I squeezed the towel on my head and rinsed the water off of my scalp, I repeated until I thought my hair was dry enough to put the towel away to be replaced with a new, drier one that I wrapped around my head.

I stared at myself in the mirror- a pretty face, silver hair, gray eyes, and an athletic body: this is who I am now. I am Neophyte Astral Everlast, a heroine of the game with the same last name, a character that the Player can choose to marry and start a relationship with if they pick the right dialogues and give “her” the right gifts.

I… probably didn’t replace her- keyword is probably since I came to this body at a very young age- young enough that I think that the original Neophyte’s personality, existence, or even soul for that matter didn’t have time to develop into, well, Neophyte.

And if she did then… the original probably died- there’s a Deity in this world and they wouldn’t allow a murderer like me to get a Pledge-

“Mistress?” I flinched and then sighed, Zath remained silent for a scant few seconds and then said, “The Heiress of the Oasis shouldn’t be kept waiting, so if you’re done cleaning yourself, I suggest that you go to the changing room and get into proper clothing post haste,”

Okay, if Zath is talking formally like that then there’s someone from my family out there with her, great, guess they don’t want to keep the latest iteration of the Beast King waiting- I sighed and replied with a positive- “I’m done yep! Just uh, need to… get out. Yeah. That.”

I fixed the towel on my body and made sure that it wouldn’t fall before stepping out of the bathroom, I got greeted by Pearl and Zath, the former smiling and the latter nodding, “how many of them are gonna come again?” I asked as I shook off the towel on my head, letting my silver hair fall down my shoulders, both my sister and my maid stared at me dryly, “what?”

“How many of them are coming?” Pearl questioned with an offended expression, “what kind of question even is that?” She crossed her arms, “sister, we aren’t fighting a war against the people of the Oasis but accepting an envoy that’ll send off the daughter of their Emperor.” Pearl emphasized.

I sighed, I mean… yeah, but come on, it’s important to know how many are coming because it’ll let me know how their land is doing, it’s an entire mechanic ingame… which is irrelevant to my current situation since this is real life.

“But if you must know,” Pearl started with a sigh, cutting off my self-deprecating thoughts, “then there are around 200 of them coming with the Beast King so that they can escort her to our lands safely,”

200? I closed my eyes, great- uh, I mean, not really- but also sort of? I mean, back in Everlast- the game, - all I had to base the state of the Oasis at the start of the game were the newspapers with headlines that said- [Beast King coming to Pledge Academy to train!] and it’ll be followed by either a “Small”, “Medium”, “Large”, or “Massive” envoy of beastmen coming alongside her for protection and depending on how big the envoy is, I either have to grind my fingers to dust in order to prepare enough money to give them enough stuff for an amicable relationship with me- because the Beast King is just that good as a party member, - or simply prepare a small gift to get the daughter of their emperor on my side.

And 200… should be around medium or so which means that I’ll have to prepare at least a few crates of food but that’s still pretty small, especially since I’m a princess- and giving out so little food will just make me look petty or something… I considered that line of thought, “Zath,” my maid perked up, “how much money do I have left?”

“A little over 20 thousand,” she answered simply, bluntly, and professionally and Pearl frowned at that for some reason, “do you want me to request for something?”

I nodded, “I want two Griffon carriage’s worth of food to be brought to the meeting spot and cattle that can survive on Oasis to go along with them, maybe two dozen green cows?” I hummed and calculated the cost for all of that and I came out with around a quarter of my remaining money left, which should be enough to buy seeds for the Flora and Fauna territories when I come visit them later today, “yeah, buy all of that and then use my remaining money to purchase seeds,”

“I will,” Zath bowed, “now, to the changing room? Mistress?”

Pearl groaned, “you know that you don’t have to pretend to be formal around me right?” She said, “I already know that Zathania is the person you were dancing with back at the ball,”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Zath said as she made her way out of the locker room.

“Yeah, Pearl, what are you talking about?” I chorused.

My sister sighed, “well, if you want to pretend that more than all of Everlast doesn’t know about your “secret” relationship with your maid- pretty scandalous by the way, - then fine, I’m not gonna push or even pry, and so will the rest of the citizens, apparently.” She paused, “you can continue to willingly ignore all of that because everyone just… played along?..” Pearl looked down, a frown tugging at her lips, “I don’t know how all of them just collectively decided to not mention your relationship and go along with the “joke” in your presence, there should be a few outliers right?”

Her burning stare broke me out of my shock, the entire city thinks I’m gay? What? Wait no- she said more than all of Everlast, do other Kingdoms know about this? What the fuck? “Tell them that I’m not gay,” I weakly defended- how will Pearl even do that anyway?

“Yes, sister, I’ll tell the public about it,” she nodded robotically, tone as dry as the desert surrounding the Oasis of our foreign visitors, “I will tell all of them so quickly in fact that you can go outside right now and ask anyone if they think you have a relationship with your maid or not and they’ll answer with a negative.”

I only sighed. How the hell did it escalate so badly?

…

I pressed my cheek against my palm and stared out the window of the carriage with a pout, Fafnir was out there freely flying alongside our carriage with a smirk on her lips, clearly, she was mocking me for being stuck in this cramped space instead of being out there, enjoying the breeze alongside her.

I turned to the King and Queen as well as the rest of my siblings, “you know it would’ve been fine if I rode Fafnir right?”

Everyone faced me, with the youngest of my siblings stopping their eating spree to stare at me with confusion, the sudden attention got me flustered and I started to stutter- “I- I mean, you know- even if I have a one piece dress-” I gestured at my dress with both hands, a rather modern-looking, platinum colored thing with a knee-length pencil skirt and thigh-highs that hugged my legs, “- I’m pretty sure that I can just… you know, uh, be fine?” Their silence forced me to elaborate so I changed my seating position and placed myself at the edge of my seat and let my legs dangle, “see? I could’ve placed my legs on one side of the saddle and I would’ve been fine!”

“Neo… that’s not the problem,” Bismuth- who had recently come back from his latest military aid alongside his advisers, - said with a tilt of his head, “you do know that it would be disrespectful for you to ride the Oasis’ deities right?”

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Outside, Fafnir snorted, “Fafnir isn’t a god!” Even if she’s the closest to being one when it comes to her species with power alone, “she’s- she’s my friend!”

“What the hell does that say about you?” Said Amethyst with a raised eyebrow, “for “befriending” what an entire country considers their Deity?”

“I- what?” That came out so far out of the left wing that I was speechless, “what the hell does that even mean?”

“Well…” Amethyst trailed off, “they praise Omega Faunas and Dragons as Gods,” she said, “and you befriended one of the latter…”

“That she’s powerful,” said Bismuth, cutting that particular topic short, “that much is obvious but going back to the deity part, Neophyte, you cannot ride a Dragon in front of the people of Oasis under any circumstances.”

“Fafnir will tell them that I ride her anyways!” I said.

‘Ow. You woe me- but you're right, it still hurts, but you're right,’ She chimed into the conversation.

“See?!” I gestured at the flying dragon outside the window.

“Riding a dragon at this height and with your clothes is unsafe,” Pearl pointed out to the nod of my siblings, “and even if you’re fine with it, all of us aren’t and you lost to a unanimous vote so just let it be Neophyte,” I pouted and took a seat, damn it, why did I stay inside my room for the entire 14 years that I lived with my past life? Couldn’t I have like, gotten out at least? Started talking to people maybe?.. Then maybe I could've convinced them to let me go out or something...

Pearl perked up, “Oh, and speaking of safety, we are now descending, so don't jump down like some sort of lunatic.”

“But I can’t wait to meet Laceresta,” I muttered and then paused- I turned to my family who weren’t looking in my direction and were clearly doing their own things, “... Pearl, did you hear what I said just now?”

She turned to me, “No? Why? Did you say something important?” She asked.

“... no.” I answered, “nothing important.” Goddess, I said the name of a girl I haven’t even met yet, if they heard that… what would they think? Would they ask me about it? I hope not because I honestly don’t want them to know about my past life and how I literally took over Neophyte’s body as a child. Do I have an answer besides that? Were we told Laceresata's name?.. No, we were just told that she's the Beast King. No name was mentioned.

Almost. I was this close to being found out.

Our carriage soon touched the ground and the feeling of lightheadedness that I felt started to disappear, I stood up and stretched, “Goddess that was a long and painful ride,” I said with a sigh, “looks like I’m gonna have to miss my weekly aid to the two territories then,” I met Pearl’s concerned gaze, “I’m fine with it, don’t worry,”

“Pretty sure you already did enough when you wiped out that monster horde,” pointed out Bismuth to the nod of everyone else, “and it’s not like the people will hate you for missing a day or two, of aid,”

“That is a good point,” Amber nodded as she stood up, “now, how about you put that at the back of your mind and focus on getting an amicable relations hip with the future Empress of the Oasis?” She added as we all filed out of the carriage, she looked up and smiled, “oh, it looks like they’ve just arrived as well,”

I hummed as I stared at the faraway sky, its mostly blue coloring blotted out by a bunch of black dots flying in the air, I knew what they were, and I knew just how critical the people of Oasis are for riding the half-dragons that they were using as mounts.

To my side, Fafnir landed and met my gaze, I nodded at her, “looks like the Wyvern Brigade is about to show us their full force of…" I sighed, “200 hundred,” yeah, that’s pretty weak compared to some RNG borne iterations of that army, but also, them being medium sized feels kinda realistic somehow…

… but that's not really important, I faced my Dragon, “Okay Fafnir, make sure to not cow all of the Wyverns with your presence, we don't want the Wyvern Brigade seeing their mounts bowing down to you,”

‘... that would be impossible, Neophyte,’ replied my Dragon and yeah, fair, it is impossible isn’t it? Since the damn things have the mindset of ‘the strong rules the weak’ no matter what so they’d probably bow down to Fafnir while their strongest Wyvern- who I know is named by the captain of the Brigade Armos, - would try to run forward and wrestle my 20 foot long dragon with his meager 13 foot body and… yeah, it’s not gonna end well for him.

The brigade soon landed and we watched as Renos- the leader of the Brigade, - dismounted from Armos, which he was doing his best to reign in, his teeth were gritted from the effort of pulling the Wyvern back from attacking Fafnir before their future Empress could dismount herself from his back and when Lacaresta got off, he let go of the reins and Fafnir and I sighed- “do you want me to take care of it?”

‘What would happen if I get involved?’ She asked.

“... the Brigade would follow you,” I admitted, “which is bad considering that they’re Oasis’ pride,”

‘Please defeat it,’

I nodded and used a no-risk Technique to get this over with- Maximum Speed activated the world slowed to a crawl.

I eyed the Wyvern coming our way; Armos was kicking up dirt with each of his steps and honestly, I couldn’t help it, I chuckled at how silly he looked while in slow motion but enough of that- I kicked off the ground and recalled my Pledge to make the fight non-lethal and before the slowed Wyvern- in my perception at least, - could even realize what was happening to him, I started punching its throat, chest, and the major ligaments on his wings before moving on to his hind legs, I kicked his ankles and when I saw him start to fall down in slow motion, I went back to Fafnir’s side and manually deactivated the effects of my Technique.

Time went back to its regular flow and everyone just stared in surprise as the Wyvern suddenly fell down with a yelp- well, everyone except for Laceresta, who was eyeing me with interest, “well, I suppose the rumors were true,” she said with a feral grin, 8 foot tall height and muscular body making the gesture even more intimidating and the massive great axe on her back did not help with lessening that fearful impression in any way whatsoever, she and the rest of the Brigade moved forward until she reached our own entourage, “Laceresta Hemor, Beast King, I’m glad to finally be under the presence of the Saintess,”

“Neophyte Astral Everlast, and... I am not the Saintess,” I said in reply.

She laughed loudly, “guess that’s true as well!” She cackled and walked forward, lion ears at the top of her head twitching, she eyed Fafnir, “Goddess… she’s beautiful…”

And that I can agree with, I patted my Dragon’s arm, scales clanging against my gloved palm, “RIGHT?!” I said in excitement, “she’s the best!”

“So… why didn’t you allow Armos to attack her?” Laceresta asked, “Unconfident that she’d lose?” She smirked.

“Please,” I waved her off, “I know that the Bridage would follow Fafnir and since I don’t want her to go to the Oasis and I know that your Brigade wouldn’t want to stay around Everlast, I decided to settle with a compromise; humiliating the prideful wyvern by beating it myself, truly shameful, being beaten by a human such as myself,”

Laceresta laughed, “you’re right!” She shook her head and faced the depressed looking Armos, who right now is being comforted by his Leopard Beastman rider, “I’ve wrestled the damn thing when it got too arrogant and it still refused to be humble! Now look at where it’s at!” She laughed loudly and walked over to me before giving me the hardest pat on the back I’ve ever received in both lives, I actually wheezed from the hit, “good job!”

“Ahahaaaa…” I trailed off, “well, now that we’re comfortable enough for uh, physical interaction,” I ignored Pearl’s cough and a few of my younger siblings’ giggles and chuckles, “I brought you guys a gift!” I gestured to the two carriages full of food and other supplies as well as the cage that I put the cattle in, “uh, two carriages worth of food, it’s packed, trust me, and then two dozen greencows! Perfect for the desert! Hope that helps with your problems!”

“Huh, I didn’t know that you knew that,” said Laceresta, “Also… I thought only the west knew about the hardiness of the cows?”

“Eh, the ones that I take care of-” which is to say, the ones that I own so that they can be culled for my (completely original) fast food joint, “- easily get fat even when I feed them little, so I know they’re a bit hardy,” well, the actual truth is that the cows are capable of photosynthesis so they're perfect for the desert and can survive with little to no food but eh, I don't think the citizens of Oasis will appreciate learning that they're eating “plants” whenever they eat the cows.

“Huh, I would like to see these cows that you take care of, I've never seen an obese green cow before, and I've never eaten one too,” she said.

I grinned, “Sure! You'd love the taste too I think?”

“They're already planning their date.” Someone whispered-

“Well, I suppose that we’re already in an amicable relationship with your Empire?” Fortunately for my siblings, Adamantite butted in before I could figure out who said those words.

I turned to him and… oh, he was talking to Renos- who right now is nodding, “your future Queen is truly admirable for doing all of this for us,” he said with a bow, “I cannot thank her enough for helping us with our food shortage as well as giving us cattle fit for our home, really, thank you,”

“Eh, don’t mind it, also, I'm not their future Queen,” I said, and I didn’t miss the way Adamantite frowned when Renos called me the “Future Queen” but I think my siblings will talk him out of it, they usually do, “just uh, make sure to harvest them for milk instead of meat, they're good at producing the stuff, give them a few generations before you kill them or something,”

Renos nodded, “we shall, and if you must know, then I am sure that the Emperor wouldn't mind sending off his daughter to Everlast.”

I paused at that, isn't he already sending off Laceresta to Everlast?

As I mulled over Renos’ words, the King stepped forward and I held back a sigh while Laceresta let one out without an ounce of shame, which thankfully, everyone around her didn't call out for “being crass” or whatever.

‘Here comes the negotiations,’ I thought silently.