"Princess, we want to know if what we heard is right. Are you planning to merge the unsuccessful companies with the bigger, successful ones?"
A smiling man leaned forward eagerly, his grin stretched wide across his face as he posed the question that had clearly been sitting on many minds long before today's gathering even began.
"Yes, I do plan to do it in the future," Princess Natalia replied with full confidence, her voice carrying across the entire hall with an authority of a top Crown, she didn't want to give any chance to them to eat her out! She raised her hand slightly before the objections could begin their rise from the seats. "And before people start complaining, let me tell you this. This city sits on an island, not at the heart of a vast empire. Even our living space is limited because of the wild animals lurking outside our borders. Resources are not endless here."
Her gaze swept the crowd, pausing briefly on each cluster of dissatisfied faces, letting those words settle before she pushed forward. "I do appreciate you working hard for this city, but joining with already successful businesses will help you and this city grow more. If you have a way to increase your business in a short time, then please do it. But until we find a way to connect to the mainland, you have to merge. So please, cooperate."
The hall shifted in response. A visible wave of slumping shoulders moved through the rows as those who had hoped for a different answer absorbed the blow in silence, their faces doing all the talking their mouths couldn't manage. Others, however, exchanged amused glances and laughed freely, clearly pleased to hear the decision come directly from her mouth without any cushioning around it.
"Next!"
.
A mature woman stood up, her posture confident but a tentative note running beneath her voice as she began. "Princess, regarding food production in indoor settings, we're thinking of doing something new, and there are other people who wanted to show their research on different things. If you have time, can you come afterwards and check on it?"
"Hmm, how much chance does it have of working?" Princess Natalia asked, her tone clipped.
"Agh, not much. We're still in the early stages, I think," the mature woman admitted, and whatever certainty had held up her posture drained right out of her voice the moment she said it.
"Then don't waste your time. Or mine," Natalia said without softening it. "Assign only a few people to the task and report back to me when there is real progress. This is a critical time for the city. Do not jeopardize what we have built. Focus on feeding our guests from the mainland."
She let her eyes travel the room before continuing. "The same goes for everyone else. Come to me only when you are confident in your work. I understand the value of what you are all doing, but a theory is still just a theory. Let it bear fruit before bringing it to me."
"Okay, Princess," the woman said as she sat back down, heat rising in her cheeks for the whole room to see. Around her, others who had quietly nursed hopes that the Princess might visit their own stations to review their work shook their heads and quietly released those hopes.
"NEXT!"
.
One of the women at the front stood up, her enthusiasm too large to stay seated quietly behind. "Princess, we'd like to send our most skilled workers outside to companies we've signed deals with. To learn their product crafts and bring that knowledge back here. It will greatly benefit this city, and we were hoping to get some support from the Queen's side!"
She stepped forward with a confidence that did not waver. "We are two hundred percent sure that it will work. I even brought a sample!"
The woman gently presented a beautiful ornament to Princess Natalia, its intricate design catching the light in a way that pulled attention from across the room without trying.
Natalia's face opened with genuine delight as she turned the piece over in her hands, taking in every carved detail. "Wow, it is truly beautiful! Good work!" She looked up at the woman with warmth still sitting on her face. "Please come to me the day after the ceremony."
"Thank you, Princess!" The woman bowed gently, her face glowing as she returned to her seat.
"Next!"
.
A middle-aged man stood up, the weariness of his days carved into every line of his expression. "Princess, our salary hasn't increased for many years, but the prices of everything have increased. Our work barely sustains our families, and the Crown houses are not listening to us. Can you talk to them about our pay?"
"If there is a way to increase it, then I will," Princess Natalia replied in a measured tone, offering no promises but refusing to dismiss him either. The man sat down with that, which was more than he had arrived with.
"Next!"
.
A young woman rose to her feet, her voice firm despite the nervous energy she was clearly pushing through just to stay upright in front of the crowd. "Princess, regarding pregnant women's leaves. It is quite harsh on us women if we take a break for giving birth. And also, our pay has always been less compared to men. What are you planning for us women?"
Snarls of laughter tore from some of the men surrounding her, filling the air with an unpleasant edge that seemed to sharpen as it echoed.
Princess Natalia's expression stayed neutral as she answered. "I do understand your problem, but pay is based on what you are capable of doing and what you bring to the table. You must be in a sector that is male-dominated. That is why the gap exists. In other sectors, women are getting paid equally or even more."
She paused, letting the room sit with that before continuing with a firmer tone. "Regarding giving birth, it is a trade-off. You not working will affect the company, and that is not anyone's fault. We cannot make everything perfect. If you have to give birth, then you have to suffer some losses."
Her words drew chuckles from many of the men, and even some women allowed themselves small laughs. The young woman sat back down slowly, her fist closed tight in her lap, jaw set with an anger she kept reined in by the thinnest possible margin.
"Next!" "Next!" "Next..."
.
This time, Princess Natalia did not take a break. In one relentless stretch, she stood at that platform and answered every single question thrown at her, one after another, for an entire hour without pause. Her voice never faltered. Her posture never drifted from that composed, upright position she had held since she first stepped onto the platform. Each answer arrived with the same precision as the first, her mind clearly cataloguing every concern and weighing it while the next person was still rising from their seat. By the time the final question had been answered and her last words settled over the hall, the accumulated weight of that hour had left its mark, a thin sheen across her brow the only evidence of the effort she had refused to show while it was happening.
She bowed deeply to the crowd.
CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!
"PRINCESS! PRINCESS! PRINCESS! PRINCESS!"
The applause thundered through the hall. People cheered with their entire bodies, faces bright and open with admiration, clapping until the sound bounced off every wall and flooded every corner of the space. But scattered through the enthusiasm were those who stayed still, arms folded, dissatisfaction set into their expressions with no effort made to conceal it.
Princess Natalia smiled warmly at the crowd and gave a gracious wave across all of them, the satisfied faces and the unhappy ones alike. She turned and found Little Man already waiting at the edge of the platform, exactly where he always positioned himself. She smiled at him and raised her hand. Little Man took it gently and guided her down from the platform.
"Good job, Princess," he said quietly, drawing out his handkerchief and pressing it carefully against her brow to catch the sweat that had built over that hour.
"Thank you, Little Man." She took the handkerchief from his hand herself and finished the task, patting her face dry as they walked together through the hall.
Her friends met her with open smiles as she moved forward.
"Hey, good job, Natalia!" "Nicely handled!" "You are the best, Natalia!"
"Hehe, thank you, guys!" Natalia smiled back at every one of them, hearing her name called from multiple directions at once as warmth spread through her chest. The kind words settled pleasantly over her as she continued walking toward her carriage.
She slowed near Leader Remek and spoke without ceremony. "Uncle, I will not visit the underground place, so tell them on my behalf. Thank you for your hardwork."
Without waiting for any response, she stepped into the carriage. Big Guy and Emmy bowed deeply to Leader Remek before climbing in behind her.
"Hmm, just go. Take care of her," Leader Remek said, his voice carrying no particular color and his face offering even less.
After the carriage flew away, he remained in the space it had left behind. His eyes moved over the faces still gathered inside and the many more crowding beyond the doors. He exhaled slowly and tilted his gaze up toward the open sky above to let his mind wander.
.
.
At the Queen's palace, the burning ceremony had reached its end. The fire had consumed everything it was meant to, leaving only grey dust spread quietly across the ground floor.
Grandmother stood with a composure that held the gravity of the moment without cracking beneath it. She offered prayers in a low voice, each word arriving with the care of someone who understood the weight of what she was saying. When she finished, she gathered the ashes into a beautiful vessel whose surface caught the dim light with a soft gleam. She carried it across the floor to Mother Veny and lowered it gently into her waiting hands.
"Here. Take this and send her away into the ocean," Grandmother spoke slowly making sure she heard it right.
"SOBB... SOOBB... MY DAUGHTER!"
Mother Veny pulled the vessel hard against her chest and held it with everything she had left in her body, her eyes swollen nearly shut from hours of weeping, her shoulders shaking with each new sob that moved through her. She pressed her face against the cool surface and began to murmur, words too quiet for anyone else to catch, too personal for any room to hold. She was speaking to her daughter. Everyone watching could feel it, even without hearing a single word.
Queen Mother moved through the space with steady, quiet hands, ushering everyone back inside and helping the tired mothers freshen up at whatever pace they needed. She guided Mother Veny and Mother Julia to a quiet room and stayed until both of them were lying down. Sleep claimed them almost immediately, their faces still carrying the tracks their tears had left behind, their bodies finally giving in after refusing to for so long.
Fia and Maren found their own room and collapsed the moment they were horizontal, every last reserve drained away by the grief and the hours they had spent holding each other up through it.
The rest gathered in the common area. Nobody rushed to fill the silence. The weight of the day sat heavily over all of them.
"Don't be so gloomy," Grandmother said, breaking it gently. Warmth ran through her voice, but there was an instruction beneath it. "Alice doesn't want to see her family sad. She went away smiling, so you should also smile. Otherwise, they can't go peacefully."
Those words reached into the room and drew people up from wherever their thoughts had pulled them under. Reluctant smiles began appearing across faces, small at first but genuine.
"Don't use my name to motivate others," a grumpy, muffled voice came from somewhere in the room.
Maid Nima glanced around with a curious tilt of her head. "Your real name is something else, right?" She looked at the others for confirmation.
Shoulders were shrugged across the room. Nobody offered an answer.
"Huh! Did you guys forget my name or what?!"
A lump in one of the sofa blankets erupted without warning. Gloomy burst out from beneath the fabric and stood upright on the cushion, every bit of indignation his small frame could contain filling him to the surface. Then the cold air reached him in the same instant. He dropped straight back down, snatched the blanket up, and pulled it over himself completely before anyone could blink.
The laughter that followed had no restraint in it. It swept through the room and reached everyone.
.
"Ah, Miss Phoebe, I didn't get a chance to say it earlier, but thank you for helping Zack and the others," Queen Mother said, giving a small bow as she spoke.
"Queen, it's okay. I just returned a favor," Miss Phoebe replied modestly. Then her eyes found Zack, coiled inside his blanket in a way that added several decades to his appearance. "But Zack, what's with you? Are you hurt or what? Why are you like an old man rolled inside a blanket?"
"Yes, Miss. He is hurt," Oliver said from the side, wearing a smirk he made no effort to conceal. "But I think you'll be the same afterward. Your husband was quite angry, you know."
"GAH! NO! MY SECRET ADVENTURE!!!!" Miss Phoebe grabbed at her own head, her face scrunching into an expression of full-bodied horror.
Zack, recognizing an opening from inside his blanket, called Sio over and said a few words quietly in her ear.
"YOU! YOU ARE THAT OLD WOMAN!!" Sio turned on Miss Phoebe with all the fury of a very small, very offended creature, her glare cutting clean across the air between them.
"Huh?" Miss Phoebe looked over at Zack, who was sitting back with a thoroughly satisfied expression on his face.
"GAH!! NO! MY DARK PAST AGAIN!" She grabbed her own head even tighter than before.
"That was a misunderstanding, little miss! Don't worry, everything is fine. We're all good. Don't worry," Miss Phoebe shifted quickly into her warmest tone and tried every approach she could think of to get through to Sio, who was having absolutely none of it. The two of them went back and forth with enough energy to push real life back into the room, the bickering carrying on until even those watching had forgotten, just for a moment, how heavy the day had been.
.
"Chieftess, how was your advertisement adventure? Did you have fun?" Miss Eva asked with a relaxed smile, letting Tyra and Lurvi settle themselves onto her lap before running her hands gently over their heads.
"Don't ask, Miss Eva. It was the worst! I didn't like it at all!" Chieftess Anihoa shivered at the memory, her shoulders pulling inward as if the discomfort were still sitting on her skin. "The tight clothing and those bold, outrageous, skin-showing outfits they have here. It felt like I was showing everything to everyone in the room!"
"Haha, yeah, it does feel like it," Miss Eva nodded, her smile full of understanding.
"Yeah, even after living here for quite some time, I still haven't gotten used to it," Mother Ariana added with a quiet sigh, her cheek resting against her hand.
"What are you guys saying?" Sasha cut in, crossing her arms. "Feeling the wind on your body is the best! And men will stare at you no matter what you wear anyway." She turned to Zack with a grin that dared him to disagree with her. "Isn't that right, Zack? You like what I wear, right?"
"Hmm, yes, Big Sister. You look very beautiful," Zack said with no shortage of pride, lifting his arms slightly as he spoke to put some weight behind the words. Then a sharp flare of pain shot through his abdomen and his expression folded in on itself. He gritted his teeth and pulled the blanket back around himself quickly.
"Geez, don't move too much!" Sasha leaned forward immediately, the teasing edge in her voice gone in an instant. Her hands moved to his blanket without hesitation, tucking it back around him properly, making sure every fold was in place. She held her hands there a moment after she was done, pressing gently on his wound, just checking it carefully.
Chieftess Anihoa shook her head slowly.
"Indeed," Miss Eva said, her smile knowing.
Mother Ariana rested her cheek against her hand. "I'm worried."
The three of them looked at each other and burst into laughter at the exact same moment.
hahahha
"Huh? Why are you laughing by looking at me?!" Sasha caught them and her face fell into a full pout. She reached over and pulled Mother Silja into a tight hug, tucking her firmly against her side. "Mother Silja is the best! Humph! All of you are so mean! BLLEEHH!" She stuck her tongue out at all three of them and held her ground.
Mother Silja smiled, bringing her hand up to rest gently on top of Sasha's head as the laughter around them grew and the long, heavy grief of the day finally gave just a little ground for happiness to sneak in.
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END OF CHAPTER
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Author Blabbering
We are told, again and again, that we have to move on sooner or later. People say it so easily, as if it is a simple step, as if it is something you wake up one morning and decide to do. But no one really talks about what happens when you were truly close to someone, when their absence is not just a gap but a quiet echo that lingers in everything.
Their memory keeps returning in the smallest moments. In a passing thought. In a familiar place. In things that never felt important until they were gone. And then come the regrets, the ones you did not notice before. Words you did not say. Time you thought you had. Chances that slipped away so quietly you did not even realize they mattered.
Sometimes it is not even memories, but imagined moments that hurt the most. You find yourself thinking about what could have happened if they were still here. Conversations that will never take place. Laughter that will never fill the silence. Ordinary days that now feel impossibly distant. You build these small, fragile worlds in your mind where they are still alive, still present, still part of your life, and for a moment it feels real. And then it fades, and you are left with the same emptiness again.
And yet, we are told to accept it. To make peace with something that refuses to feel peaceful. Maybe acceptance is not what people think it is. Maybe it is not about truly being okay, but about learning how to carry the weight without letting it crush you. Maybe it is just pretending, at first, telling yourself you are fine until the lie softens into something that resembles truth.
The author does not know if that is what moving on really means. Maybe it is just learning how to live with ghosts that no one else can see.
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