Leaving the hospital behind her, Silgvani entered one of the two shuttles parked on the forecourt, accompanied by two of her guards, with the rest of them entering the other one. Inside, Nadine was already waiting for her.

“That was quick,” the small alien wondered.

“Was it?” Silgvani didn’t feel like it was. After they finished talking to her parents they went on their way back to the Star Palace but made a quick stop at the hospital first so the princess could visit her brother. Nadine didn’t accompany her this time, arguing that she had already spoken with Kiyrtin and that the two should have a moment to themselves.

“Well, okay, not THAT quick, just quicker than I expected.”

The doors closed and she sat down.

“There wasn’t much to discuss. I gave him a late congratulation on his first melt-molting, and then we talked about his recovery a bit. He also was quite busy.”

The shuttle took off and they left Hohmiy’s capital behind them. As soon as they left the city’s border they ascended, reaching travel altitude so they could go faster. Nadine leaned forward in her seat and looked out of the window, her gaze wandering notably.

“Looking for something?”

“I was trying to see the… what was the name of the one you grew up in?”

“The Sun Palace,” Silgvani reminded her.

“Right, that one. Is it as big as the other one?”

“No, but close. You won’t see it from here though. The Sun Palace is more like a private estate, it wasn’t constructed with the intent to present it to the public.”

“Oh. Well, not that big of a deal, I was just curious.”

She leaned back again. No guards were sitting on her side which, combined with her own short height, made the Human’s part of the shuttle look almost hilariously empty.

“Speaking of curious, the reason I said Kiyrtin was busy was that he was studying. Something he barely did with his tutors, but now he’s doing it on his own. How did you manage to convince him of that?”

Nadine blinked.

“I, uh… didn’t?”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, we caught up on stuff and then we played a bit, that was it.”

“How strange”, Silgvani mused. “He seemed very motivated for some reason. He also announced that he had decided what he wanted to learn. Business.”

The statement hung in the air for a few tiggs but in the end, Nadine merely shrugged, combined with a face that seemed to express cluelessness. While it was about time for him to make this choice, Silgvani hadn’t expected him to suddenly do so seemingly out of nowhere. Strange indeed.

“Well, at least this wasn’t a total disaster,” the princess finally said. “While I would have liked to spend this time more productively, it didn’t go nearly as bad as I feared.”

Nadine quietly looked out of the window for another moment before answering.

“Productive… hm,” she quietly mumbled but dropped the point before Silgvani could ask what she meant. “By the way, what would you say is seen as more important, the first or second melt-molting? Socially, I mean.”

“For nobles, it’s the second one,” she explained to the alien girl. “It is considered to be the beginning of our adulthood, the point when we become proper members of our clan. But commoners put more emphasis on the first one, I believe. Are you asking because of Kiyrtin?”

“Yeah, he seemed pretty down about us missing it.” She let out a deep sigh. “And of course, this is a commoner versus noble topic again.”

Silgvani leaned back in her seat and looked up at the ceiling. Thinking back, the small alien had often subtly - or occasionally openly - expressed her displeasure with the divide between these two groups. And in certain points, the princess agreed. There were some aspects to it that were, in her opinion, unnecessarily restrictive. But small changes were a different topic than a whole other system. While other species in the alliance had varying versions of it, there was always some form of ruling class. And yet, Humans had apparently no such concept, not anymore at least.

“I heard a bit about it from the doctor, but we never really spoke about it, so say… how does your planet function without royalty? Who governs if not your nobles?”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“Well, if I were born a couple hundred years earlier, I would probably be a noble in the same way you are familiar with. But we axed our noble class, mostly at least.”

“Axed?”

“Got rid of. As I said, it’s nothing but a fancy name nowadays, at least in my country. But Earth isn’t a monolith like Hohmiy is, and there are many different versions. Democracy, while flawed, is widely considered the best System we currently know of, but even that has many variants. I heard Japan was about to try some algorithm-based election, but we left Earth before they implemented it, so I don’t know how that turned out.”

“So basically, the commoners choose who governs?” Silgvani tried to clarify before Nadine’s thoughts trailed off too far.

“In theory, yes. Reality is a bit more complicated. It’s primarily meant to stop individuals from having too much power over a too-long time span. Plus, without nobles, we have significantly less political bullshit going on. Not nothing, but less at least.”

“Nadine, I get that you come from a different culture,” Silgvani chimed in, “but please keep in mind that our system developed for a reason as well. Without it-”

“Without it, Kiyrtin could have had a normal childhood,” the small alien interrupted her, metaphorically knocking the air out of Silgvani. The princess got quiet.

After a few moments in silence, Nadine let out a sigh.

“Sil, look, I… I’m sorry, that was a bit direct. I have no doubt in my mind that you will be a great ruler. Do you remember what you said when we talked about important people?”

“Power is no privilege but a duty,” the princess quoted herself after thinking for a tigg.

“Exactly. That’s why I’m so sure about you. But can you be sure that, down the line, things will stay that way? Also, how much trouble could the other nobles give you if they don’t like what you do?”

Silgvani considered both parts of the question carefully before answering.

“I’m currently not very involved in our non-foreign politics, but I do know that my parents aren’t very popular among the noble clans, especially since the execution of Lord Gatmar.”

“Why, was he wrongly accused? Or was it just more political bullshit?”

“Well…” Silgvani began as she realized her slip-up. “It's complicated. Anyway, my point was: it does make things a lot easier if the throne has the nobles on their side, you are right on that. But in the end, clan Kiyron rules this planet and has done so ever since the Unification War. And once I am queen, I will make sure my ideals will carry on. Even my parents, troublesome as they are, know what they are doing when it comes to governing.”

“Mh-hm,” Nadine hummed with a nod. “Sil, have you ever heard of double-taxed villages?”

Silgvani’s stare turned blank as she listened to Nadine describe how border-crossing villages, technically part of two territories, could die from over-taxation.

“T-this is my first time hearing this!” Silgvani insisted once she was done.

“Of course it is,” Nadine said in an almost dismissive tone. “It’s not important enough to concern you.”

Her last words cut deep and hammered home a fundamental issue. Even if she would hold absolute power as queen, she and whoever she would make king were just two. And Hohmiy was a planet. Silgvani had, of course, always known that. When she had ideas to improve things, she often gave suggestions or entire law drafts to her parents, but… how much did she really know about the problems of her people?

“If… just hypothetically speaking, if you were queen, what would you change?”

Nadine brought her hand to her chin and thought for a while.

“Good question. Switching the entire system at once would only cause chaos, if it is even possible in the first place. The nobility is one problem, but not the only one. And besides, getting rid of them isn’t easy.”

“Speaking of, how did Humans… “axe” them, as you said?”

The small alien blushed a bit.

“Ah, well, depends on the country but… while I meant it metaphorically, in many cases, it’s a pretty apt description.”

“Wait, you mean you…”

“Our history is soaked with blood. I don't know much about Vanaery history, but when it comes to humanity, what I told you before is just a small fraction of the brutality we’ve been through. Don’t think I believe that the ends justify the means though. For you, there are other ways, better ways. Ah, I know! How about a council?”

“You mean like the High Council of Eroas?” Silgvani asked in confusion.

“No, not that. I meant for the commoners. It would give them a voice. A constitution would also be good. Codify the rights everyone has, and make it so they can’t be changed even by king or queen unless the council of commoners agrees.”

Once Silgvani had overcome her surprise and given it a thought, those were pretty interesting suggestions. She would need some maneuvering to prevent the nobles from causing trouble, but the ideas sounded promising. She was still a few cycles away from the throne, but preparations could already be made.

And once again, the princess was reminded of Nadine’s age. It was always so bizarre to see a supposed child carry a generation’s worth of knowledge. And that wasn’t all, her ancestors, each long-lived, had left much more to build upon. Humans didn't just do things differently to the Vanaery. Aspects of Hohmiy's present were like overcome past to them.

If someone like her were to…

For quite a while now, there was a thought she had been toying with, but could never decide whether to voice it. Maybe...

“May I ask you a question, Nadine?”

“Hm? Sure, ask away.”

“If- Once we find the other Humans, what will you do?”

The girl’s gaze fell. Unfortunately, Silgvani couldn’t avoid the sensitive topic right now.

“I… I don’t know. I don’t even know how close we are to our original destination. No clue if we even have the means to find it anymore. Or the way back to earth.”

Silgvani took a deep breath before her next question.

“And… hypothetically speaking… how would you feel about staying here?”

Nadine looked up to her.

“Sil… don’t get me wrong you and… all of you are more than I could ever ask for but… I can’t freeload forever!”

“I already told you, you aren’t… forget it. No, I meant something else.”

The small alien cocked her head as Silgvani continued.

“You see, once I become queen, there are many things I need to decide on. Much more diverse topics than now, many of which I understand little of.”

She made a short pause before finishing her thought.

“I will need… trusted advisors.”