"You may enter, Princess," he said in a tone that had suddenly become much more obliging. "They are expecting you."
Luna was completely thrown off by the guards’ sudden change of attitude.
But she decided not to overthink it and entered the palace, with Mark and the others following close behind.
"...That was strange," Princess Luna murmured with a furrowed brow.
Mark walked alongside Luna and Emi through the palace’s spacious corridors, heading toward the throne room.
The interior of the fortress was just as robust and imposing as its exterior.
Thick stone walls, massive columns, torches instead of elegant chandeliers, and hunting trophies hanging here and there.
Everything in the place screamed strength and dominance, with no interest whatsoever in elegance.
Ely stayed hidden within Mark’s shadow, ready to emerge at any moment, while Yuki followed at a careful distance, completely invisible, keeping watch on every corner.
"Listen carefully, darling," Luna said as they walked, turning her head slightly toward Mark. "Before we get there, let me warn you about my father."
"Warn me?" he asked, confused.
"He’s a grumpy old man with very little patience," the princess explained. "And I’ll say it now... with you he’ll probably be twice as harsh."
"Why’s that?"
"Because you’re human," Luna replied bluntly. "My father is old school. To him, the other races are a step below beastmen, and humans in particular have never sat well with him."
"I see..."
"So don’t be surprised if he greets you with a couple of disparaging comments... that is, if he doesn’t try to kill you the moment he lays eyes on you."
"Sounds like a real charmer..." Mark said with irony.
Emi, walking on the other side of Luna, let out a sigh.
"That’s putting it mildly, honestly..." she added in her usual tired tone.
"Emi..." Luna scolded her.
"What, it’s true."
"I’m fine," Mark cut in with a half smile. "I’ve dealt with worse than a grumpy old man... I think a few insults won’t be a problem for me."
"That’s the spirit, darling," Luna said, returning his smile. "But seriously, when we’re in front of him, let me do the talking."
Mark looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
"I know my father and I think I know how to handle him... So just stay quiet, look intimidating, and let me take care of everything. Alright?"
"Whatever you say, Princess," he replied.
"Perfect."
Mark nodded and kept walking toward the throne room. But then, without warning, a memory he thought he’d forgotten resurfaced in his mind.
’Damn, I never thought I’d be in this situation again... it’s exactly like when my first girlfriend took me to meet her parents,’ he thought, almost letting out a laugh. ’All that’s missing is for him to ask what I do for a living and how much I make.’
When they finally reached the enormous doors of the throne room, guarded by a pair of soldiers who, after a brief moment of hesitation, opened them to let them through.
The group entered.
Stepping inside, Mark saw the enormous hall had an extremely high ceiling and a long corridor leading to the throne, set at the far end on a raised platform.
And seated on that throne, there was someone.
Mark narrowed his eyes to make him out better at the distance.
He was a young man, powerfully built, with a pair of black-and-white furred fox ears jutting from his head, and a relaxed, almost lazy posture, sprawled in the seat with a goblet in hand.
"I have to admit, Luna, your father holds up incredibly well for his age," he said quietly, leaning toward the princess. "And he’s identical to you... Quite the strong genetics your family has."
"..."
"I wonder if our children will look like that too..." he murmured thoughtfully.
Luna, who had kept her composure up until that point, stopped dead and her expression darkened instantly.
"That’s not my father..." she said in a cold voice that wiped the half smile off Mark’s face. "That’s my idiot brother Jack."
"Oh..."
Princess Luna advanced down the hall with a firm stride, glaring daggers at the figure seated on the throne.
"Brother, what the hell do you think you’re doing?" she said, raising her voice, not bothering to hide her contempt. "Get up from there right now... That seat doesn’t belong to you yet."
Jack, far from being fazed, took a calm sip from his goblet before answering.
"Well, well, well, look who finally decided to honor us with her presence," he said with a mocking smile.
"Don’t make me repeat myself," she shot back with irritation. "Get off that throne... You have no right to sit there."
"Oh, but of course I do," Jack replied, stretching lazily in the seat. "You see, little sister, while you’ve been off on some trip to who knows where doing who knows what, things have changed around here."
"Huh?"
"Father finally came to his senses and handed me the throne," Prince Jack explained. "The poor old man doesn’t have much time left in this world, so he decided to put things in order before he goes."
"..."
"So you’d better start showing some respect to your new king."
"Liar," she said, narrowing her eyes. "The process for choosing the heir hasn’t even finished. So tell me... where’s our father?"
"That’s beside the point, dear sister," he replied indifferently. "What matters is that you and I have several pending matters to discuss..."
"Matters?" The princess clenched her fists. "Like what?"
Jack smiled, and that smile carried something that made the atmosphere in the hall grow heavier.
"How about we start with the small detail that you’re planning to hand over our kingdom to your beloved human boy-toy?"
"Wh-what?" she stammered, losing her composure for the first time. "How the hell do you know that?"
Jack let out a laugh, clearly savoring her reaction.
"Please, little sister, did you really think no one would find out?" he said mockingly. "Besides, there’s nothing that happens in this kingdom, or outside of it, that doesn’t reach my ears sooner or later."
He took another sip from his goblet.
"Ah, and one more thing... do yourself a favor and take a moment to smell yourself."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Luna asked, confused and frowning.
"You reek of semen," Jack said with evident contempt. "The smell has soaked into you from head to toe... And it doesn’t take much effort to find the culprit."
The man’s expression twisted into a look of disgust as he glanced at Mark, then turned back to look at Luna.
"Just look at what you’ve become, little sister," he said, not bothering to hide his contempt. "The daughter of the Grand King of all Beasts reduced to nothing more than a cum dump for some ordinary human... You’re disgusting."
"..."
"I’m convinced that if father could still smell, he’d gag just from getting close to you—"
"Shut your fucking mouth!" Mark cut him off, furious.
He had stepped forward, positioning himself beside Luna, and looked at Jack with a furious expression.
"I don’t give a shit that you’re her brother," Mark said, barely containing his anger. "If you ever talk to her like that again, I swear I’ll kill you."
Jack stared at Mark for a long moment, the goblet halfway to his lips.
And then, slowly, a crooked smile spread across his face.
He lowered the goblet, not taking his eyes off Mark, and then shifted his gaze toward his sister.
"Well would you look at that, he even jumps to defend you and everything," he said, drawling the words with a mix of mockery and malice. "Tell me something, Luna... how many times did you spread your legs for him to defend you with that much enthusiasm?"
"I’m going to say this one last time," Mark said, taking another step forward, putting Luna slightly behind him. "Shut your goddamn mouth, you idiot."
Jack raised an eyebrow, and his smile widened as if Mark had just told the best joke he’d heard in weeks.
"Ooh, look at me trembling," he said, pretending to shiver and raising his hands in mock surrender. "You’re nothing but a scrawny human who wandered into the wrong kingdom."
"Are you sure about that?"
For a second, the atmosphere in the throne room grew so dense that even the guards at the doors held their breath.
And then Jack let out a long laugh, full of amusement, as if it had been a long time since he’d heard something so entertaining.
"Hahaha, you’re unbelievable," he said, setting the goblet aside and getting to his feet. "I’ve been bored for weeks, stuck in here signing papers and listening to old bootlickers call me ’Your Highness’ this and ’Your Highness’ that."
Jack began descending the platform’s steps.
"But then you showed up," he said, not taking his eyes off him as he came down the stairs. "A simple human who thinks he can walk into MY kingdom, threaten me, and walk out alive... You’re so ridiculous you’ve actually made me laugh."
Mark, for his part, also began walking toward him.
He advanced down the hall’s long corridor with a calm stride, closing the distance between them while Luna watched in silence, holding back the urge to stop him.
The two approached, step by step, until they stood face to face in the center of the hall.
Jack stood half a head taller than Mark and twice as broad through the shoulders, looking down at him with confidence.
Mark simply watched him with indifference, like someone looking at an ant.
"Last chance to back down" Jack said, cracking his knuckles.
"I was about to say the same thing to you" Mark replied with a half smile.