The chief of police had wasted no time getting witnesses sorted and interviewed, presumably at Mr Rygiel's behest as they avoided Tatiana and her friends.
By the time they were allowed to leave Gwyn was feeling very stressed and tired, the three girls had been guarding her like mother bears. Thankfully Tatiana was quick to usher them out the back, her father was staying to handle the clean up and had told them to head home where it was safer.
Several new bodyguards, the older ones lined the halls in body bags, bundled them into the back of a nondescript car and drove them off to the Rygiel estate. They didn’t stop for traffic, only moving swiftly through lights that changed for them.
Gwyn felt like she was in a dream but that could just be the shock setting in. The nighttime city streets zipped by her window, blurring into an unrecognizable mess in her brain.
The Rygiel estate loomed far more imposing than ever before, the whole place was alive with activity. Heavy duty flood lights lit up the lawns and surrounding roads, patrols of armored and armed security roamed freely and even a sniffer dog had been run along the stopped car, checking it for bombs.
Once inside Tatiana’s wing of the palace Gwyn was diverted by a maid towards a glossy bathroom and was stripped and washed in a professional swiftness. Her sweat and blood splattered clothes were consigned to a heat-death as the maids deemed them unfixable, she couldn’t find it in herself to care.
The soak in the hot bubbly waters was heavenly after the night’s chaos.
A maid sat behind her and cleaned the blood from her hair. How it got there she didn’t know but she was grateful to the maid as she kept Gywn from drowning as she dozed in the bath.
Before she even realized she had been clothed in a fresh pair of pajamas that once again was suspiciously in her exact size. She couldn’t find it within herself to care this time either, at least they were comfortable.
Once they had finished dressing her the maid guided her to Tatiana’s large and luxurious room, if left to her own devices she was sure she would get lost. Inside the spacious room the terrible trio were awaiting her on Tatiana’s massive bed, when they saw her tired form they jumped to their feet and swarmed her, poking and prodding to see if she was hurt.
Somehow despite the chaos of the night, she thankfully hadn’t gotten hurt at all.
“Back up please.” Gwyn yawned as she brushed off poking fingers.
She steered Tatiana by the shoulders and pushed her onto the bed, collapsing upon it beside her. The others joined her, crawling along the mass until they were all cocooned by the soft blankets and fluffy pillows.
Gwyn had been holding off asking about the titles provided by the system, she both respected their privacy and wanted them to tell her themselves. Now after tonight's events she realized she should have trusted in them fully and simply asked.
“I know you girls have been hiding stuff from me and I’ve been hiding something from you. I’d like it if we could all be honest with each other, after tonight I think we really need it.” Gwyn waited until the nervous girls nodded before spinning her tale.
It was a rather short story, one simply about her midnight trip into the woods and the strange object she had found.
She told them about everything.
When she told them about their titles they started taking her story seriously, before they had the expressions of someone listening to a bad joke but now they had a sharp look of concentration.
By the end her cheeks were only slightly pink as she named her class and the abilities it gave her, she didn’t want to hide anything from them anymore. The girls had the same reaction to her class, they simply nodded as if it was expected which elicited a sulky pout from her.
Finally she ended the story with her actions tonight, detailing how she had used her abilities. She debated holding back on the kissing ability as she knew exactly what they’d want to do later but she told them anyway as she didn’t want to lie anymore.
“No fair, we should get a magic kiss too!” Marion complained while Cécilia nodded beside her.
“That was the part you focused on?” Gwyn’s cheeks burned with embarrassment even though she had anticipated this.
Cécilia hummed “it’d be only fair, plus it’ll prove your story.” Her voice was a little too innocent for Gwyn’s liking.
“Can’t I use Alluring Sight to prove it?”
“Nope, we’re too used to it by now we need something new, so Tatiana can sit this one out.” Marion playfully shoved Tatiana away.
“Hey, no fair!” she complained from her sprawled out spot.
Gwyn quickly realized that her friends wouldn’t move on from this and if she tried to move the conversation forward they’d somehow use conversational judo to make it her idea, it had happened once before with going to an ice-cream parlor.
“Fine” Gwyn sat up tiredly on the bed.
Marion tried to scurry into first position but was thrown with an actual judo move off the bed by Cécilia. The ginger haired girl smiled demurely at Gwyn as if she hadn’t just launched her friend across the room.
As their lips touched for a brief moment, the Kiss of the Succubus activated and sparks flew once again. Tatiana watched wide-eyed from her hiding place in the pillows like she was watching something scandalous. Like before the girl she kissed froze for a second before gingerly touching her lips “It does tingle.” she breathed softly.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Gwyn was still concerned about what the kiss did, there was no way it just made them have tingly lips.
What was a succubus anyway?
“My turn!” Marion shouted as she scrambled onto the bed.
Once again the Kiss activated as soft lips touched and Marion too was stunned for a few seconds. If that was all it did, it would be the worst ability ever.
“Now that that silliness is over, can you three explain what’s up with you three.” Now she was done being harassed she wanted answers.
The three sobered up quickly at that and began briefly explaining their own stories.
Tatiana herself had grown up exposed to the chaos and uncertainty of the city, she had a deep insight in the instability their society was built upon. Her father had, through force, blackmail and clever investments, wrangled together the underworld into a stable element. Nobody was meant to do anything in his city without his say so, after tonight Tatiana had suspected there would be a crackdown on crime from both the police and her father.
Now that she was eighteen and experienced enough in this life she had been assigned several legitimate businesses like the Dancing Crane and Spectacle to launder her father’s dirty money.
Marion proclaimed herself as a master spy.
Her father was a respected politician in the local government and had deeply influenced the girl growing up. He was capable of changing his personality on a whim to manipulate either the public or other party members and had taught that skill to her, to use her to spy on his political rivals. She’d infiltrate wherever she was told to, changing her identity and nature like one would change clothes.
Currently she was on retainer to Tatiana but had chosen a psyche of more a friend and sometimes rival. Gwyn suspected the spy had forgotten where she began and the mask ended
Lastly was Cécilia, she was constantly encouraged to attend any and all athletic competitions. This drive for perfection had pushed her further and further into extreme sports; skydiving, parkour, racing, anything that could get her blood pumping. Somehow that desire for excitement had driven her to professional assassinations.
She didn’t say much about how that had happened or what she did in her work. She had a coldness to her that if Gwyn didn’t know the girl personally she would think it was some sort of psychopathy. She did say that right now she was working as Tatiana’s bodyguard and enforcer.
It seemed Tatiana was the lynch pin or at least the money of the group, but where did that leave Gwyn in the group’s new dynamic?
“What about me? Why are you friends with me? I’m not rich or skilled in much, I don’t see why I’m here” Gwyn spoke softly into the sheets that she was clutching tightly.
Three soft pairs of hands took her hands into their own and unbunched the sheets from her tight grasp, looking up she met the kind eyes of the killers she called friends.
“We like you. That’s enough for us”
This time when the Kiss of the Succubus activated it was under her own imperative.
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Gwyn woke with a gasp, her back drenched in sweat. Nightmares had plagued her sleep, haunting her with visions of blood and death and she saw her hands were soaked in the blood of the man she had killed. She saw visions of her friends die, of what would have happened if she hadn't been there. They would have died in a hail of gunfire, without her skill pulling attention to the flashbang at the right time.
As she knew that she wouldn’t be getting any sleep any time soon, she picked her way out of the tangled limbs and headed over to the bay windows that overlooked the grounds, the sprawling city of Winterfield lay beyond.
Her bag had been placed in the room by a maid, searching around inside she removed her new unread book, The Princess and the Thief. Settling herself in a comfy armchair that allowed the lights of the city to illuminate her book, she began to read.
It was a fairly simple love story about the titled princess. In the book the princess had her heart stolen suddenly in the night and petitioned a local green haired thief to find and retrieve it with her.
The pair of friends traveled the length and breadth of the kingdom searching for the princess’ lost heart, they fought the greatest of rogues and the foulest of dragons yet there was no stolen heart in sight.
It wasn’t until the end of the book that it was revealed that the thief had the princess’ heart all along and just didn’t know it. The pair ended up married and ruled the kingdom together happily ever after.
Gwyn closed the book and placed it gently to the side.
Ohh. She got it now.
The book had been a confession.
Gwyn buried her face in her hands as she giggled, she was so stupid.
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Gwyn woke up in the cold, she had fallen asleep in the comfortable armchair. She glanced over to the bed where the terrible trio were fighting over the blankets in their sleep, she opted not to join that losing fight and instead she decided to head out for an early breakfast.
Perhaps it was her new abilities as she was ravenous with hunger.
She wandered the hallways towards where she thought the dining room was. While doing so she thought about Tatiana’s confession novel, it was so cute. It had everything she loved: fantasy, romance and adventure all wrapped up in her favorite thing, books.
She had to applaud both Tatiana and herself, as they both had powered through the denseness she had. All those long looks and tender touches made more sense now, before she just thought she was a touchy person. Usually you’re meant to realize the confession then kiss, Gwyn had somehow gotten it backwards.
Eventually a maid had found her lost and roaming within the maze of hallways and had guided her to the dining hall, providing her with a heaping plate of flavorful bacon and eggs. By the time she had finished her first plate and had shyly asked for a second the others tumbled into the room, frantically searching for her.
“Where’d you go?” Tatiana panted as she sat down at the head of the table where a maid deposited a similar breakfast in front of her along with a small coffee.
“I couldn’t sleep so I stayed up a bit to read.” Gwyn shyly told her.
“Oh, what book?” Tatiana asked with cautious hope.
“The Princess and the Thief.” Gwyn timidly muttered as she deeply blushed.
“What…What did you think of it?” Tatiana nervously held her breath as she waited for Gwyn's judgment.
“I liked it,” Gwyn’s cheeks burned, “I liked the princess."
Tatiana looked like she was going to explode with happiness as she vibrated in her seat “I liked the thief better.” she powered her words out.
The pair briefly met eyes as they flushed with both excitement and embarrassment.
“Booo~” Marion complained from the side.