Leamor Vanar had stopped being a candidate for the throne long ago.
There had been no single moment when everything collapsed around him. Instead, his life had been dismantled piece by piece, beginning with the release of documents that exposed years of bribery, intimidation, secret payments, and favors exchanged with people who should never have been anywhere near the future ruler of Faedria.
Then came the testimonies.
People he had threatened found the courage to speak once they realized others were doing the same. Servants repeated things they had overheard behind closed doors, former allies described the way Leamor had spoken about ordinary citizens when he believed no one important was listening, and recordings appeared containing his own words, stripped of all the polite language he normally used in public.
Every ugly opinion he had hidden behind carefully prepared speeches was suddenly available for anyone to hear.
The public turned on him almost immediately.
