Chapter 166: Noble Bastards

– Eirbane Royal Castle…

Solomon, Dakota, Yari, and Giselle continually stole glances at the hulking figure on the throne before them.

Anyone with ears in this world had heard of the unnatural appearance of Eirbane’s monarch. Some described him as something more fearsome than a giant, and more mysterious than a horror from the Black Depths.

Somehow, Emperor Jorre was both of those things and also neither of them at the same time.

“Thank you for allowing us to stay here, Emperor.” Jiaoying said formally. “It truly is a-”

“Are you aware that you look significantly younger now than when I last saw you?”

“…I believe I noticed something to that effect when I last looked in the mirror, yes.”

“It is most perplexing…” The emperor rubbed his chin. “You look like a child again. The bags under your eyes from your soul-crushing divorce are nowhere to be found-”

“A-Anyway! This is just one more little thing on the already long list of stuff that we have to figure out. It helps immensely that we can do so somewhere safe.”

Jorre only wanted to know more about why Jiaoying suddenly looked like a twenty-year-old again, but he sensed that any further prying might not have been the best thing for his health.

For a brief moment, the emperor glanced past Jiaoying, his eyes settling on the group behind her.

More specifically, his eyes settled on the two individuals beside her who reeked of his knight commander’s scent.

Jiaoying believed she could sense where her emperor was looking, but she chose to pray and hope that she was just being overly sensitive.

She was not.

“Cradle robbing now, are we…? My, what will the rest of the empire say…? It’s a good thing you aren’t well-liked already.” The emperor chuckled.

He waved his hand as if gesturing for Yari and Solomon to stand. They obliged and stood next to Jiaoying without a sound. Her face was a beautiful bright red.

“…You three make for a very odd pairing at first glance. But there is an apparent warmth between you. I hope your marriage is long and fruitful.”

Yari and Jiaoying immediately became flustered.

“”W-We’re not married!””

“Yet.”

Solomon’s casual, unwavering smirk, paired with the lack of hesitation in his words, was a simple yet very effective combination that stunned both women.

Even after they had left their audience with the emperor, the duo remained as silent as a pair of lambs.

Jiaoying seemed to be just the slightest bit more disoriented than Yari. Several times now, she had bumped into a wall and had to be corrected by her lovers.

“What are you doing here, barbarian?”

Solomon was helping Jiaoying avoid running into another wall when he suddenly heard a very small and infuriating voice from his past.

Standing at the bottom of a grand staircase was none other than the spoiled princess herself. Though she was not joined by her pair of twin brothers as she normally would have been.

Instead, Canari stood beside a woman with a mixed onyx and golden complexion. Her demeanor was like that of a viper, graceful and majestic in its lethality.

She was slender, yet her build possessed a noticeably womanly appeal.

Her sharp eyes raked over the entire group in just one fell swoop. A subtle curl of amusement rose on her lips as she noticed Solomon.

Or perhaps it was something darker…

“…Canari. Nice to see you again.” Solomon smiled politely.

“I wish I could say the same. Why are you in my home, barbarian? There are no villages here for you to burn, or townspeople for you to pillage.”

In spite of the princess’s harsh remarks, Solomon’s smile didn’t break. Though his eyes did become a bit bitter. “…I’ve been meaning to apologize for our last exchange. It was improper of me.”

“…Have you hit your head on your way here? Is your hair now gray because you have gone senile?”

“No more than usual.”

Canari opened her mouth to no doubt say something insulting when the woman beside her placed her hand on her head.

“Now, now, sister… Let’s not be inhospitable to our new guests here. Especially when they are such… Charming little faces. I’m absolutely dying to know how you could have become acquainted with them.”

Canari looked as horrified as Yari did furious.

“S-Sister, you must be joking! This is the ruffian I was telling you about! The one who spoke harshly to me and scoffed at our family’s honor!”

For some reason, that only seemed to make Canari’s older sister more intrigued. “Oh really now..? Naughty, naughty~”

Jiaoying barely managed to prevent herself from destroying the entire hallway in a blind rage.

Solomon delighted in seeing her struggle to contain her jealousy. He began to guess just how thin her patience could get before she snapped.

However, she surprised him and just about everyone in the hall when she wrapped his arm around her own and bowed.

“Princess Canari. Your father has graciously granted us the privilege of taking refuge within the castle for the time being. I do hope that whatever issues have arisen between you and my darling can be sorted out amicably.”

Canari didn’t know what she was more baffled by- the fact that Jiaoying looked significantly younger than she should have, or the fact that she had just called Solomon of all people her ’darling’.

Either way, it seemed to have shorted out her thoughts enough that she didn’t make a single sound as the group started to head down an entirely different corridor.

“It should go without saying, but…” Jiaoying tightened her grip on Solomon’s arm as they moved to find their spare rooms. “You should stay away from Princess Saarfi as much as you can.”

Solomon smiled. “Is this jealousy I’m hearing?”

“I don’t get jealous, Bear. I know you’re mine, I just get upset when others don’t know that as well.” Jiaoying flicked her hair back confidently.

“We all get it, you’re in love, now can you tell us what’s wrong with the scary princess?” Giselle released an annoyed breath.

Dakota on the other hand didn’t seem to mind. She was busy whispering bad words into Bansha’s ear in the hope that she’d repeat them.

“…Let’s just say the princess is on a very short list of those who could be called her father’s favorites. It tends to make her a bit… chaotic.”

“So she’s a spoiled bitch, we got it.” Dakota nodded.

“I would never use those words in that order to describe one of the royal lineage.”

“But you don’t have to. I just did.” Dakota blinked innocently.

Solomon had liked his younger sister even before he’d known they were related, but with this new personality of hers, he somehow loved her even more.

“A-As I was saying… It’s best if you all stay clear.” She gave Solomon a gentle pinch on the cheek. “That goes double for you, Bear. I mean it.”

Solomon nodded, too enticed by the sight of Jiaoying marking her territory to even think about another woman.

Besides, he still had his own group of obnoxious little nobles to worry about…

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