A Prince Among Peers
For the first week, Prince Leonard remained largely silent.
He spent his mornings walking the streets of Littlefoot alone, cloak drawn, taking tea with cobblers and listening to street performers. No guards, no fanfare. He spoke little, but observed much.
By the second week, he began shadowing Jacob at trials, reviewing draft laws with Joseline, and walking training fields with David. His questions were pointed, deliberate—probing where systems might break under pressure, where trust frayed under weight.
Over dinner one evening, he finally spoke his mind to the trio.
> "Littlefoot is no longer just a county. It is the heartbeat of something greater. The South is awakening."
He poured wine for each of them himself—an unheard-of gesture from a royal.
> "My mother and I believe this place… must be more than a symbol. It must be a fortress. A second spine for the Empire. Should civil war ever return. Should foreign ships make landfall. The Imperial City must not stand alone."
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The Prince's Estate
With swift precision, the Prince's Estate was founded on the eastern rise overlooking Littlefoot—a grand but humble residence by royal standards. It was not for luxury. It was a nerve center.
• Embassy halls were erected for visiting nobles and foreign envoys.
• A military district was laid out nearby, to house an elite Southern Guard.
• A new university court was chartered by Leonard's hand, offering higher legal and civil service training, named The High School of Southern Administration.
But most notably, the estate had no throne room, no marble statues of Leonard.
Instead, at its heart stood a war map room—surrounded by books, laws, and letters from villagers and marshfolk alike.
> "Power," Leonard said one evening to Jacob, "should sit in a chair with wheels, not a pedestal."
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A Quartet of Influence
The people of Littlefoot came to call them The Southern Four:
Jacob, the Marquis of Law, wrote the codes and enforced them without bias.
David, the Marquis of Bravery, became captain of the border scouts and counter-sabotage units.
Joseline, the Imperial Administrator, governed with a delicate balance of wit and iron, now second only to Leonard in authority.
And Leonard, the Silent Flame, who walked with kings but spoke as one of the people.
Together, they restructured the entire southern corridor—from grain supply chains to criminal recordkeeping, from port tariffs to cultural preservation. Wealth began to flow in. Roads were paved. Refugees from war-torn outer counties flocked to Littlefoot, calling it "The Southern Light."
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The Hidden Plan
On the balcony of the Prince's Estate, overlooking the lantern-lit streets, Leonard met with Joseline one quiet night.
> "How long do we have?" she asked him.
"Two years," Leonard replied. "At most. The north grows hungry. And the east… watches too quietly."
He handed her a sealed directive.
> "If I fall. If my brothers make a move. Littlefoot is to become the interim capital. You will protect the people. Jacob will protect the law. David… will protect all of it in fire and blade."
The Birth of STELLA
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A New Dawn in the South
One by one, the counties came.
From the salt-lined shores of Selwyn, the misty highlands of Tarrin, the fertile rice plains of Eron, the limestone halls of Lutha, and the storm-battered cliffs of Avenmoor—delegates, governors, and community leaders gathered in Littlefoot's newly built Forum of Assembly.
It was the first time in over three hundred years that southern counties acted as equals.
Jacob, Joseline, and David stood beside Prince Leonard, who wore no crown, only a silver sash across his breast.
The Prince's voice rang through the marble chamber:
> "We are not breaking from the Empire. We are binding its future. One stone, one oath, one law at a time."
Each county placed its seal upon a new charter, their first letters spelling out:
S.T.E.L.L.A.
Selwyn. Tarrin. Eron. Lutha. Littlefoot. Avenmoor.
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The Kingdom Within
What followed was unprecedented in southern history.
• Trade routes were unified and protected under a single Southern Guard led by David.
• Legal codices were harmonized by Jacob, eliminating corruption and conflicting county laws.
• Joseline's administration set up a vast civil training network, helping young officials learn diplomacy, law, and logistics.
• Littlefoot, now a city of schools, courts, and war colleges, was crowned the Capital of STELLA.
They did not declare independence, but effectiveness.
In time, locals and nobles alike began calling STELLA "The Kingdom Within an Empire"—a sovereign spine nestled within the larger body of Imperial rule.
And after one year, the whispers reached the Imperial Throne.
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The Empress's Verdict
Empress Regina convened the Grand Council.
Before all Lords and Ministers, she stood and declared:
> "We shall not punish brilliance. We shall reward it."
She named STELLA a Sanctioned State of the Empire, with autonomy in all civil, legal, and economic matters. Only military deployment and foreign diplomacy would remain Imperial.
She looked at her son, Prince Leonard, and said:
> "To rule is not to command. It is to guide those who rise. You, my son, have guided them well."
She extended her hand—and with the gesture, Leonard was named Head of State, a title never before used in Imperial history. Not a king. Not a viceroy. Something new. Something alive.
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Legacy in Motion
From that day on, Southern caravans bore a new crest: a six-pointed star made of interwoven quills and swords, circling a single open eye.
Jacob's Laws of Stella became required reading in universities across the Empire.
David's Southern Guard became the most elite peacekeeping force outside the Imperial Army.
Joseline's Stellar Academy began attracting students from beyond even the Empire's borders.
And Leonard—quiet, tireless, watching—sat not above them, but among them, steering a dream made real.