The Fraud Heir to The Strongest Clan

"First, Dheinyrus," said Shina as she looked at him.

"I didn't manage to find the tome of secret knowledge."

Dhein successfully hid his shock, hearing her words. He glanced at Fiorelle who seemed to be curious about what the princess was talking about.

Shina continued.

"All this time, I have been asking in some libraries if they knew anything about a book of that sort. I also investigated a few dungeons to find any kind of tome, but I got nothing aside from old journals of past adventurers."

When Dhein was a kid, he desperately wanted to awaken his powers as soon as possible. He knew that it was only a matter of time before they caught on with his lies. Growing impatient from waiting, he took the matter into his hands.

He'd read all the books in their grand library in hopes that he would find a way to awaken his powers. After spending years, he had accumulated knowledge no one else in the empire had. Sadly, though, still nothing about awakening his supernatural abilities.

Until one day, after reading a thousand books, he found it. He'd found a book containing information about awakening one's powers.

He found out that on rare occurrences, a member of the Divinity Clan's ability could be suppressed. When a member of the Theocheirós Clan fails to use the power of the divine, only two known possibilities could explain it, according to the book, at least.

1: The person never really had an affinity for divinity to begin with. That meant the gods refused to have an affinity with their soul. If that had been the case, Dhein was screwed.

2: The person's ability was so immense that reality itself could not allow it to manifest. The only way to awaken one's power was to find an ancient tome mentioned in the book. It was said that this tome contained the detailed instructions for awakening suppressed abilities.

Dhein liked to believe he was case 2. Since he was the heir to the strongest clan, it would make a lot more sense.

Now, however, he already knew the real reason why he couldn't connect his soul to the divine.

It was because he never had a soul.

Dhein sighed and then responded.

"It's fine. I have no need for it anymore."

Shina fell silent for a couple of seconds, her alluring gaze was glued to Dhein. He didn't know what she was thinking, but there was a hint of bewilderment in her eyes.

A couple more seconds later, she continued.

"Okay then. Uhm, the next topic is... about Remi."

They all looked at the behaved dragon sitting on the shiny marble floor.

"I want to introduce him to the empire, but knowing my father, I'm sure Remi will be killed the moment I bring him inside the palace."

With a worried tone, Fiorelle spoke.

"How did you find the dragon, Your Ma— I mean Shina."

The princess replied shortly.

"I found him inside an abandoned warehouse the day I left the capital. His egg was newly opened and I was the first creature he saw when he opened his eyes. He probably thinks I'm his mother."

Remi stared at her in silence, tilting his head. His round, orange and dark eyes devoid of emotions or thoughts.

Then out of the blue, Dhein asked:

"How do you even know if it's a he? Did you take a look?"

Shina turned to him.

"He looks like a he to me," she replied, shrugging.

Dhein couldn't blame them for not knowing the difference. A dragon was the kind of creature that you only see once, and then you either burn or get crushed to death. No one had the time to check their genders.

"How about we check, then?" he suggested.

Shina and Fiorelle looked at each other.

Then, the princess got off her chair and crouched down with Remi.

She stared at the little dragon, her gaze went down slowly from his eyes, then to the dragon's full stomach and then lower.

When she was about to reach the truth, she suddenly looked away.

She stood up with an embarrassed face.

"It kind of feels wrong for some reason. Dheinyrus, you do it."

Dhein gave her a look of disappoinment.

Sighing, he stood up and approached the little dragon. Then, he lifted Remi in the air to inspect whether the stream would flow like a water jet or gather quiet in a hidden pool.

'Hm, what even is the difference for dragons?' he asked himself.

"Just... put him down," Fiorelle suddenly said with a strange expression.

"I'll ask the wisdom spirit."

They did just that, and after a short moment, the child of spirits came up with an answer.

"Congratulations, Shina. He's a boy after all."

The princess' eyes sparkled and she jumped in celebration. Remi joined her despite not knowing what was happening.

After that, they went back to business.

"We need to convince my father to give Remi a chance, somehow," Shina stated.

They looked at Fiorelle when she spoke.

"How are you so sure that Emperor Vedis is going to kill Remi on sight?"

A frown formed on Shina's face.

"Because that's the kind of person he is. He doesn't care if he's right or wrong, we need to do what he says. When he thinks all that he's doing is for the benefit of our empire, he disregards any objection. In the end, his words are absolute."

"I'm sure you noticed this as well. He only sees me as a prize for the tournament, a tool for him to procure a successor."

Her resentment for her father was evident in her tone. And just as she said, the morning she disappeared, the emperor's first concern was the tournament being cancelled.

That, Dhein and Fiorelle couldn't refute.

"But there is also a valid reason if he ever decided to... get rid of Remi," Fiorelle stated.

"For instance, we don't know where his real mother is. What if the mother comes back for him? The whole empire will be in danger," she added.

Shina smiled confidently.

"That won't be a problem. Dheinyrus would be able to defeat it easily."

Cold sweat rolled on Dhein's forehead.

Shina looked at him.

"Isn't that right?"

Dhein refused to respond. Even if he could lie, which he couldn't, he didn't want to give them false hope. He didn't want to use Cyreth's power and risk being replaced in his own body either.

There was a high chance that the fallen god only had a few stars left to collect.