Read Novel Full Chapter 1015: Royal Family
Chapter 1015: Royal Family
"Get seated, everyone."
Feng gestured around them. "We are all literally sitting."
"Hush, Jiai," Felicity waved her hand, graceful as ever, before crossing one leg over the other, lifting her cup for a small sip of elven tea, then gently placing it into her palm, setting the stage.
"I’ll explain something to you that not many people are aware of."
Feng needed Ayame’s hand resting on her shoulder to stop her fists from trembling. Somehow, it turned out that Quinlan’s cheeky samurai was quite a good mother, at least as far as clicking with Feng to play their supposed mother-daughter role was concerned.
Felicity’s expression shifted as the atmosphere subtly changed around the table. She hadn’t lost her smile, but its shape was different now: gentler and much less mischievous, shaded by things unsaid.
She began. "My father has always had a flair for selective storytelling. I’m sure he told it in a way that makes him seem like the big bad and the tragic hero of his story all at once, surrounded by disobedient, ungrateful children." She gave a soft chuckle. "Classic."
"I was going to go in order, but..." She lifted a hand. "No. Eldest sister will go last. She requires... a bit more context than the rest."
She uncrossed and recrossed her legs.
"Let’s start with my eldest brother, Elias. You know, the one who’s supposedly counting down the days until Father dies?" She narrowed her eyes with clear scorn. "I’m going to have a very long talk with him about that rumor, because that’s the first I’ve heard of it."
Felicity exhaled slowly. "And, even if it is true... You have to understand the context. My father inherited the throne when he was far younger than Elias is now. By over a century, in fact. My brother is ambitious. Brilliant. Competent. But he’s also fiercely competitive, and no matter how well he governs the Central Region—and he really is excellent at it from what I’ve been told—it will never be enough. Not in his eyes. Because you don’t outshine the ’Legendary Warrior King’ by being a good governor."
The royal princess then offered a small shrug. "So maybe it’s bitterness that has been brewing for centuries. Whatever it is, it’s not hatred. Not the kind Father implied."
A pause came. A moment to refill her cup, letting the scent of steam cloud the air.
"Next is my sister, Elisabeth. Or as she’s called now, Dawn Breaker. She didn’t ’run away’ to hide from Father."
Felicity scoffed, smiling a little now. "That’s the biggest joke of all. She was praying at a temple when the Goddess reached out to her directly. A beam of divine light surrounded her genuflecting frame. She was told she had the potential to become an Arch Priestess, and Sister... she said yes."
"She didn’t run. She rose."
Felicity tapped the edge of her cup. "Their relationship has grown colder; that much is true. But it’s not avoidance stemming from something like hatred. It’s just distance. Time. Duty. They still meet once every few years, just not like they used to. She’s changed. Becoming an Arch Priestess will do that to anyone."
Her gaze darkened just a bit as she went on.
"And as for my younger elder brother... Caelum."
This time, her voice slowed. Gained weight.
"That part was true."
Her fingers tightened around the porcelain.
"Caelum was kidnapped by a criminal faction during a scouting mission. They kept him for years, and what they did to him..." Her jaw tensed. "There are no words. When Father finally found them, when he finally truly let loose and turned everything up to find him, there wasn’t a body left to bury. Not a single one."
She let that silence settle for a breath.
"Caelum survived. But he’s not the same. He can’t look at people who are strong enough to hurt him. Something inside him was broken during his cruel captivity. Permanently." Her lips curved into something bittersweet. "And Father, well... he’s perhaps the strongest man alive. And definitely not someone with clean hands and a clear conscience. Even being in the same room triggers Caelum’s trauma. So yes, that one’s true, just told without giving the full context." ŗἁＮỌ𝐁Êṩ
Felicity sipped her tea again, her tone lighter as she swirled the cup lazily.
"... And now, I suppose that just leaves my eldest sister, Calienne."
There was a subtle shift in the room as Felicity turned even more serious. Her attitude made it clear she was about to reveal something she wasn’t exactly allowed to. But it seems the girl’s demons had won, and rather quickly at that.
"Father’s claim was that he married her off, breaking her heart in the process, and that ever since, she’s been trying to kill him." She rolled her eyes, becoming the very picture of exasperated amusement. "Dramatic, isn’t it?"
Her fingers tapped once against her teacup before she continued. "Well, the first part is technically true. She was in love with a boy who served in the palace stables."
That drew some raised brows.
"Oh, yes. Scandalous, wasn’t it? A lowly stable boy. But they grew up together. Played in the flower gardens, hid under tables during royal banquets... She even brought him a lunchbox once. She cooked it herself. Used her own hands. In the royal kitchens, no less."
Felicity giggled, releasing a short burst of air from her lungs. "I wasn’t alive back then, as it happened about four centuries ago, but the way she told me this story has stuck with me..."
"The day she showed up at the stables in full princess garb with a tiny lacquered box, the boy looked ready to faint. But he never got bullied again after that, funny how quickly respect falls into line when a princess drops in on your break hour to deliver you handmade food."
The grin faded slightly. "Of course, she was punished like never before. And all the servants who saw it were forced to swear silence on pain of death. If that got out, the entire royal image would have crumbled."
She set her teacup down with a soft clink.
"But anyway. Let me get back to the core of it. Yes, Father married her off. But there’s context he elected to ignore. Back then, the political climate of the Vraven Kingdom was... different."
"As you know, the five duchies that now serve under the Vraven Kingdom weren’t always so. They were once independent kingdoms that got conquered, absorbed, and then restructured by my ancestors into their current roles. They’ve never quite let go of that grudge." .
Felicity traced a finger along the lip of her cup. "Of the five, two—Greenvale and Ravenshade—border the great continental nations: the Alliance of Elvardia and the Beastman Confederation, respectively. As such, they’ve become militarized strongholds. They don’t grow crops, they don’t raise cattle. Every square foot of farmland has long since been converted into training fields or fortress towns."
"That duty falls to the other three duchies: Silverwind, Thornhollow, and Duskmere. Together, they form what we call the Sustaining Arm of the realm."
Feng furrowed her brow. "Sustaining Arm?" She was playing her role as a youngster perfectly.