T.A Series Volume 8: The Prince of Lies

Chapter 10 - A Previlged Secret

"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.