ROYAL BLOOD

DIETHER couldn't believe Sonata crushed Princess Mikaela completely.

[Why do I feel proud of her?]

The entire tearoom had been quiet ever since Sonata left with Sir Yoel.

Diether's father excused himself after that.

[He's probably going to follow Sonata.]

"Eleanor, this tea is good," King Seymour said, smiling at Diether's mother. "This is the first time I've had this."

The king wasn't really interested in the tea.

And Diether's mother knew that.

"I'm glad Your Majesty liked the tea," Grand Duchess Eleanor, his mother, said politely. Then she stood up and bowed to the king. "Let me pack some leaves for you, Your Majesty."

The king smiled and nodded. "Thank you, my dear sister-in-law."

Diether's mother just bowed before leaving the room quietly.

[Well, this is awkward.]

Aside from Diether and the king, only Prince Jericho and Princess Mikaela were left in the room.

His Majesty asked the servants and the knights to leave, after all.

"Father, I know you favor Sonata Florin," Princess Michaela said bitterly. "But how can you do this to me? I am your daughter!"

"I understand that my sister made a mistake, Father," Prince Jericho added. "However, letting Lady Sonata take Sir Yoel to become her errand boy for months is too much of a punishment. Sir Yoel is a Sword Expert who has the potential to become a Swordmaster soon. He is a valuable member of the Royal Knight Order. If word gets out that Sir Yoel became Lady Sonata's errand boy, then the Royal Family will be criticized."

"A member of the Royal Family must take responsibility for their actions," King Seymour said indifferently. "Mikaela, my dear daughter, you should learn from this experience."

Diether just sipped his tea.

To be honest, even though Princess Mikaela was his cousin, he didn't feel bad for her.

[Mikaela bullied Celeste in the past. But since Celeste is good-natured, she never once fought back.]

Hence, Diether felt refreshed while watching Sonata destroy Princess Mikaela.

[I felt like Sonata had taken revenge for Celeste's sake even though it wasn't the case.]

"Diether, are you not going to say anything?" Princess Mikaela asked bitterly. "Do you not feel sorry for me?"

"I see you weren't listening to His Majesty, Princess Mikaela," Diether said as he placed the teacup on the saucer. Then he looked back and forth between Prince Jericho and Princess Mikaela. "Can I speak as your cousin and not as the next Grand Duke?"

Prince Jericho immediately nodded. "Of course, Diether."

Princess Mikaela frowned. "You do what you want, anyway."

"The two of you haven't experienced war yet, so I'll be lenient to you this time," Diether said, tapping his fingers on the table. "Why do you think the winning side in a war takes important individuals from the losing side as prisoners of war? Do you think it's only to brag about their victory? Well, in some cases, yes. But more often than not, prisoners of war serve another purpose. That's exactly why prisoners of war are protected by law."

For a few moments, the royal children fell silent as if they were confused.

Until the Crown Prince let out a gasp.

"Negotiation," Prince Jericho said. "Prisoners of war are often used for negotiations. Well, it only happens when the prisoner is of high value."

"Correct," Diether said, nodding. "And don't you think Sir Yoel is that valuable?"

That was when the realization hit the Crown Prince and the royal princess.

"I'm going back to the palace," Princess Mikaela said as she stood up. "I'll negotiate with Sonata Florin as soon as my mind clears up."

Diether let out a sigh. "Sonata is a Hexford now, Princess Mikaela."

The royal princess just ignored him.

Then Princess Mikaela bolted out of the room without even saying goodbye to the king.

"Sister is being rude again," Prince Jericho said, then he turned to the king and bowed. "I apologize on behalf of my sister, Father."

"It's alright, my beloved son," King Seymour said. "Go and console your sister."

It was the king's way of dismissing the Crown Prince.

Prince Jericho, who knew that very well, stood up and said his polite farewell to Diether and the king before leaving the room quietly.

"Diether."

"Yes, Your Majesty?"

King Seymour suddenly burst out laughing. "Lady Sonata is interesting, isn't she? I know I shouldn't say this as Mikaela's father, but it was fun watching your wife put my daughter in place. There are only a few people who can handle my precious daughter that way."

"Sonata could only put Princess Mikaela in place because you supported my wife, Your Majesty," Diether said. "If Sonata was just another noble lady, I'm sure Your Majesty would have interfered with her investigation the way Your Majesty interfered with mine when I was digging through Sonata's background."

Once again, the king laughed. "You're overestimating me, my dear nephew. I'm protective of my children, and you know that. I wouldn't let anyone poke around my children's business, even if it was Lady Sonata."

That was quite the revelation.

[So, His Majesty is saying he doesn't have the power to stop Sonata's network information when His Majesty easily stopped Candyfloss from investigating Sonata's background?]

And Candyfloss was already the best information guild in the kingdom.

"Should I be afraid of my wife, Your Majesty?"

"Have you figured her out already?"

Diether fell silent for a moment before speaking. "Sonata, despite being a "lower" noble, has an air of dignity around her. She actually looks more dignified than higher nobles our age."

To be honest, Sonata was more dignified than Princess Mikaela.

But, of course, it wasn't something he could say to the king's face.

"Sonata looks calm and mature outside, but she's actually crazy– she's just good at pretending to be normal."

The king burst out laughing while nodding enthusiastically. "I know exactly what you mean by that, my dear nephew."

"Sonata isn't a bad person, but she's not exactly good either," Diether continued with his assessment of his wife. "Moreover, Sonata is arrogant. She thinks she's above the law. Her righteousness doesn't come from the goodness of her heart– it comes from the fact that she believes her judgments are always correct."

The king raised an eyebrow at him. "And so…?"

"Sonata is born entitled, but her entitlement differs from the entitlement that nobles like me enjoy."

"How is your wife's entitlement different from yours?"

"I can't really explain it since I'm not good at expressing myself with words," Diether said, tilting his head to one side. "But I can say that Sonata's entitlement is similar to yours, Your Majesty."

"Similar to mine…?"

"You both act like you own the world."

The king just smiled before sipping his tea.

"Sonata has royal blood," Diether concluded. "Am I right, Your Majesty?"

King Seymour just grinned.

[His Majesty neither confirmed nor denied it.]

"Well, it's normal for some royal family to send their children to a foreign country for their protection– especially if there's an ongoing succession war. I heard members of the royal family from other kingdoms kill each other just to get the throne."

"I know. What a brutal world we live in," the king said. "I'm fortunate your father was never interested in the throne, so he stepped down from the competition early."

That definitely wasn't the case.

[According to the rumors I heard before, the king offered my mother to my father. In exchange, His Majesty asked Father to give up the throne.]

What a cunning man.

Too bad Princess Mikaela didn't inherit her father's brains.

[If Mikaela did, then she wouldn't think that marrying me is the only way she could steal her brother's position.]

"My dear nephew, aren't you going to ask whose family your wife belongs to?"

Since Sonata was a foreigner, then the kingdom she belonged to must be an ally to the Zerua Kingdom.

[Otherwise, His Majesty wouldn't be fond of her.]

But he wasn't really interested in knowing more than he already did.

"It doesn't matter to me," Diether said nonchalantly. "Sonata won't be my wife forever, anyway."

"How about having children with Lady Sonata?"

"I'm a product of a loveless marriage, Your Majesty. I wouldn't want another child in this world to experience what I have gone through."

King Seymour pouted, clearly acting like a child. "You never know, my dear nephew."

"No, Your Majesty," Diether said firmly. "Sonata and I will remain as comrades and nothing more."

***

"ARE you doing this because of your contract with His Majesty?"

Sonata didn't take her eyes off of Sir Yoel while responding to Grand Duke Daniel Hexford, her father-in-law. "Whatever do you mean by that, Father?"

Right now, they were in the empty training hall.

Only Sir Yoel was in the ring, deep in concentration while covering the blade of his sword with his dark blue Aura.

[Hence, I doubt Sir Yoel could hear us at the moment.]

And that was probably why her father-in-law brought up that topic.

"The king asked you to raise his children as proper royalty, didn't he?" her father-in-law asked. "I'm sure His Majesty asked you to pay attention to Princess Mikaela in particular."

"And why would His Majesty ask me to do that, Father?"

"You would know how a proper princess should act, after all."

Pfft.

"Father, not all royals are born equal," Sonata said. "Princess Mikaela doesn't need me to teach her anything. But I enjoy playing with her."

"Is that why you "borrowed" Sir Yoel from Her Highness?"

"Well, for a kingdom known as the 'Holy Land' and the home of the Avari Temple, you lack talented people," Sonata said casually. "If Diether disappeared, this kingdom would perish."

"That's harsh. Is my son the only notable talent from our kingdom?"

"Unfortunately, that's the case."

"If you were going to rank my son among the talented individuals of the entire continent, where would he be?"

"I'm not sure, but I think Diether would be in the Top 30 on the list of the continent's strongest individuals."

As expected, the Grand Duke didn't look satisfied with that.

"Diether is still young– he'll grow more powerful soon, Father."

"How about you?"

"What do you think, Father?"

"I'm not sure," her father-in-law said. "The World Rank hasn't been updated in years."

"World Rank? I thought we were only talking about the rankings on the continent," Sonata asked, laughing. "You're overestimating me, Father."

"I'm not," Grand Duke Daniel said. "That's why I'm hoping for you and Diether to conceive a child from this marriage."

Huh?

A child?

Sonata gasped softly.

[I never discussed that with Diether!]

***

"WHAT DID you ask Sir Yoel to do for him to pass out in the training hall?"

Sonata heard Diether's question, but she ignored it as she approached her husband whom she had met in the hallway.

Fortunately, the two of them weren't keen on bringing servants everywhere.

Hence, she could ask her husband right away.

"Diether, tonight is our first night as a married couple," Sonata said in a hurry. "Are we going to have sex tonight?"