Assimilated

Time flows with truly ruthless indifference.

The sweltering summer slipped away, and before I knew it the abundant autumn had arrived. It felt like only yesterday that I had stood lost in thought watching the falling leaves along the streets; then the biting winter passed, and once more spring returned with life budding everywhere.

In the span of those few changing seasons, a great many things had happened.

Less than a year after the negotiations with the Arucas Kingdom the previous summer, I had conducted talks with five more nations. The schedule left no room to breathe. Yet I met every one of them with the perfect smile of a princess and brought each negotiation to a smooth conclusion. The beauty I possessed proved a diplomatic weapon more potent than any blade.

After the talks, far too many men tried to approach me privately with lecherous intent, so whenever they offered to escort me after dinner I made certain Swordmaster Gilbert walked at my side.

"Princess, the night air grows chill. It is time you retired indoors."

At the sound of Gilbert's low, heavy voice, the envoys who had been casting sticky glances would clear their throats and withdraw. Each time a strange thrill of superiority ran down my spine.

And then there was the Aika Kingdom. We struck their southern granary lands and seized a portion of their territory. Their arrogance had pierced the heavens. The condition they dared to set for peace was… marriage between me, Leticia Ritz Astria, and the King of Aika.

"How dare that old raccoon of a man covet my daughter!"

Enraged, Father led the Royal Guard and swept the Aika Kingdom clean. The day I heard the news I simply lifted my teacup and smiled lightly. Age mattered little; men would try every means imaginable to possess me. Had I not been born the princess of a great power, I would have been swept up in all manner of sordid affairs.

I was living happy days as the most beautiful princess on the continent…

Yet I felt as though I were forgetting something, though I could not say what. Like walking through fog, a corner of my memory had grown hazy. At some point even the awareness that I had forgotten something itself faded away.

I gazed at the morning sunlight pouring through the window. Its gentle warmth tickled my pale cheeks. It was a weekend morning; I could have slept longer, yet the birdsong and the bustle of people outside the window roused me. I rose slowly from the bed and looked out. My pure-white silk negligee slid softly along the curves of my body.

Everyone was preparing for my birthday a week hence. Colorful banners hung from the castle walls, and the gardeners busied themselves pruning red roses. It was my birthday, yet they seemed more excited than I.

"Pull that banner a little higher! We cannot allow a single flaw at Her Highness's birthday banquet!"

"Yes, Chief Lady-in-Waiting!"

"Let's give it our all for Princess Leticia!"

"Yes, yes! We have to keep going for our Princess Leticia!"

Leticia…

Being called Leticia felt completely natural, utterly familiar. When someone called my name, the way I turned my head held not the slightest awkwardness.

Then a strange thought surfaced.

Ah… what was my original name again? …When was my birthday?

I could no longer recall my original name, nor my original age, nor my original birthday. My heart gave a heavy lurch, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠yet even that emotion quickly blurred, as if I had merely woken from someone else's dream.

It was a secret I could tell no one…

Lately, on nights when I was left alone, a peculiar heat would overtake me. I would imagine a low-born man coveting beautiful me… or else that I myself had once been a man of base birth, that my body had been swapped with that of Leticia, the continent's greatest beauty, and I would comfort myself with the fantasy. Each time my heart raced so fiercely it was almost electric… and so the strange thoughts came more and more often.

I imagined that I had never been the youngest princess of Astria at all, but a soldier from the colonies. Because of those thoughts I sometimes wondered whether I had originally been someone else entirely. But the feeling never lasted. The moment that sweet pleasure climbed my spine, every complicated notion melted away.

"Princess, have you risen? Allow me to help you change."

My personal maid Marie entered the room and bowed. The maids wrapped my body in a corset, gently tightening my breath.

"Nngh…"

With every inhale the laces drew taut. My full breasts gathered together; the heavy yet sweet pressure was not unpleasant. White stockings clung to my legs, smooth silk sheathing me from toes to thighs.

Ahh…

A heated sigh escaped my lips unbidden. The delicate outline of a princess's legs was thrown into sharp relief by the stockings' snug embrace. The sensation of those slender, stocking-clad legs moving exactly as I willed felt delicious. Donning a beautiful dress was equally delightful. The fresh feeling of my entire body being enveloped by the gown always sent happiness surging through me. The rustle of the fabric sounded in my ears like the most beautiful music in the world.

Then came the makeup… and when the maids adorned me with necklace, earrings, and tiara, the cool touch of jewels against my nape cleared my mind. In the mirror stood the continent's greatest beauty—me. When I shifted even slightly, the peerless beauty in the glass moved with me. Silver hair gleaming, lips red and moist, flawless curves without a single fault. Looking at my reflection, I felt glad I had been born so beautiful. This face inherited from Mother. The face I had possessed since birth. How fortunate that it was so lovely.

"You are breathtaking as always, Princess. Even the sun must bow its head, dazzled by your radiance."

I answered Marie's exaggerated praise with only a light smile. Watching every person who beheld me lose their wits filled me with happiness. This absolute beauty had become both my power and the very reason for my existence.

"Haa… my birthday is next week. I suppose I must seriously begin seeking a husband."

A birthday was a joyous occasion, yet for me it also meant the disappearance of one last shield. The time had come to make a decision of the heart.

I left the bedchamber and entered my study. The light click of my high heels against the marble floor echoed down the corridor. Countless letters covered the desk. On ordinary days dozens arrived; now, with my birthday approaching, more than a hundred letters and gifts lay piled high. I opened only a few. Nine out of ten were confessions of love—all of them essentially the same. Congratulations on next week's birthday… I wish to become your fiancé… I love you… I want to marry you… Honestly, the sameness made them tedious to read.

In the past I had politely refused on the grounds that I was not yet of marrying age. Now I would have to choose the man who would become my consort. In truth I had already decided upon the Crown Prince in my heart, yet the important thing was how splendidly he would propose. A woman who clung too eagerly looked cheap, so I would have to wait a little longer. I would not accept him easily… still, at next week's birthday I ought to send a light green light. One coquettish smile from the corner of my eye, and even that lofty Crown Prince would kneel beneath my skirts.

The maids, thoroughly accustomed to the task, sorted the letters by priority. Looking at the most important stack on the left, I saw a gold envelope and one of emerald green. The seal of the Britain Empire and the seal of the Khan Kingdom. Assuming it was a letter from my brother, I reached for the one from Britain first—only to find it bore Princess Adelia's seal.

From Her Imperial Highness, then…

Strange. As far as I could remember, I had exchanged only a brief greeting with the Imperial Princess at the relic-return ceremony; we shared no particular friendship. Why write in such an intimate tone? Kanon was a fierce liquor favored by the lower classes… did Her Highness enjoy that sort of thing? Did she wish to grow close to me?

Mmm… yet the letter left me with a peculiar sensation. Looking at it filled me with an inexplicable, lewd feeling and a thrill of wrongdoing, as though we shared some enormous secret that must never be discovered. A tingling sensation coiled low in my belly. Suddenly I found myself longing to see the Imperial Princess… though I could not say why. I could not remember. I had not even been drinking before… so why could I not recall?

Some important fact circled inside my head and then scattered. My temples throbbed.

"Princess, it is time to go shopping."

Anna's bright voice shattered my reverie. Ah! I stopped thinking and went out with the maids. Inside the splendid carriage racing through the capital, the cheers of the people waving outside the windows reached me.

"Waaah! It's Princess Leticia!"

"Light of the continent!"

I waved with elegant grace and spent the afternoon at the finest boutique being ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fitted for new dresses. Every time the highest-grade silk brushed my skin, I felt myself sinking deeper into this glamorous life.

When every appointment had ended and I was alone in my room that evening… only moonlight slipped through the window, casting a soft glow across the chamber. Once more I began my secret hours. Tonight as well I immersed myself in the fantasy that I had once been a man, and let the pleasure take me.

Haa… I… I was a private first class… and now I've become… a princess…

The breasts swelling beneath the white dress traced beautiful curves. Knowing I possessed a princess's voluptuous figure made my face flush scarlet with shame even as my entire body trembled with pleasure.

My… breasts… are so soft…

I moved my left hand and lifted the dress. It rose without the slightest resistance, revealing Princess Leticia's pure-white panties beneath—silk panties adorned with beautiful lace, exactly to a princess's taste.

Oh… touching a princess's body feels… so good…!

When my fingers met the soft skin, the sensation was both unfamiliar and intimately known. There was nothing masculine left anywhere. Every trace of the rough soldier had become pure illusion; only the smooth body of a woman remained.

From ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠now on I will live completely as a princess… I will go on living as a princess forever.

Born a princess, praised as a beautiful woman, I would die a woman as well.

Soon I will marry Crown Prince Richard in place of the real Princess Leticia… spend nights with him… and even bear his children…

Stealing a princess's life is so filthy and erotic.

The thought of my own belly swelling large sent a shiver of delicious guilt racing through every inch of me. Imagining the life ahead made my fingers move more fiercely against the princess's body.

Past, present, and future—all of it is me… I… I am Princess Leticia…

Each time the thought ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠arose, a strange sense of trespass made my body tingle. Overwhelming happiness flooded me simply from being Leticia Ritz Astria. Lusting after the dress-clad reflection in the mirror, I stroked myself with soft hands; the princess's sensitive nerves and the touch of her own slender fingers set my hips trembling violently. I moved the hand I had slipped beneath the dress. With every rock of my body the fabric brushed my thighs and my mind grew hazier.

I who was once a male soldier… am now wearing a dress as a princess and doing this…

I breathed in the faint fragrance rising from my heated body and wore an expression of pure rapture.

My body smells like a princess… I really have become a princess…

Deep in my unconscious I had clearly once been a man. And… last year I seemed to have swapped bodies with the princess… yet at the same time it also felt true that I had been a princess from the very beginning. My head felt as though it might break. My fingertips moved more violently still.

…A princess's body, a princess's life… at this rate I'll be completely swallowed by a princess's existence…!

The words "a princess's life" began to echo inside my skull. I was sinking into the life of Princess Leticia Ritz Astria; I myself was fading, gradually transforming completely into the princess.

Haaa… aaahn♥ I'm so happy…

At the same moment my long, soft hair tumbled wildly, scattering a faint sweet scent. The dress-clad me in the mirror shuddered violently, panting with a lewd expression.

Ah! Aah… aahn… aahn…

My own seductive voice made my heart pound as though it would burst. The pleasure was supreme; an incredible ecstasy surged through my entire body and mind. Climax whitened my thoughts until I could no longer think at all. Unable to control my limbs any longer, my body could do nothing but surrender to the pleasure.

……

Inside that unthinkable ecstasy my mind became a jumbled mess. At last I began to believe the swap had been a lie; my mind completely denied the fact of the exchange. I had been born the youngest princess of Astria from the very beginning and had lived as a princess all my life. Everything about having been a man was pure delusion—merely one of my strange sexual quirks. I myself was completely the princess and nothing else. I was a princess, I had been born a princess, and I had never swapped bodies… I had never been a man.

That realization exploded with perverse emotion and happiness until everything before my eyes turned white.

I am Leticia Ritz Astria.