Meiru certainly did fit all of those criteria. Morgan and Nevrai were talking more formally now that they were addressing Meiru.
“All I heard from my mom was that my dad was a noble of high standing. Was he the one who asked you two to look for me?”
“No, it was our liege who ordered the search...not our king.”
Meiru and the others’ jaws dropped. Morgan had just unloaded a bombshell on them.
“My dad is the king of Dastia?”
“If what our liege suspects is true, then yes. We serve the crown prince, Alfard Il Dastia.”
“At any rate, if his guess is correct, then you are our king, Alesand Il Dastia’s daughter...and a member of the royal family.”
For a while, no one said anything. But eventually, Oscar turned to Naiz and asked in a hesitant voice, “Naiz, you aren’t the long-lost scion of the Sharod family or anything, are you?”
“Where’d that come from? I already told you I’m from a remote village, remember?”
“You’re my only friend!”
“Seriously, what’s gotten into you?!”
Oscar was just feeling a little alienated. His comrades included the Demon Lord’s younger brother, the queen of the Haltina Republic, the head of the most notable noble family in the theocracy, and the former heir of the empire’s most distinguished family. And now, it had been revealed that Meiru was also royalty.
He and Naiz were the only commoners left.
“Naiz, Meiru may have betrayed me, but our bond is everlasting.”
“I feel like I should be happy about that, but for some reason, I’m not.”
“How mean,” Meiru said, entering the conversation. “I didn’t realize you cared so much about status, Oscar-kun.”
“I-It doesn’t matter whether you’re a commoner or a noble, O-kun! Besides, you’re the older brother of a saint!”
“...I’m sorry, Naiz,” Oscar said after a pause.
“Why are you apologizing? Depending on your answer, I may have to smash those glasses of yours.”
Morgan and Nevrai looked taken aback. They’d been having a serious discussion, but then Miledi and the others had suddenly started goofing off.
Realizing that he needed to get everyone back on track, Laus piped up, saying, “So tell us, why exactly is the crown prince searching for Meiru?”
“He didn’t say. Besides, he wasn’t even sure that Meiru truly existed.”
“We have our suspicions, though. That was actually why we stayed behind at your village.”
“Let me guess? He didn’t want some half-breed mongrel sullying the royal family’s name, so he wanted you to assassinate me?”
“The prince is not that sort of man!” Morgan shouted loud enough that his voice echoed through the valley.
Meiru shrugged in apology, then replied, “Sorry. It’s not like I hold a grudge against my dad or anything, but most people wouldn’t want to admit I’m part of their family, so I just figured it was the same with him.”
“I’m sorry as well for raising my voice,” Morgan said, awkwardly scratching his head.
“It’s fine. Also, you don’t have to act so polite around me. I’m not part of the Dastian royal family. I’m Meiru Melusine, the head of the Melusine pirate crew.”
Morgan and Nevrai exchanged glances, then relaxed their postures. After that, they explained that around three years ago, Alesand suddenly fell ill and decided to name a successor in case he didn’t survive. That successor was their master, Alfard. However, Alfard wasn’t Alesand’s oldest son. Alfard actually had an older brother, Sveit. Moreover, Alfard was an eccentric and a layabout, so everyone was shocked that Alesand had chosen him. Even Alfard himself thought his older brother was more fit for the role, so he’d tried to convince Alesand to name Sveit the successor. But for whatever reason, Alesand refused to budge.
Feeling an enormous amount of pressure, Alfard had gone to consult with his two best friends and confidants, Morgan and Nevrai. He’d told the two of them that his father may have sired an illegitimate child with a commoner he’d come to love before taking the throne. He’d then tasked them to find her before he was forced to ascend the throne himself.
“Wait, don’t tell me...” Meiru trailed off with an annoyed frown.
Morgan nodded in response and said, “He never said it outright, but we suspect he wants you to take the throne instead of him.”
“He’s said time and time again that he doesn’t want to be king. I don’t know how he learned of his father’s actions before taking the throne, but he probably thinks if the daughter his father had with his lover appeared, he might change his mind about who will succeed him.”
The majority of vampires really did care about blood purity, like Morgan and Nevrai had said before. They put a lot of stock in the lineage that they could trace back for generations. If word got out that Alesand had a mixed-blood bastard child, it would cause an uproar, which was why Morgan and Nevrai had wanted to see what kind of person Meiru was before bringing her back, especially since they had the perfect excuse to stay close to her as she’d ended up saving them. By staying in the Liberators’ village, they’d be able to interact with Meiru themselves, as well as hear all about her deeds and what other people thought of her. Moreover, they wouldn’t have to expose their identities to the world at large, which would help protect their homeland from prying eyes. That was why they’d stayed as long as they had.
“Your mom must have left to protect you, Meru-nee,” Miledi said with a frown.
“Miledi-chan?”
Miledi looked down into her teacup, scowling even harder.
“People of royal blood really are selfish,” she muttered.
“Well, this is merely speculation on our part,” Morgan said hurriedly. However, Miledi’s expression didn’t change.
Smiling gently, Meiru sidled over to Miledi, hugged her, and started patting her head.
“Waaah, wait! You’re gonna make me spill my tea!”
“Hey, that’s not fair, Onee-sama! I want to pamper Miledi-chan too!” Lyutillis declared, pushing Oscar away and grabbing onto Miledi from the other side.
Squished between two pairs of massive boobs, Miledi shouted, “Y-You wanna fight?! Quit rubbing it in!”
Laus chuckled as he watched the three of them, then said, “Still, it’s a plus for us that we have a connection to the royal family.”
“That’s true. Regardless of what they might want, we can take advantage of this connection to accomplish our own goals.”
“You’ll need to be wary of Prince Sveit and the purist faction, though. If our master tries to push for a half-breed to take the throne, they won’t just sit idly by.”
“I’m sure she’ll be fine,” Laus replied. “She’s the pirate queen who tried to conquer a city of outlaws by force, remember? If anything, I’m more worried Meiru might take advantage of her status as royalty to line her own pockets.”
“Good point,” Oscar, Naiz, and Vandre said in unison. The three girls glared at them.
“R-Regardless, we can at least guide you through the Azure Lands,” Morgan said. “We also plan to secretly send a report to His Highness before we enter Dastia, if that’s all right.”
“Though it’s been three years, so who knows if our method of contacting him will still work,” Nevrai added.