The palace changed when the king began to die.
Adrian noticed it almost immediately.
The servants spoke more quietly.
Guards stood outside the royal chambers around the clock.
Ministers who normally argued in the corridors now whispered in small groups.
Even the nobles had stopped laughing so loudly.
Everyone was waiting.
Adrian hated it.
He had spent the past few weeks trying to understand the kingdom, but there was still so much he didn’t know.
And now his father was running out of time.
He stood outside the royal chambers with Elena beside him.
Neither of them spoke.
Eventually, Elena broke the silence.
“Do you think he’ll recover?”
Adrian looked at her.
He wanted to lie.
He couldn’t.
“No.”
Her expression fell.
“I don’t want him to die.”
“I know.”
She looked down at the floor.
“He’s still our father.”
Adrian nodded.
“Yeah.”
For a while, they simply stood there.
Then the doors opened.
A physician stepped outside.
He was an elderly man named Tobias, the head physician of the royal family.
He looked exhausted.
“Your Highnesses.”
Adrian immediately stepped forward.
“How is he?”
The physician hesitated.
“His Majesty is awake.”
Adrian nodded.
“Can we see him?”
“Yes.”
The physician moved aside.
Adrian entered first.
Elena followed.
The room was dim.
The curtains were closed, leaving only a little sunlight inside.
King Richard lay in bed.
He looked worse than he had a few days earlier.
His breathing was slow.
His eyes were closed.
Adrian walked closer.
“Father.”
Richard opened his eyes.
A faint smile appeared.
“There you are.”
Adrian pulled a chair beside the bed.
Elena sat on the other side.
Richard looked between them.
“My children.”
Adrian didn’t say anything.
He didn’t know what to say.
The king noticed.
“You look nervous.”
“I’m fine.”
Richard gave him a weak laugh.
“You were never good at lying.”
Adrian almost smiled.
“I’ve improved.”
“Have you?”
“Maybe.”
Elena laughed softly.
Richard’s smile grew.
For a few minutes, the three of them simply talked.
Nothing important.
Elena complained about one of her tutors.
Richard asked Adrian about his reading.
Adrian told him he had been studying the kingdom.
The king seemed surprised.
“Still?”
“Yes.”
“What have you learned?”
Adrian thought about it.
“That Arvendale has more problems than I expected.”
Richard chuckled.
“Now you understand why I have gray hair.”
Adrian smiled.
Then Richard’s expression became serious.
“What will you do?”
Adrian looked at him.
“About what?”
“The kingdom.”
Adrian leaned back.
“I don’t know yet.”
Richard raised an eyebrow.
“Really?”
“I know what I want to change.”
“But?”
“But I don’t know enough yet.”
Richard stared at him for several seconds.
Then he smiled.
“Good.”
Adrian frowned.
“Good?”
“A young king who thinks he knows everything is more dangerous than a young king who admits he doesn’t.”
Adrian nodded.
That made sense.
Richard slowly reached beneath his pillow and pulled out a small key.
He held it toward Adrian.
“Take this.”
Adrian accepted it.
“What is it?”
“The western archive.”
Adrian looked at the key.
“I thought the western archive was sealed.”
“It is.”
“Why?”
Richard looked toward the door.
“Because it contains records that most kings never bother reading.”
Adrian waited.
“Old tax records.
Military reports.
Trade agreements.
Provincial surveys.
Noble contracts.”
He paused.
“And things that people would rather remain forgotten.”
Adrian’s eyes narrowed.
“Corruption?”
“Among other things.”
Richard smiled faintly.
“If you want to rule this kingdom, learn what happened before you.”
Adrian closed his hand around the key.
“I will.”
Richard looked at Elena.
“And you.”
Elena straightened.
“Me?”
“Don’t let your brother become unbearable.”
Adrian stared at him.
“Father.”
Elena laughed.
“I’ll do my best.”
Richard closed his eyes.
For the first time, Adrian noticed how tired he looked.
“We’ll come back tomorrow,” Elena said quietly.
Richard nodded.
“Tomorrow.”
Adrian stood.
He wanted to say something else.
Something meaningful.
But nothing came.
So he simply placed a hand on his father’s shoulder.
“Rest.”
Richard opened his eyes.
“I’ll try.”
Adrian and Elena left.
That afternoon, Adrian went to the western archive.
The building was attached to the oldest part of the palace.
It was nothing like the royal library.
The western archive was dusty.
Old shelves stretched from floor to ceiling.
Boxes filled with documents were stacked against the walls.
Some records hadn’t been touched in decades.
Adrian stared at the shelves.
“This is going to take forever.”
Marcus stood behind him.
“Yes.”
Adrian turned.
“You knew about this place?”
“I’ve worked here for thirty years.”
“Then why didn’t anyone tell me?”
Marcus looked at him.
“You never asked.”
Fair enough.
Adrian pulled a ledger from one shelf.
He opened it.
Taxes.
Another.
Military expenses.
Another.
Trade tariffs.
He started reading.
Hours passed.
The more he read, the more uncomfortable he became.
The problems he’d discovered weren’t recent.
Some had existed for years.
The kingdom wasn’t suddenly declining.
It had been slowly deteriorating.
And people had simply learned to live with it.
Adrian sat down.
“This is worse than I thought.”
Marcus nodded.
“It is.”
“Why didn’t anyone fix it?”
Marcus was silent.
Adrian looked at him.
“You’re not going to answer.”
“I have served many kings, Your Highness.”
“And?”
“Every king has his priorities.”
Adrian frowned.
“What were my father’s?”
Marcus thought for a moment.
“Keeping peace.”
“That’s it?”
“And preventing war.”
Adrian understood.
His father had spent years maintaining stability.
Not improving the kingdom.
Maintaining it.
That explained a lot.
Adrian looked back at the documents.
He wasn’t going to make the same mistake.
But he also wasn’t going to rush.
He needed people.
Competent people.
People who knew the kingdom better than he did.
That thought stayed with him.
Three days later, Adrian was summoned from the archive.
He knew immediately.
The atmosphere in the palace was different.
People were crying.
Guards stood in complete silence.
Marcus approached him slowly.
Adrian looked at his face.
He already knew.
“He’s gone.”
Marcus lowered his head.
“His Majesty passed peacefully this morning.”
Adrian stood still.
For several seconds, he couldn’t move.
His father was dead.
The king was dead.
And Adrian was now the king.
Elena came running down the corridor.
Her eyes were red.
She stopped when she saw Adrian.
Neither spoke.
Then she walked forward and hugged him.
Adrian froze.
Then slowly wrapped his arms around her.
She began crying.
“I don’t want him to be gone.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
“Neither do I.”
They stayed like that for a long time.
The palace continued moving around them.
But for those few minutes, Adrian didn’t care about the throne.
Or the nobles.
Or the kingdom.
He was simply a son who had lost his father.
That evening, the royal council assembled.
Adrian entered the chamber wearing formal black.
Every noble in the room stood.
He walked toward the throne.
The same throne his father had occupied.
The same throne Adrian had never expected to sit on so soon.
He stopped in front of it.
For a moment, he remembered his first day in this world.
The fear.
The confusion.
The disbelief.
Now it was real.
He turned toward the gathered nobles.
They were watching him.
Some looked curious.
Some worried.
Some amused.
Others were already calculating.
Adrian recognized that look.
He had seen it in history books.
A change in leadership was an opportunity.
And these people were deciding whether the new king was strong enough to challenge.
Adrian sat.
The chamber became silent.
The royal chancellor stepped forward and bowed.
“Long live King Adrian Valerius.”
The nobles followed.
“Long live the King.”
Adrian looked across the chamber.
He remembered his father’s final warning.
Everyone will test you.
He wasn’t going to pretend he had all the answers.
He wasn’t going to announce a hundred reforms.
Not yet.
First, he would learn.
Then he would act.
Adrian leaned back against the throne.
“Let us begin.”
And for the first time, the man everyone had once called the Useless Prince sat upon the throne of Arvendale.