"I can still turn back…but I have to do it!"

The boy stared at the key ring in his hand for a bit but eventually gathered his resolve.

The slightly rusted metal felt even heavier than it should. His body was tense, soaked with sweat, and trembling as the gravity of what he was doing sank in.

(It'll be okay… Everyone's asleep, so no one will notice.)

The boy walked onward by faint candlelight. The jangling of the keys he held echoed through the dimly-lit underground area.

This was the dungeon of a fortress belonging to the great military kingdom of Sodom. It was located near the border with the Courreges Queendom.

Sodom had recently invaded the neighboring queendom of Courreges and a few prisoners had been taken to this fortress near the border.

That underground world would normally remain dark even throughout the day, but the prisoners still used the night to sleep. The silence caused his footsteps to sound all the louder.

Tension, fear, and excitement mixed together inside him, so his heart pounded and his breathing grew heavy. The thought of being caught caused his legs to tremble and he very much wanted to run away right this instant.

(But I can't just watch this happen any longer…)

He had been orphaned when he was very young, so he had volunteered for his home kingdom's army. But as a commoner with no connections or money, he had been made a dungeon guard at a fortress in the countryside.

The distant location was unpopular with those who had families, but the boy had gladly taken the position since he had to work if he was to survive.

He had faithfully fulfilled his duties ever since. So he had needed a good reason for committing the major crime of drugging his colleagues and swiping the keys.

"Okay, time to open it…"

The boy gasped as soon as he started inserting the key in the lock.

That was because he had been briefly distracted by the beautiful girls holding each other in their arms and quietly sleeping behind the bars.

They both possessed a noble and refined aura not found in normal people, so they seemed to shine even inside the gloomy dungeon. Their presence was like a flower in the wasteland.

This was a race against time, but his heart pounded as he stared at a beauty the likes of which he had never before seen.

"…! Who is it!?"

One of the girls sensed his presence and woke up.

She glared at him with disagreeably sharp eyes.

"Oh, um…I'm no one suspicious…"

His voice cracked when she spoke to him while he watched them sleep.

"Being a Sodom soldier is suspicious enough!"

The girl's doll-like features twisted with anger and she stood up to shout at him. The boy was again left speechless when her full silhouette was revealed to him.

Her long and glossy blonde hair glittered in the faint candlelight and she wore it in gorgeous ringlet curls. She wore a deep red silk dress with elegant frills and she gave off a sense of exceptional nobility.

Her unique skirt became see-through partway down, giving a view of her long slender legs. The glimpses of her thighs were oddly sexual.

The dress's chest was left boldly open, revealing a deep cleavage. The extra-large breasts seemed about to burst from the dress and their size far exceeded the average for her age. The corset she wore only emphasized the presence of her chest.

And because she stood tall and pushed her chest out, those overgrown breasts gained even more intensity and they jiggled up and down whenever she moved. It was a toxic sight for a teenage boy who had lived a life devoid of femininity.

"N-no, I was trying to…"

The boy's eyes were glued to the girl whose developed body would make any guy turn his head and he did his best to force out his voice.

"…Nnn~, Mary, what is it? …Oh, who is that?"

The other girl sleepily rubbed her eyes and turned his way.

"It is nothing, Stella."

The girl who snorted unhappily was quite beautiful, but the one who had just woken up was on another level entirely.

The pure, unsullied color of her eyes was prettier than any jewel and her snow-white skin looked almost transparent. Her straight blonde hair was silkier than silk and glowed gently like the sun.

Her body was like a flower bud in the process of transforming from a girl to a woman and it was contained in an elegant dress of pure white and pale blue. The pure and tidy image suited her well.

Her chest was not as large as the curly-haired girl's, but it had grown plenty for her age and the ample roundness of her snow-white breasts looked charming in the lace border of the dress's chest.

She looked like a fairy from a fairy tale, so her beauty seemed somehow otherworldly.

"Um, my name is Akira. I'm here to rescue you two!"

"My! Is that true? You hear that, Mary? We're being rescued."

The girl with an angelic smile happily hugged the girl she called Mary.

"Stella, we must not trust the words of a Sodom soldier. He clearly plans to take us from the cell so he can violate us."

"No! I would never!!"

It was an awful accusation, but he understood what they were saying.

His home kingdom of Sodom had been conquering neighboring territories a lot in recent years. And this time, it had invaded Courreges without even declaring war, used the surprise attack to bring down a castle near the border, and captured two princess sisters.

The plan was to use them as hostages to make the rest of the invasion easier. In other words, the beautiful girls in front of him were the Courreges princess sisters: Stella Lily Gatomaritie and Rosemary Angelica Gatomaritie.

Akira had been disgusted with his home kingdom's underhanded methods and had risked stealing the dungeon keys to rescue them.

"Um…Akira was it? Are you really rescuing us?"

"Of course! Sodom's recent actions are simply unforgivable. The two of you are in danger if you stay here…so please escape with me."

The boy unlocked their cell with the keys. The door opened with a dull creak and they were free to leave.

"My…thank you very much!"

"Wait, Stella. Trusting this barbarian is too dangerous."

The younger princess was blatantly wary, but Stella happily left the cell. And she hugged the boy with the biggest smile on her face.

"Wah, wah!? Princess Stella…wh-what are you-…?"

A sweet aroma surrounded his body and a soft sensation pressed against his chest. He had never before sensed a girl's aroma or body heat, so he stared wide-eyed at the princess.

"I'm so happy I couldn't help myself. …Sorry. Come on, what are you waiting for, Mary? Hurry, hurry~"

Stella blushed when she realized what she had done and stepped back from Akira.

She must have had a luxurious upbringing. An innocent princess like her would never have doubted anyone before, so being captured like this must have been a frightening experience. She was so happy at being freed that she beckoned toward her younger sister while celebrating.

"I still don't trust you…"

With that, Rosemary left the cell with elegant steps. She brushed the dust off of her skirt, brushed back her blonde curls, and otherwise made herself presentable in the most beautiful way.

"Oh, Mary. Are you still saying that?"

"We need to be cautious. So what do we do now?"

Innocent Stella fidgeted in her eagerness to get going, but the younger princess crossed her arms and came to a stop once outside the cell.

"I have a carriage prepared outside. We will take that to Courreges's royal palace."

"Won't someone notice us?"

"I drugged the guards' drinks, so they're all asleep. I have transfer orders for two prisoners just in case, so we should be free to leave even if we are caught."

Rosemary's eyes widened in admiration. She must not have expected his escape plan to be so well thought out.

And she may have sensed how seriously he took this.

"Understood. …Now take us safely home."

"Yes, please do, Akira."

The older sister bowed and the younger sister gave him an arrogant look. The sisters behaved very differently, but both their fates weighed on the boy's shoulders.

"Then come this way."

"Oh… I want to see mother and everyone else at the castle…"

"You had better not screw this up!"

The three of them walked toward the spiral staircase that led to the surface.