Please note that this answer contains MAJOR SPOILERS for the plot of the complete novel. Please do not read it without reading the full novel if you don't want to get spoiled!

  A Question for Queen Regina Sheridan: Do you enjoy being queen? How did you feel about your accomplishments as a ruler?

  Do I enjoy being a queen?

  Well.... occasionally.

  I do not dream of the future anymore.

  There must be people who still wish to kill me, but somehow their pns never advance far enough that I can actually see them.

  I asked Artem once if he knew why I no longer saw the future and he told me that I had wished to stop seeing my own death.

  I did not ask him any more questions about my visions.

  Love is a complex thing and sometimes you do not need to confirm what you already know. It is enough that Artem is my partner in all things and I love all that he is.

  Being Queen has allowed me to help the others I love too. Both my parents and Henrietta have been freed from the Sheridans to live their own lives.

  After Robin Buren cleverly framed Duke Buren for the murder of my wretched grandfather, I was able to make Henrietta and my parents my “royal retainers” for “their protection” against noble families who might target them out of jealousy.

  By the time the other elders of my family realized that I had no desire to support their ambitions, my parents and Henrietta were already free of their influence. My parents now live in different parts of the Capital and help me with the finances of the country, while Henrietta is my chief dy-in-waiting who keeps all nuisances away.

  Even the most viperous of nobles have learned to fear Henrietta’s vases!

  On the other hand… being queen does not make life easy. Even if I no longer fear a knife in the dark, I rarely am able to rest.

  I am proud of the work I have done for Carcosa. Even if I cannot return every stolen child back to their family, I can still shelter and support them, still find justice for commoners, still do my best to make sure no one is harmed or exploited the way Artem and I were previously.

  It is not enough.

  What could be?

  In a world so full of horrors, even my best attempts are little more than a small bandage for a severed limb.

  I think of Ava sometimes and wonder what she would think of what I am doing. I hope sometimes that some part of her is able to enjoy the ducks and the schools I keep having to name for her.

  If I have to open one more newspaper that says RADICAL RULER RAISES REVENUES TO REGULARIZE RETRAINING, I might…

  Well, I will probably still name the schools after Ava.

  Maybe I can just ban thesauruses?