The next morning I woke up to a soft sensation in my hand. 'What is this?' I thought to myself. I squeezed a bit and heard a soft moan. Wait, what was that!
I open my eyes to see Naitsu lying opposite of me, facing towards me. She looks beautiful, even in the mornings. I look at my hand, IT WAS ON HER BREAST! Oh shit this is bad, after the seriousness and all that stuff like that last night, my body goes and pulls this kind of stunt!
I try to retract my hand before she wakes up, but it's already too late, that squeeze from earlier woke her up. I quickly retract my hand and turn over so as not to face her.
"Change your mind already my king?" she asks in a playful tone.
I blush, "I… Um… I'm sorry, I di-didn't mean t-too, please just fo-forget about it." I manage to stutter out.
"Oh I don't mind," she says hugging me from behind, "in fact, I wish you would do it more." she says, and licks my back slightly.
I shiver a bit, then flip over to face her. Her eyes stare into mine, they are beautiful, her eyes seem to contain so much love and understanding for what she is looking at, and that makes me love her even more.
I reach out my hand and brush the hair from her face. I then lead forward and kiss her neck, sucking slightly, leaving a faint purple mark.
"I have marked you, now you are mine, and only mine." I say. I use modify to make the faint purple shape itself into a heart that is filled with the crest of Corcia.
We slowly get up and get changed. She looks at the mark on her neck in awe, she seems happy with her new role in my life. We pack up our stuff and leave, not before I change myself back into the look of the messenger boy. We meet Asterian in at the main entrance and he looks at the mark on Naitsu's neck curiously, then looks at me with a big grin.
I roll my eyes, "It's probably not what you think Asterian."
He doesn't say anything and just chuckles. I hand the innkeeper a piece of paper.
"What is this?" he asks me.
"It's a recipe, a gift for allowing us to stay here at your inn. I hope it proves satisfactory. If you don't know one of the ingredients, I'm sure the king of this country or someone in the royal court here might know." I explain to him.
"Thank you for the recipe, but what do you mean by 'royal court' sir?" He replies.
I furrow my brows, "You mean there is no royal court in this country?"
"Not since the king arrived, he kicked them all out, saying he doesn't need advisors, 'just leeches off the royal treasury' he said. Since then he has been taxing the hell out of the people here, I'm lucky to meet ends meet, I'm sorry to say but prices were half what they are now before the king." he explains, "and to top it all off, he had his military capture every 18 year old maiden in the capital to make the best looking 10 be his wives. If you are delivering a message to him, miss, I'd best be careful�� he ends.
I nod my head, "That bastard Geo is abusing his power, son of a bitch doesn't deserve the crown, let alone a spot in this competition" I mutter.
"What was that?" the owner asks.
"Nothing," I say "If you are ever looking to get out of here, take this and head to the Corcian Empire, tell them the king sent you" I say, handing him a redwood pendant in the shape of the Corcian crest.
I turn and leave before he has the chance to respond. Outside the two guards from yesterday are standing watch.
"Please take us to his majesty, I will be delivering the message from my king today." I inform them.
They nod their heads and we head off towards the castle in the distance. Along the way we see many children and families looking sullen, skinny and depraved. I didn't know how we hadn't seen any of this yesterday.
As we got closer to the castle, there was another gate. I assume it was there to divide the commoners from the nobles, and the depraved from the luxurious. Although it may keep the nobles happy, these sorts of things would almost always lead to a rebellion from the common folk.
We entered the gate, and the difference was like heaven and earth. While in the outer city, people were depraved and lived in small huts, or together in larger homes, the inner city was full of mansions and the people seemed to enjoy themselves and little too much.
This fact just confirmed that there would most definitely be an uprising, and by the looks of it, within the next 2-3 years or so. We saw several young men trying to show off in front of young ladies. Many of the girls seemingly drenched in make-up, so much so you couldn't tell what was real or not. The boys all looked to be either muscle brained or arrogant, almost all being a combination of the two.
As we got nearer to the castle, there was a commotion among some of the noble children. The guards and our group walked over to them. As we approached we saw a man that looked to be 19-20, standing in front of a beautiful young girl, appearing to be 16-17.
This particular girl caught my eye as she was not doused in make-up like the others, all her looks were completely natural. And the attitude she gave off was calm and well mannered. Although she might not be as well dressed as the other ladies, she definitely rivaled their charm with her aura alone. She was dressed in a simple black dress that brought out a good amount of her curves, and her smooth looking chocolate brown hair was slightly curled on the ends.
The young man was robbed in a deep sky blue, and wore several gold rings, although only one of them being a spacial ring. He was blond, and gave off an arrogant and selfish attitude. This guy seemed to be the cliche young master that everyone hated but you couldn't do anything about because of his status. Standing behind him was a group of other young men, and of course there was a hulking young man as well. Damn, just how cliche could this get?
"Would you mind repeating your answer again?!" the young man seemed considerably pissed off.
"I don't want to marry you Stephan, I want to marry for love, and I am certain you cannot give me what I am looking for." the young lady replied.
The burly youth took a step forward, probably trying to intimidate her, but she didn't even flinch. 'I like this girl, she's a badass' I thought. I looked at the guards, but they were just looking around as though nothing was happening.
I walked over to the younger guard, "Who are they?" I whispered to him.
The young man gave a pitiful look, as though trying to escape from the situation. "The youth in the expensive looking clothes is Stephan van Reich, his father is the only man that was able to stay in the royal court, due to his uh… contributions." he answered quietly. "The young woman is Lin Yumir, her father was the previous minister, but has since fallen from his majesties graces, it's a pity though, he was a good and righteous man.".
It looked as though they really couldn't do anything, due to them being simple guards. They couldn't stand against this arrogant youth, because they were of the kingdom. Luckily, I was not.
"Excuse me young maiden, is this young man bothering you?" I shouted towards Lin.
I walk through the crowd with the aura of a passerby coming to save the damsel in distress. By god if this world was going to give me a cliche, then I'd be damned if I didn't shoot one right back at it.
"Who the hell are you!?" Stephan shouted at me. The burly youth then blocked my path.
I looked over at Stephan, "I don't believe I was talking to you" I say in a scolding voice.
I turn to look at Lin again and repeat my question, "Is this young man bothering you?".
Lin looks at Stephan and then looks at me and nods, "Yes, he is bothering me, he has been for a long time now." she says in a flat tone.
Stephan stares at Lin, "Don't act all arrogant because you are the former minister's daughter, he is nothing now, hehe, and neither are you." Stephan chuckles.
I frown, "I don't believe the young lady is the one acting arrogant here young sir" I say in a condescending tone.
Stephan glares at me and snaps his fingers. The burly youth then throws a punch at me. When it hits the ground it sends up a cloud of dirt and debri.
"Haha, commoners should learn their place." Stephan laughs.
"I don't know buddy, you never know if the commoners will rise up to take your place one day" I say from behind him.
Stephan jumps away from me, "H-How did you… when…" he can't get out the words.
I ignore him and walk up to Lin, "Are you alright, miss...?" I ask her.
Lin nods her head, "You may call me Lin, and I am fine now, thank you very much for your help, sir…?" she responds.
I move next to her ear at a speed in which nobody can see, "Tristan, Tristan Chishiki, but that will be our little secret alright?" I say then back away.
She seems a little flustered from me being so close but she nods her head. Although she probably didn't understand the importance behind the name, she would realise it eventually as I had snuck one of my pendants into the bag she was carrying along with a note intended for her father.
It read: Hello sir Yumir, I hear that you are a good man, but sadly circumstances have led you to your current situation. Although I can not do much for you here, I can do something for you elsewhere. Do not tell Lin about this as I want her to find this out on her own, but I am Tristan Chishiki, king of the Corcian Empire, and I would like to formally give you a position there. I have heard from your people that you are a good and honest man, and that you would treat a commoner no different than a noble. These are qualities I find lacking in this world, but let it not be said that they are not needed. I would greatly appreciate your services in my empire.
As I backed away from Lin, Stephan stormed up to me extremely frustrated.
"YOU, do you have any idea who I am!" he screamed.
"Not really, but I don't really care either as there is nothing you can do to me." I say bluntly.
"Do you think you can escape the minister of this kingdom," he shouts, "nobody can refuse his orders".
I point to the crest on my chest, "In case you are blind, or retarded, maybe both, I am not of this kingdom, and I am a messenger from the Corcian Empire, so unless your, father I presume, can stand against the empire, I suggest you go bother some spoiled noble girl.".
Stephan looked at the crest on my chest and took a step back. "M-My father will hear about this!" he yells before running off with his team of delinquents in tow.
I turn to Lin to see her bowing, "I thank you for your help once again" she says bowing.
"Raise your head, I am just a messenger after all." I say with a smile.
She looks me up and down.
Before she can say anything I strike a pose and say "see anything you like" and give a wink.
She blushes before shaking her head. "Well, I don't know about that, but I can tell you are not a simple messenger, if you ever need anything, talk to me." se says, bowing again.
I stop her from leaving. "Actually there is, you see earlier when I snuck up on you, I slipped some things into your bag, but don't look into them, give your bag directly to your father, no questions asked. Tell him what happened here, and like I said, no peeking." I say in a serious tone.
Lin looks confused but nods her head, "I will do that" she says before walking off.
I walk back to my group and the two guards who look at me nervously. I'm guessing they thought I was just a harmless messenger but after showing that off they must be scared that they would be unable to stop me if I wanted to do anything.
"Don't worry, I am just here to deliver a message, although sorry for lying, these two are here to hold me back, not protect me" I say with a grin.
They don't seem like they feel much better, but eventually they calm down and the younger one speaks first.
"Thanks for handling that, there was nothing we could have done. The minister was very good to everyone, and we would have liked to have helped his daughter, but, well, I think you get the point." he says nervously.
I nod my head, "Well then, off to the palace!"