Father nodded. “This is Lune Renard, my adopted daughter. She used to be a commoner orphan, so please be patient when it comes to her manners.”
“Right. I’ll overlook any rudeness. So, Lune—be mine.”
Mother dropped her fork. I was shocked too, hearing the exact same line he’d said in my past life. My ears drooped as I clung to Liam.
“Your Highness, you must be joking. Lune is House Renard’s daughter. She isn’t to be treated like an object,” Liam said, a dark aura surrounding him as he glared at Hodr.
The other boy gasped. “Ah, sorry, that came out wrong. But still, she’s such a beautiful girl. It’d be a waste to seclude her here in the countryside. I can’t officially marry her since she’s a commoner and has animal ears. But if she were to join my harem, she’d live a life of luxury!” he said gleefully, seeing no problems in his own proposal. “Besides, there’s that oath about how a woman from House Renard cannot become queen. But I’m sure father would agree to let her be my concubine instead. It’s a much better fate than being some nobleman’s mistress.”
“Lune, a mistress...?” mother echoed. She’d grown so pale that she looked like she’d collapse at any moment.
“Isn’t it obvious? Any nobleman would be a fool to take on a lowborn as his legal wife,” the boy reasoned, looking around the table with a smile.
However, he was met with nothing but silence. The chamberlain curled in on himself, as if having no idea what else to do. That was when Hodr finally realized his own verbal gaffe.
“Ah, no, I didn’t mean it in a bad way...” he mumbled, attempting to laugh it off.
He had probably thought his proposal would be met with words of gratitude and honor, for no other family would’ve refused to have their daughter become the crown prince’s concubine. But he was barking up the wrong tree.
“Your Highness, Lune is only eight,” Liam said, glowering at the boy.
“It’s not uncommon to put a girl into your harem while she’s still a child and raise her the way you want her to be, right? She’s got great potential, and I bet she’ll be a good woman. Wouldn’t you look forward to it?” Hodr smirked while staring at me.
The look on his face gave me goose bumps.
“I hadn’t considered it before, but I suppose there is such a precedent,” father said quietly.
He’s agreeing? Maybe he really does want to sell me off... That vow between House Renard and the royal family was thrown straight into the trash in my past life, after all.
I was shaking all over.
“The future queen hasn’t even been selected yet, and you’re already speaking of concubines?” mother muttered, exasperated.
“The queen will have to be a proper noblewoman from a good family,” Hodr responded with a nonchalant laugh.
“But she’d have to agree to you having a concubine in the first place, wouldn’t she?” mother pointed out.
Jealous queens didn’t permit the existence of concubines. I’d heard that the current king had slept with maidservants behind the queen’s back, but every pregnant woman had been killed by her.
That’s why Bal’s mom fled the capital as soon as she realized she was pregnant. In my past life, she’d been lauded as the model mother who’d protected her child.
His Highness looked pensive.
“I...guess that’s true. Then how about the crown princess? If we cut off her fox ears, she could definitely become one.”
I shook my head vigorously. I had to avoid becoming the crown princess at all costs.
“No...absolutely not...” I whispered.
My brother hugged me tightly.
“Your Highness, you’d do well to study our kingdom’s history,” he said coldly.
“What? How dare you?! My tutors say I have exceptional talent when it comes to history!”
Liam and father exchanged a look. The chamberlain shot a glance at my mother, red all the way up to his neck. Lord Reineke laughed through his nose.
“Is that so?” father said. “Then you should know why House Renard will not produce a queen. It’s not that the royal family wouldn’t choose a daughter of ours, but rather that we, House Renard, decline.”
But the prince laughed. “Then we can just change that rule.”
There it was. Another identical line from my past life. And he’d really followed through on that back then.
“It’s something to do with light and darkness, right? Like if those two mix, light’s power is weakened or whatever. But that’s just a fairytale, and those contractors are long gone.”
“Your Highness, this topic is a taboo,” father chided.
“It’s fine. Everyone here already knows about the secret anyway.”
Liam sighed at Hodr’s careless remark.
This revelation shocked me. I had no idea House Renard had anything to do with the Lord of Darkness, nor did I know why the two families couldn’t intermarry. I only knew of the vow itself. This was definitely something an adopted child like me shouldn’t have heard.
“I’m sure it won’t matter again. Besides, this girl doesn’t have Renard blood in the first place,” Hodr went on.
My father was stone-faced.
Indeed, I had no blood relation to the Renards. Theoretically, even if I gave birth to the crown prince’s child, it wouldn’t be a result of light and darkness mixing, so there’d be no problem.
“But...” Liam tried to protest, yet struggled to find the words.
Father remained silent.
“Fine, fine. If you’re still not convinced, then I’ll raise your territory’s tax. That’s bad news for you, right? You’re impoverished and have to deal with all these disasters because of monsters. All you have to do to save your citizens is hand over one girl who has no blood relation to you. I’m sure you know what the right choice is as the feudal lord.”
Hodr was bargaining in the exact same way as in my previous incarnation. A chill ran through me, and my stomach was in knots. My vision was starting to grow dark.
It’s over... In the past, father just nodded along to those words. I didn’t think His Highness would get so fixated on me this time because of my fox ears.
The calamities caused by monsters were a major issue, and the marquis wouldn’t feel obliged to oppose the royalty just to protect an orphan like me.
Desperate for help, I looked up at Liam.
“Lune won’t be your bride,” he said flatly.
The prince laughed derisively.
“Oh, I see. You have a sister complex, don’t you? But sooner or later, she’ll have to marry someone.”
“Maybe so, but not someone she hates.”
“So you’re saying you won’t mind as long as she’s fine with it?” Hodr asked. He was brimming with confidence, which terrified me. “Well, Lune? Won’t you come with me?”
“No.”
“You’ll regret rejecting me, you know? We have so many rare and tasty things in the capital. How about it?”
“No.”
“I can have an even prettier dress tailored for you. I’ll buy you diamonds the color of your eyes!”
“No.”
That was how he’d paid tribute to me in the past and turned the kingdom upside down, upsetting the people.
I cannot make the same mistake! I don’t want to become the crown princess!
“I’ll have a castle built just for you. It can be our love nest.”
“Absolutely not,” I said without hesitation. “I don’t want to go anywhere!”
His Highness wiped a tear from his eye. I entwined my tail around Liam out of fear.
“Ah, there it is. You plainly reject me. You’re the only girl who’s ever done that.”
“Ugh, gross...” I murmured before I could stop myself.
My brother stood up, holding me.
“My sister is feeling unwell, so she’ll be leaving now,” he declared.
The prince sprang up too, but right as he did so, Lord Reineke stomped on his foot.
“Ow!” he whined, flinching.
As the prince trembled fearfully, Liam smiled.
“Excuse us. Enjoy the rest of your meal,” he said, and then walked off with me in his arms.
Ever since that evening, Prince Hodr started following me around everywhere, even when I went to distribute the food at the monastery or temple. It was exhausting.
It would’ve been one thing if he helped out, but that wasn’t the case at all.
“Hey, Lune! Your hands will get dirty if you do stuff like that! Why don’t we have some banana cake instead?” he shouted while I was mashing konjac yams.
Lord Reineke growled, making the prince jump. That temporarily settled him down.
“The cake is for the victims, Your Highness. Please go back to the palace,” I said, using Lord Reineke’s authority to urge him on.