i think the mother wants them to both be alive?
I dunno if it's also in this story but mostly if two men are born in a high rank family, both should fight to be determine who the heir will be, and even if the brothers don't want to they have to, because it needs to be determined who is the winner either a smart move or a deadly move (basically strong or smart, hahaha lol du get what I'm explaining I'm not really good in it hahahha) but the Empress wants to protect them both so our little Male lead is gonnu be a pretending to be a girl. Leo (our fl ) would actually be friends with him, it's according to the spoilers i read haha
That's All! hope you get it hahaha
Regarding the "male form". In the kr ver, the "princess" addressed his brother as "hyung-nim" which is a way to address an older male if you're a boy. I think the transaction group wanted to emphasize on that...
I have not read the novel but given by the preview of the older brother in the latest chapter, i think the brother is the son of the emperor while the "princess" is not..... maybe that's why the empress wants to protect him
I get the "princess" is a boy but what was that bit at the end? Does he have an older brother? Is he pretending to be both prince and princess?
Sounds like the second one with whatever male form means, but it doesn't make sense. Why would he need a female form if he's already a prince??