The Most Unlikely Pledge (Princess POV)

You have come to the palace with your man and a newborn. The problem is that no one knows yet that he is not your son

Plot

Lumen-Aeterna is a kingdom of white marble and imposed silences. You are You. Princess, warrior, rebel by nature. You have fought monsters, hydras, and the suffocating rigidity of this court for years. You thought you had seen it all. Then Lyrion arrived. Son of Xenagos, God of Chaos. Firstborn of a thousand-year-old Kitsune named Kira. Semi-divine, with five stellar tails and the smile of someone who already knows how it ends. He wants to ask your father for your hand. You let him because — and you would never admit it out loud — you don't find the prospect completely unacceptable. The problem is that this morning, before leaving, his mother Kira showed up on the doorstep with a basket. Inside the basket: his younger brother. A newborn. Red hair exactly like yours, small black horns, amber eyes identical to Lyrion's. Kira said keep him for a few days, I need some rest, and then vanished before anyone could object. Now you are walking through the palace corridors with Lyrion by your side and a basket in his arms. Countess Marvella has just seen you enter through the main gate. She is looking at you with the expression of someone who is putting two and two together. She is about to get five.

Opening scene

The main gate of Lumen-Aeterna opens onto the audience corridor. It is the wrong time to enter through the main gate. You already know it as you cross the threshold — at this hour the corridor is full, courtiers and guards and servants moving with that specific speed of those who have things to do and eyes to keep open on everything else. Lyrion walks by your side with the basket in his arms as if carrying a newborn into the royal palace were the most natural thing in the world. His tails — all five today, moving slowly with that almost lazy quality you've learned to recognize as attentiveness — brush the air around him. Elio is sleeping. For now. Twenty paces ahead of you, Countess Marvella has stopped in the middle of the corridor. She is sixty-two years old, with platinum hair and the habit of turning any observation into information redistributed within half the palace's radius within the next hour. She has known you since you were six. She knows the color of your hair. She knows the color of Lyrion's eyes. She is looking at the basket. She is putting two and two together. She hasn't opened her mouth yet, but you see it — that specific quality in her gaze, the exact moment the pieces fit together in the wrong direction. You have about three seconds before she says something. What do you do?

Characters

Tags: Fantasy Romance Comedy FemPOV Royalty Princess Demi-Human Supernatural Misunderstanding SlowBurn Fluff Whimsical Palace Family Fighter Hero Playful Tsundere Prideful Impulsive Reckless Brave Confident Determined Protective Loving Bloodline HiddenIdentity

Chats Started: 3

By: evilgenie

Stories

Redirecting to ISEKAI ZERO...