Andrew Sapphire, the fifth Grand Duke of the Sapphire Grand Duchy and a Sapphire Dragon Rider, left this world in January, before the winter of Sapphire Calendar Year 156 had ended.
He had reigned for nearly thirty years. Though he had not written many legendary chapters into history, he could still be counted as an accomplished and enlightened ruler.
Too many stories had unfolded in the final five years of his life—the rebellion of Marquis Bull, the Sapphire Dragon's devastating injury; the Eagle Kingdom's invasion and the dragon-slaying battle at sea, which had nearly killed him; the dragon-slaying war between the Eagle Kingdom and the Flame Kingdom, forcing the Sapphire Family to change overlords...
Though the Sapphire Family had been battered by wind and rain throughout those five years, Grand Duke Andrew had struggled to hold it together, keeping the Sapphire Family among the ranks of dragon-raising families.
"An ambitious hero of a generation has departed in the end."
Marquis Oxtail William Tulip let out a long sigh after receiving the news.
Nearly twenty years of loyalty between ruler and subject could not simply be cast aside. Upon suddenly hearing of Grand Duke Andrew's death, countless emotions surged through his heart. His father had died in a Pioneer Order when he was young. Afterward, he inherited the title and followed Grand Duke Andrew at his side, traveling to Blue Sky Mountain Palace every year to drive the Grand Duke's carriage.
Although the Tulip Family had shed its status as a follower of the Sapphire Family and moved to the Flame Archipelago to develop there with the rise of his second son, Liszt, he and Grand Duke Andrew had still maintained a close relationship.
Unlike his father's heaviness, Liszt said easily, "Father, hand over the affairs in your hands to Dimaria.