Morgan, strategist of the Lundinium back-alley gang 'Glasgow Gang,' decides one day to set this story down in a book with her own hand. The catch is that the gang's boss turned out to be the sole surviving blood relative of a king deposed twenty-six years ago — and from the moment that came out, everyone started calling her by a different name.

The street brawler 'Siege' became Vina Victoria, chairwoman of the Lundinium Council, once the war ended. But the crown above the throne still sits gathering dust, and the old comrades she used to share meals with, just months ago, are heading home one by one.

Then, one day just before Christmas, that old crown vanishes without a trace. The culprit is none other than the soldier who admired her more than anyone else in the world.

1. A back-alley gang's name-guessing game (and a bloodline no one knew about)

Before the war, Vina and her crew — Indra ('Hannah'), Dagda, and Baird — were just small-time hoodlums running the Northport District. Their daily routine was betting on nomadic-city name-guessing games at the bar, with the loser stuck cleaning the back alleys.

That day's bet was 'name as many nomadic cities as you can.' When Indra got stuck, Vina tossed out the name of a dish from some B-movie they'd all watched together as a 'hint,' and once Indra barely scraped together ten, she shouted with excitement, "Vina, you really are the best leader!"

Then one day, word comes in that a corrupt factory foreman, backed by a duke, is abusing his workers. The gang goes to rob the factory without much thought, only to discover unidentified Originium weapons hidden away in a warehouse.

The incident spirals with an unexpected visitor. A stranger calling himself 'Count Moril' appears and blows Vina's cover, addressing her as 'Your Highness.' Vina beats the man down on the spot, but it's already too late — her crew now knows she's the daughter of the deposed King Alistair II.

Wherever you go, Glasgow will always be by your side. Don't forget — someday you'll have to come back and repay that debt to all of us.

— Baird

That night, the gang decides to leave the city with her. Everyone, that is, except for Baird.

2. As the war nears its end, a single sword passes from soldier to soldier

After years in exile, Vina returns leading the Paragon Corps, all the way to the walls of Lundinium — to reclaim the homeland trampled by the Sarkaz.

On the day of the decisive battle, Vina hands her sword, 'the King's Breath,' to the wounded soldier Diane Weber. The sword passes from Diane to a laborer, from the laborer to a nameless Infected citizen, moving from hand to hand until it finally reaches the heart of the Nachzehrer King.

This too is the power of the Victorian people. Now — take hold of it!

— Vina

Around that time, in the middle of the front lines, a box with no return address arrives for Vina. Inside is nothing but an old ceremonial robe bearing the Victorian royal crest, and a short note reading, "Altered it to fit your size."

As the tide of the war turns, factory worker Fist and his grandmother Catherine emerge from underground, driving the massive weapon 'the Crawler.' With the vigilante militia joining the fight, the final battle ends in an instant.

3. The last Steam Knight, and thirty minutes no one else knows about

In front of the west hall of the royal palace, the last Steam Knight, Charles Lynch, stood frozen in place, having just felled the Nachzehrer. His heart had stopped long ago, but he'd kept standing on nothing but his vow to protect Victoria.

When Vina approaches and tells him his mission is over, he finally collapses, venting steam. Standing at his side, unexpectedly, is Alredale — someone everyone had believed dead.

Your Majesty, all I have ever wanted is a peaceful life... for Victoria's sake.

— Charles Lynch

Those watching from afar each whispered a different name. 'Siege.' 'Vina.' 'Alexandrina.' 'Victoria.' All different names — but in the end, one and the same person.

Amid the cheers, Vina walks alone into the hall. To this day, she has never told anyone what happened inside.

4. They came home, but not everyone made it back

As the walls are breached, every factory across the city vents steam at once to welcome the Paragon Corps home. Before that sight, Vina leaves just one line.

We're home.

— Vina

But not everyone made it back. Baird, who'd stayed behind to protect the Northport District, lost his life in the final battle against the Sarkaz.

Two months after the war, Vina takes the chair of the provisional council. Morgan, Indra, and Dagda are still by her side, but each of them senses, little by little, that things aren't the same as before.

Dagda sets up a few statues in the backyard of the Tower Knight's watchtower. On one of them is carved her real name, 'Isabelle Montague' — a sign that she was once one of the 'Tower Knights' who guarded the royal palace.

5. The back-alley brawler turned chairwoman, and the rumor that nearly destroyed her

'Chairwoman' Vina, crownless, wrestles with mountains of paperwork every day. Factory closures, medicine shortages, backlogged rations — a fight far more of a headache than the war itself.

One day, when the worker Matthew picks a fight, going on about 'economic rationality,' Vina's fist flies before she can stop it. It's the kind of thing she'd have once laughed off — but now she's the 'chairwoman,' watched by the entire city.

Fortunately, Fist steps in to calm things down. Together with his grandmother Catherine, he represents the workers and decides to stand by Vina's side so she doesn't have to carry everything alone.

Around this time, Elysio from Columbia's Red Cross Medical also arrives in Lundinium. He tries hard to somehow make up the medicine shortage, but his arrogant attitude keeps clashing with people.

6. A friend thought dead returns under a new back-alley name

'Milska,' a crime syndicate throwing its weight around Lundinium's underworld. The council chases its identity, but the clue, absurdly, is one Vina herself has been holding all along.

'Milska's' true identity is none other than Alredale Cumberland — the old noblewoman everyone had believed dead. Amid the war, she branded herself a traitor and was reborn under a back-alley name.

Vina eventually issues a manhunt order for 'Milska.' Rather than surrendering quietly, Alredale even refuses the duke's offer to take her back.

You made the right choice, and you're standing where you're meant to stand. Lundinium doesn't need any more heroes, Vina.

— 'Milska'

Come to think of it, that mysterious box of ceremonial robes delivered to Vina during the war — it, too, had secretly been a gift from Alredale.

7. Heroes getting by on liquor and painkillers

The war ending didn't mean everyone was fine. Army surgeon Lieutenant Shearer was getting through each day suppressing the aftereffects of an injury he'd suffered below the walls, with painkillers.

He writes to Vina again and again, but no reply ever comes. In the end, it's Delphine who finds him collapsed in the street.

Sarah, the nurse who was injured alongside him while trying to save him, was also slowly losing her memory to the aftereffects. The wounds the war left behind lasted far longer than any bullet hole.

Delphine, almost scolding him, decides to send him home to Lincardine, with the words: "The war is over. Every soldier needs to go home."

8. The night of the 'Banquet Address,' the crown disappears

Ahead of the new year, Vina decides to give a radio address across the whole city. People call it the 'Banquet Address,' and for the first time in a while, whole families gather around the radio together.

But partway through the speech, the broadcast abruptly cuts out. Eleanor, the 'young duchess' of House Normandy, had gathered the other dukes and summoned Vina away privately.

The dukes play innocent, but there's only one point to it all: "The throne having sat empty for so long doesn't mean Victoria doesn't want a king."

As Vina returns to her office after the meeting, an urgent radio call from Indra comes flying in. "The crown in the throne room's been stolen!"

9. The one who stole the crown was, in fact, her most devoted fan

According to Morgan's investigation, Diane spent a full thirty minutes in the throne room that day. She never did say what she was thinking, but strangely enough, she didn't even run into the patrol changing shifts on her way out.

The crown's holder turns out, unexpectedly, to be Diane Weber — the very soldier who'd received 'the King's Breath' below the walls. Diane's infection had progressed so far that she had little time left. She simply wanted to see the hero she loved wear an actual crown.

Sharing a final drink in the cell, Vina confides in her, and her alone, the secret of that day: what she'd met inside the hall was the ghost of her dead father, and the fairy 'Unicorn,' said to grant people's wishes.

I chose nothing. Why should I be the one to choose the Unicorn?

— Vina

Diane smiles quietly. It's nothing like the fairy-tale ending she'd once imagined, but she thinks it's not a bad ending, all the same.

10. A soldier on the gallows — but the story doesn't end there

The next day, Diane is executed for stealing the crown. Protests pour in from every corner of the city, but Vina refuses to place herself above the very law she created.

Instead, she stands alone the whole day before the protesting citizens, hammering out a settlement with the dukes — winning back rations, medicine, and rights, one by one.

As evening falls, Vina, exhausted, sits down on the steps and watches the sunset alongside the citizens. A child who's gathered nearby asks, "Miss, will we get a king?"

That, I can't say. But not having a king isn't a bad thing. You'll understand once you're grown.

— Vina

Watching that thoroughly unglamorous sight, Catherine thinks things will get better from here, all the same.

But the real twist came that very night. 'Milska' secretly smuggled out the condemned woman's body and handed it over to Elysio.

A few days later, Diane opens her eyes on a plain far, far from Lundinium. Part of her body was already hardening into Originium — but at least she was alive.

When that day comes, I will bring you home, back to Lundinium.

— Elysio

Epilogue. And once again, walking alone

A few days later, Morgan, Indra, and Dagda return to the Northport District boxing gym. In the beloved old neighborhood, now full of unfamiliar faces, their old friend Kador returns Baird's butterfly knife.

A single worn phrase was left on the blade: "I hope so too." What exactly Baird had hoped for, no one would ever find out.

That night, they all gather together for the first time in a while and raise their glasses — setting aside a seat for the one who isn't there, too.

Yeah, Vina. I hope so too... A toast, for Glasgow, for all of you.

— Baird

The next morning, Vina changes alone, without any send-off, and leaves for the Central District. Morgan, pretending to be asleep, watches her back for a long, long while.

The crown still lies discarded on the floor of the throne room. Diane, her name erased, is still breathing somewhere out there. Glasgow is still right where it's always been. Morgan puts the memories of that time into a single memoir, and closes its last page hoping that Vina will read these words someday. A hero's story ends the moment she puts on the crown — but Vina's story only truly began the moment she set it down.