Chapter 280

280 The Graduation Ceremony

Selma Payne’s POV:

The school leaders had already taken their seats, but the seat in the middle, which was different from the rest, was still empty. The principal and the others were in a heated discussion. From the smiles on their faces, it was not difficult to tell that they were happy and proud of the arrival of the King.

Today was my graduation day and the day my identity would go public.

From now on, I’d live in this world as ‘Princess Madeline’.

What changes had life brought to me this time?

Was this change good or bad?

I was a little nervous. I couldn’t lie to myself that I was indifferent to the great changes in my life.

Finally, my parents arrived.

The moment the King and Queen arrived, the entire hall erupted in cheers. The reporters waiting on both sides of the hall immediately raised their cameras to record the two Majesties’ every move. They had long heard that there would be big news today, so they didn’t want to miss a single detail.

After the important guests were seated, the graduation ceremony officially began.

The principal’s speech, the teachers’ representative’s speech, the outstanding graduates’ representative’s speech, and the graduation certificate ceremony. When it was my turn to receive my graduation certificate, I didn’t leave the stage after completing the process like other students. Instead, I went straight to my parent’s side.

The auditorium was in an uproar because of my action. The media smelled the scent of big news and kept shooting with their ‘long guns’.

The school leaders quickly maintained order, and the ceremony officially ended.

Next, it was time for my father’s speech. After the speech, he’d announce my true identity.

At this moment, my heart was beating at its peak.

After the last sentence of the speech, my father did not leave the podium.

“Today is a day worth celebrating because many young talents have completed their studies and will soon become the new mainstays of the werewolf pack.

“And today is a special day for me.

“Twenty-two years ago, a group of evil wanderers ambushed the Lycan pack in an attempt to hurt the civilians. They also kidnapped my daughter, Princess Madeline, who was only three months old.

“The wanderers were finally exterminated, but my daughter’s whereabouts were unknown. I searched for her many times without any results. I fell into endless self-blame and pain because, as a father, I did not protect my daughter well and caused her to be in danger.

“However, the kind Moon Goddess did not abandon me.

“Four years ago, my daughter came back to me by chance. Thanks to the goddess’ blessing, she grew up safely and became a good girl that I’m proud of when I wasn’t around.

“Today is her graduation day. On this day of celebration, it’s time for her to reveal her identity to society.”

My father extended his hand to me. With the incredulous gazes of my classmates and teachers, I puffed out my chest and raised my head, proudly and demurely walking to my father’s side.

“Now, I officially announce to my people that this is the legal descendant of Queen Helena and me, the current first princess of the royal family, and the werewolf Crown Princess, Madeline Periana H. Oromalivira!”

As my father announced that, the officials on both sides immediately shouted, “May the goddess bless the princess!”

“May the goddess bless the princess,” the people followed suit subconsciously.

After three cheers, the crowd became restless and cheered spontaneously to celebrate my return.

The werewolves had been waiting for this moment for far too long. The lack of descendants meant that the royal family was unstable, and the instability of the royal family meant that those with ulterior motives would do anything for the position of heir. These ambitious people usually did not care about the interests of the people.

Therefore, even primary school students who did not know anything about politics would act like adults and sigh about the decline of the royal family because the education official in charge of the area where my school was located had surrendered to an ambitious person and moved the education funds to build landmark buildings for the ambitious person to accumulate achievements, the school could not get financial support and repair the damaged field, so it had to stop the students’ football class.

This was only the tip of the iceberg. The ones who paid the price for the ambitious were countless commoners who had no way to seek help. No matter how wise and powerful my father was, he could not forcefully interfere with the internal affairs of every pack. Bertha and her brother, for example, and many more people like them were being oppressed by the name of ‘respecting tradition’ and became tools for the ambitious to exploit.

And now that I was here, once the royal family’s legacy was stable, all the schemes of the ambitious would be destroyed. They no longer had scruples after my father took care of the people. Even if there were any accidents, I would be there to take care of them. I would inherit my father’s will and fight against those who persecute my race.

At this moment, many pairs of eyes were looking at me. They were in the auditorium, in the camera, in the live broadcast, looking at me with excitement, joy, doubt, or viciousness.

Every pair of eyes wanted to see something from me, defining me as a hope or an idiot.

Before I entered the hall, I was nervous about the pressure.

But now, my heart was calm and peaceful.

Facing the excited gazes of the teachers and students, as well as the cold glints of the cameras, I adjusted the microphone and said loudly, “Hello, teachers, students, media, and everyone. I’m Madeline.”