Ventorino Kingdom - Budding (4)
He was enjoying himself.
That had become the emotion he felt most often lately.
At a glance, it might have seemed like nothing special. But Marc was not so foolish as to think that. Since becoming king of this country, he could not remember the last time he had felt so happy—perhaps not since the day his children were born.
Even then, he had been genuinely delighted, but it had also been a time when he was buried under work, trying to rebuild the kingdom and shore up the royal family’s foundations. The war had left the land in ruins in many places, and there were countless refugees in need of help. He had been too busy to savor that happiness properly.
Now, years later, things were different.
Ventorino Kingdom had found a measure of stability, and the royal family was steadily building a solid foundation. If the negotiations with Ulsro Kingdom against the Dezac Empire had gone through, and if the marriage alliance had been sealed as well, then the new dynasty would have been guaranteed at least a hundred years of history.
But then demons had attacked the meeting site. Fortunately, there had not been any major damage, but he could not help being furious. So much had come crashing down at an extremely important moment.
Still, it was not a complete disaster.
The death of the Master—the captain of the royal guard—left a bitter taste in his mouth, but the officials were running themselves ragged trying to turn the attack into an opportunity. If they could add the surrender of the dark elves they had taken prisoner, along with the intelligence those elves had provided about the demons, then Ventorino could throw its weight into a joint campaign with the other nations.
If things went well, this could truly become the perfect chance to raise the royal family’s prestige while drawing support from foreign powers.
But none of that was what pleased him most.
Rachel.
The prostitute girl he had met at the brothel.
And yet he had been her first client. In other words, she was supposed to be a girl as pure as they came, untouched, still intact. But that had not been the case.
When he first heard she was a newcomer, it had not stirred anything in him. He had long since stopped coming to brothels expecting anything in particular. This was merely a way to ease his emptiness and loneliness.
After all, he had been frequenting brothels and cheating on his wife for years now. In that not-short period, he had eased his lust and loneliness to some extent, but something essential had remained unfilled. It had simply become a habit—whenever stress piled up, he came here.
But this time was different.
Even his first impression had made his heart skip in a strange way.
She resembled him, and she resembled the princess of the previous dynasty. He was not talking about her appearance. Of course, her looks carried a faint trace of that feeling too, but somehow, he did not get the sense that they were actually blood relatives. It was more that her atmosphere, her manner of speaking, all of that felt eerily similar.
And that was what made him more interested in Rachel.
What’s more, the girl was unlike the other prostitutes. The brothel he visited was one of the expensive, high-class establishments, but thanks to the owners’ constant warnings and the enormous amount of money he brought in, most of the girls were quick to flatter him and suck up to him.
It could not be helped. Plenty of the customers here were nobles. Their status was far above that of mere prostitutes. If they offended someone, they could be killed on the spot and forced to pay for it with money. So the women had no choice but to lower themselves as much as possible.
But this girl, Rachel, was not like that.
Even if she did not know who he was because of the mask, her behavior was absolutely not normal. And that, rather than bothering him, suited him perfectly.
Because of that, he had kept returning to the brothel to see her, countless times over.
And today was no different.
"The whole kingdom’s in an uproar."
"Well, they did get attacked by demons. What else were they supposed to do?"
"...Puhaha. Fair enough. Yes, demons attacked, after all."
He laughed at even the most trivial remark, and a smile spread across his face at her pouty, prickly reply.
If another woman had spoken to him like that, what would have happened?
If she had been a subordinate, he would have cut off her head. If she had been a prostitute, he would have slapped her across the face. If she had been his wife, he would have picked a fight with her. If she had been his daughter, he would have sighed heavily. It was pleasure he had never even felt toward his family. And all of it came from this teenage girl.
"Hahaha."
"...Why are you so happy?"
"Why, you ask? ...Heh, I don’t even know myself. Why is it so much fun being with you, hmm..."
"I’m glad to hear that. At least it seems I’m worth the money."
"Worth the money? More than enough. You’re worth so much I’d almost like to pay even more."
"Then you can pay more. I don’t take private tips, but I don’t mind if you order extra things."
"Hmm... Then the most expensive liquor here is..."
They had met quite a few times by now, yet Rachel had somehow become even more aloof than she had been at the start. Marc, however, permitted all of it and took it in stride.
Even with the girl’s brazen attitude, the surrounding atmosphere remained calm. Since Marc paid such obscene amounts of money, there were usually two other prostitutes in the room besides Rachel. That was also because this brothel did not generally allow a woman to see a client alone.
But neither Marc nor Rachel paid the others the slightest bit of attention. He did not even spare them a glance. The prostitutes, who had at first only trembled in a corner, had by now grown used to it and quietly helped with service or picked at the food, minimizing their presence as much as possible.
They had also adapted to Rachel’s behavior. She no longer jumped with a startled "Eeek!"
"Come to think of it, yesterday..."
Marc moved close beside Rachel and slyly took her hand.
She said nothing.
Good.
It was a success again today.
Physical contact was strictly forbidden with Rachel, but lately she had at least allowed him to hold her hand or rest a hand on her shoulder. If it had been any of the other brothel girls, he would have been well past the point of sleeping with them and even taking them from behind, but he did not rush her.
I’ve got plenty of time. Rachel isn’t going anywhere anyway.
Normally a prostitute could save up enough money and leave, but she could not.
It was because he had told Double-Knife on his third visit. Under no circumstances was she to be allowed to leave this place, and no other client was to be allowed to see her. So Rachel could not get out.
And Marc intended to keep coming back until he was satisfied, until he won Rachel’s heart, or until he grew tired of her. Naturally, he had no intention of letting her leave before that.
Never.
That was his bare minimum of pride.
As he was thinking that, Marc suddenly noticed something.
"Hm? You’ve got goosebumps on your arm. Are you cold?"
"...No. I’m just... no, a little cold, I guess."
Taking a sip of liquor that warmed her from the inside rather than the outside, Rachel answered. The gaze she hid from Marc was as cold as ice. One of the other prostitutes, who had casually glanced at her eyes, shuddered in surprise.
How annoying. When will this be over...?
She muttered that inwardly.
Rachel understood the situation well enough. She just needed a little more time.
Time for Valdes to work on the other women, and time for Marc to fall for her. The former was beyond her control, but the latter would not be difficult if she put in a little effort.
She did not even need to give him her virginity. With a little push and pull, and perhaps just a kiss, Marc would lose his mind. Especially now that he was already deeply hooked—add in the succubus Irena, who was surely watching from somewhere in the brothel, and it would be simple enough.
But she did not want to do it.
Just holding hands with him made her skin crawl. And now he wanted a kiss?
She would rather die.
If nothing else, that was why she had been searching for a way to make him even more obsessed with her without losing her lips or her virginity, and then, later, bring him to utter despair. Irena had said she would think about it a little, so it seemed likely to work soon enough.
But until then, she had no intention of allowing much of anything.
Please... let that day come soon...
When will I finally be able to have this child in my hands...?
Father and daughter held hands, each harboring thoughts that were similar and yet different.
"Haaah, haah, ahn...♡"
Moans kept slipping from her lips.
"Ahh, this really feels so good..."
The cool air brushing over her entire body.
It made her forget all her countless worries and anxieties.
Added to that was the dizzying pleasure, the excitement that made her heart pound wildly.
The price for it was by no means small.
It was the kind of situation that, if things went wrong, could drag her all the way to the bottom—not only as a woman, but as a princess as well. But on the other hand, if luck was on her side, it meant she could seize all these countless rewards without paying a thing.
What an excellent bargain.
Zero or one hundred.
She could have everything without paying a price, or lose everything in return. And even that possibility of losing everything remained uncertain. If things went well, she might not lose much at all. As gambling went, it was a remarkably profitable gamble.
"Hnnn... This feeling is seriously no joke...♡"
Princess Clara hurried through the night streets, her long white hair streaming behind her, her body nearly naked as always. By now she had grown somewhat accustomed to the experience, and with that came certain tricks.
One of them was moving quickly like this.
Not so fast that she was panting desperately, and not so slowly that it became dangerous. At just this exquisite speed, the balance between exertion and risk felt perfect, with pleasure hovering right at the edge.
During the first two or three times, the self-loathing and anxiety that followed the pleasure had been strong, but after a few repeats even that faded quickly. So long as she was careful, a kiss from her fiancé, Lloyd, became something she could dismiss as nothing at all compared to this happiness and pleasure. Naturally, she could not give up her late-night walks.
That was even more true when she had worries like these.
"Haaah..."
What should I do about Father...?
Clara’s greatest current worry was her father, King Marc.
This concern had begun not long ago, after she witnessed Marc going into the brothel. And it had continued without a single resolution ever since.
Because of that, I even fought with Lloyd...
Normally she had been thinking so deeply about the matter that she had failed to properly hear her fiancé a few times, and a small argument on the day of the demon attack had escalated into a real fight. It had been their first lovers’ quarrel since getting engaged.
Honestly, I’m the one with a headache here, and Lloyd...
Instead of worrying about his beloved fiancée, he got angry at her. It was truly disappointing.
Another of her worries was tied to that.
If one of her three major concerns was her father, and another was her mother’s possible affair—something she had only heard rumors of but which might still be true—then the third concerned her fiancé, Lloyd.
Could he possibly understand this hobby of hers?
Even I think I’m not normal for enjoying this, so what about Lloyd...?
As for Lloyd, he was the very picture of the stereotypical noble son. That was only natural, considering he was the heir to a ducal house. Stiff, rigid, incapable of understanding anything that deviated from common noble sense. A man who was both a strength and a weakness.
Clara truly loved him, which only made her more anxious.
What if he could not understand? Should she keep it secret from him for the rest of her life?
...Maybe I should just keep it secret...
That was when it happened.
Step.
"!!"
Footsteps sounded from not far away.
T-there! I need to run!
Clara’s whole body prickled with an unusual chill, negative rather than pleasant, and her face went pale as she broke into a run. Because she was on edge, the sound of footsteps seemed especially loud, so she hurried toward the place where she had hidden her clothes.
In truth, she did not need to move so urgently. She could simply hide nearby and wait for the owner of the footsteps to pass by. But for some reason tonight, her unease kept rising.
So she quickened her pace.
She just wanted to get her coat on as soon as possible.
But was her anxiety accurate after all?
Step. ...Step.
"...!!"
The sound did not fade.
Instead, it seemed to be getting louder and louder. As if it were walking toward her.
I-I’m running! Why... why isn’t it getting farther away?!
She was already sprinting hard enough to make herself breathless. Even if her body was that of a woman, she was still faster than an ordinary man walking. And yet the sound did not diminish.
Step. Step.
"What... what is this...?"
Clara urged her feet even faster. She was almost there now.
She had entered the alleyway, and if she turned a few corners she would reach her destination in no time. The alley was also rather complicated, so her pursuer would surely get lost before reaching it.
At least, that was what she had thought.
Step, step.
But she was wrong. Even after turning four corners, the footsteps only sounded faster, closer.
So close, in fact, that if she looked back she might see someone walking after her.
"... "
Despite the chilly night air, sweat was pouring down her body.
And then.
...drip.
"...Hnh♡"
Something was leaking from between her thighs too.
Even though she was in a situation where she could be caught by some unknown person at any moment, she strangely kept feeling more and more aroused, more and more expectant. But separate from those feelings, she finally reached the alley where the hidden passage was located.
"Haa...! Haa...!"
Hiding herself behind the wall, she tried to catch her breath first. Running at full speed after so long had left her completely exhausted.
"Hhk...! Q-quickly... haa, my clothes... I need to put my clothes on..."
Once Clara had calmed down a little, she hurriedly searched the place where she had hidden them.
But.
"...Huh?"
The clothes.
Were nowhere to be seen.