Chapter 119
Chapter 119
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 119
Chapter Title: The North, the Barbarians' Land
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The North, the land of the barbarians.
On the road to the royal castle to meet Princess Vanessa.
It was a path that should have felt boring by all rights, but heading to the royal castle, Sion had to endure one heart-pounding experience after another.
“...”
“...”
“...”
The carriage interior, where a man and woman could roll around with abandon, now felt like it might explode at any moment.
Not just because of the people inside, but because of the pitch-black auras each one was emanating—fiercer than anything.
‘It’s my own doing, so I want to step in and calm things down.’
But this was a mismatch in levels that was way too extreme.
Sion was huddled quietly in one corner of the carriage, with an empty seat next to him, and Trisha sitting beside that with an utterly icy glare.
On the opposite side sat Lily, Rishikida, Lucia, and Ria.
“Hwaaam.”
As always, Lily showed zero interest.
Rishikida had acted on Sion’s orders, but she couldn’t claim there wasn’t even a shred of true feeling behind it, so she was glancing around with a slight pang of conscience.
Lucia and Ria were openly bristling with wariness at this new woman who seemed intent on monopolizing Sion.
“Everyone, tone it down a bit.”
Surprisingly, it was Trisha who spoke first.
She swept a lock of her flame-like red hair back and continued.
“Didn’t we agree to a truce?
But right now, you all look ready to throw down.”
“Haaak!”
“Blue cat.
Behave, before I singe all your fur and make cat roast.”
“S-such harsh words!”
“Magic girl, same goes for you.
No fighting.
‘Right now,’ anyway.”
With that, Trisha turned to Rishikida.
Sensing her gaze, Rishikida met her eyes, let out a light sigh, and stared back silently.
Trisha smirked and spoke up.
“I’ll say it upfront: no hard feelings toward you.
My brother needs to marry a good older sister type anyway.
You making my life hell?
Apprentice knight isn’t easy.
Everyone knows you have to roll in the dirt over and over to be worth anything.
Well, as the merciful me, I’ll just—endure it all.”
“...Thank you for thinking that way.”
“It was just that our eyes met at the time, with my brother.
Young Lord Sion’s great too, but my brother’s a catch.”
“Sorry, but I’m only my lord’s knight. No interest in other men.”
“Oh, what a shame.”
Giggling, Trisha turned her gaze to Lily sitting beside her.
“...”
She knew it, sensed it, felt it instinctively.
Neither the knight Rishikida, nor the mage Lucia, nor the beastkin Ria was the center.
Their center was that demon woman, the Succubus Queen ‘Lily.’
With her at the core, they’d reach agreements, yield, step back—and sometimes step forward when the other yielded, embracing one man without worry.
Since Sion didn’t want any of them fighting, they’d come up with this clever arrangement.
‘It’s not bad.
But...’
The finest delicacies make you crave more with every bite, sparkling jewels draw the eye again and again, and a loved one you want to hold forever, even right this instant.
You think these shallow tricks will work forever?
Right now, Sion needs all these people, so he doesn’t want any wasted effort—but in the end, everything gets ranked.
And women will be in that ranking too.
‘I need to fight from now and prove my superiority.
Can’t let myself get complacent and fall for it.’
Lily, being a succubus and inherently alluring demon, would have no trouble.
But the others?
Rishikida, Lucia, Ria—they fell way short compared to her.
If things stayed like this, Lily would have him all to herself.
The women subconsciously knew it too.
That’s why they’d chosen harmony over rivalry—but not her.
The thrill of leaping an insurmountable peak and reaching the summit was one thing, but above all, Trisha was certain Sion’s gaze toward her would change dramatically.
‘I have to prove I’m better than the other women.
The best move is making Sion cling to me, not me to him.’
Whoosh—
The flames and lightning within her roared in agreement.
That was when Trisha was smirking confidently with those thoughts.
“Yaaawn...
A woman who hasn’t even fucked Sion sure talks a lot.
Right, girls?”
“Eh?”
“L-Lily-nim?”
“...What?”
Sion jolted in shock, flustered, while Rishikida, Lucia, and Ria all wore expressions like ‘Why bring that up out of nowhere?’
But Lily stared only at Trisha with utter confidence.
Starting from her chest, she tapped her crotch, then her belly, and continued.
“While you were playing house with your brother in the bedroom, guess what Sion and I were up to?
Heh heh—take a guess, baby.
Ahh, let me tell you how deliciously Sion devoured me this time.”
“W-what are you...”
No, why was Her Majesty suddenly like this?
Sion stared at Lily with eyes screaming that question.
Trisha was barely suppressing her inner flames and lightning, promising to stay quiet for a while—then Lily up and fired an intercontinental ballistic missile right at it.
“Lily-nim.
How exactly did my lord devour you so deliciously?”
“Ufufu.
Curious?
Rishi, you curious?”
“T-tell us!
Nyaaang!
I-I wanna be devoured by Sion too!”
Rishikida blushed furiously but nodded, Ria mewled like she couldn’t wait to hear more, and Lucia gulped, leaning in eagerly for Lily’s tantalizing tale.
‘No, what the hell are these crazy women doing!’
Sion tried desperately to stop Lily, but her toe pressed against his knee, signaling him to stay put—like things would only get messier if he interfered.
‘What the hell are you thinking!’
The scream rose in his throat, but Lily wasn’t the type to toss out provocative talk lightly.
She must want something...
“Girls, we did it in a totally fresh spot?
Ufufu!
Not our usual room—outside!”
“R-really?”
“Nyaaang!
I wanna do it outside too!”
“P-please go on.”
“The night breeze felt amazing!
And Sion, calling it an outdoor feast, started licking from my feet so tenderly?
And then...”
That was the moment Lily’s full-on sex adventure saga kicked off.
Flabbergasted, Sion thrashed to cover his ears, only to glance at Trisha.
‘Oh, right!
Trisha!
Will she just sit there hearing this?
Shit, if she snaps from jealousy and burns the carriage and everything to fight Lily-nim head-on...’
Suddenly, Sion let out an ‘Eh?’ and sighed.
Sure enough, Trisha’s face was flushed beet red, like it might burst.
But the difference? The expression wasn’t anger—it was helpless embarrassment.
‘...What?’
She wasn’t even trying not to hear.
She was eavesdropping intently on the steamy outdoor tale of him and Lily, face crimson, squirming in her seat.
Like she was dying of shame, yet dying to hear more.
The woman who’d been blazing like she’d torch Lily just minutes ago was now like this—it was bewildering.
Glancing at Lily, Sion realized she was shooting him a sly wink.
‘...Her Majesty really is the best.’
In that short time, she’d pinpointed Trisha’s weakness and how to handle it.
—
They arrived at the royal castle a few days later.
After leisurely passing all the inspections, Sion headed the carriage toward the Klauzen Earl family’s villa to let his group rest.
Protocol called for going straight to the palace, but with evening approaching, it was more convenient for everyone—including the palace—to meet the next morning.
“Uuung!
Ahh, my whole body’s stiff!”
“Gonna wash up first thing.”
“Nyaaang!”
Lily stretched, followed by Lucia and Ria emerging.
Rishikida, as escort knight, had insisted horse saddles beat carriage seats and switched spots yesterday.
The women disembarked one by one in good spirits, but the last—the redhead—looked off.
“Uuu...”
Trisha slouched like she had motion sickness, shuffling along.
Of course, it wasn’t real motion sickness.
For her, that would’ve been less embarrassing.
‘Didn’t expect her to have a side like that.’
With her black flame dragon fanaticism and pyromaniac stigmata, he’d thought her personality was a roaring inferno.
But on the ride, she’d shamelessly revealed her helpless, blushing reaction to Lily’s adults-only stories.
She’d grown sharply after partially accepting the stigmata, but this proved some girlish innocence lingered—deeply.
‘Lily-nim taught me something great.’
He’d gotten a big hint on handling Trisha going forward.
Anyway, with official business set for tomorrow and rest ordered for all, Sion was about to flop his travel-weary body into bed.
“My lord!”
Suddenly, Rishikida came running from afar, calling him.
As she caught her breath and straightened to speak—
“Sorry, but I’m beat today.”
“Y-Yes?
Ah, no!
It’s not that kind of thing, my lord.”
“...It’s not?”
Relieved, yet a bit disappointed. He’d enjoyed exploring Rishikida’s firm body again.
“A messenger from the Hainess Merchant Group arrived.”
“Already?”
“Yes.
Seems they heard you entered the royal castle and rushed right over.”
“...Bring them to the drawing room.
If they’re moving this fast, there’s a reason.”
“Understood.”
Rishikida turned and vanished somewhere, while Sion crossed his arms and headed to the drawing room.
‘This is weird.
A woman like Helen should know we traveled far and are exhausted—yet she sends someone immediately?’
It was odd.
He’d even planned to visit the palace tomorrow morning and gone straight to the villa.
For her to want a meeting anyway meant one thing.
‘Something extremely urgent came up.’
Had radical fairy bastards taken Helen Hainess hostage?
Or infiltrated the merchant group again, threatening cooperation?
Or some dangerous news from elsewhere in the kingdom?
Every wild thought raced through Sion’s mind.
Waiting in the drawing room, soon Rishikida knocked and peeked in.
“My lord.
Shall I show them in?”
“Yeah.”
At Sion’s reply, Rishikida told someone to enter.
Moments later, a hooded woman stepped cautiously inside.
“Helen.”
“Young Lord.”
Unlike ordinary humans, she had pointed ears and peerless beauty—an elven woman.
Helen, owner of the Hainess Merchant Group.
“You look well.”
“Stating the obvious, aren’t you?
It’s been just shy of two months.”
“True enough.”
Her smile behind her hand was stunning.
A fully ripened elven beauty of prime age—but gazing at the flower trampled viciously by humans, Sion thought it fortunate she’d truly let go of revenge.
Otherwise, he’d never see her smile like that.
“More importantly, didn’t expect the merchant guild head to leave her post and visit like this.
I planned to come tomorrow, so was it that urgent?”
“...Yes.”
Helen was a merchant.
Even if she’d built the group for revenge, her talent had made her its head.
Merchants avoid losses at all costs—overreacting to issues or ignoring them entirely.
So her visit meant a real reason.
“Young Lord Sion.
If it’s not rude, may I ask about your companions?”
“My group?”
Sion eyed her a moment, then nodded.
Out came an unexpected name from Helen.
“A beastkin woman named... Winnie? The one you rescued from the slave market before.”
“Winnie?
Ah, Ria?”
“Wrong name?
They definitely said Winnie-nim.”
“There’s a story there.
Anyway... ‘they’?
‘Winnie-nim’?”
The picture was forming.
Sion gave Helen a ‘No way?’ look, and she nodded confirmation.
“A while back, some beastkin—mostly catkin, men and women—came to our merchant group.
They’d heard we trade with the Klauzen Margrave Territory and asked if we could take them there.”
“...And?”
“I said Young Lord Klauzen would visit the capital soon, so why not wait here?
We kept discreet watch under guard pretext.”
“Impressive.”
As expected, sharp instincts and quick thinking.
Better to hold them herself, gauge intentions, than send them off to stir chaos in Klauzen Margrave Territory—judging it best for Sion.
‘Helen really is capable.
Makes me want her even more.’
Her talent, that is.
He no longer welcomed forcing women under him.
“So, what’s their deal?”
Helen smiled sweetly, pressing a finger to her lips.
Cute merchant charm: pay up for more.
Other nobles might rage at the insolence, but Sion was even more pleased.
‘Even with ‘ralbu friends,’ deals must be solid.
That’s how you keep relations long-term.’
Sion believed even coworkers, friends, family needed clear transactions.
In that sense, Helen Hainess was perfect for him.