Chapter 151: Crown’s First Promise (II)

Elara:

For several seconds, nobody moved. It wasn’t just Myra who stared at me in shock, even Violet and Jasper were looking at me as though I had just suggested something completely unimaginable.

I blinked between the three of them, genuinely confused by their reactions, and finally frowned. "What?" I asked, glancing from one face to another.

Jasper was the first to recover. His expression shifted almost immediately, and instead of answering me, he subtly looked around the private dining room, his eyes sweeping over the nearby tables and the servers moving around the restaurant as though he needed to make absolutely certain nobody was paying attention to our conversation. That only made me more confused.

When he finally looked back at me, there was a strange mixture of concern and disbelief in his deep green eyes as he said quietly, "Princess, you shouldn’t be saying things like that so casually."

I stared at him for another second, my frown deepening because I genuinely couldn’t understand what I had done wrong. "Why?" I asked. "I didn’t announce it to the entire restaurant."

Jasper released a soft sigh, clearly trying to find the right way to explain it without making me feel like I’d committed some terrible mistake. "Because the Crown supporting a particular person, family, cause, or political campaign isn’t a small gesture in Starfall," he finally explained. "The Crown’s support carries consequences across the entire realm. Nobles would interpret it as an official political position, families would react to it, alliances could shift because of it, and people would begin calculating what that support means for them. Even if you were joking, you shouldn’t casually make a statement like that in public."

His words made me pause, but before I could respond, Myra suddenly shook her head and added softly, "He’s right, Elara. Please don’t say something like that just because you are trying to make me feel better."

I looked at her, then at Violet and Jasper, before asking the only question that mattered. "Who said I was joking?"

The silence that followed was almost comical. Myra’s mouth parted slightly, Violet’s eyebrows rose, and Jasper simply stared at me as though he had completely lost track of where this conversation was going.

I leaned back in my chair and folded my arms, suddenly feeling much more certain about the decision I’d made. "Maybe I made the decision too quickly," I admitted, my gaze settling on Myra again, "but I’m not regretting it."

Myra looked genuinely stunned when I continued, "When the time comes and you run for Mayor of Skyline City, I intend to support you."

Her eyes immediately became glassy, and for a moment she looked like she was struggling to find words. "Elara..." she whispered before blinking rapidly and giving me a small, emotional smile. "Thank you. Really. That’s... that’s incredibly kind of you." She reached across the table and squeezed my hand, but then, almost reluctantly, she nodded toward Jasper. "But he’s still right. You can’t just announce something like that whenever you feel like it."

I understood their concern. I really did. But understanding their concern didn’t mean I was going to change my mind.

"I’m not doing this because I’m feeling generous," I said, making all three of them look at me again. "And I’m definitely not making an emotional decision."

My words made Jasper’s expression change. His earlier concern slowly disappeared, replaced by something far more interested. He leaned back slightly, watching me with the same look Master Brown sometimes gave me whenever I said something that revealed I had been paying far more attention than he assumed. It was almost as if he had finally realized there were already wheels turning inside my head.

I smiled. "Think about where I stand right now. I’m the Crown Princess of Starfall, but I’m also one of the biggest outsiders in the entire realm." I looked down at my almost empty wine glass for a moment before continuing, carefully organizing my thoughts. "I have the title. I have the bloodline. I have the Crown’s authority in theory. But I don’t have a powerful noble family standing behind me. I don’t have decades of alliances with the Houses. I don’t have relatives sitting on influential councils or families who owe me favors. I didn’t grow up in Starfall learning who hates whom, which House controls which territory, which family owns which businesses, or which noble owes another noble three favors and a marriage alliance. I arrived here with nothing except a name I didn’t even know belonged to me."

I lifted my eyes toward them. "And right now, the Crown itself has almost nothing behind it except the authority of its name. For the past two decades, noble families and powerful Houses have built their own networks, wealth, influence, military strength, political connections, and alliances. Meanwhile, the monarchy has gradually become something people respect ceremonially without necessarily depending on it for power. If I walk into that world believing my crown alone is enough, I’m going to be swallowed alive."

Nobody interrupted me. Even Violet had gone completely still, her attention fixed on me. I continued, my voice becoming firmer with every sentence.

"The Regents are powerful. Their families are powerful. The other noble Houses are powerful. They have people everywhere - within the academy, the military, human world, business, politics, even the ordinary systems that keep Starfall functioning. And if I simply allow myself to become the Crown Princess everyone expects me to be, without building anything of my own, then eventually I’ll have a beautiful title and absolutely no leverage."

I paused, letting the thought settle before adding, "And that means someone else will eventually decide what I should do with that title."

My fingers tightened slightly around the edge of the table. "I refuse to become a puppet. Not for the Regents. Not for a noble family. Not even for people who claim they are protecting me. If I’m going to sit on that throne one day, I need people who owe their position to their own ability but are also willing to stand beside me because they trust me. I need allies outside the traditional noble structure. People whose power doesn’t come from the same Houses that have spent years competing for control of Starfall. And Skyline City is the most important bridge between Starfall and the human world. Its mayor has influence, connections, access to information, relationships with human institutions, and influence over the city that connects our two worlds. If Myra becomes its mayor, she wouldn’t just be someone I supported before she became powerful. She would be someone who knew me before I ever sat on the throne. Someone whose success wasn’t created by one of the noble Houses. Someone who could become a strong, independent ally of the Crown."

I smiled faintly.

"So no, Jasper. I’m not promising her my support because I feel sorry for her. I’m investing in a future alliance that could matter enormously to me."