Looking at the beautiful woman in front of me, I muttered, “What the fuck?” I immediately closed my mouth, and thankfully no one seemed to notice my outburst.
“What the fuck!?” Luckily, the king shared my response, and voiced what I was thinking for me. I glanced back at Bruce, but the big man averted my gaze. So he knew? That asshole. How did I ever think he had my best interests at heart?
“Reya, how many times have I told you not to come into the throne room without permission!” Her father fuming, the princess just shrugged.
“Come on dad, it’s not a big deal. Plus,” she said, pointing to me, “I was taking care of Josh all week, and I’d like to think I formed a connection with him.” If by connection, she means deceiving me and putting on false airs, then yes, we have a mighty strong connection right now.
She turned to me and flashed me a smile. “How do you like my legs, Joshua?” She pulled up her already short pants, revealing her thighs. They were pitch black, like the rest of her legs. “This is the latest style in skin repigmenting. It’s called, ‘Leg Sleeve’. You know, like sleeves of tattoos people have on their arms? It’s totally vogue right now!”
I stared blankly at the motormouth princess before her father cut in. “Have you no shame, girl! Look at where we are! How much longer are you planning to drag your reputation through the mud!”
Reya glanced at her mother, and Queen Metron clapped her hands together. “Thank you for coming, everyone. The Kingdom greatly appreciates your time. However, due to unforeseen circumstances,” she shot a pointed look at Reya, who shrunk back from the confrontation, “we will have to end this session early. You are all dismissed. For those of you staying for the summit tomorrow, the guards can show you to your rooms.”
The two guards behind Bruce, Devin and Craig, stood up sharply and ran to the giant metal doors we had come through only minutes before. The various nobles that had been gathered started walking towards the door, but not before a few of them sent glares my way.
Bruce himself moved towards us, and Queen Metron put up the sound barrier again. Oh, is that psionics? I felt the field expanding around us… weird. I didn’t like that.
“I was wondering if you were going to make a move, but I never imagined it would be in front of the Metron Kingdom nobility. I figured you for a more, ‘behind the scenes’, type of lass.”
Reya scoffed at the comment. “Of course I am, Bruce. I just spent three days undercover taking care of Joshua, and trying to get him to a place he can function mentally, but that’s besides the point.”
I rolled my eyes. She doesn’t even realize that since she was asking me asinine questions about where I used to be, and not anything about me personally, she was practically useless save for feeding me. How sad.
“Anyway,” Reya continued, “I would have continued to remain there if not for my thick-headed father trying to ruin another potential asset.” The king opened his mouth, but apparently thought better of it and closed it again. Seeing that as a sign, Reya began again.
“I’d like to make Joshua my Duskblade.” This time the king’s jaw fully dropped, and even the queen held her hand up to her mouth in surprise.
“Reya, dear,” the queen said, “that’s a nice thought and all, but that’s a very important position. Even now, you still haven’t found a Dawnblade for yourself. Why don’t you focus on finding that first?”
First Paladins, Knights, Bounty Hunters, and now Duskblades and Dawnblades? What the fuck is going on here? I shot a glance at Bruce, who mouthed, ‘later,’ and turned my head back in time to see the king shake his head. “Absolutely not young lady. You haven’t done anything recently to even provide me with the notion that you deserve to be rewarded. Why would you think I would give you permission for this?”
Reya clicked her tongue, but realizing her father heard it, quickly shifted her demeanor to give him an absolutely blinding smile. “Because, dad, I’ll make a bet with you.” The king’s eyes narrowed as he inspected his daughter.
“Go on. If this doesn’t have to do with your current situation, young lady, then I’m having none of it.” Reya’s smile slowly shifted into a smirk.
“Of course it does Dad. Anyway, back to the bet. I bet you that Joshua can beat Gazix in a one-on-one fight in the arena in only two weeks.” Who the fuck would ever agree to a fight for you?
The king looked shocked, but then tilted his head back and let out a throaty laugh. The sound continued without end for an uncomfortably long amount of time, but the princess just stood there, bearing it, with the smirk still on her face.
Eventually the king stopped, but not before using his long robe to wipe away the tears in his eyes. “Ah, that was good. I really needed that, thank you Reya.”
She let him calm down for a moment before she spoke again. “So, what do you think?” He stared at her dumbfounded, and looked to his wife before looking back at Reya.
“Ah, then that wasn’t a joke to lighten the mood? Ahem. Well, what would you gain if you were to accomplish such a task?” He seemed to be asking out of courtesy more than actual curiosity, but the princess’ good mood couldn’t be spoiled.
“You’d grant me priority succession rights to the throne.” The king’s eyes widened and I could hear Bruce coughing behind me.
“Honey, that’s-” Queen Metron started to speak, but the king held up a hand to silence his wife.
“What would I gain, Reya?” The undaunted princess stared her father down and the smile faded from her face.
“All rights to me, my person, my likeness, etcetera. Everything. I’d be a political puppet, no matter what I’d think about it.” The king smirked and drummed his fingers on the armrest of his throne.
“Very well, I accept.” He said. “Naturally the start of the two weeks would start today, right?”
Reya shook her head and pointed at me. “No, he needs to get acclimated to our culture first. I’ll give him lessons tonight so he’d be starting tomorrow, technically.”
The king nodded and struck his staff on the ground. “Deal accepted. Judgement!” A beam came from the chip on the king’s temple, and beamed a soft, blue light towards Reya’s. The moment it touched hers, the light turned red before fading to nothingness.
“The contract has been validated by Judgment. I look forward to your progress in two weeks young man. You may leave the throne room.” I just stared at the king, then moved my gaze to the two beside him.
“Sure, just give me enough money to start my life in town and I’ll be on my way.” My response was met with deafening silence.
Eventually, Bruce, who was still at my back, asked, “I’m sorry, what did you just say lad?” I turned to look back at him and shrugged.
“I said to give me the money to start a life outside of the castle, and I’ll be fine with it. As for the exact amount, it doesn’t have to be too much. I’ll figure out how to live on my own.” Reya just looked at me, a thousand yard stare on her face.
“But- but weren’t you going to help me?” Who in their right mind would? I kept my poker face on and shook my head.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“No. In the first place, I don’t recall ever being asked for permission. Secondly, who in their right mind would get mixed up in this political shitstorm you and the king have brewing here? Certainly not me. And lastly, even if I did accept, how would I win against a person who sounds like a seasoned fighter?”
The king just sat there, his eyes narrowed. After not too long he smirked and turned to Reya. “I guess this is my win then. After the two week’s duration of the contract is up, I’ll send your chambermaids to get you ready for marriage interviews.”
Reya opened and closed her mouth repeatedly before walking over to me. She turned to her father and said, “We will get this done, I just need a minute or two for negotiations. If you would be so kind as to wait a moment…”
King Metron nodded. “I see you’ve at least retained some things from your etiquette classes. Very well. I’ll give you ten real-world minutes. After that, let the poor boy go and quietly return to your room.”
He thinks I won’t change my mind. I thought with a smirk as a beam of light projected from Reya’s chip… You know what? I’m going to start calling it a Judgement Panel. Official name be damned. The light traveled to my own and a notification popped up in my field of view.
Princess Reya Rust Metron is trying to initiate contact with you in Judgement subspace. Do you accept?
Yes. I thought, and the world around me went black. Not that I had closed my eyes, but the light had faded from the world. When it came back, I was in a small brick room. There were no appliances, nor any furniture in the room, just a small, pink chibi-esque cat.
“Welcome to subspace, Josh.” The tiny cat grinned in an impish manner.
“Wow that’s gross.”
“Who’s gross! This is cute I tell you!”
“Ah, oops. Forgot to filter those words to thoughts only.” As it turns out, malformed felines, when given real world qualities, were quite disgusting. The thing’s eyes bulged from it’s head in an unnatural manner, and it’s row of human-like teeth was disturbing to say the least. Worst of all, the thing wasn’t wearing any clothing, so several sets of nipples and a reproductive organ greeted me from the cat standing on its hind legs.
“Don’t you dare forget who you’re addressing! It is I, Princess Reya Metron!” She pointed a paw at me and put the second on her hip, looking extremely satisfied.
“Uh, Princess?”
“Yes Josh?”
“I think you forgot something.” I pointed to her body and she looked down.
After a few moments of observing herself, she slumped over and sighed, muttering a single word in the process, “Fuck.”
---
After Reya had obtained some clothes from Judgement, we resumed talking.
“Let the first Emergency Team Reya Meeting begin! The cat distracted me by wagging its tail back and forth. As soon as I realized I was supposed to speak, I used it to voice a request.
“Princess, can you please go back to your human form? To be honest it’s distracting to talk with a… cat.” If it can even be classified as an animal, and not an abomination. The cat sighed and snapped it’s fingers.
When she realized the model didn’t have any fingers to snap, she clapped her two paws together and became the princess once more. “Better?” She asked, her tone clearly not amused.
“Much.” I nodded. “By the way can you let me out? I have a whole new life to make in Ethia.” I looked her up and down before adding, “Preferably one without any insane nobility in it.”
I turned my back on her and spoke directly to the super AI. “Judgement, please disconnect me fro-”
My sentence was cut short as Reya tackled me from behind. Or at least, she tried to. Perhaps getting herself caught up in the moment and forgetting that we had virtual bodies, the princess passed right through me, landing on her stomach at my feet.
“W-wait! Please! At least hear me out!” Princess Reya got up on her knees and begged me, tears in her eyes. “You can’t just leave, I’ll lose my freedom!”
Some part of me snapped, and I looked down at her, causing her to flinch. “You’ll lose your freedom? Why the fuck do you think I care?” Ah, I’m being a complete piece of shit. “It hasn’t even been a week since I’ve been stripped from my normalcy, thrown into a jail cell, and been lied to by the two people I thought I could trust!”
Reya backed up a bit, but I stepped forward to cover the distance. Now that the cork on my emotions had been taken off, I couldn’t stop the words coming out of my mouth. “To make it worse, you couldn’t even control yourself for a fucking minute to ask what I wanted, and instead put yourself in a mess that jeopardizes your own freedom! And I’m supposed to care!?”
I felt the tears start to well up in my eyes. Damn it. “Why the fuck would I care about your freedom when I’m worried about my own!? I don’t even have a single goddamn thing in this world to call my own besides the clothes on my back!” I could see the fear in Reya’s eyes. I tried to stop, I knew I wasn’t really mad at her, but just dumb circumstance.
“So please, please tell me.” My voice lost all it’s former passion, and I crumpled to my knees. “Tell me how I can be normal again.” Despite my best efforts, the tears didn’t stop.
I saw Reya’s arms come around my figure as she held them above me, for the simple fact that she couldn’t actually hold me in here, for the simple fact that no one could console me in here.
Minutes must have passed before I regained my bearings and stood up, passing through Reya’s arms. I turned away, too embarrassed to look her in the face. “Sorry about that, but as you can see I have my own problems to deal with.” I started the process of hardening my heart once more, trying to numb myself to the constant pain.
I heard the princess stir behind me. There was a brief pause before she spoke. “No, I’m sorry. Since I was visiting you everyday I thought you were starting to make a recovery. I didn’t think about the fact that you could be hiding your pain. I’m a failure as royalty.”
She let out a dejected sigh before walking around to my front, and looking me in the eyes. “What can I do to make you accept? I know I am putting you in an inconvenient place, but I need your strength right now, and I believe it will lead me into the future.” I looked her up and down, my gaze lingering over her thighs, then moving to her hips, before wandering to her breasts, and finally her well-proportioned face with full lips.
“I… I’m not a good person, you know.” I tried to sound as vulnerable as possible. She walked closer to me, a visible blush on her face.
“Just say it, I know what you’re thinking.” I smirked despite myself.
“I doubt you do.” She shot me an inquisitive look, and I took it in before continuing. “I want your everything. I want what makes you, you.”
“What do you mean?” Reya backed up upon seeing the cruel smirk on my face.
“I want your agency, and your autonomy. I want the rights to the name ‘Princess Reya Metron.’ I want to profit off of your existence.”
I walked closer to the girl, who had turned back into her anime style cat form. “You monster.” She breathed.
Instantly, my smile vanished. “No. The term monster is what you call people trying to take advantage of the emotional weakness of others. I think you and your family fit that description far better than I.”
I turned away from her and started walking in the subspace. “What I’m doing right now is punishing your idiotic descision to trust a stranger from another world.”
Turning back towards her, I could see the anger in her eyes. “So, Princess, what will it be? Commodify yourself to me for two weeks, or to your father for the rest of your life?”
---
King Claude Metron watched as his daughter and the boy stirred. He truly wasn’t looking to strip away the girl’s freedom, more wanting her to learn the dangers her behavior could bring her.
“Bruce, bring Joshua to the front gate. We’ll be heading out as soon as I finish up with my parents. Send a call to Hideki labs, they’ll know why you’re calling.”
The trusted guard who had been a keeper in the palace since the days of Claude’s own childhood, nodded at the princess and the boy followed him. The boy looked back at the king, and Claude couldn’t help but shudder. There was something different about the boy. Something… colder, more calculating. Something that hadn’t been visible on the surface before.
He watched as the boy left, and turned to his daughter, who’s cheeks were flushed red. The king’s nose twitched as he suppressed a sneer. Of course his daughter had fallen in love with the boy. Starlords above, how has he neglected his daughters upbringing to this point.
Reya turned to him, and the smirk returned to Claude’s face. “I see that your negotiations were successful?” Reya’s face contained none of the previous confidence it had before, yet she still said in a tired voice, “Yes, and we will be sure to win the bet, father.”
Claude’s eyes widened. Reya had almost never called him father, even a few minutes ago she had called him, ‘dad’. Reya started to leave as the King sat up in his seat. “Reya, wait.” The woman stopped in her tracks, without turning to face her father.
“Yes, dad?”
‘Dad again, huh?’ The king thought. Had he just imagined it? Sitting back down in his seat, he asked, “What were the terms you and the boy agreed to?”
Without missing a beat, Reya answered, “They were specific. If I must be honest, I’m not sure I made the right choice. I might have made a deal with the devil I don’t know to spite the one I do.” With the king now slightly offended at being compared to a demon, he watched his daughter’s back as she walked off to meet up with her new toy.