At long last, we arrived at the training grounds! Though they were only practicing, the fighting sure looked realistic. My little brother and a soldier were sparring with swords.
Why, yes, I also had a little brother, two years younger than me. A pretty boy whose golden hair and bright emerald-green eyes could blind a person—a real bishounen.
My little brother was also a character in The Noble King. He was there to serve as occasional opposition to his big brother, Sirius. He wasn’t really mentioned much in the OG novels, so I didn’t really know what kind of relationship he had with Octavia there, but to me, Alexis was my best friend. I even called him Alec for short—that’s how close we were.
Incidentally, my family was composed of a father (the king of Esfia), my adoptive mother (a man, who was a former merchant and a commoner), my big brother, Sirius (birthed by our father’s elder sister—our aunt, who died right after childbirth), me (birthed by my father’s younger sister—my other aunt), and my little brother (born of a duke’s daughter and our father after a mistaken night of drunken passion).
You could call us siblings…but we were all technically cousins, I guess.
And what’s more, even though nobody ever said it aloud, there was this stinging sensation that, when it came down to the bloodline, wouldn’t the younger brother actually be the heir to the throne—not the eldest son?
He even looked the most like Father.
But regardless of blood, on paper, we were all siblings. And unlike our elder brother, who lost his mother the day he was born, Alec and I both were taken from our birth mothers—even though they were still living—and raised apart from them. I would only ever see my birth mother once every few years.
It wasn’t until right after I turned fifteen that I was given the freedom to see my birth mother whenever I wanted. I imagine it was because younger children would be more likely to take a preference to their birth mother… But it wasn’t because I couldn’t call my adoptive (male) mother “Mommyyyy!” and have him dote on me. It was the sweet smell and soft body. When I was little, I longed for her to hold me more. If I hadn’t had my memories as Maki to fall back on, I probably would’ve gone full rebel.
But I still had it good—I got to see my birth mother, after all.
My little brother wasn’t so lucky. His birth mother, the daughter of a duke, was quietly whisked away to another land, married off, and was currently living a modest life…a life where she’s not allowed to leave home.
As for the motive behind the misdeed that night, she claimed herself that she had become overcome with lust for my father…but I didn’t quite buy it. That’s because she already had a boyfriend, who was now, apparently, her husband. What’s more, her husband was a gardener and very lowborn. Real talk, noble-born girls were political bargaining chips. They were always married off to the most suitable men.
Adultery was a fatal scandal to an unmarried woman, which was exactly why she did it—she consented to the scandal to make the impossible possible. Anyway, the whole thing reeked.
The fact that she got pregnant on the first try only further fomented my theory.
You see, there was a potion that helped a woman get pregnant on the first try. If a woman took the potion and laid with a man, she would conceive on the spot. However, she would suffer extreme health complications—the worst of which would be losing her life.
Additionally, it was unlikely she would be able to conceive another child. That’s why nobody ever used the potion unless they were desperate. It was difficult to obtain, too. It was that kind of sketchy potion.
And how did I know so much about the aforementioned potion, you may ask? Why, because everyone in my sphere kept suggesting that—worst-case scenario—I might have to use it myself someday! Yup! It was apparently a secret reserved exclusively for the nobility!
Hence, Alec’s birth mother. My theory was that she had used that potion, but that got swept under the rug. Actually, the fact that it got covered up was, in itself, pretty sus.
Anyway, my father was furious at the time. I’d heard he’d wanted to punish her severely for it, but it was kind of like, for what crime?
For assaulting the king? Sexually? That definitely would be a crime.
But all she really did was serve him wine—at the very least, she didn’t drug him. That information was widely accepted. She had no intention of harming the king.
So if you had to name her crime, I guess it would be “Making love and getting pregnant.”
And I mean, this is gonna sound crass, but I was honestly shocked to hear that my father was actually capable of making love to a woman! Like, even if you’re drunk, you’d totally notice. Saying he mistook her for the (male) love of his life was a real cringey excuse! Like, think of the body mechanics!
Actually, I think the majority of the duke’s family were on Team Duke’s Daughter. It’s not like everyone was on board with the fact that the king married a man and couldn’t bear his own children.
That’s why she was sentenced to a life of seclusion in the tiny domain owned by her father. She was never to return to high society again. And her son—my little brother—was taken from her, and all her rights as mother were revoked.
Because of this, my little brother has never once met his birth mother.
What’s more, according to my father’s train of logic, my little brother was a mistake. A stain on love. But in blood, he was the rightful heir.
This whole scandal was sometimes a major source of stress for me. I mean, my baby brother was a shining star! Yet his family treated him with…well, not with hostility, but the air was always a little tense.
My father believed the duke’s daughter had conspired against him, and our adoptive (male) mother saw Alexis as the true blood heir that he was unable to give his beloved husband. And since Sirius loved his father and adoptive (male) mother very much, he empathized with them, and while he wasn’t cruel to our little brother, he did keep Alexis at a polite distance.
As for me, I love my birth mother to death. And since I never really felt close to my father or adoptive (male) mother, I wound up interacting a lot more with my little brother. You could say it was inevitable.
So that’s why my little brother and I were super tight.
Alec was fourteen years old. And he was sure to become an excellent specimen in the future. If I had my way, I’d love for him to marry a pretty girl someday…but I don’t think that’s gonna happen.
Not in this world—this BL world, you know?
I mean, I’d be cool with Alec marrying a cute boy, too, of course. But man…it would sure make my burden a little lighter if my little brother would make a baby, you know? Y’know what…
“Dear Sister! How unusual to see you at the training grounds.” My little brother stopped his sparring session and rushed over to see me.
My face melted into a smile. “Yes, well, I had a little matter to attend to…” I’m on a manhunt, baby!
“What little matter?” he asked in a dubious whisper, looking behind me…at my bodyguard.
Oh?
Usually, my bodyguard kept watch over me from a slight distance, but he was very close to me for a change.
Oh, is it because we’re at the training grounds? Yeah, even though it’s still technically inside the castle walls, we are out in the open. I guess it makes sense to change positions accordingly.
“He isn’t masking his presence today, I see,” Alexis murmured to me with a questioning glance at my bodyguard.
“Indeed.” I nodded to put him at ease.
But…is he right? Does he actually have a presence right now?
Sometimes I think to myself, Ooh, it feels like I’m walking all by myself! He doesn’t get in the way at all! (And to be fair, I have a feeling the main reason for that is because my bodyguard never says a word on his own.) So I’d always talk about my bodyguard like, “He masks his aura perfectly! It’s like he’s a wisp of air!” But that was just an expression. Just an expression!
That’s right. For me, invisible things like auras or bloodthirst—unless I can see them with my own eyes, they might as well not exist. All I’m able to perceive is how physically close or far away another person is from me.
But someone like Alec who can detect auras? Now, you’d be crazy to call someone like him normal.
“Comparatively speaking…it seems he’s been your bodyguard longer than most,” Alec said.
“Yes, it’s true,” I confirmed, nodding sincerely.
I hear that. I’m a princess! Why do they keep changing on me so fast?