Chapter 2142

Although Benjamin had issued the royal edict to bring Shannon into the palace as his betrothed, he had never truly intended to hold the coronation. For one, he was not the real King. For another, he had no desire to marry Shannon, who was also living under a borrowed identity. It wouldn't be real. What neither he nor Shannon had wished for was never to wed in this timeline. However, the present circumstances left them little to no choice. Given that the courtiers had insisted Shannon wasn't the Queen without a formal coronation and therefore could be offered as the Goddess in an atonement rite, Benjamin thought he should one-up them and simply make her the Queen now. "The calamity in Northreach is grave. Now is no time for lavish ceremonies. But since the Royal Advisor's words have spread through the capital, I must offer the northern people an answer." He told the gathered courtiers, "Thus, I have decided that the coronation shall proceed—but in the simplest form. All funds save