Chapter 48 For Whom Does The Princess Knight Fight?
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”Sigh…”
Lucia’s sigh melts into the cream-colored walls. No one hears Lucia’s sighs, which have become countless.
Lucia spends her days doing nothing in a simple, windowless room.
About 2 weeks have passed since her audience with Fredrin II.
Since that day, Lucia’s status has been fixed as an ambassador of the Ravendora Feudal Kingdom, albeit in name, from the unstable position of a captive. This freed her from the chains that bound her hands and feet.
However, she has not gained complete freedom. It is only that the prison for criminals has changed to a prison for nobles. She is still under house arrest, although she is not chained anymore. But the life of being given warm meals, being able to scratch her itchy spots, and most importantly, having a toilet is like heaven compared to what she had before.
The room is probably located inside the large prison called “Prison (Dite)”. This is because the guards who deliver the meals are the same ones from the prison. The demons (akuma) with their hideous appearance, ironically, their ugly faces and names match perfectly, which is disgusting.
Every day is spent doing nothing but passing time.
Alone like this, it’s inevitable to think about something. And what Lucia thinks about is always the same.
That day, Lucia was abandoned by her homeland. The glimmer of hope that had finally appeared was fleetingly extinguished, and by her father emperor, Fredrin II, who she thought was her savior.
Lucia doesn’t even know what kind of future awaits her. Even a fool can understand that there is no substance to the position of ambassador.
That’s why it’s so terrifying. The fact that she is being kept alive without doing anything, without being done anything to, is terrifying. It would be better to be sentenced to death. If it were a death sentence, she could be prepared, or rather, she is always ready to die. But not knowing what will be done to her is eating away at her mind more than any torture.
She even thinks she would rather have died then. She would have no regrets if she could fight and die. But she also knows that this thought is an escape.
The only thing for sure is that Lucia will never set foot on her homeland again. Even if Alfred returns to the imperial capital as emperor, Lucia will be imprisoned in this Babellion until the day she dies. No one will demand her return, and no one can make Babellion give her back.
With that thought, the faces of her family back in the imperial capital come to Lucia’s mind.
Her strong mother Almaria, who is her pillar of support, and her strong younger sister Seimia, who is a crybaby but good at acting cute and getting into people’s hearts… Lucia’s opportunities to see them have decreased since she went to the battlefield, but now that she may never see them again, she regrets not talking to them more.
The sudden separation is all the more painful and sad the more she thinks about it. But no matter how much she regrets it, there is no way for Lucia to be saved anymore────.
The sound of a hand being placed on the doorknob was heard. It was too early for the prison guard to come since she had just finished her lunch, so Lucia sat down on the chair and braced herself.
”Well, well, long time no see. Princess… I mean, Ambassador-chan.”
”What do you want?”
”That’s cold. You should be happy to see me after all this time.”
”Don’t be ridiculous. Who would…”
”Oh? You change your attitude when you change places. You were crying and kneeling on the ground.”
”…What do you want? Are you just here to mock me?”
”Well, that’s part of it, but I also need to check on you from time to time. To make sure you’re not thinking about anything bad. And just to be clear… you know your place, okay? If you do anything, your country and your precious little brother will be gone.”
”That’s why I’m not doing anything. Or what, are you going to make me dig in a mine with a pickaxe? Or plow the fields with a hoe?”
”With those skinny arms of yours? They seem to be a bit plumper than before.”
Azuriela grinned unpleasantly and pinched Lucia’s biceps. Her fingers certainly sank into the soft flesh.
Lucia’s arms were toned from swinging the sword, but she knew she had gained some extra fat due to the days of being fed without moving her body. So when she was pointed out, she blushed and instinctively pushed Azuriela’s hand away.
Seeing Lucia like that, Azuriela twisted her lips in a truly happy way. That made her even more embarrassed, so she asked a question to change the subject.
”What’s Alfred doing? Is he under house arrest like me?”
”Your brother?”
At Lucia’s question, Azuriela made a gesture as if to think for a moment, then said,
”I think your brother is working as the director of the Western Command Office.”
Lucia frowned at that.
It wasn’t that Azuriela was hiding something, but rather that she was uninterested because it didn’t concern her. If that’s true, then Alfred is really away from her as she says.
But at the same time, it’s also unsettling. Even if he’s working at the Western Command Office, it’s not clear what he’s doing, or maybe Azuriela, who isn’t interested, just told a convenient lie.
As she clouded her face with the bad premonitions and intense anxiety that came one after another, Lucia was addressed with words she had not expected.
”Do you want to see him?”
She reflexively looked up and met the familiar, gleeful face of Azuriela. Seeing that, Lucia suddenly calmed down and said,
”…You’re going to mock me by saying that’s a lie. I know that.”
Azuriela is a scumbag who enjoys mocking others. She knows she shouldn’t take her words at face value.
”No, this isn’t really a lie. I can show you what your brother looks like.”
”Really?”
”Yeah, oh, but before that…”
Azuriela raised her palm in a gesture to stop her and said,
”Here. This is your new outfit, so put it on now.”
She shoved some clothes that she had taken out from somewhere at her.
Lucia doesn’t know if this means she has to wear this to meet Alfred, or if it’s just a new prison uniform, but she didn’t put up much resistance as she took off her clothes and changed into the new outfit in front of Azuriela.
”That looks great on you!”
Azuriela chuckled as she looked at Lucia after she finished changing into the clothes that were handed to her.
The new outfit was a maid uniform. It was humiliating for Lucia, a princess, to be dressed in a servant’s outfit, but what made Lucia blush even more was its design.
The maid uniform that was handed to her wasn’t a normal, chic maid uniform, but a pink one with plenty of frilly white lace. Moreover, the skirt was unusually short, exposing a lot of her thighs and making it look like her underwear would show if she bent down slightly.
”W-what is this outfit!?”
Lucia’s face contorted as she let out a cry, but Azuriela, as if nothing was wrong, took out a folded piece of clothing in the same pink color.
”This is your uniform from now on. Oh, and I’ve prepared a spare one of the same, so you should change into it properly before it gets smelly, okay?”
”We never talked about this! What is this horrible outfit!?”
”I told you, it’s your outfit.”
Azuriela said, but Lucia couldn’t call this kind of outfit an outfit, and she didn’t want to either.
Lucia tried to argue with Azuriela, who was enjoying her reaction. But Azuriela, narrowing her eyes slightly, interrupted her before she could finish her sentence.
”Oh, so you’d rather be n*ked?”
”…huh?”
Azuriela withdrew the spare clothes she had held out and took a few steps back, looking at Lucia with a cold gaze.
”Well, I didn’t know you were such a pervert. I still have a lot to learn… Now, give me back the clothes you’re wearing. And your underwear too, of course.”
”…no, that’s…”
”What’s wrong? You don’t like that outfit, do you? Then take it off and give it back to me.”
Azuriela inched closer, saying, “Come on, come on.”
”I’m not going to ask you again. Which one do you prefer, that outfit or being n*ked?”
Lucia didn’t have the courage to say that being n*ked would be better than wearing such an unpleasant outfit.
”…fine, I’ll wear this outfit.”
Lucia managed to squeeze out the words from her throat. Azuriela frowned at Lucia’s reply,
”What? That’s not true, right?”
She couldn’t have misunderstood what those words meant.
”…Thank you for giving me such a beautiful dress.”
”Very well. Don’t forget how you feel now.”
Lucia’s face flushed so red with humiliation and shame that one could tell without even touching her. Her fists clenched around the hem of her skirt, making a crackling sound.
Azuriela, hearing Lucia’s words, snorted in satisfaction and danced away as if she were fluttering. Then, turning her back on Lucia and looking back, she said,
”…What are you doing? Don’t you want to see your brother soon?”
Lucia’s lips trembled and she lowered her head, nodding slightly.
She still didn’t fully believe Azuriela’s offer. It wouldn’t be strange if she were told that it was all a lie after making her wear this embarrassing outfit and parade her through the city.
But even with this thin thread of possibility, Lucia, who was powerless to do anything, clung to it. Even though she didn’t say she believed it, she couldn’t help but think in her heart that maybe it was true.
Lucia pulled at the hem of her skirt to try to keep her underwear from showing.
Then, unclenching her fists that were holding the skirt, she left the room with Azuriela for the first time in 2 weeks, her heart filled with a complex mix of hesitation at the thought of being exposed to the public in a way that would be even more embarrassing than being n*ked, and hope that she might see Alfred soon.
* * *
Azuriela led her to the 100th floor. It was a place that brought back memories that Lucia didn’t want to remember since the day of her audience.
However, Lucia was not taken to the castle where Charlierel lived, but to one of the towering skyscrapers that stood at the foot of the castle.
”…Al”
Lucia couldn’t help but call out his name when she saw him. It wasn’t a reunion. She only saw him through the window of the room.
Alfred was sitting at a desk with his government officials, buried under a mountain of paperwork and running his pen. He certainly looked very busy, concentrating intently on his work.
”But looking at him dressed in the same uniform and working alongside the other government officials, I couldn’t believe he was being treated like a sl*ve. And above all, Alfred’s expression, though tired, looked lively.”
”Your brother looks well, doesn’t he?”
Azuriela also glanced at Alfred through the window.
”He’s busy, but he’s treated like one of the team within the office. And did you see that face? He’s really enjoying his work.”
Azuriela’s eyes met Lucia’s again.
”It’s all because our beloved Saint-sama showed mercy to your brother, the prince of Ravendora feudal kingdom.”
Azuriela’s eyes, clasped together as if praying to a god and flushed with her cheeks, must have been reflecting the hateful figure of Charlierel.
”What, that face?”
”…Nothing…”
Lucia shook her head and looked away.
Lucia hated Charlierel with all her heart. She hated him so much, she wanted to kill him.
That’s understandable. Babellion appeared out of nowhere and trampled over the old capital, bringing the empire under its rule. In the process, she and Alfred were taken prisoner, her father was forced to kneel and pledge his allegiance, and the empire as a ruler was destroyed.
It may be true that Charlierel was the one who decided not to destroy the empire. But she couldn’t possibly think “Thank you for your mercy” about that.
The Charlierel she saw from afar in the audience room was the embodiment of power. Lucia had certainly succumbed to an existence that seemed to embody the concept of violence. She had been imprinted with the difference in their status just by looking at him.
That’s why it’s so painful, so frustrating that she can’t even scratch the one she wants to kill so badly. She realized that the existence she can’t even look at without feeling inferior is on an unassailable height――.
”But it’s still uncertain if your brother will be able to enjoy himself like that in the future.”
Turning around with her eyes wide open, Azuriela had turned her back on Lucia at some point.
”Let’s change places.”
She started walking without waiting for Lucia.
Lucia felt a cold sweat trickle down her back. She had a bad feeling that something terrible was about to happen. However, she knew it would be useless to turn her back and run away, especially since Azuriela was walking with her without any restraints.
Lucia looked back at Alfred outside the window and quickly averted her gaze, trying to shake off the bittersweet feeling.
Then, Lucia was taken to another room in the castle. Azuriela snapped her fingers, and the candlesticks lit up, instantly brightening the dimly lit room.
It looked like a conference room with a large desk and chairs neatly arranged, but it didn’t seem like it was used regularly.
Azuriela leaned against the desk, checking if there was any dust on it. Then she sat on top of the desk, crossing her legs seductively.
”…What do you want from me?”
Lucia was the first to speak. She made a statement that hinted at how Alfred should be treated. It was clear to anyone that she was about to make some kind of demand, hoping to be in control.
Azuriela narrowed her eyes slightly, seemingly surprised that Lucia took the initiative. She readjusted her legs and slowly parted her moist lips.
”Rather than a demand… I think it’s more like I’ll teach you.”
Her twilight-colored eyes, hidden behind her dense green bangs, moved as if they were licking Lucia from head to toe.
”Do you still not know why you’re being kept in Babellion? Or maybe you do know?”
”What…?”
”Don’t you understand what I’m trying to say? Or maybe you do, but you’ve just been ignoring reality all this time. Anyway, your job is to please His Majesty the Saint using that body of yours.”
With those words, Azuriela put her hand into her maid uniform and began to fondle Lucia’s breasts with her bare hands.
Startled by the sudden action, Lucia instinctively pushed her away. However, Azuriela gracefully avoided her hand and swiftly moved behind her, tracing her buttocks with her fingers, making a tickling sensation.
”What the hell are you doing!?”
Lucia exclaimed, stepping back and keeping her distance from Azuriela, her voice filled with anger.
”I’m the princess and ambassador of the Ravendora Empire, aren’t I? Why am I being treated so unfairly?”
”Empire?”
”Ugh… it’s a feudal kingdom. But no matter how the name changes, it doesn’t change the fact that I’m royalty.”
”It’s a… ‘vassal state’… right?”
Azuriela points towards the direction of Alfred’s room.
”The position your brother holds has a real entity called the Western Command Office. That’s how he’ll actually manage and operate the territory along with Babellion’s government officials. Well, your brother’s position as director is mostly nominal, and he’ll mainly be doing errands, but he’ll be made to work hard like that.”
Azuriela’s finger turns towards Lucia.
”But there’s no feudal kingdom embassy inside Babellion. So your real role isn’t an ambassador… no, you are an ambassador. You’re like a… night goodwill ambassador who sells her body to protect her homeland.”
It was the possibility that Lucia feared the most. The fate she had been trying to turn a blind eye to, even though she had suspected it.
”A-are you kidding me?”
”I’m not kidding.”
Azuriela interrupts Lucia’s voice, which is trembling with anger.
”You are indeed an ambassador. So it’s true that your work will change our attitude towards the feudal kingdom.”
”Wh-what?! Are you telling me to sell my body for my homeland?!”
”I already told you that. Are you stupid? Don’t repeat everything twice.”
Perhaps getting tired of the argument, Azuriela sits back down at the desk and rests her cheek on her thigh.
”I’ve told you this many times before, but you should know your place and your country’s position. How long are you going to pretend to be a princess of a great power? You’re a princess of a vassal state now… no, you’re a sacrifice offered to the god. That role is the same in any world, any country.”
Lucia understood that the ambassadorial position she had been given was nothing more than a formality. That’s why she felt that there was a possibility that she would be given some kind of role that a normal ambassador wouldn’t have. She also knew that this could include being taken as a concubine.
In the famous play “The Hero of Harloy,” which depicts the life of the first emperor of Ravendora, King Bryant of the enemy country appears to capture the princess of the country he has conquered.
She has heard stories like this before, even without invaders from another world.
But the moment she actually heard the declaration, Lucia’s mind went blank. She almost sobbed out of rejection at the thought of having to be embraced by the leader of Babellion, whom she wanted to kill more than anything.
”Hey, I’m holding back too. It’s an honor to be used by the Saint-sama… and you say no and no… I really want to kill you.”
Azuriela’s sharp gaze, trembling with anger, pierces Lucia. Azuriela stands up again and slowly approaches Lucia, who is taken aback.
”Oh, and in case you don’t remember, I’ll add one more thing.”
At a distance so close that they might as well be kissing,
”It’s up to the Saint-sama’s discretion who will be the next feudal prince of the feudal kingdom. Right now, your younger brother is still the next feudal prince, but what if you do something that would bring misfortune to the Saint-sama?”
She growled in a low voice.
”You’re not a princess anymore. You’re a whore who sells her body for her country and her brother… so make the most of this body that’s left to you and please the Saint-sama.”
Azuriela’s index finger buries itself in Lucia’s chest. But before Lucia can brush it away, Azuriela pulls her finger back herself, folds her hands behind her back, and starts walking around the room,
”You know, you act like you’re a princess or a knight, but you’re not that big of a deal. Are you just proud of yourself for protecting your little brother?”
She said.
”D-d-don’t be ridiculous!! That’s not true, I… I…”
Lucia, enraged, was met with a look of disbelief,
”But you’re not desperate. You say you’ll sacrifice yourself, but you don’t do anything.”
Lucia felt like she had been punched in the face. She staggered as if she had actually been hit, but Lucia argued with a trembling voice.
”Th, that’s not true!!”
”So… if you’re the knight protecting your little brother, shouldn’t you be by his side? Why did you go to the battlefield? Why did you become the governor of the old capital?”
”It’s to establish myself. To show that I, the sword, can protect him, I need to raise my own worth.”
”But if you’re not there for him when it really matters, it’s meaningless. What good is it to say you’re doing it for your little brother if you can’t protect him? It’s the end of the road.”
”That’s…”
Lucia was speechless. She couldn’t find the words to argue.
The words Azuriela had just spoken were true. In order to protect Alfred, she believed that she needed a position higher than a princess, so she became a general and went to the battlefield, and that’s how she ended up here. Naturally, Lucia had never questioned this.
But as Azuriela said, if she couldn’t be there for Alfred when something happened, there was no point in Lucia taking up the sword. Not just in a violent way like using a sword. If Alfred was troubled by something, she couldn’t even listen to his troubles if she wasn’t there.
Lucia was starting to have trouble breathing, and Azuriela mercilessly pressed on.
”Let me ask you another thing. What have you done since you came to Babellion?”
”I fought in the arena. And I won the guarantee of Alfred’s life.”
”That was just taking the only option you had. And it was for that girl in the first place… What I’m asking is if you’ve ever tried to do something for your little brother on your own initiative.”
”That’s… that’s… I, I in Babellion…”
She was speechless again. She tried to think of a counterargument, but she couldn’t come up with anything, as if it were a lie. It wasn’t because she didn’t remember. She really hadn’t done anything.
”See? That’s what I’m talking about.”
Azuriela sneered as if to say “I knew it.”
”Saying you couldn’t do anything because you were captured is just an excuse. For example, if I were you, I would do a lot more. I would beg to do anything to protect my precious little brother. But… I haven’t even heard you beg for your little brother’s life, let alone anything else.”
”N, no… I, I…!!”
”It’s not wrong.”
As if it were a death sentence.
”At first, it may have been for your brother. But somewhere along the way, it changed. You were praised as ‘General’ and ‘Princess Knight’ by everyone, and your goal became to be praised for protecting your brother. That’s why you didn’t try to do anything in the prison, just acting like a tragic heroine.”
Her words pierced Lucia’s heart like the great scythe that was her weapon. She tried to deny it, but no words came out of her throat. In fact, she couldn’t even breathe.
As she felt like the self inside her was crumbling with a loud noise, for some reason, a scene appeared in Lucia’s mind.
It was a social gathering, with her sister Seimia surrounded by many people. Her sister Seimia turned around, and her eyes, which looked down on the shallow pretender, were filled with contempt and mockery――
”WAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!”
Lucia raised a loud cry as if to dispel the illusion and grabbed at Azuriela. But Azuriela lightly brushed aside Lucia’s outstretched arm like twisting a baby’s hand. But with that alone, Lucia’s body rolled violently to the wall and onto the floor.
”…Ugh”
”Do you understand? How ugly and miserable you are?”
”I… I’m different. I really wanted to protect Alfred…”
”That’s why I’m saying it’s just talk.”
”No!! I’m Alfred’s knight… I took up the sword to protect Alfred, and I’ve been fighting to protect Alfred!!”
Azuriela peered into the eyes of Lucia, who stood up with her voice raised. Her fingertips, thrust between her eyebrows, were like the tip of a sword.
”Then be prepared. You’ve been given a chance.”
Azuriela glanced in the direction of Alfred’s room.
”Your brother will be saved by your actions. As long as you can continue to please Saint-sama, your brother will be treated as a director, a civil servant, and one of Saint-sama’s vassals. Well, on the other hand, if Saint-sama gets bored of you, it’s game over. But that’s what you really want, isn’t it? It’s much more direct way to protect your brother than being a Princess Knight or something.”
Well, if you’re not that determined, the story is different, said Azuriela, shrugging her shoulders.
”But let me tell you one thing…”
Interrupting her words, Azuriela stared sharply.
”If you keep moping around, refusing to accept Saint-sama’s favor, I’ll kill you and your little brother right here. Cry and be grateful.”
Thirty seconds of silence, followed by inner conflict.
”…Fine.”
”What?”
”I said I’ll do it.”
Lucia stated clearly, although she didn’t know what she was saying, where she was looking, or even if she was breathing… She was enveloped in such despair.
”Well, see you tonight… Do you need to prepare yourself now?”
”No… I don’t mind.”
Finally, Azuriela raised her finger.
”Saint-sama’s… well-endowed p*nis is so big that it might tear apart the fragile virginity of a mere human’s vag*na… Ah, I could accept everything from my beloved Saint-sama… But it might also excite me to be surpassed by a trashy human whom I look down, as if I were being cuckolded.”
Azuriela hugged herself and writhed.
While watching this, flames finally flickered in Lucia’s eyes. It was the light of determination and resolve… A desperate attempt to suppress the urge to cry over the fact that she would be embraced by the detestable leader of the enemy, for Alfred’s sake, and to deny her despicable self.
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.