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The next few days went by without incident, but that didn't mean that stuff hadn't happened during that time. First, Siegbert had managed to settle into his new home well. Despite his mother's unruly behaviour, he felt more at home in Nohr than he ever did back in the Deep Realm. He was still hurt that Charlotte wanted nothing to do with him, but he lucky to have his aunts and uncle care for him. His aunts also doted on him endlessly, with Camilla being the worst offender. Still, the attention was quite welcoming.

The other thing to happen was that Nohr's chief medical expert had examined Iago's body. Charlotte wanted to fight off the individual, but she knew better than to do so. She knew well enough that if she went against the autopsy, she would've come off as someone who had something to hide. Worse, she could've been seen as the person responsible for Iago's death. Luckily for her, the chief medical expert held the opinion that Iago's death had been nothing more than an accident. Many didn't buy it, but they knew that contesting the finding was a pointless endeavour.

When the chief medical expert's findings were revealed, Corrin was more unsure than most anyone else in the castle. She wanted to believe it, but a large part of her felt that it was simply wrong. She decided on a whim to talk to Charlotte about it once and for all in order to figure out the truth. She found her estranged friend alone in her bedroom, still wearing her nightie despite it being early afternoon. She hair was also quite messy, and she didn't have on any makeup. Corrin could easily see light dark circles and tired eyes on Charlotte's fair skin.

"Charlotte?"

The Queen of Nohr— who had been busy watching the sky outside her bedroom window— snapped out of it to give Corrin the time of day. She didn't speak, choosing instead to nod at Corrin to come closer. She did just that, taking a seat on Charlotte's bed.

"Is everything alright?" Charlotte asked.

"Well…not really," Corrin admitted. "Something's been bothering me for the last little while. I want to come to you about it, but…it's an upsetting mater, and I don't wish to upset you. But it's been bothering me a lot."

Charlotte blew it off. "Oh, please. I want you to come to me about anything, darling! Please, tell me what's on your mind?"

"Well…it's about Iago."

"What about Iago? I heard what the chief medical expert said."

"As did I. But…a lot of people are saying different things that contradict his findings."

"What?! What are people saying?" Charlotte asked.

Corrin hesitated. She looked at the floor and fidgeted.

"Corrin, please tell me."

"They're saying you killed him in a fit of rage," Corrin revealed.

For a few moments, no one spoke. Charlotte seemed to absorb her friend's words carefully before she finally said something.

"Interesting…but it doesn't surprise me."

The lack of emotion in Charlotte's voice forced Corrin to look for it in the Queen's face and body. But there was none of it found. Charlotte seemed calm and collected, but it almost seemed forced. All of it had Corrin concerned, but also confused.

"Can I ask you an uncomfortable question?" she asked.

"Sure," Charlotte replied.

"Did you kill Iago? Or at the very least, did you have anything to do with his death?"

Again, no one spoke for several moments. Charlotte looked around the room, as if she was searching for an appropriate response somewhere in her bedroom. She soon stopped with her eyes down at the floor.

"No."

Corrin was more than tempted to poke holes in her friend's shaky response to such an important question. She wanted to tell Charlotte that she knew she was lying, that she was definitely hiding something, and that there was something she wasn't talking about. But Corrin stopped herself before any questions flew out of her mouth. She had a sickening feeling that if she began asking too many questions, Charlotte would suddenly fly into a rage and attack her. So Corrin decided to just accept the answer— or at least, act like she accepted that answer.

"I believe you," Corrin said with all the honesty and believability that she could muster. She also grinned and nodded to come off as genuine.

"I know you do," Charlotte replied happily. "Thanks for chatting with me, Corrin. I hope you feel a lot better!"

With that, Corrin didn't waste any more time in Charlotte's room. The two exchanged their goodbyes before Corrin high tailed it out for her own room. She needed some time to herself before she carried on with her day after that chilling exchange. It had confirmed that Charlotte had killed Iago, and had gotten away with it. The idea of her once great friend having killed her most trusted advisor made Corrin fearful for not just her life, and the lives of everyone she loved.

Later that day, the royal siblings hunkered down in Siegbert's bedroom to discuss everything with their nephew. Corrin chose to keep her recent conversation with his mother a secret, simply because it wasn't what the meeting was about. The meeting was far more serious than talking about Iago's suspicious death.

"I know this is going to be overwhelming for you, Siegbert, but this is important," Leo explained. "It's not just important for us as a family, but also for the people of Nohr. I'm sure you understand."

Siegbert nodded. "I do, Uncle. Although I must admit, I am rather nervous about this."

"We understand, dear," Camilla said. "Well, there's no easy way to say this, but…we need you to become King."

"WHAT?!"

The royal siblings winced at their nephew's exclamation, but none of them were surprised by it. They knew damn well that what they were asking from Siegbert was far more than what he could probably handle. He was so young and inexperienced with life, but Nohr desperately needed a new King.

"I understand why you're asking this of me," Siegbert explained, "and I can't help but admit that I'm flattered by it. But I'm not sure I'm ready to be King. As pathetic as it sounds…I don't know if I'll ever be ready to become King."

Embarrassed and ashamed by this revelation, he hung his head and focused his attention to the floor. It wasn't until Elise wrapped a comforting arm around his shoulders that he finally looked back at his relatives. He had expected to see them look back at him with disappointment, but they looked concerned instead.

"Siegbert, I'm sorry that we're doing this to you, especially after everything you've been through," Leo said. "But you need to agree to become King. Nohr needs someone that can help our people prosper again. We're not asking you to do this to help us— we're asking you to do this to help our people. They will continue to suffer if nothing is done. So Siegbert, will you please accept becoming the new King of Nohr?"

It was more than Siegbert wished to take in. It was also times like this that he wished that he hadn't been born into such a powerful family, thrusted into a position full of power. He wanted to be normal, but he knew he needed to accept that that was never going to be the case. It was fate that he was to become the King of Nohr; it was just going to happen sooner than later. He finally swallowed hard with a firm nod.

"I accept."

There you go! I hope you all enjoyed it. :)

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THE CREATOR: Well, the point of leaving a review is to provide praise and/or feedback. Sorry if that comes off as harsh because I'm not trying to do so, but I don't know how else to explain it.

Please review, and don't forget to stay tuned chapter 21!

- Elizabeth