[Music recommendation: Koji - The Beginning of the End]
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Murmurs rippled through the silence as disbelief settled heavily in the air.
"You may rise," Ivan said at last.
At those words, King Alaric lifted his head and looked at Ivan once more, then at the unconscious woman in his arms. A soft, guilt-tinged smile crossed his face. He glanced at the crowd, still whispering about how he had greeted the Prince, before rising to his full height with the support of a couple of royal knights behind him.
Addressing everyone, he declared, "You all heard it correctly. I am nothing more than a servant before His Highness… for the very first founder of this kingdom served him, and him alone, for a lifetime."
