My King | Goodbye

Alaric stood in the rain, looking up at the levitating towers of his home. He had no army, no wealth, and no weapons—save for the knowledge of every secret passageway and hidden loose stone in the castle walls.

King Alaric was not a cruel man, but he was a comfortable one. He spent more time admiring the intricate carvings of his throne than he did walking the muddy streets of his kingdom. He believed his walls were impenetrable and his guards' loyalty was as solid as the stone they stood upon. He was wrong. Goodbye My King

He found the first shard hidden under a rock where his parents used to hide the castle keys when he was a boy. He found another behind a painting in the gallery, a room now filled with guards who moved like clockwork puppets. Goodbye, My King Alaric stood in the rain, looking up at

His journey was one of fragments. The impostor had shattered the royal gem—the source of the crown’s power—and scattered its pieces throughout the castle. Alaric's quest led him from the damp wine cellars to the dizzying heights of the royal chambers, solving puzzles that he himself had once commissioned for his amusement. He spent more time admiring the intricate carvings

With the gem restored to his own brow, the guards' eyes cleared. They saw their true king standing before them—haggard, mud-stained, but real. As the impostor was led away, Alaric looked at his throne. He didn't sit down. Instead, he turned to his people, finally understanding that a king is defined not by the walls he hides behind, but by the service he provides to those outside them.

To reclaim his throne, Alaric had to become a ghost in his own house. He learned to move through the shadows of the servant tunnels, avoiding the gaze of the "New King" who now paced the halls with a manic energy, setting traps and learning Alaric's own habits to keep him out. The Reconstruction