Chapter 133
Chapter 133
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 132. Tripartite Meeting (2)
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“Only on the lips?”
Irina’s remark plunged the Heavenly Palace garden into utter silence.
The chirping of crickets in the grass was audible.
“...”
In that hush, the heads of each domain fixed the 2nd Imperial Princess with murderous glares.
They had never once felt a shred of threat from her before.
But right now, Irina was rubbing them the wrong way.
On top of that, she had dropped the bombshell that she had kissed Veil recently.
So even though they had achieved something surpassing that...
Only on the lips?
Her words implied she had gone further, and they furrowed their brows.
“Does that mean you did even more than that?”
Lydia’s fierce red eyes flashed like a leopard’s.
“Confidence suits you, Irina.”
Lea was no different.
Her blue eyes, lion-like, stared piercingly at her little sister.
“A kiss is just the basics.”
But Irina didn’t shrink under their gazes.
Instead, she curled her lips into a smug smile, as if she had anticipated their reaction.
“He was so happy with me that Veil explored my body even deeper.”
She placed a hand on her left breast.
Then stroked it suggestively.
“With his own hands, even.”
As if sending a signal.
“...!”
The two princesses caught the meaning behind Irina’s secretive gesture.
They could guess the spot where Veil had kissed her.
“Ha, so you really...”
Irina wasn’t as voluptuous as Lea, but she still boasted a figure above the imperial average for women.
That was why the two believed her words weren’t entirely lies.
“So you crossed the line after all? You insolent commoner!”
Lydia crossed her arms alone, exasperated.
It felt like a castle they had both been eyeing had been snatched away in an instant.
“...”
Lydia gulped down the tea in front of her.
It was still hot, but she paid it no mind.
Right now, her insides burned hotter than the tea.
She felt like she needed to pour something into her smoldering gut to calm down.
‘When he saw me in my dancer’s outfit, he only watched the dance... but he kissed Irina’s breast?’
The princess’s pride wounded, she chewed her lips.
Her once-moist skin grew dry.
“...”
The princess pondered carefully.
Then, as if she had scouted the enemy’s full strength, she flashed a vicious smile.
‘There’s no way Veil kissed Irina while sober.’
Especially not on such an intimate spot.
‘If it happened while he was drunk or drugged, half-asleep...’
She judged that her suffocating kiss in the dancer’s outfit wouldn’t lose out.
With that, she boldly counterattacked Irina.
“I don’t know what tricks you pulled to make Veil do that. But...”
Lydia parted her lips in the sacred garden.
She pointed to her shark-like pointed canine with a finger.
“While you were bragging about a mere breast kiss, I shared a very deep kiss with Veil.”
The youngest princess, freshly of age, gave a lascivious eye smile.
She flaunted her teeth at Irina teasingly.
“It was so intense I nearly suffocated.”
Lydia elegantly spread the hem of her dress.
Revealing her smooth thighs to the eyes of the other two.
“So intense—our kiss—that I wrapped my legs fully around that boy’s body so he wouldn’t pull away.”
At that sight, Irina furrowed her brow.
Lydia’s weaknesses were her short stature and somewhat petite build compared to the other princesses.
But...
“What better way to confirm each other’s true feelings?”
A sticky, suffocating kiss while being held by a man with such a figure...
It was a lewd caress only Lydia could pull off.
“Ha... Have you completely abandoned your imperial pride? Calling me a commoner and whatnot...!”
Imagining the brazen scene, Irina bristled.
Her little sister doing such vulgar caresses while in a dancer’s outfit was utterly distasteful.
“You provoked first, Irina.”
The two princesses glared coldly at each other.
Their gazes chilled the surrounding air.
“...”
Lea alternated glances at her sisters seated on either side.
‘A breast kiss and a suffocating kiss while being lifted...’
She silently lifted her teacup.
She had no intention of stooping to their level in this squabble.
But...
“...”
She was inwardly startled by her reflection in the tea’s surface.
Her own lips were twitching, eager to boast as well.
“Phew...”
Lea exhaled calmly.
Then, with the serene gaze befitting the empire’s eldest daughter, she addressed her sisters.
“Looks like you both had a good time with Veil.”
“...!”
The two princesses froze at Lea’s relaxed words.
They eyed the nonchalant 1st Imperial Princess with suspicion.
“You’ve been awfully quiet today?”
“Indeed, I already know how you two approached Veil.”
Lea chuckled softly at their questions.
Propping her fine chin on the back of her hand, she continued.
“But isn’t it a bit pathetic to do it without any pretext?”
Lea elegantly crossed her legs, thigh raised for all to see.
In a sensual pose, she went on.
“Barging into his home uninvited or summoning him to a secret annex. Your intentions are transparent.”
The princess, feeling hot, slightly opened her uniform jacket.
And then...
A familiar, oversized man’s dress shirt came into view.
Clearly too big for her frame, yet tucked in tightly, the fabric clung taut.
It hugged her ample curves perfectly.
“Is that really a proper lover’s date?”
A proper lover’s date.
Her pointed remark furrowed the brows of the two princesses.
“You just used your positions to coerce Veil.”
The empire’s 1st Imperial Princess called out her sisters’ brazen actions.
At the same time, she pointed to the...
“But I considered his position and met him on ‘equal terms.’”
...academy tie knotted around her shirt.
“You don’t mean...”
“That’s an academy uniform...?”
Lydia shot up from her seat, asking.
Irina recoiled at the sight of her four-years-older sister in the uniform tie.
“Meeting in uniforms, on equal footing. There’s no better way to get close and know each other.”
The youngest princess was floored.
Veil had recommended a uniform to her too, after all.
But imagining Lea’s dizzying figure crammed into such a tight-fitting academy uniform...
Even she, a fellow woman, found it intensely stimulating.
“Ha, you’ve gone all the way, haven’t you?”
“You always said we were falling short...”
Lea covered her lips with her fist at her sisters’ heated reactions.
Feigning a serious expression, she delivered another jab.
“Better than sneaking around like you two.”
The princesses’ voices grew louder.
Loud enough to echo down the corridor.
Perhaps because of that.
Busy footsteps approached from afar.
――――――.
A majestic sound, like attendants trailing one leader.
Realizing its meaning, the princesses fell silent for a moment.
Soon...
「Were you all in a policy debate?」
The emperor, out for a stroll兼recovery, entered the corridor before the garden.
「Your voices brim with passion, audible even from afar.」
He seemed to have faintly overheard his daughters’ heated discussion from a distance.
“We greet Your Imperial Majesty.”
As it was an official occasion, the daughters hastily showed proper courtesy.
They rose, hands on chests, bowing gracefully.
「Yes, you’ve heard from Mosian, I presume?」
“Yes, we were discussing how to coordinate the events.”
Lea answered with an elder sister’s smile.
Irina and Lydia nodded in agreement.
「Heh, splendid... You’re all so reliable.」
Pleased with his engrossed daughters, the emperor nodded.
「If there’s anything you need for handling these events, speak freely.」
Perhaps delighted to see his three beautiful daughters together after so long.
The emperor slowly descended from the corridor into the garden.
「I’ll grant it all.」
At their father’s kindly gaze, the daughters smiled in unison.
They guided the emperor to the round table.
“Please, sit here.”
Lea politely yielded her seat to him.
The emperor sat, eyes full of approval.
“I’ll pour you some tea.”
Irina beamed with her fresh, lovely face.
She personally poured for her father.
“Bring more refreshments.”
True to her lively nature, Lydia ordered the attendants.
She flashed a cute, prim smile at her father.
「Haha... I’ve come down for no reason, making you all work.」
Leonhardt was touched by his daughters bustling for him.
Leading by example ahead of the servants.
The stern, statue-like face softened warmly at the beautiful sight.
But...
In truth, his daughters weren’t moving just for their father.
First, Lea.
By yielding her chair, she naturally took the seat closest to him.
At the same time, she messaged nearby Damian via telepathy, plotting to submit her petition first.
‘Damian, after the conference, write that I’ll personally escort the VIPs back to Bakal. And recommend the Capital Guard for additional protection.’
Damian, standing at a distance, nodded.
He began jotting notes immediately.
Second, Irina.
As she took the teapot from a servant, she ordered pen and paper.
On the paper she received, she wrote a request for Capital Guard support for Christina’s escort.
‘Nostun is included in the route accompanying Princess Christina. Thus, we request Capital Guard forces familiar with the local terrain.’
Finally, Lydia.
The youngest princess slipped a secret note under the refreshments tray she received.
Tucked inside was fine cream-colored paper.
‘The capital’s north hosts one of the empire’s rare hot springs. Thus, we request Capital Guard personnel familiar with it for consultation on hot spring construction.’
The three princesses submitted their petitions to the emperor at terrifying speed.
「Ho... To draft petitions so quickly...」
The emperor was impressed by his daughters presenting them the moment he sat.
He nodded steadily as he read the requests.
「Hm, it seems the Capital Defense Knight Order will play a major role in these events...」
Leonhardt read his daughters’ documents with a grave gaze.
It evoked the Conqueror King in his prime.
“If you grant us authority to draw personnel, we’ll utilize them ‘appropriately.’”
Lea spoke weightily as their representative.
Yet her eyes held a sly, ulterior glint.
“Yes, Your Majesty. We’ll repay your permission with ‘results.’”
Irina smiled innocently.
But unlike before, it carried a womanly allure.
“Hehe... Just trust us. You’ll be ‘satisfied’ for sure.”
Lydia pointed to herself with her thumb, brimming with confidence.
Lively as ever, yet subtly seductive.
「Yes, with such passion, granting that authority is only natural.」
The emperor was moved by his exemplary princesses.
While he slept, they had grown into rulers worthy of the throne.
「...」
He savored his tea, their words like beautiful music.
The tea tasted better today, the weather finer.
Good things seemed ahead.
Perhaps because of that good premonition.
The famously strict emperor made a merciful offer unlike usual.
「Finish this well, and I’ll specially reward you all.」
The emperor’s reward.
At those words, the beasts’ eyes gleamed like predators spotting prey.
“Really...?”
They asked their father in unison.
Terrifyingly synchronized.
「Of course. You each seem to want something specific?」
The emperor shivered briefly but dismissed it as fancy.
Their conqueror’s ambition shone true to his blood, he thought.
“We’ll tell you once the job’s done properly.”
At their meaningful words, the emperor nodded.
His face promised most requests would be granted.
「Heh, very well. I look forward to your grand ambitions.」
Leonhardt ended the meeting thus.
His face glowed with parental pride.
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
The princesses smiled in unison.
And...
The moment the meeting ended, they all dispatched their deputy commanders beyond the domains.
Their destinations were one and the same.
To the lair of the fox dozing leisurely in the afternoon.