Chapter 402 - Restrained Desires
The woman seemed more terrified by the lord of the city bowing to her in apology, and she began stuttering with a blush, unable to form coherent words. Arthur was confused, as he never had someone falter just from talking to him.
"Th...no- it's o-okay..." the woman was young, only a bit older than Arthur, and she had freckles beneath her green eyes. He could tell that her innocent appearance allured the knights, but their punishment was inevitable.
"Can I know what house you are living in?"
They have numbered the houses the people occupied to facilitate their management, and it was pretty handy. After obtaining the number of the house, Arthur nodded and offered his hand, which the girl grabbed.
"You might feel a bit dizzy, but this is the safest way to go back," the girl disappeared after hearing Arthur's words, and he went back to the Knight of Courage.
As he told the Titled Knight about the behavior of the knights, who have been teleported here earlier by him, she was fuming with rage. But, unlike him, Courage unsheathed her sword as the knights held the two culprits to be executed.
"Wait," Arthur raised his hand. As much as he would like to get rid of such trash, he knew that men evolved in this way: a mindless pursuit to reproduce, at least when hormones pump through their veins.
"Don't try to appeal for them, Seika. My men knew of the iron rule: whoever acts like a bandit dies," the rest of the knights had a look of resolution, and the two pinned down didn't try to defend themselves.
"They should be punished or imprisoned, or whatever. However, I think it's unfair to execute them just yet. You aren't just a knights' captain anymore; you are also an official of the city. So there's a problem and executing some of the culprits is nothing but a temporary solution."
"What do you suggest, Seika?"
"A brothel," the words made the knights' eyes light up with the restrained desires of men. Arthur would have loved to have soldiers who could restrain themselves or simply solve it on their own, but he knew that they weren't living in an ideal world.
"I refuse," the Knight of Courage seemed disgusted that such a thing would be built by the government. Arthur almost laughed when the knights lowered their heads in disappointment. They were acting like puppies.
"Don't be quick to dismiss it," Arthur sighed. He raised his hand defensively when the Knight glared at him. "It's not for me, but for your men, as I'm sure they have suffered enough."
"And from where would you bring the... workers?" Courage glanced at her men with disgust, and it sent shivers down their spine.
"Aquamia," Arthur smiled as he tried to convince her. "I'll choose them myself, making sure they don't have any STDs."
"What are STDs...?" everyone was confused, and Arthur realized that he misspoke, as he used an abbreviation from Earth.
"I mean workers without any illnesses," Arthur corrected, and the knights seemed touched that he cared about their health. "I'll make sure they aren't forced to it by people or the circumstances."
"So, you think that people just do it for fun?" The Knight of Courage looked at him questioningly, and Arthur realized that he didn't know enough about the subject to answer that.
"I don't know, but I'll try to bring those that fit what I promised," to his words, Courage nodded helplessly. However, she walked out right after and gave the knights and Arthur one last glance.
"Disgusting animals," she spat and left.
"Why am I included?" Arthur sighed and turned toward the knights. "I'm warning you here and relay my message to your brothers. After this, if I find anyone doing the same as these two, I'll gut them myself."
His words weren't rageful but casual, and that made them scarier for the knights. Arthur walked toward the knights and crouched in front of them, a smile hanging on his lips.
"Don't think that you got out of this," unknowing to him, his smile resembled a devil to the knights. "I'll make sure that the people never forget your faces as the two who became a dire lesson for others."
Arthur would also strip them of their knighthood as the city's lord and assign them to work in the mines with ogres or the like. He imagined them trying to pick up female ogres, only to be used as a toothpick.
***
Despite his ability to teleport, Arthur knew he couldn't barge into the city like that. Thus, they had to take a carriage and go on land, an uncommon route to visit the city of Aquamia. It couldn't be helped since they didn't have ships or a dock yet.
"Phew, at least we are on schedule," Ma sat on the opposite side of him. "I never thought that Miss Dia would..." the young man said as he adjusted his glasses, which he recently began to wear.
"Am I bothering you?" Dia looked at him arrogantly, and the man trembled in fear. The fact she was called a weapon of mass destruction because of her strength justified his fear.
"No, not at all!" his voice turned a pitch higher out of fear, and Arthur almost laughed.
"Hey, don't terrorize my people," he knew that she didn't do it on purpose, but her cold attitude was still one of the reasons that people feared her.
"I'm sorry," after a short silence, the princess apologized. Arthur and Ma were both shocked, and the latter almost stood up to kneel on the ground.
"Forgive me, your highness," Ma was more terrified by her apology than her displeasure. Arthur could understand the sentiment, but he could tell that Dia was getting angrier because of his reaction.
"Alright, shut up and sit down," Arthur waved his hand at the man, and he glanced at the princess and sat down, fidgeting.
"Can you kick him out?" the princess turned to Arthur and asked, and he could do nothing but look at his follower helplessly.
"Sir, I still have to report..." Ma began to appeal, but he got teleported into another carriage. Then, seeing that the girl beside him was satisfied, Arthur smiled.
"I hate everyone," Dia leaned back in a relaxed manner when they were alone. "They treat me as if I'm a beheading demon, while you are the one going around beheading them."
"I did that for you, did I not?" Arthur smiled as he looked out of the window. "A daughter of a wealthy family never has it easy," as he muttered the words told to him long ago, a wave of nostalgia flooded through his mind, bringing back all the happy memories he shared with Emma.
The last time they met, she was crying because of the prince. Despite nobility being indifferent to polygamy, Arthur knew it was hard for her to accept that her fiancé was going around with other girls.
Who didn't dream of love?
Now, they were a world apart, and Arthur had no time to think about her. It made him guilty to be sitting here with the princess while forgetting about her, but there was nothing he could do.
He never asked to be thrown into another world, and it's not like they were together. Emma had her plans, and they included marrying someone he hated, so Arthur had to respect that.
"I sadly agree," Dia muttered as she turned to him, her blonde strands falling beside her. "I just wish that I'm more than Princess Dia to others, an epitome of fear."
"Do you want me to call you by your name only?"
"Do you even know it?"
"Uh," Arthur paused. As he thought about it, he only referred to her as Dia. His title was always called the Duke of Fire, and he never got to learn of his name. "It's not Dia?"
"Dia is what my father calls me, and it stuck that I'm Dia, the cold princess. No, I was the blind and helpless princess before. My given name, the one my mother called me with, isn't Dia."
"I'm sorry," Arthur felt quite embarrassed that she knew his name, and he never bothered to ask for hers. She was always Dia for him, and it never occurred to him that she had a different name. "May I ask, my lady, what is your honorable name?"
"Pff," she chuckled and looked at him with a sweet smile. "My name is Diana Eistar," she paused before adding. "The last name is one belonging to my mother, not my father."
"Diana," Arthur repeated it, and he could tell that she wasn't used to it. "Eistar... what does it mean?"
"The Frozen Star," Diana answered as she turned to look through the carriage's window. "It belongs to the family of Ice Spirits living in the north of Alva, and it's the reason my father married my mother."