"My, my, it's really a sight to see all of them so fooled."
"Princess? Are you being for real?" Thomas frowned.
"Oh, yes, I am, Thomas Amerongen! I know you all," I winked at them. "Thomas, Dhimitër Zaharia, and Sofija Stepinac. I can give you all the information you need, but you have to ally yourself to me!" Their frowns deepened when I said that. "Oh, don't get me wrong, it's not in that way. I'm on Roman's side. I mean, I'm with Nebelhain. I loathe both Astrophel, Montara, and Thornbury to the core, and I'll gladly help Nebelhain destroy them with all I can."
"Why?" Dhimitër asked suspiciously.
"Because I want Roman," I licked my lips. "I mean, I want to help him and be with him. He's the only one I want and I will do everything in my power to get to him. Even if not romantically, I want to be with him!"
Sofija chuckled, "Our Prince is already engaged, Princess!"
"And that is a tremendous mistake from his fearful parents. Dove Lana O'Brien is not his match, neither is she his mate. Her mate, on the other hand, is on the opposing hand of power in Midgard, and both her and her family are very aware of that. Thus, her engagement to Roman is nothing but a treacherous bargain that will end up with Nebelhain being stabbed in the back!"
My words got under their skin and they shared a worried gaze. "What do you mean by that?" Thomas asked anxiously.
I clicked my tongue, "Accept my offer and I'll guide you and tell you what I know." They clenched their jaws, thoughtfully. "You are all spies under the Late Emperor Landon Nebelhain, are you not? On Roman's side, and not with his parents."
"How… how do you know all of that?" Sofija questioned.
"Given your reaction, I am right. That's good. This would work better if I'm dealing with Landon Nebelhain on the other hand, instead of Roman's parents. Especially because they are seemingly against him being stronger than them. Plus, my grandpa and uncle Christian are supposedly close to Landon Nebelhain. Nevertheless, my family can not know about what I'm doing."
"And what are you doing?" Thomas crossed his arms.
"I'm spying my own family for you and Nebelhain. I'll do it all for Roman, because he's the only one who can save my life!" I made sure that they would notice the seriousness of my words. "You don't need to understand, no one does, but I cannot allow anything happen to him. Even if I have to grow stronger to kill all of his enemies, I will, because I owe my very sanity to him, even if he does not remember it."
After some minutes, they nodded and Thomas offered me his hand, smiling I took it, and he flinched when I ended clenching it too hard. "Fucking hell. What's with this strength?" He gasped.
"I… sorry," I chuckled anxiously. "Uncle is still teaching me how to control it. Seems like I was born stronger than most," I pressed my hands to each other. "I didn't want to hurt you, I'm sorry."
He seemed surprised with my reaction, "Your are a Royal Princess from Alderidge, you do not need to apologize to me, Your Highness."
Sigh, "In the end, we are all the same, Thomas. All Fae, all with a will to live, to get stronger, to live a better life. Death and life are the same thing, it only depends on which side you are looking at. Both can be the beginning and the end of someone," I'm proof of that. "We are all born in the same way, we all go to the same place when we die. We all feel hunger, thirst, love, pain, sadness, hope, and despair in the same way. Be it an Imperial, Royal, Noble, Knight, or a peasant. It doesn't matter, respect is a two way road, the same goes for trust. If you want to be respected, you need to plant respect. If you want someone to trust you, you need to prove that you can be trusted."
["I can taste your grief, Roxy!"] Ugh. ["Channel your Yin earth energy on your spleen to make it vanish. Don't show them any kind of thing that they could use against you if your plan goes south."]
Clenching my jaw, I closed my eyes, crossed my legs, straightened my back, and took a deep breath, inhaling and exhaling deeply, making my earth energy travel exactly where I wanted it to. When I was done, I opened my eyes and let out a soft sigh. "I respect you as people, thus, apologizing is a simple thing anyone should do, no matter how prideful and egocentric they are. And I am egocentric," I glared at him wolfishly, "so, don't mistake this."
"How… how can you control your Yin energy so well?"
I looked at Thomas, "My uncle and grandpa taught me in secret!"
"Why did you hide your voice from them?" Sofija tilted her head.
"If I didn't, my life would become a hellhole!"
"I don't see how that could possibly happen," Dhimitër exclaimed.
"That's what you all lack. Vision. You need to see things from the seeds, because it'll be to late if you let it grow enough to cause havoc. I just have what's need to know things without people teaching me. You can feel my power, how strong I am, can't you?" They all nodded, as if it was the most obvious thing. Which it is. "Do you really think I wouldn't become a threat to my siblings if I was considered to be Queen?" I scoffed. "I'm a lot stronger than them together, magically speaking. Thus, they would make my life a hell, and wouldn't be whipped for me as they are now, that I am supposedly harmless and a mute."
Thomas gasped, "That's some mastermind shit."
"Thank you, very much," I winked. "It's useful. Besides, this way no one will see me as a threat and will tell me everything I need to know. You should be thankful, because thanks to me pretending to be a mute, I'll be able to hand you crucial information on the Alderidge and on the other spies."
They glared at each other, "What other spies?" Sofija questioned.
"I know all the spies infiltrated in my Kingdom. You three are the only ones from Nebelhain, but Nebelhain was not the only place that put their spies in here. Astrophel, Montara, and Thornbury did too. 4, 2, and 2 spies, respectively. They are better than you, but they are just as wrong on their vision of my family, as you are."
Finally, they all sat closer to me. "How so?" Dhimitër asked.
"You all think either Sebastian or Oliver will become the King, but that is a wrong perception. Extremely wrong, I mean. Well, in a way, they will become Kings, but not of Alderidge!" I bit my bottom lip.
"What? But they seem like the best options!" Sofija frowned.
"You lack vision, Sofija. Sebastian would make a tyrant if he were to become the Alderidge King, and Oliver would be similar to him. Zachary is the diamond between the four of them, and my parents know it, though they won't say it anytime now. Allya will be his second in command, that is for sure, as she isn't as prideful as Sebastian or Oliver to be such a sore loser. She and Zachary are close and they are together on this fight, while Sebastian and Oliver sided with each other. It's as clear as day to me. Oh, and I'm sure Zachary's Queen will come from Nebelhain. All of my siblings will ally to Nebelhain in a different way, but mainly Zachary!"
Thomas giggled in awe, "Four years old. I can't believe you're 4!"
I rolled my shoulders, "Thank you. I know, I'm amazing and the best, aren't I?" I grinned. "You also have to keep it a secret that my uncle, grandparents and great-grandparents are training me. We've been doing this for a long time now, but neither my parents or siblings know."
"Why are they training you?" Sofija asked.
My eyes went up to the tree house and I saw Ego there, looking down at me, "Because they know I have the potential to be as legendary as Roman. Plus, uncle Christian and grandpa Aaron seem to have a friendly rivalry with Late Emperor Landon of some kind. They think Roman and I are destined to be rivals too, though I have zero intentions of being his enemy. They want me to be the best of us, and use my potential to the fullest of it," I looked at them again. "If you tell Landon what I told you, tell him you got it all from the Midnight Swan, he'll end up putting the dots together and learning that it's me, but I don't want that yet. The Midnight Swan of Alderidge sounds cool, doesn't it? I always wanted to have a spy alias!"
"Fine," Dhimitër exclaimed. "We'll keep that it's you for now. But only for now. So, how will this work?" He pointed from them to me.
"Keep meeting him every night. I'll be here and I'll tell you what I gathered. Thomas, you should become my Knight. And Dhimitër, Zac's."
"What about me, Princess?" Sofija leaned closer.
"As you are in here as a maid, become Allya's. She may seem kind of overwhelming, but if you inflates her ego with compliments of how she is amazing, beautiful, strong, will definitely become Queen, and marry the hottest of the Lord's, she'll grow to have a soft spot for you. Just do it moderately, she's smart and will notice if you are kissing her ass!" Sigh. "Thomas, I also want you to help me out on swordsmanship, archery, and in martial arts. Uncle is helping me in secret, so, I need an official master that will be up to the task," I pointed to him, "that is you. That way, when they learn about my skills, it won't cause any problems to my uncle."
Especially when he's just trying to get me to my maximum power.
"One question!" Thomas raised his hand.
"Say it!"
"How close are you to awakening?" Oh, that is indeed a crucial information to them, as they can measure mine with Roman's power.
"I've channeled my magic through 777 acupoints. I've been doing it since I was 1 year old. But I'll only let them know when I reach all 1000, that will be enough for me to naturally catch Roman's and the Nebelhain Kingdom's attention. Give me a year and I'll reach the 888 and fully awake, but give me two and I'll go through all of my magic flowers! "
"We have a deal, Princess," Thomas exclaimed and they all nodded.
"Finally!" I grinned, proud of myself.
["The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, and you've just taken that crucial one, Roxy!"] Ego exclaimed, reminding me that he was still up there, perched in my tree house.
But there's that lingering question: Is Ego a curse or a blessing?