Dandelion's life had gone from a tedious royal routine to an extraordinary comedy of errors. Her home was no longer the quiet sanctuary of the Marx Marquisate; it was now a battlefield of powerful, theatrical love.
Marquise Marx and King Hermes—her two fathers, now known collectively (and fearfully) by the staff as 'The Mana Monarchs'—spent their days locked in intense debates that often ended with dramatic flashes of light and the creation of temporary, sentient mana constructs that had to be kindly dissolved by Dandelion.
"I told you, wife, the nursery must be lined with Moonstone Obsidian for optimal mana absorption!" King Hermes would thunder, pacing with regal impatience.
"It absolutely must be Rainbow Lace Agate! It's better for calming a fussy baby! You were gone for twenty years, you don't get a say in the décor, you bastard!" Marquise Marx would shout back, summoning a tiny, tearful unicorn made of purple mana to prove his point.
Dandelion watched it all with a tired, amused resignation, sipping her now-spiked black tea. The rumors about her had indeed grown, fueled by the King's public appearances and the strange noises emanating from the manor. Dandelion is hiding an unknown lover. She's pregnant with a monster. Her family is practicing dark magic. She let them talk. She was too busy being a full-time mediator and part-time royal apprentice to care.
A Sibling Arrives
Exactly nine months after King Hermes had vanished with a 'pop' to retrieve a 'boy,' a strange, warm pressure swelled throughout the mansion. Dandelion found both her fathers—Marquise Marx, pale and sweating, and King Hermes, looking entirely too smug—in a rarely used mana chamber.
With a final, gentle surge of energy, a swaddled infant materialized in King Hermes's arms. It was a boy, just as Dandelion had requested, with a shock of silver hair and eyes that shifted between their fathers' signature red and Marx's emerald green.
"A boy!" Marx cried, rushing forward and trying to snatch the baby. "My little Chrysanthemum!"
"Nonsense, Aurelian is a far more suitable name for a prince," Hermes declared, holding the baby higher.
Dandelion finally intervened, stepping between them. "His name," she announced firmly, taking the baby with a practiced ease, "is Orion. And I am not going to let either of you dress him in velvet ruffles."
With the arrival of her brother, Prince Orion, Dandelion felt a deep sense of purpose that the old queen training had never provided.
The Final Word
The official announcement of the birth of Prince Orion—heir to the neighboring kingdom—shattered the lingering rumors about Dandelion. The revelation that the mysterious man was a powerful, single King who had secretly been the lover of the Marx Marquis and was now celebrating the birth of his second child with the man completely overshadowed any past drama.
Dandelion De Marx was no longer the 'vicious girl' with two failed engagements. She was the Princess Royal of a powerful neighboring kingdom, the beloved daughter of two formidable monarchs, and the proud elder sister of a newborn prince.
One day, while attending a state function, Dandelion found herself near the former Crown Prince, Lebanon, and the recently dumped Rose. Rose, bitter and fading from the public eye, tried one last desperate attempt at malice.
"You stole everything, Dandelion! You are still just a scandal waiting to happen!" Rose hissed under her breath.
Dandelion didn't even turn her head. King Hermes, standing behind her, merely smiled. It was not a warm smile; it was the chilling, absolute smile of a predator.
The next day, Baron Demian's family fortunes vanished. Not through violence or overt scandal, but through perfectly legal, utterly devastating economic maneuvers orchestrated by an "unknown foreign investor"—a title everyone understood to mean King Hermes.
Dandelion finally stood on her own balcony, watching the sunset cast golden light over her manor, her brother, Orion, sleeping soundly in the nursery, and her two fathers locked in yet another loud, affectionate argument downstairs. She was happy. Her name was cleared, her family was chaotic, and her life was finally and completely her own.
The future queen? she thought, sipping her tea. I'll take being a Royal Princess with two dads over that any day.