“A King must never stand still. Whatever sacrifices it takes, he must keep going forward.”

Irene felt herself jolt out of her dream. A dream that should have been filled with memories planned for the future. Not a dream of those ominous words said by one of her deceased ancestors.

“I never wanted to Queen…” muttered Irene as she laid back down on her sleeping bag. “I just wanted to be Irene…the girl who lived happily ever after with the man she loved.”

Irene reached out to the right side of where she slept, she pretended “he” is sleeping next to her. She wished she had not left him and her friends behind when she ventured off alone. But she needed to do this alone, she did not want anyone to sacrifice their life for her. What scared her is hearing people say she resembles her ancestor, Noctis Lucis Caelum.

Irene remembered referring to him as the King of Sleep as the portrait of him she saw depict him sleeping on the throne. She heard people say he was the youngest King to died but he was able to return to life and married the woman he loved. But it was not his story that got Irene to change her mind, it was the backstory of a long-forgotten King, Ardyn Lucis Caelum. The same man who not only created the daemons roaming in the dark and caused many troubles during King Noctis’s reign. After hearing his backstory, she decided she rather chooses her fate than let the Astrals choose for her.

As she drifted off to sleep, Irene thought of her last conversation with Suho. It was a talk they had before she ran off, it happened to be a few days after their marriage.

“Darling, can I question you about something bothering me?”

“What’s on your mind?”

Irene struggled to get the correct words out. She is a Queen, yet she has fears about people believing she is not good enough to be Queen. She may be descended from the Lucis Caelum family but does she have what it takes to be a great ruler?

“Irene?”

Suho pulled Irene into his arms when she did not answer. Irene looked pale and he could see the perspiration on her forehead. Whatever it is bothering her must be a big problem.

“Irene? Is it about that problem again?”

Irene kept closed and nodded her head. This is not the first time she talked to Suho about these problems.

“I told you many times Irene to never put yourself down. You will be a great Queen especially with me right by your side.”

Irene smiled and snuggled into Suho’s embrace. But even with Suho’s words, the fear within her lingers. Except that was not her only fear.

“Would you still think of me being a good Queen if you learn how selfish I am?” Irene hid her inner dark thoughts from Suho. “I do not care about anyone else but you and me.”

Those thoughts have been inside her mind ever since she has been dreaming of the past. Specifically, Irene found herself seeing moments from her ancestor’s lives. The ones that had slowly developed into her fears is seeing the pain Noctis felt when he lost Lunafreya. He nearly drifted away from his friends in his grief including wanting to give up his mission to reclaim his throne. He returned 10 years later, managing to bring everything back to order and was finally able to marry Lunafreya in the afterlife.

Irene does care for her friends but when it comes to choosing them and Suho, everyone knows she will always choose him.

Author's Note

Sorry if this chapter is kind of boring but I wanted the first half to focus on Irene and what I'm planning for her in this story. There is a reason why I chose "Kingdom Come" as the prompt but I won't spoil what it is. Normally, I write up to 1,000 words but I thought of writing shorter amounts this time.

If anyone is confused about the characters mention, I thought of making a chapter that includes a character guide. Since this is taking place in the world of Final Fantasy XV, I made sure to include some of the characters along with some quotes and maybe random parts that relate to any characters. The very first line is a quote said by King Regis, the father of Noctis, which is heard in Episode Ignis. But I believe you hear Ignis repeats it to Noctis during a scene where Ignis is blind. To me, parallels are a big element in Final Fantasy XV so I chose to make Irene see herself and Suho being in a similar situation to Noctis and Luna, the main couple of the game. Noctis and Luna were chosen by the antagonist, Ardyn Izunia, to be married because he sees the two as a reminder of the two people who betrayed him. 

 Noctis and Lunafreya (Luna)

 Somnus and Aera