King Veroglance the Second of Orvelia grew weaker by the day. He was once a stout monarch whom no one dared to cross. However, he, too, began to show weakness with age. When he finally fell ill, those with aspirations of power began gathering around him like flies. Scarlet tried her hardest to protect her father in this chaos. But the man being swayed by the flatterers around him was no longer the respected king she once knew. The king turned his back on his daughter's pleas. The nobles were unhappy to accept her, the king's only child, as the next queen, to say the least. The atmosphere of the royal palace darkened quickly.