's worries, but even more so she was scared that her daughter would lose touch with her Mantaran culture as a Queen of Colfico. She did not wish to see her daughter lose herself in the role of a monarch.

Following behind the Count and Countess were Adriana's three youngest siblings, her brothers Alexandre Godey, who was just fifteen years old, Kaikano Godey, who was twelve and her youngest sister, Malana Godey, who was nine and held on tightly to Alexandre's hand. Notably lacking in attendance was the Deritain Ambassador, Sir Christian Charpentier, who was busy taking care of his daughter, Tiphanie Charpentier, who had survived her ordeal of the De Leans Fire and Queen Philippa's elaborate and dramatic suicide, though the poor girl had broken her leg whilst jumping from a window in her escape from the burning estate along with a few burns and many cuts.

The Duke grinned as he looked at the Coronation Building, admiring the pre-collapse architecture. It was a style that had been a favorite of his late husband, and made him a bit sad at the thought, but happy to think of what Adrian would think if he could see what their granddaughter had accomplished. In all honesty, Adrian would likely have been horrified to see his namesake seated on a throne, he himself having had worked hard to avoid that fate his entire life. The Duke remembered Adrian holding Adriana as a toddler in his arms and how she had delighted him. His granddaughter didn't have Adrian's features, the pale skin and blue eyes of the Wieds diluted and washed away by the blood of the Volonte, but Adriana had his soul.

It was the soul of a good person, of someone who fundamentally understood right from wrong even in a world where that was so often blurred. The Duke was a grayer person than that, though he still liked to imagine he would typically end up on the right side of history. But his beloved had been truly good. Adriana was truly good. In was in her soul. The Duke prayed the soul that made a good person would, for his beloved granddaughter, make a good queen.

Felix watched, and nodded as the soldiers finished their final still, and nodded before saying "Now, what is the plan should things go hot?"

A soldier immediately responded without hesitation "Secure the package and make our way to emergency exists A, B or C, and if those are not accessible, make our way to the roof, and buy time for a helicopter to arrive and retrieve the package, with our lives if need be."

Felix nodded and said "Good, let's get into position, the eremony should be beginning soon."

Before long, the Commander had taken his position in the main banquet hall, where the twenty me of his unit were lined up as per orders, creating a path to the throne for the soon to be queen, all he had to do now was wait.

Prince Louis of Great Hyruke escorted his fiancée into the building with a small smile on his lips. He worn a smart looking suit with a deep royal blue sash. A year ago he never would have imagined that he so much as be allowed to visit Colfico, much less attend the coronation of its new monarch, a monarch, Louis noted was his soon to be sister-in-law. Louis had been sent as a representative of the King, his father, and as an informal ambassador of Gteat Hyruke. While relations between Great Hyruke and Colfico had been less hostile following the end of the Southern War, the dislike the king had towards King Sebastian left anything further dead in the water. The arrival of a new queen, Great Hyruke always preferred dealing with queens, along with a prime minister left many with high hopes for improvements in the future.

Lady Marie Godey grinned as she arrived with her fiancé, her prince charming, her Prince Louis. Marie had been excited in Londres ever since she'd learned of Sebastian's abdication. Marie had been sure of Adriana's eventual ascension, finding the election by the National Assembly to be all but a formality. Marie and Adriana had been in constant contact with one another, and Marie had read paragraphs upon paragraphs of her older sister's life in Colfico and had determined quick easily that Sebastian and Philippa's marriage had been doomed to fail, and that Sebastian wouldn't last long as king. And, in Marie's eyes, it had been clear that the National Assembly had wanted Adriana as their queen long before Sebastian had decided to abdicate and leave it up to the election. It had been like watching a child very slowly come to the only option you'd known was possible along.

Not that Marie was one to complain. She was happy. The Godey name would be respected across the continent as a royal house. She wasn't sure if Adriana would enjoy herself, she in fact doubted she would, but Adriana had always been a laborer, a woman of conviction and ideas, and now she had the greatest platform a person could have, head of state.

Marie giggled, feeling giddy as she saw her grandfather and parents, and to a lesser extent her siblings. Marie, who had dark brown skin, a slight and petite frame and long thick black hair braided along her skull and ending in a cascade of curls looked very similar to Adriana, simply shorter and younger. She wore a pink taffeta dress with wide skirts that ended just below her knee, along with a matching fascinator hat, white gloves, and a diamond necklace on a silver cord around her slender throat, the very vision of a future princess. Though it was a far cry from her preferred riding boots and tailed jackets.

"I can't believe my sister is a queen," Marie said with a laugh. "A lawyer I could have seen. A judge maybe, a civil rights advocate, a general annoyance, all easy. But a queen?"

Catherine, Queen Dowager of Genes sailed into the building hosting Lady Adriana Godey’s coronation like a glamorous wraith. Catherine, nearing seventy, wore a dress that at first glance was quite simple, with a line of buttons up the front ending at a high collar that covered her neck and to which a miniature portrait of her late husband was pinned. Her sleeves were large and puffy above the elbow, before stopping and becoming form fitting all the way down to her wrists. Lace gloves covered her aged hands. Her long skirt fell all the way to the floor and dragged behind her. Her white hair was braided back into a bun, over which a mourning shawl was draped and feel behind her.

Strikingly, ever last piece of clothing Catherine wore was bone white, the traditional color of death and mourning in her homeland. The only thing that wasn’t white was the large diamond tiara that say on her head. After all, a mourning and widowed queen was still a queen.

Behind the Queen dowager, two paces behind to be exact, walked her youngest son, Prince Mjazzkan of Genes. A man of medium of height, with wide eyes that seemed to try and watch everything and full lips, he was far less ghostly than his mother. Nor was he as imposing as her. He shared his mother complexion and sharp nose, while he’d inherited his father’s black hair, which he wore cut in short style, and had like his father grown out a well groomed beard and a thin, equally well groomed mustache. He was a thin man, hidden only by his splendid naval uniform and the emerald green sash that went across his chest and looped around his waist.

Catherine made her way to the edge of the room, her son following, as they waited for the ceremony to begin. Neither of the royals were there on official business. Catherine, as a dowager had no right to represent the Crown of Genes, and Mjazzkan, as far as his sister knew, was visiting his dear grieving mother in Gaosa.

Felix watched as some of the guests arrived, and had a smile on his face as he greater each of them, giving the signature, respectful bow of the Visari Order to each of them. Although he did not expect them to recognize it as being originated from the order, as it was not very well known, or at least so he thought, outside of Colfico.

He listened to one of them make a comment about Adrianna, and being her sister. He smirked and said "Well she is very well qualified for the honor, and she has earned it, after all she has done much for Colfico in the past few months"

Prince Louis laughed along with Marie. He didn’t think for a moment that his fiancée truly couldn’t believe it. More likely she couldn’t have believed it when they’d both left, one ending up in Great Hyruke and the other in Colfico. Louis himself felt as if it were one of those moments in a book where everything suddenly clicked into place, and re-reading the previous chapters, one could not help but see it as inevitable. As was history.

“If your sister is a Queen? What does that make you?” Whispered Louis, half joking, before he kissed her cheek.

Marie bit her lip to keep from laughing anymore as Louis whispered into her ear and kissed her. She hist his arm playfully as she whispered for him to stop. She wished to make a good impression on her sister's citizens. Her laughing throughout the whole event would likely not do that. Instead, she focused on the man who'd spoken and had spoken well of her sister. She gave the man a small curtsy in return for his bow.

"Well, Akiliana has always been one to determined to help anyone and everyone, and once she finds a cause she can fight for, you have better luck of getting opening a crocodile's jaws than you do of getting her to give up."

He nodded with a smile and said "I've noticed, she can be quite persistent when she wants to be." He then said "I am Commander Felix Skotnicki, Commanding officer of the 32nd Special Mountain Warfare Regiment, as well as commander of the security detail assigned to the event, I met your sister previously at a Gala, she is quite the interesting person to have a conversation with."

He then said "It is a pleasure and an honor to meet a sister of her majesty."

Louis nodded his head to the army man. Louis wasn’t allowed to serve in the Hyrukian military, nor would he ever want to as it wasn’t his place to do so, but he admired those men abroad whose cultures oddly preferred men in such roles. It was seeing a antelope chase a looks.

“I trust we are all safe under your command today then?”

"Yes, and the soldiers here are all prepared to do what they must if it comes to it", he motioned to one of the men in his position, with one of the state of the art CM-2 battle rifles, a weapon that had recently come into service, and had begun rapidly replacing other battle rifles in the armed forces. One of its notable features was the large box magazine, which held twenty of its deadly 7.62 projectiles, and even more notable was the selector switch near the grip, a switch which allowed the user to swap the weapon into fully automatic with a simple push of a finger.

"Besides the men here, there is also another full three platoons on standby with armor and even a helicopter squadron on standby in the scenario that things get hotter than we can handle, that includes three light tanks." He then said "You are as safe as I can make you with the resources I have available." He then said "And every one of these soldiers is a graduate of the Special Warfare Academy, and we were present at the battle of Vizerman Island as well."

Adriana felt like she was going to throw up.

In fact, she had. Twice. Jikela and Frederique, who'd made the journey down from Ameliehall to help her and be there for her, had been forced to hold Adriana's thick curls when she's lost her breakfast and then her lunch. They'd barely flinched, so use at this point to taking care of Amelie during her pregnancy. Adriana had been sad to miss the birth of Amelie's twin daughters, and had promised to visit, but events in the capital had required her attention. Sebastian had warned her of his intention to abdicate, and his desire for her to take his place. She hadn't mentioned that the United Colfico Movement had had the same idea months earlier. Adriana had deferred it to an election, never thinking it would occur. But it had. And they'd chosen Adriana.

It'd become overwhelming in an instant. The fiery death of Queen Philippa seemed to concern no one but Adriana. She'd never liked the child, but she had been a child. And her actions frightened her. The cruelty of it. The clear desperation and spite. It made Adriana sick to her stomach. Philippa had rather die, the crown jewels destroyed, and kill as many as she could than see Adriana crowned. Part of Adriana thought that if Philippa was so ready to die for the crown, perhaps it should have gone to her. Adriana certainly wasn't prepared to blow herself up over it. She wasn't even sure she wanted it. And every time she'd expressed that opinion, everyone had assured her that meant she was perfect for the job.

It wasn't just the scorched ghost of Philippa that haunted her. It was the fact that just so much went into being queen. It wasn't even the big things, but the little that terrified her. How she looked, how she walked, what she wore, even how she spoke was, apparently, expected to be managed and controlled to best be a monarch of the people at home and for the nation abroad. There was concern over her speech, for Adriana spoke very softly, and that might come off as if she were weak. She spoke very passionately, and it was fear she might be seen as too emotional, potentially unpredictable. She spoke with an accent, so she came off as too foreign.

"But I am foreign," Adriana had pointed out. A fact everyone seemed fine with ignoring. No one seemed to agree on how to fix it. They encouraged her to downplay the accent, but that made her sound insulting. They tried having her play it up, but that made her seem pretentious. In the end, Adriana simply tried to enjoy it and practiced projecting her voice instead. But of course that wasn't the end of it. The rapid course of events meant that she couldn't get a new dress, which meant she had to pick one she already own, to the horror to all involved. Thus had begun the endless debate. Which to wear? What style? Certainly formal. What color? White, no too marriage-y. Green, no too Genoise. Black, no too Deritain. Blue, no too generic?

"What about red?" Jikela had asked.

"Oh, yes," Frederique had squeaked. "You are after all the Red Lady, the Revolutionary Noblewoman!"

"The Revolutionary Royal," Jikela had corrected.

"Even better."

So they had dressed Adriana in an iconic red taffeta dress with short sleeves, a snitched waist, and a long skirt. She wore flats since she would be on her feet and she was already on the taller side for a woman. Modest but stylish, to please the conservatives and the liberals. Long white gloves covered her hands, forearms, and elbows while a three-string diamond necklace, a gift from Amelie, rested on the hollow of her neck. There had been a small catastrophe over her sash. The first had been red, but it blended into her dress, the second blue, and white, but it had looked, it had been declared, too much like the Deritain flag. Finally, they'd settled on a blue sash with white stripes emulating the Colficoan flag.

"I think I rather fight a war than ever have to do this again," Adriana said as she had admired herself in the mirror. They'd pinned her hair back into an empress braid so it would be easy to place a crown on top of. It showed off her slender neck and the stud diamonds in her ears. She certainly looked like a queen. Even if she didn't necessarily feel like one.

"You look magnificent," Frederique said, handing Adriana another mint. Adriana shivered. She didn't even want to recall the beauty regime they'd put her through.

"I wish Amelie and Yejide were here," Adriana said as Jikela put the cape, gold and lined with ermine fur. They would have been, she knew, but Amelie was still recovering from birth and hadn't been fit for travel to the coronation.

"You can't worry about that," said Jikela, "besides, aren't we good enough?"

That made Adriana laugh. "Of course you are." She pulled them both into a tight hug. When they pulled away, they each had tears in their eyes. But they were tears of joy. Still, they'd kill Adriana if she ruined her makeup, so she quickly blinked them away.

"You're going to make a great queen," said Jikela.

"And an even better matchmaker," mused Frederique, "I'm sure you're going to break a few would be kings hearts. Feel free to send them my way."

Adriana rolled her eyes. She didn't want to think about that. The moment the National Assembly had announced her as the new queen, Adriana had been flooded with letters and gifts from men across the continent who thought to wear a crown beside her.

"Come on, I can't be allowed to be late to my own coronation."

With that, they made their way to the coronation building. Cameras flashed as Adriana stepped out, Jikela and Frederique following behind her, carrying the hem of her golden royal cape. Adriana took a deep breath and put on a face of neutral regality. She was queen, one of the people, who served out of duty, elected, and determined to see democracy, liberty, and equality ring through the land with the unifying and guiding hand of a constitutional monarch. Adriana took her first step inside, towards the throne.

“Well, considering…” Prince Louis’s comment, one about how the last queen had blown herself up so it served one to be prepared, die in his throat as he saw the arrival of his sister-in-law to be and found himself staring in awe. He mouthed a small ‘wow’ and he and Marie took steps to stay clear. Louis could certainly see the familial resemblance.

Felix was about to continue speaking when he noticed that the Queen had arrived, and found himself awestruck for but a moment before snapping himself back to business the very next moment. There was a priest present, as well as the grand master of the Visari order, in his unique ceremonial robes, and holding a simple wooden staff in one hand, while it might seem like it was there to help steady him, it was indeed a weapon, and a quite deadly one in such a skilled users hands. However he seemed gentle enough at a glance, and his visage gave not the slightest hint of negative emotion.

On a pedestal, sitting on a velvet cushion, with two soldiers flanking it, sat a crown, with diamonds, and more uniquely, a blue gem, moonstone, which was fairly unique to Colfico, and could only be found in the caves underneath the temple of Visari. These gems were a gift from the temple to the new monarch, and were meant to help set the new crown jewels apart from those elsewhere, by giving them a jewel that could not be found elsewhere.

The Colficoan anthem began to play as Felix took his own spot besides the other officals near the throne, as he had been instructed in his orders. He knew that there was no way that she had not noticed his moment of awestruckness, but he had to keep going regardless.

Marie joined the choir of gasps that went up around Adriana, covering her mouth as her sister made her way to the throne, the pedestal, and the priest. Their parents, the Count and Countess looked on with happiness, but concern. Both saw their daughter, their first child, and what a lovely, and strong, and now powerful woman she'd become. But Mariam also saw the priest and felt a pit in her stomach. Would Adriana's faith become a matter of state? Mariam herself wasn't sure what Adriana believed if anything, and that was supposed to be her choice. The Duke meanwhile only smiled. Adriana looked as if she had been born to be a queen, as opposed to never suppose to have sat on a throne. It tickled that despite all the many efforts to keep himself and his decent off a throne, his granddaughter had gone and done it, seemingly unintentionally.

Adriana was only barely aware of people as she made her way to the dais. She caught glimpses of familiar faces amongst the sea of unfamiliar ones. She caught sight of her grandfather and felt a rush of relief. She came to a stop before the priest, Jikela, and Frederique stopping behind her. There she noticed Felix, her conversation partner during a gala for veterans. The man had no place in the military, he would make a fortune in planning and hosting events, thought Adriana. She took in and let out another deep breath to keep from laughing at the thought. Instead, she remained calm and looked to the Visari priest.

The Grand master and the priest both stepped forward with practiced steps, the Grand Master doing so with a grace that seemed well beyond his years, however the priest stopped, as the Grand master continued to step forward towards the pedestal, at which point, without a sound from Felix, the two soldiers took precisely six steps toe each side of the pedestal, and faced towards Adriana, of notice would be that they both wore the same type of necklace that Felix did. The Grand Master then stepped towards the pedestal, and lifted the crown up with a gentleness and care that would leave most surgeons jealous, before taking a few steps towards Adriana, and then stopping at which point the music stopped, leaving nothing but silence in the air, as he began to speak. The priest, holding a bible, which was more symbolic than an actual requiring of faith.

"Lady Adriana Goedry, On behalf of the People of Colfico, and all of her provinces and realms, have been tasked with bestowing upon you the power, privilege's, and responsibilities of the crown of the nation....and on behalf of the People of Colfico, I bestow this crown, and all that it represents, upon you, with which you shall carry with you the hopes, dreams and future of the people of Colfico."

He then said "Do you accept this crown and everything that it carries with it, with good faith, and with the well being and future of the people of colfico foremost in your heart?"

Adriana stood straight and tall as the grand master and the priest moved towards her and spoke. She noticed the Bible and wished for a moment that they’d brought a law book instead. Or perhaps a copy of the bill of rights instead, documents she would have found more fitting for her. But the role of a monarch had long been tied to the faith, or faiths of their people, and that was still something Adriana respected and understood.

“I,” Adriana said, her typically soft voice filling through the hall, carefully and dutifully practiced, “solemnly accept this crown and everything that it carries with it, with good faith, and with the well being and future of the people of Colfico foremost in my heart.”

The Grand Master listened to Adriana speak, carefully analyzing every word, before speaking once she had finished.

"Then, with the power given by the will of the people of Colfico, and the Realm, Bestow this crown, and the throne of the nation upon you. May your reign be long, prosperous, and peaceful." He gently placed the crown upon her head, and then stepped back before saying "Long Live the Queen."

The statement was repeated throughout the room, before Felix stepped forward, at the same time that the two soldiers came to the Queens flanks, and performed a practiced, and near perfect about face down the path that she had taken. Felix would have planned a longer ceremony, but there had both been concerns for security of a longer ceremony, but also a desire from the National Assembly to put distance between this coronation, and those of other nations. So he had decided to go with a shorter ceremony, with more focus on getting to the celebration.

Felix gave her the slightest of nods, a worked out signal that the official Ceremony was over, and that they would be moving on to the ballroom to begin the celebration without actually saying it.

Adriana, now officially Queen Adriana of Colfico, returned Felix’s slight nod, understanding that the ceremony was over. She was filled with relief. She had only ever attended one coronation, that of her late grand uncle, and his coronation had taken hours. She preferrred this more monarchistic utilitarian approach. With the moonstone crown on her head, Adriana looked to Jikela and Frédérique. Who unclamped the heavy gold cape from Adriana’s shoulders so that she could walk with ease, and by herself into the ballroom.

The Duke joined the chorus of applause and shouts of ‘long live the queen’ and marched towards the ballroom and towards his granddaughter, his son and children in tow. So do Marie along with Louis, moving towards the ballroom.

Louis let his fiancée lead him into the ballroom, his eyes drifting from Marie to the new Colficoan Queen and back to Marie. It’d been a brief ceremony. All the telltale signs of a new monarchy. Old ones still had all the fine golden trappings of eras gone by. Something that, while archaic, gave them a sense of majesty and prestige that the symbol enthronement ceremony that Louis had just watched lacked.

Not that Great Hyruke was known for their coronations. The last three monarchs over the century or so had all been children when they ascended them throne, and thus their coronations had all been delayed events that had been of limited note outside of Great Hyruke, as Hyrukians preferred it. Louis supposed that he couldn’t fault the Colficoans if they had a similiar view on the matter.

“You should have worn a tiara,” said Louis with a teasing tone into Marie’s ear. “It suits you better than it does her.”

Marie wrinkled her nose and gently pinched Louis. Not that she disagreed. She hadn’t thought Adriana would actually wear the crown, given her sister’s stance on things. And it didn’t quite suite her. I’m sure, it would make for a great portrait, and would protect an image of a noble queen. But for those who knew Adriana, it told a very different story. She wore it like it was a uniform of a job. In a way, Marie thought, it was.

“You are bad. But not wrong. We’ll have to go looking for tiaras then won’t we?”

Felix led the queen past the row of soldiers, with each pair falling in line behind them as they did, until they got to the ball room, at which point, the soldiers dispersed to their assigned posts, where they would be taking shifts at each, alternating so that they too could enjoy the celebrations.



The Ball Rooms construction matched the rest of the mansion with its contemporary design, however, there was unfortunately very little of the original furniture remaining, and most of the furniture now present was of a more modern, post collapse Colficoan design, however Felix had done his best to make up for it through a careful choice of style and function, and he had even managed to scrape together a few pre collapse pieces of technology for the celebration, these were automated party lights that had managed to survive the collapse.

The food on the other hand had none of Colficos shortcomings for furniture design, with a wide selection of various dishes, all perfect for such an occasion, simple, and easy to enjoy without a plate and while standing. The drinks were a selection of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, wines, juices, ciders and even some Colficoan Whiskey.

Felix then turned to the Queen and said "Your Majesty, I hope that the celebration will be to your liking, if it is not I will accept your criticism personally."

Adriana smiled at Felix. She found the decorations, the lights, and the space to be magnificent. Like something out of a fairy tale ending. Only it was just the beginning of her reign. Getting the crown was the easy part, staying on it was the difficult part. The thought made Adriana dizzy, so she pushed it aside, and instead tried to focus on what was in front of her. She looked back at Felix. He had been an excellent conversationalist, she was happy he was here. "Everything looks wonderful, Commander. You've truly outdone yourself. It is quite impressive what you've accomplished here, especially given the limited time and the circumstances. I'll have to be making appointments to form some semblance of a royal household soon. Would you be interested in being my Lord Chamberlain?"

"Already making appointments I see." The Duke of Alencon's deep voice boomed as he reached Queen Adriana and Commander Skotnicki. The Duke gave his granddaughter a small bow. "I would have expected nothing less."

Adriana let out a small squeak of joy and all but tackled her grandfather with a hug. The Duke laughed and stumbled a bit, but hugged her back. "Kuku kane!" Adriana said with delight. "Haʻo wau iā ʻoe."

"ʻO koʻu puʻuwai me ʻoe mau." said the Duke in return as they pulled away from the hug. The Duke held his granddaughter's gloved hands and kissed them. "I am sure that you shall be a great monarch, just know to do better than those who came before you, and build a future that you are outshined by those who come after you."

"I shall do my best." Adriana said softly. She turned to Felix, gesturing to her grandfather. "I suppose royal decorum just went out the window for bit. Forgive me. Felix, this is my grandfather, the Duke of Alencon and Prime Minister of Derita. Kuku kane, this is Commander Felix Skotnicki, he help but this event together and is in charge of security."

The Duke looked down at Commander Skotnicki, appraising him. He let out a gruff sound like a dragon releasing a puff of smoke. "I see. A pleasure to meet you, Commander."

Felix was surprised by the offer, it sounded like it was an honor, even if he was not entirely sure what a Lord Chamberlain was, such a thing having never existed within Colfico before.

"I Would be honored, your majesty."

He then gave another of his signature bows to the duke before saying "It is a pleasure and an honor to meet you, Prime Minister." Felix was shorter than the man, but was not phased by the difference in height.

"A lot of it was logistical work as much as it was actually putting everything together, a lot of this is fairly common, it was more a matter of getting enough of it to where it needed to be on time, I employed a few trucks that would normally be employed for logistical purposes for the job, and even did a bit of warehouse scrounging to find the lights, they were tucked away but I found them on a logistical manifest, and thought they could come in handy, paper work is a boring part of a soldiers life, but it is also one of the most important, which is why I have always done my logistical paper work and pen pushing personally, I guess it came in handy here too."

He did not recognize the language that they were using, but he decided that he could probably learn it in enough time.

A sword hung at the Commanders hip, however, it was no decorative or ceremonial piece, despite clearly being handmade, it was a traditional design that had stood the test of time, having been made by temple master blacksmiths for millennia, and while the blade was concealed by a black leather scabbard which opened both vertically and horizontally, its pommel, and the curve of the blade and its scabbard, showed its quality of both craftsman ship and utilitarianism.