Chosen Bride of the Seven Dark Princes

"Well, well. The Prodigal Princess returns to the fold." Ray Torra chanted in a sing-song voice.

"Return?" Poppy retorted with a shrill voice. "I\'m the throwaway child, remember? What is there to return to?"

Ray Torra clicked his tongue.

"Tch, tch, tch. You have a loving Father, seven loving brothers, and three loving sisters. Why are you allowing one unloving mother to deprive you of the other members of your family who love you?"

"Poppy." Jason and Jared jumped up and ran to her side.

"We just now heard about this." They each took her hand and led her into the group.

As the other Princes reached out to her, Poppy suddenly realized that what Ray said was true. They did care about her.

Byron turned to her, his eyes full of remorse.

"I\'m—I\'m glad that we\'re not just cousins but actual blood siblings. But I\'m so sorry, and I\'m sad that—"

"No!" Poppy punched Byron\'s chest. "Don\'t be sad and don\'t apologize for any of this. None of it is your fault."

She looked up at him with warm violet eyes that looked so much like the Emperor\'s eyes, Byron was amazed that he never saw the connection.

"I never said anything because I never wanted to destroy your world."

"Poppy…" Byron choked up, and suddenly, they were both hugging and crying at the same time.

Poppy composed herself and turned back to her parents who were still there. Throughout the entire time, they had said nothing.

"You both disgust me." Poppy spat. "I can\'t believe that both of you slept with the same man just to get a son, and I can\'t believe you were both stupid enough to think that doing something like this was going to end well for either of you."

Marissa opened her mouth, intending to say something, but the look that Byron gave her made her quake and quiver. The Empress wisely kept her mouth shut.

"The one thing that surprised me the most was how long it took for all this to come to light." Poppy laughed.

"You would think that it would have been very clear once I reached puberty, and rather than growing feathers on my wings, like both my parents have, I grew bat wings instead. Hahaha!!!"

"Wasn\'t that right, Mother Dear," she gave Marissa an evil look, "the woman who sold me into slavery because you were so afraid that your husband would know that I was not his child."

"What???" Byron\'s face turned dark.

"Yes. It\'s true. She made a hefty amount of money from selling me off, and then she spread the word that I had run away from home." Poppy laughed.

"The Emperor found out quickly and arranged for me to be released, but by then, I didn\'t care to leave the space pirates any more because they treated me so much better than my own family did."

"They didn\'t—hurt you?"

Poppy shook her head. "They saw my bat wings and knew I was a Princess. They treated me like royalty."

Byron sighed. "I thought space pirates were…"

"Savages?" Poppy shook her head. "There is high honor among thieves and pirates. When Slate came to escort me home, the Pirate King released me into his care and wished me well."

She turned to Slate. "He was the first brother to figure out that I was his blood sister." She turned to Dante. "And second was Dante."

"Now that we know," Lucas murmured. "You won\'t be able to get rid of us. We\'ll be hanging around you so much you\'ll get so tired of us."

Poppy\'s eyes glistened with unshed tears. Surrounded by her seven brothers, she suddenly felt as if she had finally come home.

Ray Torra harrumphed.

"So now that the kids are in agreement that Poppy be reinstated to her rightful place, what are you adults going to do?"

The Emperor sneered. "I\'ve only been keeping things quiet because I did not want to damage my son. But now that it\'s all come out into the open, I need to do what needs to be done."

He turned to his children.

"Poppy. I expect no more stubbornness from you."

Poppy looked down. "Yes, Father."

He nodded, apparently satisfied by her answer. He looked at his other children.

"Expect to be hearing from me within the next few days. I will be in touch with each of you individually."

He waved to his children and winked out of sight. Of the two women beside him, the Emperor did not even bother to acknowledge.

Ray Torra cleared his throat.

"Welp. I think you women are done here. Your chickens have come home to roost and now you\'re going to have to figure out what to do with the consequences."

He looked at Marissa. "Has your husband figured out by now that his second daughter is not his?"

He turned to Clarissa. "I suggest you go pack your bags. Take what you want from the Queen\'s Palace but leave the Empress crown. That\'s an ancient royal treasure and if you\'re caught with it, punishment is immediate execution."

With a wave of his hand, the women also disappeared from sight. He turned back to the siblings and Candi.

"I\'m only going to say this once, so you boys, and Poppy too, listen carefully." He put down his pipe.

"What you siblings have that is most enviable is the fact that you all truly love each other and support each other through the worst of times."

He cleared his throat and looked down with a grave face.

"Consider this one of those \'worst\' times. Whether your family comes through this intact or whether you break apart due to the stress that others bring is entirely up to you."

He turned his eyes on Candi.

"You, child, are one of the major stresses that they are trying to deal with right now."

Candi compressed her lips.

"I\'m not saying you caused any of this," he shook his head. "But there is no denying that you are a source of contention between the brothers. You will also have to figure out what your best course of action is from this point forward."

Ray sighed. "There is one more thing you boys must take into account."

"Even at this moment, there is rumbling of massive war because of Anaïse Paroles\' death."

He jabbed the end of his pipe at them.

"Haribou is threatening to withhold sales of weaponry to whoever is responsible. The side that they will stop selling to is the side that will lose this entire war."

"Isn\'t it obvious that it\'s the birds who are backing Valeria Marakesh?" Leonardo asked.

"Not necessarily. It could also be the bugs who did this to implicate the birds hoping that Haribou will attack the birds, giving the bugs a distinct advantage."

That\'s why right now, the birds are pointing fingers at the bugs and the bugs are pointing fingers at the birds."

He eyed them with sharp looks.

"Well guess what. Among you kids, there are two birds and a bug. How you treat each other is going to be indicative of what Haribou is going to do, so tread lightly."

"There is also the matter of the Crown Prince." He sighed. "The Erenveil Empire has been poised on the head of a pin for the longest time, and we\'ve shifted positions back and forth to maintain the balance."

"You boys are the angels dancing on the head of that pin.. Whether the Empire topples over or remains balanced on that pin depends on your collective actions at this very crucial moment."