Angel Monarch

A few hours later, everyone gathered around after cleaning themselves and changing into formal clothing.

The preparations took a bit longer than planned. By Lilith's account, there was some malfunction with the elevators and the platform's levitating mechanism, but James fixed everything.

The disaster with Nick's introduction got quickly fixed, when Vicky suggested explaining everything later.

She told them that Nick was Sera's and Bran's child, but for now, she kept the details about the pregnancy and delivery a secret.

Overwhelmed by this information, nobody protested, and instead they took the few hours to reorganize their thoughts. Now they were all mentally prepared for a gruesome, boring ceremony.

Besides those arriving that morning, Lydia and the children also wished to attend. Their parents stayed home, watching over Nick.

Her brother, interestingly, didn't want Vicky to leave. In the past hour, whenever she wasn't in eyesight, the little boy began wailing.

It took lots of bribing using sweets to sneak away from him. Even then, a strange knot continued clenching Vicky's stomach.

She felt something was wrong, but attributed the weird feeling to her stage fright. It was her job to open the ceremony, and she always hated making speeches.

Vicky opened two portals for the Cathedral of Light, one for herself, the other for everyone else.

Since the platform wasn't too big, only the Prince, Princess and the High Priest and Priestess would float around.

Everyone else had special places prepared at the top, with the envoys and other special guests, like the ambassadors of every Angelic Order city-state.

Nobody from outside the Angelic Order received invites, not even Bea. It was a petty revenge on Vicky's part, because she knew her mother would watch the entire celebration on the holo-screen.

Deep down, she also hoped Bea would finally reach out and they could meet up, but that was unlikely, considering her past behavior.

Through the portals, the loud cheering reached Vicky's ear, and she quickly dismissed the depressing thoughts.

The others filed through their own portal, while Vicky waited. When everyone took their place, and the crowd became less loud, she enter.

The moment her face came through the portal, the cheering became deafening. More than a hundred thousand people screamed from the top of their lungs, all chanting Victoria's name!

Vicky tried her hardest to steel her face, but a small blush still tinged her face.

The platform was rectangular, about four meters wide and six meters long. Vicky and Henry stood at its edge, looking down at the crowd on the bottom floor. Behind them, Lilith and Adam stood straight in their robes, hoods hiding their faces.

They represented not themselves, but the entirety of the Angelic Order. For this celebration, they would remain faceless.

Around the platform, tiny drone cameras zipped around, capturing and broadcasting every moment of the event.

Vicky forced a smile on her face and raised her hand, waving at the crowd. The cheering grew even louder, especially when Henry clasped Vicky's hand and raised it for everyone to see.

They both continued waving while holding hands as the platform jerked and moved into the air.

It levitated upward, making circles around the enormous Sera statue. The platform slowed down near each level, and made a full lap, so everyone could see their Princess.

But even after her departure to a different floor, gigantic holo-screens broadcasted every moment of the celebration inside and outside the Cathedral of Light.

Upon reaching the top, Vicky's smile turned genuine as she waved to all her friends. Thea and her family sat near them too, and even after all the mishaps in the morning, Yvonne's scream was louder than anyone else's.

After the platform made its last lap around Sera's head, it slowed down. Vicky took one step forward, while Henry backed away to stand next to Adam and Lilith.

All of the sudden silence hushed over the gigantic crowd. More than a hundred thousand people attended the celebration's opening, yet even a pin drop would echo inside the deathly silent building.

Vicky stood in a long golden dress with a large silver seven-pointed star embroidered on her chest. The only accessory on her head was a lone golden tiara with a large, dark blue gem in the middle.

The tiara gently pushed her short, white hair back, so her side profile stayed clear from any obstruction.

She wore only eyeshadow and a touch of light pink lipstick. It brought life to her milky-white skin.

Her white eyes with dark blue dots stared at the large, silent crowd. From the top of the platform, all the faces blended together.

Vicky took a deep, shaky breath, then turned towards the cameras, and began the speech Henry wrote for her.

"Welcome, everyone! Thank you all for celebrating this special occasion with me!"

Crowd roared their approval. It took nearly a full minute for them to calm down.

"As you all know, this is the second anniversary of the day, when my father, Bran the Peacemaker, sacrificed himself, bringing peace to Europe once again!… Let's remember him with a minute of silence!"

While Vicky's voice boomed from speakers all over the building, everyone became even more silent. It seemed like nobody even breathed during the minute of silence.

On the holo-screens pictures of Bran appeared. It depicted him both during formal events and during private, family times.

Vicky even placed a few pictures with Sera into the montage, hoping Bea would see it and feel bad.

She faced the cameras again once the minute ended.

"Two years ago, Bran's sacrifice brought a new era to Europe! We finally achieved peace within our borders!…"

The cheering grew loud again, but it only took seconds to die down.

"We've been quiet regarding our projects for quite some time now! You might even assume we just sat idly, enjoying the peace! But no matter what others want you to believe, this isn't true!…"

The people didn't cheer this time, just curiously listened to Vicky's next words.

"As some of you already know, we began sending Evolved outside Europe's borders, hoping to discover more survivors across the globe! The brave soldiers from these expeditions only returned now with great news!… There are cities outside Europe!"

The people in the crowd whispered excitedly, and soon the holo-screens changed. They weren't showing Vicky anymore, but all the envoys from the different cities.

"These are the envoys sent by city-states of South America and Antarctica! Please, everyone, welcome them with a round of applause!"

Vicky's commanding tone made everyone act on instinct. The chant 'Welcome to Europe' became a crowd favorite quickly.

All the envoys stood up and bowed in appreciation towards Vicky. She glanced down and nodded as well, with a genuine, beautiful smile.

"They'll stay with us for a while! Hopefully, we can arrange stronger continental connections with each other!.…"

The last part was a veiled message to any other city-state within Europe. By treating the Angelic Order as the entire continent, they basically just denounced every independent city-state.

"But our soldiers aren't the only ones with brilliant discoveries!… Through tiresome work, the Angelic Order's Lead Scientist, Mary found a way to make permanent Gates between city-states! Not long from now, anyone could travel between the cities of the Angelic Order!"

A less loud cheer went up from the civilians. Some of them seemed skeptical about the new Gate-system proposed by Mary.

But that was understandable. Even Vicky, the plan's linchpin, had doubts about its success.

Mary proposed her plan not too long ago, so more calculations were needed before releasing any concrete information to the public.

There were also plans to open permanent Gates to both South America and Antarctica, but they wanted to downplay how close the connections between continents were.

Vicky raised her hands into the air, and she looked up and into the Sera statue's enormous golden eyes.

"But I know you didn't gather here for my announcements, so let's get this show going!… Today on May 12th 30 ATA I, Victoria, Princess of the Angelic Order, daughter of Seraphine the Angel Monarch, officially open the Peacemaking Celebrations!"

The crowd's roar was became the loudest by the mention of their Goddess's true name.

Vicky just giggled at their reaction, which thankfully wasn't amplified by the speakers. She retreated, then seated herself upon her golden throne.

She tried protesting when they made the throne, but Henry convinced her, saying it elevated her position from the rest of them.

Henry didn't have a seat of his own, so he just stood close to Vicky's side. Lilith and Adam took center stage, commencing the ceremonial side of the celebrations.

The cameras' focus moved away from Vicky, which meant she could finally breathe freely.

"You are getting better at this. Your pronunciations were perfect, and you masterfully modulated your voice… Also, whoever wrote that speech deserves an award, it was amazing!"

Henry's whisper reached Vicky's ear, causing her to giggle and roll her eyes.

"I would've thanked him if he acted humble, but I guess I'll just have to take all the credit now!"

As Lilith began her speech, Henry slowed down time for a few seconds, sneaking a kiss onto Vicky's lips.

Before she realized what had happened, everything became normal again. She looked up at Henry with an annoyed smirk, but he just played innocent.

Vicky shook her head, and giggled once more, then turned towards Lilith. The ceremony would supposedly last at least an hour or two, so she made herself comfortable.

Everything was going perfectly, until suddenly Lilith's voice cut out, and someone else's voice took over the speakers.