Cedric, a fictional orphaned king, crowns himself and builds empires to prove he never needed what he lacked. His self-imposed crown becomes inseparable from his identity, leaving him unable to rest or discover who he is without it.
It created the orphaned king. That's Cedric's core identity. He was meant to be led, but no one led him. So he crowned himself. He became his own father, his own mentor, his own blueprint. The orphaned king builds empires to prove he was never abandoned, that he didn't need what he didn't get. But here's the problem. The orphaned king never learned to rest. Because if no one protected you, you protect everyone. If no one provided for you, you over provide. The crown is heavy, but you won't take it off because you don't know who you are without it, and that's Cedric.
