The White Darkness

By Helbaworshipper

Epilogue Arc: Wakamiya Kingdom

"I get that we need to continue with the trade, but this percentage is a bit weak." Kyo's voice turned towards Billy, who seemed to be happy to sit on the couch in the office. The two were discussing the trade of various crops to Roland Kingdom. "We're not making enough to lower the price that much."

"The fields sure aren't doing well without forced Lotis, huh?" Billy chuckled a little, looking over another document. "Maybe you need a better crop?"

"I tried to get some advice, but no one wants more peas or carrots in their fields. They don't make enough money."

"Then you've got to think about what a compromise is, right?" He looked a bit. "Maybe have them cycle the rights? Given you'll get bribes to keep it the status quo, but you can handle it… King Wakamiya."

"What confidence, Duke Billy."

"It's only been six months since the war's end, kid. You can't imagine it'll be any easier for Seno Kingdom."

"Thanks for reminding me how long you've been a noble."

Kyo's proposals were endless despite the past year being full of trying to balance what he had left to make Wakamiya Kingdom at least function again. To be fair, it wasn't as if he wasn't trying, but every time he did consider the potential…

It felt like his time as King was only good if he was a person who helped others. And much like his struggle to figure out his feelings for Alice, it was even harder to imagine getting someone who would be worth trying to spend time with for the rest of his life. He knew Alice was with Frei now and wasn't at all against it as he had let it happen.

As he looked over the remaining somewhat intact portraits, his mother's smile seemed to keep him stuck in place. Perhaps, in a way, that man might be able to help. He didn't want to think about why he would do so, but he figured writing a letter would at least help.

"I never expected an invitation for yourself, King Wakamiya." King Weilhausen was sitting across from Kyo in a drawing room. It was a simple room compared to anything in Weilhausen, but it was the best he could offer. "Your problem is rather hard to speak about in writing."

"I'm happy about Alice being happy. Mayura's even moved on without really seeming to show the struggle. I'm simply not sure how one starts after all this." He felt the warmth of the coffee in front of him. "As someone who has been bold enough to marry more than one, I thought there might be some… Some trick to it."

"A trick isn't exactly how one goes living a life like that." The older royal smiled at the thought. "My first wife was a political and turned into love. From what I heard about your father's marriage, it was rather forced by his own father. What love was between them I can't even really know. I met her on the battlefield, though."

"You did?" Kyo's eyes lit up a little at the thought. "What was she like?"

"She was a very simple woman. I don't particularly have any conversations that I initiated, but she worried about her own kingdom often." He could imagine his mother, tired from battle, speaking very little to people as she recovered. Still, she might have said something.

"Did she ever talk about her family?"

"I once asked about her commoner family. I don't particularly hate those who are below royalty. Still, those who can use Lotis and are commoners can be a bit snobbish. She was unlike that. She told me that her family was not very supportive of her marrying above her station." His mind could picture perhaps her simply bandaging a wound as she spoke. "Yet, she said it was a shame that they couldn't be there for her anymore. Some point during one of the battles the farm they lived on was hit by a large Byoma. It didn't take long for them to die of sickness or madness."

"It must have hurt."

"She never showed it. She said that despite all the pain and suffering… She was happy that she had something to go home to."

"How can one start to feel that way?" Kyo's voice started to crack a little. "I do love my people and my friends. I just… After letting Frei have Alice I..."

"Sometimes, things are meant to be decided by fate. It was my fate to choose and love a weak woman. The others have some of my love… But I will say there isn't a day where a part of my mind at least once goes to what might have been." He slowly moved up from his spot and sat a bit closer. "Kyo, there's no way to remove an unrequited love or a what could have been. You figured out what you wanted and you let things be. The future is something I can't imagine will be any easier even if Mayura had remained your fiance."

"I'm sure your wives are more than willing to offer some manner if I am desperate."

"Certainly, but I won't recommend doing it just to do it. While I disliked your father, you're not… so bad." He pat Kyo's shoulder lightly. "If I find any sort of potential help or even if you just need to say something, don't hesitate to write."

Forty years later, the Wakamiya Kingdom no longer existed. Kyo and Chris worked together to slowly merge Wakamiya into a larger Roland Kingdom. Though Kyo never married, he did adopt a new noble line to take over his position. There were many orphans in his kingdom and many of noble blood. In a way, the remains of the what was once prosperous could be again in Roland.

Kyo himself focused on making sure to nurture the future of his adopted line and every so often looked for potential partners. Towards the end of his life, after Wakamiya no longer even remotely was left in most books as history, he found a simple woman whom he enjoyed spending his remaining life with. Alice was always available and King Weilhausen never snubbed him even before his own death. In a way, perhaps King Weilhausen had sort of become the father he could never be to Frei.