My Harem of Dangerous and Crazy Women as a Reincarnated Necromancer

Chapter 249: A Bittersweet Farewell

The meeting with her father didn’t last as long as Luna had feared.

Because just as they had planned, she and her siblings presented their father with the version they had agreed on.

That they had all set aside their differences and united to put Jack in his place.

Their father remained in silence while he listened to everything and, in the end, gave his approval to the formation of the new government.

A coalition between Luna and her siblings, a division of power that, while imperfect, was a thousand times preferable to the chaos Jack would have caused sooner or later.

But he set one condition.

’Spare Jack’s life.’

The request fell like a bucket of cold water, especially on the brothers, who after years of humiliations would have preferred to see him exiled to the most remote corner of the continent, or rotting in the palace’s deepest cell.

"I know what you think of him and I don’t blame you..." the king had said in his raspy voice. "Jack is an idiot, arrogant, incompetent, and incapable of seeing past the end of his own nose, but... he’s still your brother, and being an idiot isn’t a crime punishable by death."

"Alright, father..." she said despite her siblings’ discontent. "We’ll spare his life."

Though not without imposing conditions of her own.

"But if he ever tries anything, anything at all, a rebellion, an attempt to retake power by force, a conspiracy, anything..." Luna added firmly, "there will be no second chance and he’ll be executed on the spot. Is that acceptable?"

"That seems fair," her father conceded.

And so, with the matter settled, the siblings began filing out of the room one by one.

But just as Luna was about to follow them, her father’s voice stopped her.

"Luna... I want to speak with you alone."

The princess stopped before crossing the door and exchanged a brief look with her siblings before they filed out of the room.

"What is it, father?" she asked, drawing close to him again.

The old king watched her in silence for a moment, with an expression that was hard to read on that face gaunt from illness.

And then, to Luna’s surprise, he managed something resembling a smile.

"You actually did it," he said, his voice carrying a note of amazement. "You slippery little brat... you took the throne."

Luna let out a small laugh, sitting on the edge of the bed beside him.

"I simply got lucky," she replied, downplaying the matter. "Things fell into place at the right moment, that’s all."

"Pff, lucky," the king repeated with a snort that wanted to be a laugh. "Don’t give me that false modesty."

Luna didn’t respond, but a small smile escaped her.

"The truth is I had already written you off in all this succession business," the king continued, looking at the ceiling. "I thought you had thrown in the towel and resigned yourself to letting one of your brothers take everything while you went off to live your own life somewhere."

He turned his head to look at her.

"You have no idea how glad I am to have been wrong..."

"..."

"If your mother could see you now I’m certain she would be proud of you," he said, and his voice softened in a way Luna had rarely heard. "And I don’t say that lightly... That woman was impossible to impress."

He let out a tired laugh.

"But you... you would have left her speechless."

Luna felt a lump in her throat, but forced herself to hold her composure.

"Thank you, father," she said quietly.

The king was silent for a moment, catching his breath, before continuing in a more serious tone.

"Listen carefully, because this is important," he said in a weary voice. "When I’m gone, and it won’t be long now, you’re going to be alone. You know that, don’t you?"

"...Yes."

"Your brothers are your allies today because it suits them, but the moment you stop being useful to them, or the moment they smell an opportunity, they won’t hesitate to put a knife in your back."

"I don’t think that’ll be the case."

"Luna... from now on the only person you’ll truly be able to trust is yourself. Understood?"

Luna waited for him to finish before gently shaking her head.

"You’re wrong about that, father," she said with a small smile.

"Oh?"

"I’m not going to be alone," Luna replied firmly. "I found someone strong, someone I can truly trust and who will always have my back."

The princess’s smile widened slightly.

"So don’t worry so much about me, old man... I’m not as alone as you think."

And while Luna deliberately omitted a certain detail, like the fact that this "someone" was a human, that was information her father definitely didn’t need to hear on his deathbed.

The king looked at her with curiosity, and something in his expression lit up.

"Who would have thought... my little girl found her other half... And judging by that little smile of yours, they must be someone important," he said, a glimmer of interest in his tired eyes.

The king let out a dry cough.

"Is he here with you?... I’d love to meet him."

"I’d rather you didn’t," Luna replied before letting out a short laugh.

"You’re right," her father admitted with amusement. "It’s already enough that my own children have to see their father reduced to... this."

Luna looked at him, and decided to lighten the mood.

"Oh, come on, don’t be so dramatic, old man," she said with a mischievous smile. "You still look pretty good, for a decrepit old man at death’s door... A couple of baths, some decent food, and you’ll be good as new."

The king burst out laughing, which quickly turned into a coughing fit.

"You were always a charming liar... just like your mother," he said when he managed to catch his breath, though with a smile.

Both stayed quiet for a moment, a comfortable silence that only those who don’t feel the need to talk can share.

And then the king let out a long sigh.

"Go on, get out of here already and let this poor old man rest..." he said, closing his eyes. "This conversation wore me out completely."

Luna got to her feet and, before leaving, leaned down to wrap her arms around him.

It was a careful embrace, aware of how fragile that body now was, the same body that in her childhood had lifted her as if she weighed nothing.

And while she held him, a couple of tears escaped her eyes, sliding silently down her cheeks.

"I love you very much, papa," she murmured against his shoulder, her voice trembling. "I really do."

The old king stayed still for an instant, surprised.

And then, with evident effort, he raised one trembling arm and placed it on his daughter’s back, returning the embrace as best his weakened body would allow.

"I love you too..." he said quietly.

Luna stayed holding him a moment longer before pulling away.

Then she wiped her tears with the back of her hand and gave him one last smile before leaving the room, closing the door softly behind her.

Stepping out of the room, she found her three brothers waiting for her in the corridor.

They were leaning against the wall, chatting among themselves, but the moment they saw her appear they straightened up and turned toward her.

Without stopping, Luna walked past them and all three followed immediately.

"Well, you certainly took your time in there," the one with bear ears commented, catching up to her. "We were starting to think the old man had given you an hour-long lecture."

"What did he spend all that time talking to you about?" the one with deer antlers asked, falling in at her other side. "If he went to the trouble of speaking with you in private it must have been something important."

"Yeah, let’s hear it," the one with feathers pressed. "What the hell did he say to you?"

Luna kept walking without turning her head toward any of them.

"Nothing relevant... I just stayed to listen to the ramblings of a poor sick old man," she replied in a light, almost carefree tone. "You know how people get when they’re that close to the end."

She shrugged.

"They ramble, they get sentimental, they talk about things that don’t make sense... Nothing worth repeating."

The three brothers exchanged a look, but didn’t press further. If Luna said it wasn’t important, it wasn’t their business to dig.

"Either way, the important thing is this is finally over," the one with bear ears said. "Now we have a kingdom to reorganize and—"

But Luna was no longer listening.

Because as she walked at the front, a few steps ahead of her brothers, a single tear slipped from her eye and began rolling down her cheek.

And without any of her brothers noticing, she quickly wiped it away.

"Yeah," Luna murmured quietly, responding to a comment she had barely heard. "We have a lot of work ahead of us..."