Chapter 93 Bathhouse Revelations and Royal Rivalries꞉ Cleonora and Liliarette
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
After finishing dinner, I took a moment to explain to the two of them about the supply of Magic Power¹ for Vectra-san. It was the sort of thing I could only speak of so casually because of the influence of Slave of Love², I suppose.
With the pair of them looking quite bashful, we made our way at once to the grand bathhouse within the mansion. Liliarette was attended to by the maids, who helped her undress before carrying her through to the steaming chamber.
I set about washing my hair and body with the shower, finding myself aided by the maids as well. It made me feel rather like a high-born aristocrat, though the sensation was entirely foreign to me.
At last, I lowered myself into the soaking tub.
”Phew… hmmm…” I let out a long, satisfied breath. “I wonder how long it has been since I was able to relax in a bath like this…”
Back in Japan, I had been confined to a cramped little bathroom, usually making do with a quick shower. Indeed, after living like this for a while, the very thought of returning to my old life seems quite tedious!
Since the tub was exceptionally spacious, there was plenty of room for Cleonora and the others to join me. They appeared to be enjoying the soak just as much as I was.
”Come to think of it,” I said, looking toward them, “do they have baths like this in the Royal Capital?”
”No, they don’t,” Cleonora replied.
”Quite right,” Liliarette added. “A bath as magnificent as this… perhaps one might only find such things in parts of the Republic or the Holy City desu wa…”
As they explained it, parts of the Republic were volcanic, boasting natural hot springs. In the Royal Capital, only a handful of nobles or wealthy merchants possessed private baths in their homes.
Even within the castle grounds where Cleonora and her sister had lived, the buildings reserved for royalty had featured large baths, but they hadn’t been nearly as luxurious as this.
”Is that so?” I asked.
”Indeed. Between the materials used and the sheer scale… I have never seen a bathroom so lavish,” Cleonora remarked.
”There is no doubt that we are living better now than we ever did when we resided in the Capital desu wa,” Liliarette said softly.
To hear such praise from two women raised as royalty made me feel a swell of pride. I certainly felt quite accomplished having designed this grand bathhouse!
While I was quite bare, the two of them wore bathing gowns. These were thin, towel-like garments wrapped around their bodies and secured with buttons.
It seemed they weren’t accustomed to the culture of bathing together without clothes; they were either too shy or perhaps felt a certain resistance to the idea. Given the Slave of Love bond, they would surely obey if I told them to strip, but I had no intention of being so demanding.
Besides, their current appearance was provocative enough in its own right. The thin fabric clung tightly to their curves, emphasizing every line of their bodies, and the distinct shapes of their peaks were clearly visible beneath the wet cloth.
When they stood, the outline of their hips was sharply defined, and their damp thighs were a most distracting sight. In a way, it was more alluring than if they had been wearing nothing at all.
”Now that the development of the territory is finally in sight… I want to start preparing countermeasures against Ami-chan’s pursuers,” I said, shifting the topic to more serious matters.
”Yes,” Cleonora agreed, her expression turning firm. “We cannot afford to lose this domain we have built with such effort—or you, Shoichi…!”
”We must also continue to increase our strength as Magic Girl³ participants desu wa,” Liliarette noted.
That reminds me… Liliarette placed a finger to her lips, looking thoughtful.
”I wonder what has become of the situation between the Emmeld Kingdom⁴ and the Egdia Empire? Now that we are gone, the First Queen’s faction must be struggling to maintain its footing…”
”Viorga is surely making the most of it,” Cleonora said with a sharp edge to her voice. “With her obstacles removed, she’ll be in high spirits.”
Now that the territory had stabilized, it seemed Liliarette finally had the mental breathing room to worry about her home country.
As for me, I had only been to the Kingdom when I was first summoned. I had no idea what was happening there now, and in truth, I didn’t have much interest in it anyway.
”I vaguely remember some talk about the Empire when I was summoned… but what exactly is this ‘First Queen’s faction’?” I asked.
”Have we not mentioned it before?” Cleonora looked at me. “The Kingdom used to be split by a power struggle between Viorga’s faction and the First Queen’s faction.”
I seemed to recall Cleonora mentioning something of the sort in passing.
Cleonora, the daughter of the First Queen, had been stripped of her rank through a scheme, while Liliarette had been crippled by miasma and was on the verge of being sold off to the Republic. In short, the Emmeld Kingdom had been defined by a struggle: Viorga versus Cleonora and Liliarette.
”What was the cause of the rift?” I inquired.
”To put it very simply, it was a matter of the royal succession,” Cleonora explained.
The current King apparently had no sons. Cleonora’s faction had pushed for a high-ranking nobleman of royal descent to take the throne, with Cleonora herself marrying him to solidify the line.
”There is a prominent noble family in the Kingdom called Egrest⁵. The leading plan was for his son to take the throne and for me to become his bride. There were other options, of course, but that was the most likely.”
”Yes,” Liliarette chimed in. “There was even talk from some within the First Queen’s faction of me becoming Queen myself, given my talent as a sorcery user desu wa.”
Listening to them talk like this, it finally hit home that they really had been royalty. Since I hadn’t seen them act much like nobles since we met, it was hard to picture.
”So becoming Queen was an option too?” I asked.
”Indeed,” Liliarette replied. “Since ancient times, it has been said that women have a higher aptitude for sorcery. There were eras in the Kingdom’s history where royal women with exceptional talent ruled as Queens desu wa.”
”While there are precedents, they are few and far between,” Cleonora added. “There were always some nobles who resisted the idea of a female monarch.”
Their mother had been born into a family of high nobility with significant influence, which was why Liliarette’s coronation hadn’t been an impossible dream. Or at least, it hadn’t been until things fell apart.
”But then… my mother’s family fell from grace,” Cleonora said, her gaze dropping to the water. “During the war with the Empire, they were accused of ignoring the commander’s orders and attacking the wrong location, leading to a disastrous defeat…”
”I do not know the full details of what transpired during the war,” Liliarette continued softly. “But my mother lost both her elder and younger brothers in that battle, whom she was very close to. The shock was so great that she fell ill and eventually passed away desu wa.”
”……”
War… as someone from Japan, it felt like such a distant concept, but for these two, it was a grim reality of their lives. If anything, looking at it through the lens of Earth’s feudal societies, royalty probably had to be the most cautious. After all, if you lose, the default outcome is usually the execution of the entire clan.
I didn’t know if this world was exactly the same, but the lack of a bright future for a defeated nation seemed to be a universal truth.
”Viorga began consolidating her own faction around that time,” Cleonora said. “She won over the Prime Minister and certain knights, arguing that the country needed a powerful leader to face the Empire. She claimed that no one was better suited for the role than herself, given her high aptitude for sorcery.”
”Is Viorga’s talent really that impressive?” I asked.
”Her potential is quite significant,” Liliarette answered. “If she continues to hone her skills, she is at a level where she could eventually become a Guru⁶ desu wa.”
”She’s not quite at the level of a Magic Girl, but she’s close enough,” Cleonora added.
By the standards of this world, she seemed to possess extraordinary talent. However, rather than putting a man on the throne and marrying him, Viorga’s faction advocated for Viorga herself to rule as Queen. This was yet another point of contention with the First Queen’s side.
”Talent in sorcery is measured by three criteria,” Liliarette explained. “The amount of spirits one can take into their body, the speed at which one can construct a spell, and the complexity of the magic one can invoke. In those respects, Viorga’s level could be called magnificent desu wa.”
Liliarette herself apparently had talent that was above average in everything except speed. Of course, since her body was now ravaged by miasma, she could no longer use sorcery at all.
(So, her wish is to rule the country as a Queen who possesses both royal blood and superior magical talent… is that Viorga’s ambition?)
And to build her prestige against the Empire, she had summoned Heroes. It made me realize that those Heroes might simply be tools used to further Viorga’s own designs.
”In any case, it no longer concerns us, since we are no longer royalty or even nobles,” Cleonora said firmly.
”I wish I could be so detached,” Liliarette sighed. “But with us gone, Viorga will surely move to eliminate the rest of the First Queen’s faction, including Lord Egrest. I cannot help but worry that the Kingdom might be tearing itself apart from within even as it fights the Empire desu wa.”
Cleonora had a very clear-cut way of thinking. She had challenged Viorga, lost, and accepted that defeat meant she no longer had any right to interfere in the Kingdom’s affairs.
Liliarette, on the other hand, hadn’t fought a direct battle. Her legs had been taken by a plot, and it seemed she still harbored lingering feelings for her homeland. Based on what I’d heard, it felt like Viorga had simply been one step ahead in her maneuvering.
”…We’ve been soaking for a while now,” I noted, feeling the heat. “Shall we get out?”
”Yes, let’s,” Cleonora agreed.
”Very well desu wa,” Liliarette said.
I didn’t think either of them truly wanted to return to their former lives as royalty, but I decided that if I happened to get any news about the Kingdom, I would make an effort to share it with them.
—
Summary:
Shoichi, Cleonora, and Liliarette relax in the mansion’s lavish bathhouse, where the sisters reflect on how their current life surpasses their previous royal lifestyle. During the bath, they discuss the political turmoil of their homeland, the Emmeld Kingdom, and the rivalry between the First Queen’s faction and Viorga’s faction. It is revealed that Viorga’s ambition to become Queen drove her to orchestrate their downfall and summon Heroes. While Cleonora has moved on from her past, Liliarette remains concerned about the fate of those they left behind. Shoichi resolves to keep an ear out for news from the Kingdom for their sake.
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Character Insight:
This chapter highlights the contrasting temperaments of the two sisters. Cleonora is pragmatic and decisive; once she accepts a loss, she severs her ties and focuses on her new life with Shoichi. Liliarette, however, is more sentimental and empathetic, still worrying about the political instability and the people remaining in the Kingdom. We also see Shoichi’s growing sense of responsibility and domestic pride, as he finds satisfaction in the sisters’ happiness and the quality of the life he has provided for them.
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Behind the Scene:
The author uses the bathhouse setting—a classic trope in Japanese web novels—to deliver substantial world-building and backstory in a relaxed atmosphere. The details about sorcery aptitude (amount, speed, and complexity) establish a clear power scaling system for the world’s magic users.
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T/L:
Notes:
• Vectra – A Unique Individual maid with white skin and white hair. Height 170cm, Bust Size D. Class: Duelist. Attribute: Darkness. Weapon: Star-Strike Battle Axe Volkein
• Liliarette – The other Princess, who sacrificed her ability to walk and her sorcery talent to save her sister, Cleonora. She is imprisoned in the East Tower and is being used as a political and monetary pawn by Viorga. C-cup, true golden hair, waist-length hair, the fringe was a slightly blunt, hair on her left side was braided to the chest.
• Cleonora – The second princess. Have a yellow blonde hair. Usually styled as hairbun. D-cup.
• Ami – A palm-sized fairy-like being from a world separate from both Earth and the isekai realm. She has light blue hair tied in a ponytail, mischievous blue eyes, and tiny wings that flutter behind her. Her outfit consists of a provocative high-cut leotard and a short jacket that looks like a miniskirt from the back, leaving her legs bare. Despite her playful appearance, she is actively searching for a contractor who can protect her from dangerous pursuers in exchange for the powers she offers.
• Viorga – The First Princess of the Emmeld Kingdom. She is a beautiful, young woman with long golden hair and sharp blue eyes, always dressed in an elaborate crimson and gold royal gown. She is utterly ruthless, viewing all people—including the summoned Heroes and her own family—as disposable assets in her political games. Looks like Aileen Lauren from certain series.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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