Chapter 141
Epilogue — The Future They Chose
Five years later...
The Kingdom of Sylvaris had become almost unrecognisable.
School bells echoed across every duchy each morning.
Children who had once worked in fields now learned mathematics, history, medicine and trade.
Community kitchens stood in every major town.
No family went hungry without help.
The workshops of Emberforge became famous throughout neighbouring kingdoms.
Furniture crafted by local carpenters furnished castles and cottages alike.
Jewellery bearing the mark of House Ambrose became one of the kingdom's greatest exports.
The mines had reopened safely years earlier.
Every tunnel reinforced.
Every miner protected.
No life was ever considered expendable again.
Queen Aurora never stopped visiting the schools.
She still knelt beside children learning to write their names.
She still remembered every promise she had made.
King Lucian ruled beside her.
Not ahead of her.
Beside her.