"I also decided to be loyal to you," said a minister sitting beside Lord Baden and the man sitting beside him also conveyed the same thing followed by the man sitting at the table to the right of Nicholas. After a while, all the higher-ups had stated their decision and all chose to remain loyal to the king.
"Thank you." Nicholas smiled and turned to look at the other meeting participants. He was relieved to hear the majority of the people were supportive of his situation. It helped a lot that he had communicated this issue with his own relatives.
Most of them were quite powerful and took on leadership roles in this kingdom as well. So, their open support would make other noble families sway to Nicholas' side.
Another thing that made them accept Nicholas more easily than he thought was the fact that there was no single incident where people suspected he had been a lycan all along and had done unsavory actions, like killing humans. He was also a good and righteous king who had been working hard for the past five years, developing their country.
If Nicholas had been affected by lycanthropy for over thirteen years and he did just fine as the crown prince and now the king of this kingdom without problem, then they believed him when he said being a lycan didn't affect him in his role as their leader.
Nicholas was grateful and deeply moved to see the reaction of his people who understood him and were willing to accept him as their king. When the meeting was over, Nicholas stood up, shook hands, and embraced some of the ministers who had served since the reign of the previous king.
After everyone left, he and his mother hugged each other. The queen cried happily, while Nicholas patted her back. After protecting her son for over a dozen years and having to deal with it on her own, finally, Queen Marianne could feel the relief.
She looked younger overnight and Nicholas felt bad that his mother must have been stressed by his condition all this time. All in all, he was happy to see her finally find peace.
The burden she had carried for years was finally lifted. Now, there were no more secrets. From now on they would no longer be haunted by the fear of being found out.
Queen Marianne rose from Nicholas' arms. She touched Nicholas' cheek gently.
"I'm so proud of you Nicholas," she said looking into Nicholas' face with a smile and tears. "You are the king that this kingdom needs."
"Thank you for supporting me and accompanying me through this difficult time." Nicholas smiled and wiped his mother's tears. He looked out the window and watched the moon in the sky. Now, there was one less thing to worry about.
He could start focusing on other things. He needed to check on Karenina and find out what she would decide on the matter. He had told her that he couldn't marry her and his decision was final. Next, he would have to announce the breaking off of their engagement so people would stop associating him with the Verhovens.
Even though he didn't love the woman, Nicholas wanted to do the right thing, being a gentleman. It was his mother who involved Karenina in the first place, by tricking Nicholas and making him promise to marry Karenina since he was under the impression that his mother was on her deathbed.
Queen Marianne made a lot of mistakes and it was one of them, but Nicholas couldn't blame his mother and bring that up today. What's the use of blaming her and letting her know all her wrongdoings? What was done was done.
Making her feel guilty wouldn't change what had happened. Right now, Nicholas had to be assertive and take care of all the mess caused by the engagement.
Even if he couldn't be with Sophie, he would only love her until the day he died. So, what's the point of even trying to find another woman to marry. This kingdom would do just fine without a queen. As for the heirs to the throne, he already got two.
With that thought in mind, Nicholas decided to come to Viscount Verhoven and amicably end his engagement to Karenina so she could make a decision about her own future. He also needed to make arrangements for the baby in her womb IF the baby was truly his, which he doubted.
"What do you want to do after this?" the queen asked Nicholas after they overcame their emotions.
Nicholas tapped his slender fingers on the table and thought about it. "Hmm... I will have to work on a peace agreement with the lycans who are not our enemy. I am not sure if they would accept me just because I have lycanthropy, but I will try."
Nicholas knew there were many werewolf packs on the continent and they lived in hiding because the human kingdoms had been waging war on them for decades.
Even though lycans were physically stronger than humans, they lost in number by far, so it was best for them to not openly challenge the human governments.
Armeria was the only kingdom that was now ruled by lycans. From his spies, Nicholas had heard that many lycan packs decided to go to Armeria to join the Obsidian Sand Pack. Armeria was their next-door neighbor.
If there were too many lycans joining the Obsidian Sand Pack there, he could expect that Riga would be their next target. Nicholas thought now that he no longer wanted to keep the decades-long war against lycans in his kingdom, he would try to make peace with them, hoping they wouldn't go to Armeria to join the Obsidian Sand Pack.
If they felt safe living in Riga, and perhaps... even feel ownership of this land, maybe they could even be important allies in facing the enemy. And if that happened, maybe Riga could actually work together with them to protect this land.
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