Vignette:Next in Line

he morning newspaper could not have written it any better.

“Alva… left the Concordant?” His hands are starting to quiver.

“Yes, sir.” The assistant’s voice is quiet as if they’re trying to hide.

“All over four corpses?” His voice is starting to tremble.

There’s another voice. ''“Don’t you remember, sir? Alva still claims to be the protector of all Goetic people, and they’re doing a damn good job of protecting the Goetics they already have. That means they left the Concordant over the deaths of thousands- no, millions of their own.”'' There’s a certain sense of smugness in their tone. “Have you been oblivious to what Agrana has been doing in their northern regions for the past century?” The crown prince is quite uppity; he always has been.

''“Crown Prince Aenas? I was not expecting you to be here.”'' He can feel his blood pressure rising as he stands to greet him.

''“Minister Relloulis. I apologize for my sudden entrance.”'' Why does he look so haughty?

“May I ask why you’ve come to this place?” His blood is starting to boil; he’s barely keeping his composure.

“To use the washroom, obviously.” The damn rat of a royal is messing with him. He’s about to snap when he disappears from his view and into the many halls of the palace.

The comfort of the couch he’s collapsed onto doesn’t do much to alleviate his loathing or his rocketing blood pressure. Crown Prince Aenas, from the moment he stepped into the spotlight, was a thorn in proper Helinikan society. Mingling with commoners, supporting workers’ rights, providing to beggars and teasing them with tastes of power was his way of being the rebellious little piece of shit he and his supporters so proudly touted himself as.

‘The people’s prince’, they said. He’ll be a pauper by the time the crown gets placed on his head.

His sister, on the other hand, was what this country needed. Alethia was the shining example of what a proper heir to the throne should be: a royal should accept and perform their duties as honourably and as diligently as possible. She’s got the right mindset to run things, after all. Supporting Helinika’s industrial giants to bolster growth, interacting with the nobility to keep Helinikan tradition alive in the new millennium, and catering to the best of the best so they can provide their best to the country is what she’s been doing since she first opened her eyes.

Helinika must live, even if it means getting a royal out of the picture.