"There you go! All prettied up!" Arista gushed as she finished Adyra's makeup.
The young mermaid tugged at the fabric constricting her stomach, "Isn't this too tight?"
Arista rolled her eyes." No. It is just tight. It could be worse, the human noble ladies are forced to wear a corset."
"It's an instrument of torture," Nenandil explained, "Used to keep young women under control by preventing them from breathing easily."
Adyra brought a hand to cover her mouth in shock, "That's awful!"
"Thankfully, you are lean enough my living silk can do the job without resorting to that," Arista added and a beige and rigid chestpiece appeared in her hand. "Here, this is a corset."
Just by the shape, she knew she would never agree to wear one. Next, her sister brought a large mirror. Adyra forgot the corset to admire her figure.
Her hair was no longer tied in a braid. It was wavy and falling over her shoulders and breast as well along with her back all the way to her waist. It still wasn't the same as when floating underwater, but here on the surface, it was as good as it got. Her gown remembered glittering fish scales. She'd protested she was a dolphin-mermaid but Arista pointed out she represented both tribes. Wearing fish scales would give the fish-mermaids a pride boost and shut down any opposition that wished to see more power to the other tribe. Diaphanous semi-transparent lace floated over the dress giving the impression they were fins. She wore gloves matching the dress but her decolletage and shoulders were left bare, showing lots of skin and her hearty bosom. It was still more fabric than she was comfortable with, but at least her shoulders were free.
Next, she examined her face. The lines of her eyes were heavy, pronounced. Arista added some curves at the ends that made her gaze feel fierce. She loved it. A sticky wax covered her lips, giving them a vibrant light red and making them seem thicker. Her cheeks were pinkish and looked very healthy.
"Are you done? We need to put on some jewelry, now," Arista showed her some earrings and necklaces. "We need to make a statement, to draw attention to you. With all this fabric to paint," her sister pointed at her decolletage, "We can go wild. What about this emerald necklace? Green goes very well with your hair color."
The rubies were enormous. "Isn't it too gaudy?" She asked.
"Yes. That's exactly the point. Only a true [Princess] can wear it and still look classy. Tonight, you must wear enough wealth to buy another kingdom. We'll add bracelets and then attach some jewels to your dress."
"Emeralds it is, sister," Adyra grinned and nodded.
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Adyra walked up the stairs and entered the carriage O'Donnell sent for them. Nenandil, now visible, flew after her, and then Arista, disguised as a 'dire queen angelfish' Not counting the ridiculously-long fins, the fish's body was a meter long and flat like all angelfish were. She swam in the air as if it were water. The footman closed the door and soon the carriage was on its way to the Lord's mansion.
She looked at the flying fish. Adyra could tell it was her sister but she knew it was because she was fay-touched. Mortals could not tell she wasn't just a fish.
"Was it necessary?" She asked her sister regarding her fish form.
"Nope," she chirped. "Giant air-swimming fish it is..."
The carriage stopped. The door opened and O'Donnel sat on the bench across Adyra. "Your Highness. You look stunning tonight. And those are marvelous pets," he said and instantly regretted it.
The mermaid, the fairy, and the fish were glaring at him. Maybe O'Donnell was the poster child of the 'fake it until you make it' lifestyle.
"Really?" Adyra asked. "One can wonder how you managed to stay alive this long on that mouth of yours. These are my chaperones. Nenandil the elder water fairy, and Angie, the dire queen angelfish."
"Roll with it, sister," Adyra answered with [Dolphin-Speech] somewhere in the eighty thousand Hertz range.
O'Donnell kept staring at Nenandil. The fairy caught him and said, "Don't even bother, sir. You couldn't get a read on our status even if your life depended on it. Princess Adyra was merciful to you. I would be thankful for Her Highness's wisdom by not being that much rude toward us."
The fish blew a bubble. The bubble floated up and popped against the carriage roof.
"Harsh action was hardly advised," he tried to defend himself. "Her Highness is a guest in this country."
Nenandil snorted. Angie blew a few more bubbles.
He tried to make eye contact but the princess was looking through the window, apparently paying no mind to the conversation between merchant-slash-smuggler, fish, and fairy.
"A silver tongue is hard of any value when one measures their transactions in the hundreds of kingmetal," Nenandil declared.
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Nenandil nodded. Northern Auvanini was a wild frontier, home of tough and mobile adventurers and even tougher but slower monsters.
"Or on the other side of the devil's mountains, to spare us a trip to Auvanini," Nenandil replied out loud intentionally.
"I beg your pardon?" O'Donnell asked. "What are you talking about?"
"Oh," Nenandil feigned to have snapped out of her reverie. "Angie and I were discussing either what we should do with someone as rude as you after you are no longer useful, or where we'll take princess Adyra to level up after we're done with her task here."
"I see..." He sunk a bit on his seat.
"Maybe both. Do you want to hunt demons with us, Mr. O'Donnell?" The fairy grinned, full of malice.
Adyra decided to join in on the fun, "Oh, that would be lovely. Mr. O'Donnell will surely be of great help on the other side of the continent."
The [Merchant] clenched his jaw and spoke no more until they reached the Lord's estate.
"By the way, how are you floating in the air? A spell? I can't sense its aura," Adyra asked.
Adyra gave her sister a proud smile.
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Getting inside the Lord's estate piggybacking on O'Donnell's invitation was easy. Arista didn't even need to enact her plan B, which involved the thieves' guild. She sent a {Messenger Bird} to the guildmaster when O'Donnell was climbing out of the carriage.
A luxurious dinner party was served outside on the gardens. Magical lights illuminated the eternal night, and Adyra could see several nobles mingling.
"Master O'Donnell of the O'Donnell trading company!" The herald shouted.
O'Donnell walked into the party while Adyra waited, a fairy on her shoulder and the fish floating next to her. The man filled his lungs to announce her but she held up a hand. O'Donnell wanted to make sure people saw they entered together but this pause allowed some people to come and snatch the merchant to talk about something else.
Once the merchant was far enough away, Adyra nodded to the announcer.
"Crown Princess Adyra of the mermaid kingdom of Atlantis!"
People stopped talking, the musicians even lowering the volume of her music. The [Princess] glided into the garden, relishing on the attention she received. She nodded and smiled at the best-dressed people and stopped in the middle of the venue, just like Arista told her to. The host of the event would naturally come to greet the Royal guest, even if he didn't invite her.
"Your Highness! Welcome, welcome," a tall and muscular man with an impressive waxed mustache approached. "I'm Count Zede, at your service."
Adyra let him kiss her fingers. "Likewise, Count. I'm sorry I didn't send news of my arrival, but we were on a tight schedule."
"I've seen the reports and was eager to meet you," The Count said. "I hope my guardsmen were of use to you."
"Why, indeed they were!" She exclaimed with a giggle. "They were very courteous and helpful. They protected me with their own bodies during an ambush."
Some gasps echoed among the crowd.
"I apologize. It seems the security of my town is lacking if these rascals dare strike at a princess."
"Please give my thanks to the fair sergeants. I must say, they are quite the lieutenant material," she suggested.
"Of course. I'll take your advice to heart," he nodded. "Alas, your company is very pleasant, Your Royal Highness, but I'm afraid I can't take much of your time else my guests will get mad at me. Already a line forms with people that want to greet you."
"Oh, it will be my pleasure to talk more when we find the time, Count Zede."
"Likewise," he bowed and left for other groups.
She was swamped by ladies and gentlemen alike. After some inane questions, they finally asked something that interested Adyra.
"Do you have siblings?" One nobleman asked.
"Yes, I have one elder sister. She's the most amazing person ever!" Adyra replied with pride.
"May I ask what are the succession rules in your Kingdom? Why isn't your elder sister the heir?" Another asked.
"Oh, my sister doesn't want to be Queen. She is our minister of foreign relations and an excellent monster hunter. She usually goes into the depths of the oceans to fight legendary creatures. One time she killed a shark the size of a castle with a single blow."
"Impressive!" One lady commented. "She must be very high level!"
Her pride stoked, Arista raised her nose, "I can assure you there's no creature on this planet that can defeat her."
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Angie-Arista watched as her sister finally found herself in her element. The lessons she got from Queen Shallot really paid off. She greeted, flirted, joked, quipped, with dozens of nobles and even two visiting princes.
Several guests showed interest in the dire queen angelfish. One of the princes, in particular, was quite adamant in purchasing the critter.
"Princess Adyra, I offer you Fifty thousand gold for that animal," he said. Phillip of something, he was called.
"I'm sorry, Phillip. Angie is family to me," Adyra answered with a head shake.
"Two hundred kingmetal coins!" He raised the offer.
"Not even for your whole kingdom," she replied with a fierce glare.
That was promptly ignored. "I hope you reconsider. I'm the prince of Lincheya, and we have twelve Dungeon entrances in our territory. Our Kingdom is quite powerful."
How powerful, Angie-Arista wondered.
> [Prince]
>
> Level 156 Human Knight-Captain
>
> HP ~ 5,600,000
"Somewhat powerful. It seems this little shit thinks he is intimidating a level thirty-six nobody," Angie-Arista thought.
Distracted, she missed Adyra's answer. The [Prince] was beet-red. "That's an outrage! I demand a duel of honor!"
Gasps and squeals rang along with the dinner party. The throng of nobles pushed them to a corner of the garden where some sparring arenas were carefully arranged with enchanted pylons to probably raise some kind of magical barrier.
"Do you need a champion, Princess Arista?" the other prince offered.
"I have my own champion," the mermaid answered and glanced at the floating fish.
"Angie is my champion. Now, what are the rules of the duel here?"
The haughty prince guffawed. "A fish? I wouldn't expect less from a mermaid. Okay. If I defeat the fish, it becomes my property. You'll come to my castle and live there as a maid for two years. We're going to eat monster fish tomorrow!" He added with an unbridled cruelty.
Angie-Arista blew some bubbles which promptly floated up into the firmament.
Adyra smirked. "Fine. If Angie wins, you owe us two hundred kingmetal coins, everything you're carrying on your person except for your loincloths, and you'll come to Atlantis to live as breeding stock for the mermaids for two years."
He became even more outraged and inflamed. "I'm going to kill this fish and then you'll be mine, fish-girl!"
Adyra turned to face the second [Prince]. "Is dueling to the death valid?"
The guy shrugged, "Guess it is now. Among us Royalty, rules don't apply, most of the time."
Adyra caressed a fin. "Angie, give us a show."
It was the first time everyone there saw a fish have a fit of giggles.