HP - Shadow Monarch - Chapter 226 - Life as Princes.

[Chapter Size: 2000 Words.] Third Person POV Prince Manor. ... ... "You seem to be quite famous lately..." Severus looked up, seeing his gre

[Chapter Size: 2000 Words.]
Third Person POV

Prince Manor.
...

...

"You seem to be quite famous lately..." Severus looked up, seeing his great-uncle approaching with the newspaper.

"It's strange..." Severus commented, watching the newspaper being placed on the table in front of him in the garden of the estate.

‘Dark Lord or Hero of Great Britain?’

Said the headline. It seemed that his actions had sparked two great extremes—despite being seen as a monster by most, especially by powerful families who would do anything to get revenge on him, he was also viewed as a hero by many, particularly those harmed by Voldemort and the Death Eaters.

People of Muggle origin seemed to rally around him, along with their sympathizers.

But of course, the Ministry saw him as a criminal, and a dozen letters filled with summons and threats had arrived in the past few hours. That he should surrender before an attack was launched, now that he was traceable after having assumed ownership of the Princes’ estate.

The Princes were an old family that, while not part of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, still held prestige and great wealth. They were naturally dark wizards. Severus could handle that—he was now one of the last two direct descendants, belonging to the final generation of the Princes.

His mother had managed to give birth to a child, unlike her brothers, which indicated that Severus was free from the curse. He was no longer a Snape... and at the same time that he remembered this, his thoughts returned to Tobias, who was likely lying in his own pool of vomit after spending the whole day drinking cheap alcohol.

Not that Severus really cared about any of that—he shouldn’t. He now had to deal with the reality of being a Prince. His father would never be a loving figure, neither to this Severus nor to the old one before Morou.

"Join me, grandfather." Severus said, gesturing to the other chair.

He had gotten to know his great-uncle better since arriving—his name was Alaric, brother of Octavius Prince, Severus's grandfather and Eileen's mother.

Even though he was a man from another world who had spent his life fighting abroad, Severus felt the emotion of hearing about his mother, thanks to having this body—it was strange.

But ever since he had faced his own self in that trial to become the Monarch of Shadows, his emotions had changed. He was becoming colder and more ruthless, but not darker.

It was as if his own self... was telling him not to lose himself completely—that he shouldn't become an emotionless war machine like he had been turning into in his pursuit of vengeance... it was strange, as if that trial had been about exactly that.

He wanted to become more powerful, and he was becoming ruthless. It was no wonder he had destroyed dozens of lives in his previous confrontation. But normally, he wouldn’t care about the issue of his grandfather and mother the way he did now... he had always sought some revenge for her death, but now he could feel a faint sense of belonging.

Maybe that's why he didn't finish off Dumbledore after seeing him—no matter how much he didn't trust that man, he was still important in keeping the wizarding world under control and in order.

Alaric sat across from him, as Severus had asked.

"Could you tell me more about my mother? You've spoken a lot about my grandfather, but I’d like to hear more about her," Severus requested.

"Of course, boy," Alaric said. The man had somewhat cautious thoughts after everything he'd heard about the boy and how he had even killed his uncles, but at the same time, the boy didn’t seem to be the monster the newspapers were portraying.

He was family. And although Alaric wasn’t a wizard aligned with the dark arts, he loved his family above all. He had seen its downfall nearly two decades ago when no one else was having children. With Octavius's death, Eileen’s son became the last seed of the Prince bloodline—without him, the family would have been destroyed. That’s why he supported the boy and now knew that he had a good heart, even with the ability to commit atrocities. He had never used his power to harm ordinary people.

"Of course. Little Eileen used to play in these gardens... I'm sure Octavius can tell you better—he’s eager to meet you," Alaric said.

"I'll meet him later. Why don’t we continue with your story for now? Mippy, could you prepare some tea for us?" Severus said as the house-elf appeared.

"Of course, Master Severus! I’ll ask Imby to help me!" she said before vanishing.

Mippy and Imby were the house-elf couple of the Prince estate, whom Severus had gotten to know over the last few hours as he became more familiar with the property.

It didn’t take long before the garden table was filled with things for them to eat as they began their conversation, hearing stories of a young Eileen—untainted by her brothers’ malice—and loved dearly by her father, who treated her like a true princess.

Severus stayed there for a while and then left, with Alaric needing to resume his duties on the estate and tending to his work as a potioneer for the family business.

Severus wanted to learn more about it—he was already an excellent potioneer with innovative potions he had created on his own but had never published, as well as potions no one else could replicate, using resources from the dungeons through the portals.

He had things to deal with outside the mansion and intended to act on them once everything was settled. He would have to go out and finally face a world with its eyes entirely on him.

Among the summons, there was one particular letter from the International Confederation of Wizards—which was slightly concerning, as the organization that governed the entire magical world now sought to summon him. Not that he was afraid of them, but he didn’t want to cause chaos for this world.

He headed to the second floor of the house and walked into a sitting room, passing portraits of the Princes—generations of men and women who had once borne the responsibility of the house.

"So this is the last Prince of the younger generation... a half-blood. How far our family has fallen," said an elderly woman with an inflexible voice, laced with some disdain.

"Calm yourself. He is the last of us. Better a half-blood than the complete destruction of our family. The end of the lineage is not something we need to face," said another portrait.

By now, it was obvious that all of them were already aware of the family's situation as they began debating Severus.

Whether he was worthy or not, or simply the state of the family.

"At least you'll marry a pure-blood. I'm sure we can cleanse the stain in your blood over the next five generations," said another, though despite the words, the tone seemed rather gentle.

Severus merely sighed at the portraits. The whole pure-blood business was relentless, and Severus didn’t care about it. So much so that he didn’t respond to any of the portraits. He wouldn’t mind marrying a Muggle woman if he liked her, so their opinions were completely unnecessary.

The portals within the portraits didn’t go unnoticed as he continued marking them, already planning to enter them over the next few days to gain levels.

He proceeded into a room with a portrait of a man—his grandfather, Eileen’s father.

Octavius Prince.

"So you are my grandson... the one who killed my two sons."
The voice carried neither anger nor affection—just indifference, as he stared Severus up and down.

He was wearing his usual clothes, which would need to be changed to something more fitting for an aristocrat in the future, but that didn’t matter now. He looked rather ordinary, dressed in a sweatshirt and pants.

"You could say that." Severus stepped closer.
"Do you hate me?"

"No... I’m aware of what happened. My brother told me what occurred... I can’t say I’m not disappointed in my sons. Even if I wouldn’t have preferred my own grandson to kill his uncles, I still don’t hate you for it," he said with the same tone as before.

"I see... Anyway, I’d like to finally talk with you. I still have some time and...!"
Severus was about to speak when he approached the portrait and felt something.

The painting began to pull him in.

A red portal.

"What is this?!" Octavius was disturbed as red lightning began to spark from his portrait, and he saw Severus being pulled inside.

Severus found himself in an alternate world—a place he couldn’t leave until he had completely destroyed all the creatures and the boss. He quickly summoned one of his daggers and used magic to deal with the dark forest full of bizarre monsters.

It took a full day for him to clear everything, and when he came out, only an hour had passed in the real world. His presence was immediately exclaimed by Octavius upon seeing him again, as if nothing had happened.

"What was that?!" he exclaimed.

"Nothing you need to worry about. Did anything happen in my absence?" Severus asked casually, leaving the portrait puffed up in disbelief.

"Aside from me alerting the elves that you had vanished—and my brother—there are two young women waiting for you, according to him. You had given them the portal key to the fireplace, and they are waiting for you. The house-elves are afraid of them," Octavius said.

"I see. I already have an idea who it might be. I’ll take my leave, then," Severus replied.

"Wait... weren’t we going to talk?" he asked as Severus gave an apologetic smile.

"I need to see the two of them before they start tearing the mansion apart. Can we do this tonight?" he asked the portrait, and Octavius Prince nodded.

"Very well then. Good luck... I suppose," he said, and Severus began to leave the room.

Passing by the portraits and through the entrance hall, he saw the fireplace erupt in flames as Clarisse emerged, looking at him in surprise just as the house-elves appeared to greet Lady Greengrass.

"Master Prince, you’ve finally returned!" Imby said excitedly, clearly anxious.

"Master Prince, you need to calm your guests—they're terrifying!" Mippy added beside him.

"I’ll take care of that. In any case, I’ll receive Clarisse now—leave her to me," Severus said, watching the two elves vanish, and turned back to the girl. "How are you?" he asked.

"How am I?! That’s exactly what I should be asking you! You’ve gotten yourself into serious trouble!" she exclaimed, staring at him.

"Don’t worry about it—I’ll survive. And you, how are you?" he offered a gentle smile, which she found charming enough to blush before him.

"I’m fine, Severus, thank you for asking. But I’m still worried about you... My father told me this place is surrounded by Aurors flying around the property, but no one dares attack because they’re afraid of you. He feared getting involved in an assault if he came here," she said.

"Don’t worry about that, Clarisse. As long as you’re my guest here, nothing bad will happen to you," he said with confidence, while Clarisse remembered her father's words—that this boy could have been her future husband—making her blush again.

"Now..." Severus noticed her shyness at the thought of a life together but didn’t show it, maintaining a cordial smile as he extended his arm for her to link hers with his, behaving courteously as a young Prince should. "Why don’t you accompany me to the garden? I’ve invited three other friends, and they’re there waiting for us," he said.

Clarisse nodded, still blushing, but smiled and took his arm, and together they began walking toward where the others awaited.