Elden Ring: Why is it always monarch?

[Part of my Elden Ring journal]

Instead of chasing the falling star I return to Volcano Manor and get a new mark from Lady Tanith. As this one is up in the plateau I explore a bit, dodging hands and slaying evil tree spirits and a vampire in a cellar before Anastasia invades me again, and loses again. Heading towards the capital I also come across a windmill village of dancing ladies who are very violent when I slay their godskin apostle before dodging more siege weapons to get to the capital outskirts.

Here I get Tragoth and my headless ally to help in defeating the draconic tree sentinel knight guarding the gate bridge, finally allowing me passage into the capital itself, which happens to be a no-horse zone. Rooftop parkouring and sewer sprinting (from giant hands again) are the best way to avoid most of the heavily armored knights here, until I'm eventually jumped by the golden axe-wielding spirit of Godfrey, the first Elden lord! It takes me a few attempts to finally beat him, but the next boss King Morgott who is nearby proves to be way too challenging for now. His move set is really beautiful though, I wonder if they gave him some capoeira?

These horrid hands lie in wait everywhere!

After a short interlude back at the Roundtable hold to upgrade my stick I discover that Corhyn has left and that free hugs Fia murdered undead hunter D. I opt to retry the giant ant caves I skipped before and manage delve deep to the point of finding more barnacle men ruins, a giant moth thing which I can't hit, and a surprise dragonkin soldier boss hiding right at the back that I defeat. With no other paths (that don't involve a suicidal jump) forward, I decide to finally check the crater left by Radahn's fallen star and discover it leads right into the city of eternal night, Nokron!