CHAPTER 13 – The Coronation

"So this is why you left, huh?" Juliette said after everything unveiled to her sinks in.

"Half of it," Nick confirmed but corrected at the same time.

"And the other half?"

"You're looking at her." Nick gestured Adalind with smile, making his wife blush lightly.

"Did you…?" Juliette was about to say.

"No, no, I did not cheat on you when we were still together but when I awaken my power as a Grimm, a spell my Aunt commissioned to be casted on me lost its effect and I…" he hesitated. "…I stopped loving you."

The words were harsh and Juliette didn't deserve to be hurt more by him than he already did but with her entry to the Wesen world and being Eve's mother, she had to know the new reality here. A reality that she and Eve created themselves.

"A spell?"

Nick sighed and began to tell her. "I met Adalind 12 years ago. I don't know anything about being a Grimm, has no idea that she's Wesen, and back then we dated. We even got engaged."

Juliette gasped sharply at the revelation.

"But Aunt Marie found out that she's a Hexenbeist and in the intention of protecting me, she took me away and used a spell to erase my memories. I forgot about Adalind."

"And those memories all came back when you became a Grimm."

Nick nodded. "I'm so sorry that it has to be that way but I don't know how to explain it to you or if I can even explain it at all. So I left with the best explanation I can give. I entered the world of Wesen and in it, I found Adalind again."

"Its fine Nick," Juliette said. "I understand now that you only want to spare me from this life and I'm grateful of that."

"Don't worry," Adalind said this time. "We will help you with the best we can and make sure that you and your daughter will be safe."

"Daughter?"

"We have ways to tell," Adalind said but explain no further. For now, the most important is for Juliette to rest and be nurtured back to health.

Nick and Adalind left the room afterwards and head to the library. Once they were there, Nick finally ranted out his frustrations. "How could we miss it?"

They put every Beister in the US under surveillance in their search for Eve but in the end, they still missed her and because of that, she will not grow up without a father. He tasked his men to investigate it but Adalind had already beaten him to it after asking her former colleagues regarding Jeff.

Turns out that he was in Europe for the most part of the decade and had just returned recently to establish his own firm, that's why they missed him.

"Nick, Eve gave us a headstart and the staff gave you great power but you're not a God. There are things that you can't control and you shouldn't blame yourself every time it happens."

Adalind rubbed Nick back, an insistence for him to calm down.

"What's done is done. We can't bring back Jeff but there's still Juliette here. Without a Dad, Eve will need her Mom more than ever."

Nick could only sigh. "By the way, how's Kelly?"

It is Adalind's turn now to roll her eyes and breathe a groan. "He's having a tantrum because I forbade him from bothering Juliette. I brought him to a hotel to make distance and three bodyguards and three maids are already in the ER because of him," she said then her phone beeped and she corrected, "No, make that 4 bodyguards now."

"Just send him home," Nick bade. "Juliette is awake and I think having kids around will help."

"Alright," Adalind smiled. "I'll have him back by lunch."


A month had passed without one's notice and for the first in decades, the Kings of the 7 Royal Houses are gathered and in Portland of all places where from the previous years they'd encountered hostilities with serious consequences.

"The last coronation of House of Varia was when? Was it 70 years ago? It's been a long time." Sean with Catherine by his side had engaged into conversation to some significant figures both from the other Royal Houses and from Portland.

The chosen venue was a huge mansion built in Portland not that long ago which can accommodate up to 3,000 people. Thus, for their current number that barely exceeded a hundred, the place is enormous.

"My father wasn't even born then," an heir of a Royal House said.

"I heard that this new King is quite aggressive, violent even," another heir said. "What are your thoughts of these Captain Renard?"

"I don't want to assume until I meet him." Sean is not a fool to fall for that. Over the month that passed, the reputation of the next King of House Varia had spread all over the Wesen Community and the Royals. He is infamous for his aggressiveness and a no-nonsense into imposing the death sentence to anyone that threatens his House and his fief regardless of who they are. His brother and his cousin had fallen prey to that when they attempted to infiltrate Portland in the past.

"To our honored guests," a butler and a group of securities arrived. "His Majesty, King Aristotle Varia Dawn has arrived."

Sean, Catherine, and the other guests, including his father, Frederick Renard, whom he'd just had the pleasure of seeing today for the first time, were ushered to the meeting hall where an elderly man in his wheelchair is already waiting at the head of the seats at the end of the long table. He is guarded by two towering men in black suits.

"Welcome my dear friends," he started after they were settled to their respective seats. "First, I would like to thank you all for heeding our invitation for this glorious day for our House of Varia."

He gave them the basic courtesies of greeting them all and Sean had the satisfaction of seeing the confused expression of his father when Aristotle greeted him.

"I am beyond my best years. It is now time to step down and entrust the world to the next generation."

'Entrust the world' instead of 'Entrust the House'. Amongst the Seven Houses, only House Varia can utter such claim when passing down their throne. That is because literally, the order of the modern world lies in their hands.

The same time he said that, Aristotle Dawn removed his King's Ring, implying that he no longer held the highest authority of House of Varia. Then settling it down to a ring cushion on the table, he said his farewell with a smile and his men wheeled him out of the room.

This ends the first phase of the ceremony, the abdication of the old King. Next will be the ascension of the new one.

In this phase, after his exit, a butler entered and stood beside the seat Aristotle vacated, he greeted them, "Greetings honored guests, we apologize but his Highness, the King, the new dawn of Varia, will not be here to deliver his greetings."

"What?" Sean and everyone expressed their shock.

What the hell is he talking about? Is he saying that the new King is not here for his own coronation?

"Right now, he is attending an important matter that'll enable us to relish the present order. However, there's no need to be disheartened as his Majesty had decreed that the matters today will rest at the hands of her Majesty, the Queen."

The butler then retreated and the double-door where Aristotle had exited earlier was opened to welcome a blonde lady in white dress.

Sean's eyes widened when the lady in white ceased her steps and faced. At the same time, Catherine who's beside him would have exclaimed if he was a little late into stopping her. "Adalind?" He murmured.

"Hi," Adalind began, smiling at the leaders and ruling figures of the Royal Families and the Portland government. "In behalf of my husband, I, Adalind, Queen of the House of Varia, is welcoming you all into the dawn of the new era."

QUEEN! It was Sean's turn now to be close to nearly exclaiming. 'She's the Queen? Then it means…'

Meanwhile, as that thought sinks in, facing them, Adalind began narrating a verse Sean assumed to be Hindi.

Sthita-prajñasya kā bhāṣhā samādhi-sthasya keśhava
Sthita-dhīḥ kiṁ prabhāṣheta kim āsīta vrajeta kim

And once she was done she declared, "This is the word of the new Dawn of Varia. It means that when the need arises, the King will come down as a General to personally purge his enemies and protect his kingdom. So what does it implies? The world now demands that Varia must take an active stand and thus, our reply is to do so."

The expressions of everyone present froze.

Adalind's words are no less than a declaration of aggression.

For centuries, the balance of power between the Seven Houses was maintained despite the odd count because House of Varia decided to step aside instead of displaying an aggressive ruling over the Wesen and Kehrseite communities.

"For thousands of years, we stood aside and watched as those whom we entrust the future of the Wesen and Kehrseite execute the same mistake again and again. Order is dwindling. The pureness of the original intention is now corrupted. A change must be done."

However now, under the rule of its new monarch, they intend to end that and break the equilibrium…

"Today, the new Dawn of Varia will enter the forefront. Exercise an active role and steer history to a direction he deemed fit."

…then establish a new one based on their liking.

"I hope no one will disagree." She's smiling brightly but behind that smile is a sinister intention. "After all, it will be a shame if you won't be a part of it."


Meanwhile, the same time that the coronation is moving forward, all-out confrontations between HW and Black Claw are taking place all over the globe with its largest concentration being in New York.

"Fuck! I told you we should have waited for back up!" Gomez, a fellow Grimm, complained to Trubel upon finding themselves completely surrounded.

"Have a little faith, Gom," Trubel replied lightheartedly after beheading another Hundjager. "You take left, I take right."

"Fuck you!" He cursed at her before exclaiming, "Duck!"

Trubel did and Gomez hammered his axe to the enemy that sneaked behind her.

Another enemy down but there seems to be no end of them. Killing one, two will immediately take their place. Eventually, the extended exertion starts to wear them down.

Gomez is right, Trubel thought. They should have waited for back up. However, Trubel was unable to stay still knowing that these Black Claw bastards that they're currently engaging were earlier about to indiscriminately attack the streets of New York.

Since yesterday, intel had been flooding nonstop enabling HW to foil one Black Claw scheme to another but as a consequence, they resorted into senseless violence and are now attacking civilians in their full woged state with zero care to consequences.

Right now, they're no different to savage beasts.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

But then, when the two of them were about to be overwhelmed, shadowy flashes suddenly flashed out of nowhere, where whenever they passed by a Black Claw goon, that bastard will lose his or her head.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Sweeping through the crowd, the flashes ultimately reaches them, and when they ceased their movements to stand either beside or in front of them, what revealed were a dozen of Asian men in black suit, each equipped with a katana.

"Are you alright, Rubel-san?" The leader of the men in black suit asked.

"Yeah," she replied. "Who are you guys?"

"My name is Midoriya. His Majesty, the King, Nicholas-sama, sent us."

"The King? Nicholas?" Trubel momentarily pondered. "Nicholas?" Then realization struck her, "You mean Nick!?"

"Indeed," he confirmed. "Our mission is aligned with your Hadrian Wall. To purge Black Claw."

"How can you prove Nick sent you?" Trubel made a defensive stance against him. She didn't believe him. They call Nick, King. When had Nick become King? He's just a Homicide Detective moonlighting as a Grimm in Portland.

"Nicholas-sama will confirm it himself."

After saying that, Trubel's phone rang. Checking the ID, it was Nick. "Nick?"

-Hey Trubel, is Midoriya there now?

Nick asked.

"Yeah, he's here," she confirmed. "You really sent them?"

-One of the many. They're Inugamis. I sent teams of them all over the globe to deal with Black Claws.

"Where did you get them? And also, he's been calling you King, what's going on?"

-I'll answer those in some other time. For now, work with them. Their mission is to eradicate Black Claws before the day is over. Help them as much as you can.

"Okay, I get it." Trubel submitted. Given the present circumstances, her inquiries will have to wait.

The call ended and returning her attention to her surrounding, Trubel now noticed that all the goons that were previously confronting them had been dealt with.

"Midoriya," she then called Midoriya.

"Yes Rubel-san?"

"Nick told me to tag along," she said. "What's next?"