The Goblin Emperor

A young man rejected by his father the emperor finds himself on the throne of an Elf kingdom after his father and half-brothers die in a air-balloon crash. 
No one at the court expects him to be great and he doesn't have much confidence. 
What he has for him though is kindness and empathy and it leads him to be a great emperor. 

It reads really well and it's a really believable way to learn/observe/witness how kindness is in the end bridge-building and rewarding.