Cinder yawned and rubbed her eyes. She turned to her side to find Kai gone. "Kai?" she mumbled sleepily.

"I'm here." Kai stood up from the chair at his desk and walked over to her. "Enjoy your sleep?"

"What time is it?" she asked.

"Almost noon," he replied.

Cinder threw off the covers and jumped off the bed. "What! How could you let me sleep that long? I have literally never slept that long in my life!"

Kai just chuckled. "We had a long night."

"Don't you have things to do as Emperor?"

"Don't you have things to do as Empress?"

"Kai, seriously?"

Kai chuckled again. "This is going to be fun, getting to tease you every day."

As Cinder got up to use the bathroom as Kai said, "Scarlet and Wolf have an announcement to make once you're ready. Everyone is in their room."

Cinder grumbled, "You could've woken me up."

---

When they arrived, the whole Rampion family was sitting, or standing in Scarlet and Wolf's room.

"So, what's the big announcement that Kai didn't wake me up for?" Cinder asked.

Scarlet and Wolf shared a smile and Scarlet placed a hand on her stomach. "I'm pregnant."

Cress, Iko, and Winter squealed, Thorne whistled, Kai and Cinder smiled, and Jacin gave one of his half-smiles.

"What are you going to name her- him- it?" Iko asked.

"Do you know if it's going to be a girl or boy?" Winter wondered.

"We don't know what gender," Scarlet replied to Winter's question. "But we have some names for both girl and boy. I can't remember them off the top of my head. Do you guys want to see the list?" They all squealed again as Scarlet took a sheet of paper off of a desk and showed it to them.

When Cinder looked at Kai, she saw a deep longing in his eyes. She set a hand on his arm and cleared her throat.

"We can still have children, if you want," she said when he looked at her.

"Well, technically, you have to give me an heir to the throne, but I would love to have kids. Your, uh, modifications, allow you to, right?" Kai looked so awkward that it made Cinder want to laugh.

"Yes, Kai, we can have kids. It doesn't have to be a male heir, does it?"

"The rules say that, but if it is a girl, we can change the rule."

"Sounds good." Cinder nestled against Kai, and he put his arm around her.

A month later, Cinder was pregnant.

---

Nine months later, Scarlet and Wolf had a little girl and Cinder was eight months pregnant with a girl. The whole Rampion family except for Winter and Jacin gathered around the baby.

"What's her name?" Cress asked Scarlet.

"Michelle. Michelle Benoit Kesley," Scarlet replied proudly.

Everyone knew who Michelle Benoit, Scarlet's grandma, was, but only Scarlet, Wolf, and Cinder knew and experienced her sacrifice.

"She'll make your grandma proud," Cinder whispered to the couple.

"Thank you," Scarlet whispered back.

Michelle Benoit Kesley was a combination of Scarlet and Wolf. She had her father's dark hair color but her mother's wild curls. She had her mother's face except for her thin lips like her father. Michelle was practically half Scarlet and half Wolf.

Then, Winter and Jacin walked in holding hands and smiling. Yes, Jacin was actually smiling. Everyone noticed the silver band on Winter's finger, everyone except for Thorne, that is.

"What happened to you guys?" Thorne asked. Cress nudged him and pointed at Winter's finger. He finally understood. "Congrats! Jacin finally got around to it, huh. I'm a little surprised-" Cress slapped his arm and he fell silent, letting everyone else congratulate the couple.

---

Then, a month passed, and it was Cinder laying the bed of the medical wing at the palace with a baby girl in her arms.

The nurse came in and asked, "Have you picked a name for the Princess?"

Kai and Cinder looked at each other. They didn't need to discuss it for a moment.

"Peony," Cinder said. "Her name is Peony."

Peony was an important person to Cinder because she was the only person who didn't care about her being cyborg in the beginning. Kai knew that Cinder wanted to honor her memory by naming their first daughter after her. He had a feeling that a lot of the Rampion family couples were going to name their children after lost family members.

In a few minutes, the whole Rampion family, including little Michelle, had gathered around to admire the new Princess.

"She's so cute," Winter cooed.

It was true. Princess Peony looked exactly like Kai except for her hair, which looked more like Cinder's.

Iko wiped at fake tears. "You named her Peony."

"Yes, Iko. We named her Peony," Cinder replied.

"Then one day, I'll get to dance with her," Kai joked.

"That was her dream," Cinder agreed.

Everyone but Iko looked at them like they were crazy.

"Peony was my stepsister," Cinder explained to them. "The only one who was nice to me. Her dream was to dance with Kai but," Cinder choked up. If she could've cried, she would've.

Kai placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and said, "She got letumosis." He didn't need to say anymore. Everyone knew that before they defeated Levana, no one survived after getting the blue fever.

"I'm sorry," Cress whispered.

"It's alright," Cinder said. "That's all in the past. Now, we have a new generation to look forward to."