The Secret Summer Vacation - 1
Valentine’s first experience had been like a drug.
He had lost his purity to the betrayal of the trusted subordinate he had trusted so completely, yet a scorching pleasure still lingered in his body.
He would never forget it for the rest of his life, not even when he died.
He was not a white sheet of paper that could be stained.
If purity had been enforced as a creed, countless others would have been exiled or beaten to death.
“Now that’s the important part.”
The day after Valentine had taken Albert’s virginity.
The next morning Lily received her lesson from Beatrix in private.
Simply having sex once was not the end of it.
Other women might think so easily, but Lily had to savor every drop of pleasure.
She had to torment, provoke, and sometimes even reward them so that the man would beg first.
Beatrix, who had naturally known every method of claiming dominance like the heroine of a femdom story, had only ever shown it to Albert, who had knelt before her completely.
Lily engraved every single piece of advice deep into her mind and even took notes.
The Valentine Subjugation Plan.
If this were a game, Lily would have named her notes something like that.
“An enriching time. Thank you.”
On the surface it would have looked like a conversation about faith or balancing political factions.
But in truth it was anything but.
Lily tucked her small notebook into her bosom with reverence and rose slowly from her seat.
“Yes. You said you’d be leaving tomorrow, didn’t you? Go rest well.”
Go rest well.
In other words, enjoy yourselves to your hearts’ content.
Lily read the true meaning hidden in Beatrix’s words and smiled gently.
It was a smile of boundless tenderness.
“Thank you for your consideration.”
Even her voice was so soft it was almost impossible to tell she was a devout priestess.
A model believer without a trace of greed, the kind anyone could look up to.
The moment Lily left, Beatrix walked straight into the bedroom.
She wiped away a few beads of sweat on her forehead.
‘It’s really summer.’
That meant it was harvest season, and when the harvest came the underlings would be busy.
Even if this year was a bountiful harvest, that didn’t change anything.
Beatrix would also be busy, but not as busy as the underlings.
The king held the reins and guided the ship; he never rowed from below.
The moment she stepped into the bedroom, cool air teased her skin.
Thanks to the magic circle laid across the floor, it was warm in winter and cool in summer.
One of the few luxuries only mages or the wealthy could enjoy.
“Hm?”
Beatrix tilted her head.
She had come looking for a quiet time with Albert, but he was nowhere to be found.
“Ah.”
Then she nodded, as if realizing something.
The image of her rushing around a few days ago, urging everyone to take a summer vacation, flashed through her mind.
What exactly was she planning to do?
She didn’t know, but it couldn’t be a normal vacation.
Beatrix slipped out of the dress she was wearing and lay back on the bed in nothing but her undergarments.
Lying in a dress would have been too uncomfortable.
“I’m back.”
While she had been lost in melancholy, Albert entered the bedroom with a smile.
The moment he breathed in the refreshingly cool air, a laugh escaped him.
Even if the continent’s summer wasn’t especially hot for him, it was still hot.
“You’re back?”
Beatrix slowly sat up and greeted him.
“What’s that?”
Her gaze moved to the small bag Albert held in his hand.
It was the exact shape of a document case.
“I had it made by the tailors.”
Albert set the bag on the table beside the bed, opened it, and took out the contents.
They were as thin as the undergarments Beatrix wore.
Yet one by one they revealed themselves.
“Pervert.”
Even while accusing him, Beatrix’s lips curved in the faintest smile.
Albert smirked and asked.
“So you don’t like it?”
“No. I love it. But… are these even undergarments?”
“No. They’re swimsuits… clothes for wearing at the beach.”
“Beach? You’d wear something like that outside?”
No matter how common exposure was for women, outside?
Wearing something like that?
Her pupils trembled faintly in confusion.
Meanwhile Albert showed no sign of being unsettled, as if he had expected it.
“Yes. Swimsuits for when you swim outside. I thought it would be good to have at least one set.”
“Hm? In that case… you’re saying these will be used for the other three as well?”
On the table lay four swimsuits.
Three left after Albert’s share.
Beatrix immediately realized those three would be for the other three rulers.
“I thought it would be nice to go together. I asked and they all said they had time.”
If they didn’t have time, she would have forced it anyway.
Beatrix felt a slight resentment toward Albert for suggesting they all go together.
Their private, intimate time had been ruined.
But the kindness of wanting to include everyone else was admirable.
To keep the peace, you had to give them something to eat as well.
“Can we still cancel?”
Albert’s tail end sounded uncertain.
Beatrix saw through the obvious lie, but even that worked in her favor.
If anyone else had done the same, she would have found it disgusting.
“It’s fine. Do whatever you want.”
In the end Beatrix had no choice but to sigh and agree.
“Thank you.”
Albert smiled bashfully, as if genuinely grateful.
This time she would get to taste one of her long-dreamed fantasy.
*
“So this is what it means to wear such lewd clothing outside…”
“Exposing oneself isn’t rare, but to come out and shout that you’re in heat like that…”
“What’s wrong with it? We’ll play somewhere where no one’s eyes can reach.”
Late in the evening.
The other three queens had gathered on the third floor of the Tower of Reconciliation.
Each of them held the swimsuits Albert had given them and scanned them over and over with no other thought in mind.
They had planned the summer vacation in every detail—the date, the place, everything.
But the bomb they had dropped at the last second was these swimsuits.
“Speaking of which, Albert said he’ll be taking his clothes off too… Just imagining it is too lewd…”
Men’s swimsuits were usually only the minimal triangular or square pieces that covered the crotch.
Hearing that, of course they got excited.
Of course there were full-body suits, but they felt too restrictive on the wearer.
So they hadn’t even considered them.
Maria’s face flushed as she muttered something dreamy, and Kristia nodded.
“Mm. Calling these national attire for a whole country seems a little… too disheveled. Perhaps it would be better to bring something to at least wear over them…”
“Bullshit. You’re just dying to look, aren’t you? Why are you pretending you can’t eat it?”
Wilhelmina laughed and pointed out Kristia’s shamelessness.
Even so, her eyes kept returning to the swimsuit in her hand.
In Wilhelmina’s mind she pictured herself in that outfit, being devoured like a dog by Albert.
On the surface it was just for swimming, but she already knew that wasn’t all of it.
Just like the other rulers.
“Hmph. Pretending to be modest. What if someone else sees that scene…”
“What’s wrong with it? The rumor that you’re a sex maniac has already spread everywhere.”
Sex maniac.
The public secret earned because she spent her nights with beasts like Beatrix.
Too thin a name to attach to a country’s national attire, yet many women found it perfect.
Appearance was secondary; her personality and temperament were almost every woman’s ideal.
Bright, energetic, kind.
“Anyway, they’re coming in three days. Make sure you’re ready. They’re coming to your side, right?”
Wilhelmina asked with a teasing tone.
Because of their geographical layout, each kingdom bordered the sea on the outer side.
It was only natural since they governed the continent by dividing it into quadrants.
Kristia finally snapped out of her daze, coughed, and cleared her throat.
“Mm. Yes, that’s the plan. I have a vacation home by the western sea, so it will only require a few simple preparations.”
Even trade ships docked at the coast, so people lived along the beach.
Not just a few scattered residents, but a proper territory had been built.
This was true for all four directions.
To keep people from approaching and to set a few magic circles for comfort, it should be enough.
Kristia mentally listed the tasks, nodded silently, and said nothing more.
“Speaking of which, how long has it been since we played at the beach? I can’t even remember.”
Wilhelmina chuckled and placed the swimsuit on the round table.
In her childhood she had been led by her parents on national tours across every land.
Her parents had long since passed, but that memory still lingered in her mind.
The same was true for the other rulers.
Though their personalities differed, their education and environment had been almost identical.
How strange.
Kristia and Maria both stared into the distance with distant eyes.
“Indeed. It really was far away.”
“I did go to the outskirts often, but I’ve never actually been to the beach… I did go once to check for smuggled goods or bribes…”
“In the end it’s all just business. You never went just to play.”
“I never felt the need to go on vacation.”
They didn’t need rest because they were overworked with work.
And they had no desire to relax for fun.
Just like the other rulers.
Wilhelmina, sensing the mood beginning to sour, spoke up as if waiting for it.
“Anyway. Since you’re all coming with me, it feels a bit… off. Make sure you prepare properly so nothing happens.”
“If you don’t want to die, be faithful and do your work.”
“There’s no one I can trust to hold the fort… except you, of course?”
Kristia asked with a puzzled look.
Even the most tyrannical ruler would have a few trusted subordinates.
Beatrix’s cold demeanor still had military and administrative aides.
Wilhelmina was no exception.
The way she spoke as if she had none bothered her.
“I did have them.”
Past tense.
Now Kristia understood why Wilhelmina had spoken like that.
Maria nodded silently, as if she understood as well.
“The guy must have really shat the bed. Can you give me the details?”
“There’s nothing much to tell. He just embezzled like an idiot and crossed the line.”
Here “embezzlement” meant not only money but supplies and, worse, people.
Wilhelmina closed her eyes for a moment even after she knew the whole story, then ended his life when she learned he had crossed the line.
She had even given him a senior minister position that was quite important.
Just remembering that day made her sigh.
“Living in gold made him act like he was the owner. So I gave him gold he loved and turned him into it.”
Wilhelmina shook her black-gloved left hand as if to show it off.
Her authority didn’t care whether she wore gloves or not, but she had worn them to symbolize her power and warning.
Take off this glove and you die.
Anything she touched became gold, and she also held the authority to summon wealth.
That was Wilhelmina’s Golden Authority.
“Golden Statue, was it? How many?”
Kristia asked in a languid voice.
Turning criminals into golden statues wasn’t something Beatrix did in a day or two.
“Twenty-one.”
“Wow, really? The Golden Statue has an unusually large number of people with no sense of reality.”
Wasn’t that because they had turned the entire statue into gold?
Maria asked in disbelief.
Wilhelmina’s eyes narrowed.
“Because of my tastes?”
“It could be. It’s common for humans buried in gold to lose their sense of reality.”
“True.”
Perhaps improving the Golden Statue would help.
But Wilhelmina had no intention of doing so.
It was her taste, but also a kind of filter.
To weed out those who had lost touch with reality or acted according to their whims.
Maria and Kristia knew this and didn’t speak up.
It was Wilhelmina’s own operational policy.
Anyway.
Wilhelmina paused for a moment and turned her gaze toward Kristia.
She wanted to steer the conversation away from the strange tangents it had been drifting into.
“Even my real wife is coming in person, so prepare properly. If you need anything, tell me.”
“I feel the same way, so don’t hold back. Talk freely.”
We’ll provide the location; you provide the contents.
Kristia accepted the meaning with a smile.
“Yes. A few things have come to mind. Bring them with you, each of you.”
---
[Lily’s gentle smile and inner thoughts of her obsession with Valentine]