"I mean it's obvious they are brothers," Shinichi is unfazed by this, and so is Ranran, "Considering that King Leif adopted him into the family, it makes Crown Prince Thomas and him siblings."
"No, you don't fully understand," The teacher shook his head at him, "General Stefan is the deceased queen's biological son, the same one she had with King Leif, which is why it makes them both Stefan and Thomas half-siblings!"
It took a while for them to digest all of this before Ranran finally said, "Half-brothers?" Ranran repeated, her voice barely above a whisper. "You mean, General Stefan and Thomas Lockwood, Landon's grandfather, shared the same parent?"
"No way! How could that be!?" Shinichi murmured his thoughts in turmoil. "When we did an online search, throughout the marriage between King Leif and his first ex-wife, there was no announcement on them having a kid between them!"
"There is a reason for that, "Moseby's voice grew even more hushed as if he was afraid the walls themselves might betray the secret. "You see...when their marriage went south years ago, they were....seeing other people." With their eyes growing bigger by the day, Moseby later coughed, "But anyway, he is definitely King Leif's child."
"Then why on the news, did the ex-wife upfront lie that General Stefan was her kid brother and not her son?" Shinichi pressed for answers.
Moseby's eyes darted around the room as if expecting someone to overhear their conversation. He leaned in closer, his voice barely audible.
"The truth was... it was a carefully constructed deception," he confessed. "When...she had General Stefan, having him quietly was the best idea. In a way....you know how royalty works, right?"
With Ranran musing from her seat, she nodded. Shinichi who couldn't understand questioned what the Lockwood royal tutor meant.
"Anyone child born into the royal family would ultimately serve them. Whether they like it or not." Ranran revealed to the apprentice. Sensing further confusion from him, Ranran simplified to him, "To put it bluntly, if there was a divorce between a King and a Queen, even though the King committed tons of faults in the marriage such as infidelity, emotional manipulation or abuse whatsoever, the main point is simple: The children born through the King when it came to...custody, is that he will have a share in it."
"W-what sort of nonsense rule is this!?" Shinichi exclaimed.
"Exactly as she says, it is what it is," Moseby nodded, grateful that Ranran understood the intricacies of royal affairs. "The life of a King's son in the 21st century isn't as good as its glory days back then. Nowadays, the royals are zoo animals for visitors and tourists to take pictures with, even the press made tons of money through every picture captured on the camera."
The weight of the revelation hung heavily in the room.
"Perhaps Her late Majesty dealt with it for so long back then, that she decided not to let General Stefan go through such fate," Moseby recalled.
"She didn't even bother to challenge the birthright of General Stefan?! Despite Thomas Lockwood, the mistress's son, having been crowned the official Crown Prince?!" Shinichi was in disbelief, "I can't understand her logic.....she was wronged by that scumbag king. It's one thing to protect her son, but it's another to suffer such mistreatment."
"It's something you kids can't understand when you become a parent someday, you will understand why." Moseby nodded somberly.
"How did King Leif later learn of General Stefan's existence?" Shinichi questioned the tutor.
"I don't have the right to reveal it," Moseby sighed heavily as if the weight of the past was pressing down on him.
"You have to, if it was for Landon's sake." Ranran pointed out.
The teacher looked torn, his gaze shifting between the determined young child detectives.
"When the boating accident for the ex-wife's family happened, thanks to the.... paparazzi, King Leif found out about it later on." Moseby finally confessed, his voice tinged with regret. "When General Stefan who was a child back then was sent to the hospital, the emergency contact that was left for him by his mother was King Leif. At first, he was going to deny responsibility. But DNA tests itself....even if one were to fake it 20 times, it can't be altered. It was irrefutable proof."
Both founder and apprentice exchanged a meaningful look in response.
"If that is the case, although the King acknowledges General Stefan privately, why not publically?" Shinichi wondered aloud.
"In the first place, politically speaking....he already made the announcement that Landon's dad would be the next in the line to the throne, let alone, acknowledge the mistress had become the legal wife." Ranran figures, "Acknowledging General Stefan publicly would bring about a storm of controversy in many ways unimaginable. Although it would be something the people of Norway would want, switching the line of succession at this point would be an absolute mess."
"How?" Shinichi demanded, "There are no wars anymore back then."
"Ok, let me explain what happens on a modern scale, minus the war," Ranran then listed the consequences. Ranran leaned forward, her small face serious as she laid out the potential consequences of acknowledging General Stefan publicly. "Imagine this, you were groomed to become King. That would mean tons of events you had to attend, study hours, as well as a whole nation's expectations on your shoulders. Suddenly, out of nowhere, they say, 'Hey, we made a mistake, it's actually this other guy.' All the time, effort, and preparations that went into grooming you for the role, are gone in an instant. Would you like that? Being replaced? Just because of someone's birthright?"
"No, of course not!" Shinichi considered Ranran's words carefully. "I worked hard, and then some idiot just grabbed all of my hard work because of this!?"
"Exactly," Ranran affirmed, her eyes fixed on Shinichi. "That is one. And then second, since the deceased ex-wife was a queen loved by the majority of the People of Norway, while the current legal wife is the mistress who ruined their marriage, it would be easier to torment the King to divorce them, making them live a life on the streets should word get out."
"No way, he won't do that." Shinichi scoffed, "He is the King!"
"Whose family is relying on the taxpayer's money, the people of Norway who think they are already a huge waste of space since stripping everything out of his ex-wife, whom he betrayed and cheated with someone else." Ranran reminded him as Shinichi's eyes widened, "Royalty may have their own privileges that prevent themselves from landing in jail but don't forget, this is the 21st century where the people are more educated and aware of their rights. Even the Royals will face serious backlash if they don't deliver in the public's favour, especially if it goes against their own rules. You heard what happened to Princess Diana, right?"
Shinichi's expression darkened. "Yes, they want the royal family out badly in the U.K., like things got really bad. It was a miracle that the family still survived regardless back then till now."
"Exactly. But France didn't with Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI, did they?" Ranran taunted, "Do you know....what happened to their children?"
Shaking his head, Ranran revealed their grim fate.
"The son who was around 10-years-old at that time was locked up in some dark chamber, fed with nothing but bread and water, and eventually died of malnutrition and neglect," Ranran's voice was cold, her gaze unflinching. "The daughter, Marie-Thérèse Charlotte, was the only survivor. She was imprisoned in solitary confinement for over three years, and her health deteriorated rapidly. She was finally released at the age of 17, but by then, she was broken and traumatized."
