King Alex’s Bottle, royal regalia of the Kingdom of Rushymia, has been rediscovered after being lost for nearly two and a half years.
The extraordinary find was made this afternoon on Rushy Meadow Field by His Imperial Majesty the Emperor, who decided to have a quick look under the trees at the edge of the Field while passing by on the off chance that the bottle would be there.
Oral tradition states that at the end of his reign, King Alex of Rushymia (reigned c. 1997 – July 2000) placed the bottle, which he had used similarly to a ceremonial mace, at the top of a fence which separated the school playground in which Rushymia – and later the Midget Empire – was located from the Field. The first person to retrieve it would be his successor as King of Rushymia.
The bottle remained at the top of the fence until 17 October 2010, when it was successfully retrieved by the then Emperor Esmond III of Austenasia. The title “King of Rushymia” was merged with the Austenasian Throne four days later, and was automatically assumed by Esmond’s successors as Emperor upon their ascension to the Throne.
However, the bottle itself was lost soon after it was retrieved. Esmond III had placed the bottle in his bag, which he dropped to the ground while climbing back down the fence, but a large dog being walked on the Field ran up to him, took the bag, and ran around the Field with it in its mouth. By the time the bag was recovered by the dog’s owner, the bottle had come out and was lost.
Despite Esmond III and the then Crown Prince Jonathan searching the Field for the bottle, they could not find it. They had assumed it had fallen out of the bag into long grass while the dog was running around the Field with it, but did not search under the trees by the fence where the dog first took it.
With the loss of the bottle, the only proof that it had ever existed outside of eyewitness testimonies was a photograph taken at a fundraising event at the school in December 2006 which shows a pixelated red object at the top of the fence.
The discovery today of King Alex’s Bottle reveals that it had most likely fallen out of Esmond III’s bag the moment the dog took it. The now Emperor Jonathan I has confirmed that the size and colour of the bottle which was discovered is the same as that which was retrieved by Esmond III and lost in the area.
King Alex’s Bottle has been taken back to Wrythe, and will be stored in the Imperial Residence.
