Book 4: Chapter 169: When the Lord is on a Break in the Capital of Sarnia Duchy
Book 4: Chapter 169: When the Lord is on a Break in the Capital of Sarnia Duchy
The palace’s grand hall in the City of Swords, which was the imperial city of the Gabriel Empire, was filled with various scholarly and military ministers. Every news that the capital had received so far from the frontline in the south had been bad news.
The emperor of the Gabriel Empire, Alfred the Third, sat on his throne with a grim expression on his face as he heard the reports about the current battle situation from his ministers. The reports had caused this human emperor to fall into a deep depression.
Alfred the Great was the one who suggested that the human empires form a military alliance and combine their armies to go into the battle. He had ordered Marshal Krisman, one of his empire’s three grand marshals, to lead the duchies in the southern border to defend their empire against the Beastmen.
Little did he know, the hundred thousand allied troops had been obliterated within a couple of days. Initially, Emperor, Alfred the Third, wanted to help Prince Daniel accumulate some military and battle credit. Since the prince was first in line for the throne, it would make it much easier for him to rule when he ascended the throne in the future.
However, the army that consisted of ten thousand soldiers had met with defeat. Only the Grand Duke Bellina, the lord of the Sarnia Duchy, managed to defend against the invasion. The other duchies, such as Duke Brandon’s, had fallen at the first wave of invasion.
It rendered Alfred the Third completely speechless. He had thought that even if the allied army were not that strong, they would least be able to last around fifteen days. It would have given the empire’s army ample time to assemble and rush to the front to aid them in battle. Currently, there were merely two hundred and fifty thousand troops from the Gabriel Empire at the southern border. Based on the latest information, the invading Beastmen army’s strength was estimated to surpass that amount.
If Emperor Alfred the Third were to send more supporting soldiers, the additional supply of provisions would be a complete pain in the neck. The initially estimated supply was supposed to be sufficient to support two hundred and fifty thousand troops for a month or so. By increasing the number of soldiers at the frontlines, it would spell trouble for their current store of food provisions.
Even though the Gabriel Empire had been revered as the “Human Empire’s Biggest Granary.” However, the food supply trade had always been monopolized by the Renald family. Alfred the Third did not have enough backup food provisions on hand. Furthermore, those supplies were meant for the soldiers who were guarding the imperial city. If he transferred those food provisions to the frontline, chaos would ensue within the imperial city.
The Renald family had always used Princess Kriss’ refusal to enter into a marriage with their heir, Master Leonard, as an excuse to passive-aggressively go against the Emperor, Alfred the Third. There were more than enough food supplies in storage to go around, but the Renald family refused to sell any to the empire at retail price. Chances were, they were waiting for Alfred the Third to give them a more significant political advantage.
Princess Kriss was currently glued to Grand Duke Bellina’s side, and they were hiding in Sarni City, the capital of Sarnia Duchy. Emperor Alfred the Third had already sent at least ten Griffin Knights after her. However, none of them had succeeded in bringing Princess Kriss home.
Alfred the Third was in no position to offend the Grand Duchess Bellina. As the final stronghold along the southern borders, its existence already held much more political meaning than any other military matter. Alfred the Third needed to establish the existence of a hero to redirect the nation’s attention away from the humiliating failures of the empire’s army, concealing this dark part of the empire’s history from the public eye.
Now, Alfred the Third was stuck in a quandary. There was no way he could offend either party, which made things awkward. On one side, he had the Renald family, who was putting immense pressure on him to fulfill his promise and urge Princess Kriss to marry Leonard, despite his lower status. On the other side, it was the Grand Duchess Bellina, who had suddenly become the new overlord of the southern border and had Princess Kriss by her side.
The previous regional overlord of the southern border was the Grand Duke Brandon, who had some relations with the Renald family. However, along with the demise of the Norlander Duchy, he had stepped down and was now nowhere to be found. Without Duke Brandon’s restrictions to keep her in check, it was only a matter of time that the Grand Duchess Bellina would dominate and monopolize the entire southern border of the Gabriel Empire.
“Your Majesty, the messenger has returned from the Sarnia Duchy. It is the secret message that he had brought back. Please have a look.”
“Let me see, this is…”
At the moment, all correspondence from the Sarnia Duchy was being handled only by Emperor Alfred the Third. None of his ministers knew what kind of deals were being made with the Grand Duchess Bellina. The only thing the ministers could do was to remain silent as they watched a strange expression emerge on the emperor’s face.
According to the secret message from the messenger, the Grand Duchess Bellina was on her menstrual period and had not been seen in the past few days. At the moment, Sarni City seemed to be rather stable, and the guards did not show any hint of fear. By the looks of it, they would be able to maintain the status quo for the time being.
What timing to be on her menstrual period, at such a crucial time as well. Alfred the Third did not know whether to laugh or cry as it was not right for him to criticize Bella. It was a naturally occurring cycle for girls, and if he were to push the subject, it would reflect poorly on him. It would make him seem as though he was not a gentleman at all.
“Father, why are you hesitating? Quickly, send more soldiers as the backup to the Sarnia Duchy! Furthermore, Older Sister Kriss is at Sarni City with Princes Pamela and Princess Lisha, as well. What if the Beastmen attacked again? The consequences would be…”
“Khalifa, what are you doing here? Didn’t I tell you to…”
“Father, let’s leave that for another time. Answer my question, are you going to send any backup to the Sarnia Duchy?”
A beautiful young swordswoman with long wavy moon-white hair stood above the palace’s grand hall. She barged right into the meeting hall without greeting the emperor, with a precious sword in hand. The imperial guards at the entrance and inside the hall did not react to her weapon at all as Princess Khalifa had been permitted by the emperor, Alfred the Third, to carry her sword everywhere she went.
“You… you will stay out of this matter. Marshal Krisman will take charge. Instead, you should consider…”
“I don’t care! I can’t stand by and watch while Older Sister Kriss is in danger. After this, I will lead the support troops out to the southern border.”
Without waiting for Emperor Alfred the Great’s reply, Khalifa spun on her heel and left. It left confused looks on all the minister’s faces. As far as they knew, the sisters, Kriss and Khalifa, were practically strangers. However, when they were young, the princesses were extremely close.
Later, after Kriss went down a wrong path, her beauty had already surpassed Princess Khalifa, who had been publicly acknowledged as the top beauty of the Gabriel Empire. From then on, the sisters’ relationship became increasingly strained, and they eventually grew apart. The final nail in the coffin was when Kriss had won the title of a warrior at the combat tournament, and their relationship was never the same.
Their situation was similar to the conflict between Bella’s body double, Princess Felia, and Princess Lisha. As they were both interdimensional travelers, they were unfamiliar and awkward when navigating the relationships that the original body’s owners had. This had led to quite a fair bit of conflict to occur.
“Guards! Quickly, bring her back!”
“Your Majesty, Princess Khalifa had already left the city of her own accord. The guards at the city gates are in no position to stop her.”
“What! Go after her, now! Bring her home to me. Else, you can return home to farm!”
Alfred the Third froze for a moment before coming to a revelation. He realized that he had fallen into a trap. Since Princess Kriss was refusing to leave the capital of the Sarnia Duchy, Sarni City, and the Renald family was closing in on their efforts to force a marital union, he thought of replacing Kriss with someone else. That person was Princess Khalifa, and he had intended to let her marry Leonard in her sister’s place.
Khalifa’s beauty was not too far off from Kriss’. There was no doubt that her looks would surpass most of her peers. This was the crucial reason why Alfred the Third had intended to replace Kriss in the marriage agreement with the Renald family. Little did he know that Princess Khalifa would beat him to it and decide to run away.
Princess Khalifa must be stopped, no matter what, before she reaches Sarnia Duchy! A little voice of warning rang within Alfred the Third’s head. Subconsciously, he seemed to know that the Grand Duchess Bellina was trouble. If they did not stop Khalifa, it was highly likely that she would follow in Kriss’ footsteps and refuse to leave the duchess’ side.
Khalifa had already planned for those who came after her to return in failure. If she had run off in secret, it would be much harder for her to talk her way out of it. However, since she had declared that she was leaving to provide support and back up to the Sarnia Duchy, it gave her a legitimate reason to go.
The capital of Sarnia Duchy, Sarnia City, in a secret chamber within Grand Duchess Bellina’s mansion. Bella was currently taking her time to relax and did not seem to care about any form of follow-up from the Gabriel Empire.
At the moment, Bella was lounging on the throne that she had taken from the Sea God Temple. The entire throne was made of white gold and was decorated with intricate carvings of Sea Dragons as well as various precious aquamarine sapphires and pearls.
This throne belonged to the emperor of the ancient Romanov Empire. After Bella moved here, she casually put it in the secret chamber for her to sit on. The secret chamber had a new and improved layout and was based on the original set up of the Two-Headed Ogre Nelson’s chamber. The girls from the Frederica Academy had been placed here, exactly how they were at Nelson’s place.
The top belles of the Frederica Academy were placed right in front of the throne. As per the previous arrangement, the pillar with President Caroline was placed in the most prominent position. Caroline blushed, not knowing how to protest, as Bella sat on the throne with an evil smirk on her face.
Other than the blindfolds that were switched to a translucent chiffon cloth and the lack of welts, the accouterments and restraints on the girls from the Frederica Academy remained the same.
Princess Una of the Oceanic Race was still being placed on a cross. The only difference was that this particular cross had two sides, and Princess Tina was restrained on the other side in the exact way that Princess Una was.
“Grand Duchess Bellina… you are committing a public act of treason… with the unlawful possession of an emperor’s throne… However… Hey, don’t touch me…”
“Emily, think about your current predicament before speaking like this. Come here. Let me have a good look at you!”
Bella tugged at her chains and pulled Emily into her embrace. Any hint of arrogance and pride had already been forced out of her at the slave market as she submitted as soon as she was in Bella’s arms.
With Bella as the exception, every single girl in this room was stripped bare. Even though the succubi who were led by Queen Aisha, were technically wearing clothes, but due to their dressing habits, it did not make a difference if they wore any or not. Other than a few private bits, the rest of their bodies were not covered.
Emily looked helplessly at her surroundings. The other young mistresses from the neighboring duchies’ lords and nobles’ families had already given in a long time ago. With two succubi to a girl, each of them was individually being teased and tormented by the succubi while dangling on an interrogation rack.
The young mistresses from the noble families were weak-willed. Under the practiced administrations by the succubi, they had given in without much of a fight. While looking at the subservient and coquettish ways of the other young mistresses, Emily’s face remained flushed.
Bella was not shy at all and held Emily closer to her on the throne, showering her with a barrage of kisses. The little ball gag had been temporarily removed from her mouth. However, before she could even make a sound in protest, Bella had taken over her lips.
Vice President Anya and President Dinah were placed on each side of the throne. The female assassins from the Alexis Academy were being held prisoner behind them. Taking a leaf from Master Kenneth’s book, Bella had attached a tube to their ball gags.
At the moment, Anya and Dinah had not been subjected to such treatment. They knew that if they were to try anything funny, they would suffer the same consequences as the girls from Alexis Academy that is being pumped with the water until they lost control.
Moments later, Bella handed the now limp Emily to the Succubus Queen Aisha, who had been waiting at the side to take her away for some aftercare. Bella carried Anya and Dinah and plopped them down on each side of the throne and began a new round of ecstatic pleasure.
“Grand Duchess Belline… You’re… a demon…”
“Anya, don’t overthink about that just yet. Let me see if there are any differences between you and Annie!”
“Older Sister Annie? Hasn’t she been missing… Could it be that you… Wait, Dinah… save…”
Dinah gaped at Anya and Bella, who were wrapped around each other on the throne. She could barely save herself, let alone save Anya. Furthermore, although Anya seemed to be actively resisting Bella’s affections on the surface, the expression on her face reflected no hint of disgust. This caused Dinah to wonder if Anya truly wanted to resist what Bella was doing to her.
Under Bella’s expert hands, Anya could no longer resist and gave in to the throes of passion. Her sensitive spots were similar to Annie’s. No wonder they were sisters. In no time at all, Bella had caused Anya to sink into the depths of depravity.
By the time Bella had put Anya down, she had already fallen asleep, looking as though she had gone through the time of her life. Dinah watched helplessly around her, where everyone else had already given in to the debauchery, except for her. All the other girls basked in the warm glow of their indecent behavior.
The succubi were experts at such things, and these inexperienced little girls were no match for them. It did not take long before the girls unleashed their true primal instincts. Fortunately, the secret chamber was extremely soundproof. Otherwise, the coquettish sounds coming out of the room would fill anyone listening with all sorts of fantasies.
Since these girls were the special trophies that were part of the Demon King Bella’s collection, the succubi knew when to draw the line. As long as they managed to bring out the flirtatious side of the girls, their mission was complete. Anything else that was more shameful would be left up to Bella to decide.
“Grand Duchess Bellina… your interests are too… I do not agree with them.”
“Dinah, why does your face look so flushed? Don’t hold it back any longer. I know you want it too.”
“Who would want… stop talking nonsense. Can…can we talk about this!”
Dinah tried her best to keep her voice steady but to no avail. Once Bella had Dinah in her arms, her hands started roaming around the other girl’s body, attacking every single sensitive spot. With the moans of ecstasy from the other girls bouncing off the walls, it was nearly impossible for Dinah not to react at all.
Dinah was painfully trying to hold onto her dignity. Her observations have told her that if she submitted to Bella this time, there was no way she would be able to escape the evil claws of this demoness. Dinah attempted to negotiate with Bella as a way to buy her some time as well as to allow herself to make a final break for it.
“Talk? President Dinah, do you have anything else up your sleeve to negotiate with me? Forget it. I shall devour you first so that we can get this done and over with.”
“Hold on… I’m not ready for this. Let me… Please…”
Bella saw through Dinah’s little trick almost immediately and pinned her down on the throne in a dominant manner. Her heart softened a little as she saw tears trickle down the corner of President Dinah’s eyes. However, she could not stop. At most, she would soothe her after the deed was done.
“Honorable Demon King, the Beastmen army had sent an envoy to the city gates and wishes to have a meeting with the city lord! Lisha and the others are unable to reach a decision, and they wondered if you could come down personally to handle this matter.”
The Demon World Princess Diaz blushed beet red as she walked into the room to report the current situation at the city walls to Bella. The atmosphere within the secret chamber pulsed with sexual tension and felt desire ripple through her body.
A glimmer of hope flashed across Dinah’s purple irises. If this demoness were to leave, she would have time to prepare the cheat that assassins use to commit suicide. However, Bella let out an evil smirk, and her hands did not stop moving at all.
“Diaz, inform Lisha and the others to tell that Beastmen envoy to scram! Just say that I’m on my period.”
“Honorable Demon King, you can have… I understand. I will convey your message to Lisha and the rest.”
Staring at Diaz, who turned to leave, President Dinah had lost all hope of ever leaving this hellhole. This demoness was too good at figuring out what exactly made a girl click. Bella kept one hand pressed to Dinah’s chest and dissipated every bit of energy that she was saving up to commit suicide.
Noreya was the one who had given Bella this information about the secret way that top assassins used to commit suicide, as well as where the energy would be accumulated. President Dinah had been “betrayed” by her professional comrade from the beginning. It seemed that it was inevitable that she would fall at Bella’s hands.
“Dinah, no need to put on such an expression of despair. I promise that you would feel so good later that… Alright, there’s no point in saying so much. I will make sure that you submit fully to me…”
Bella’s break had lasted three days and three nights. Lisha, Eleanor, and the others had honestly thought that Bella was on her period and wanted to visit her but were eventually dissuaded by Noreya and Elaine. When asked the reason for stopping them, Elaine and Noreya exchanged a knowing smile but refused to explain.