From Today Onward, You Are Mine
Sena was hurled into Astria’s bedchamber. “Betty? Betty?” he called, knocking on the door with a miserable expression. The heavy oak refused to budge. He turned, face ashen, only to see Astria approaching in nothing but a thin blouse, wearing a languid smile.
“Y-Your Majesty… you appear to have misplaced your trousers.”
“I always sleep without them.”
“That cannot be good for your health.”
Sena tried to retreat from the advancing empress, but the closed door at his back made escape impossible.
“It is of no concern. I shall soon partake of something very good for my body.”
“S-something good for your body? I wonder what that could be. Ahaha.”
He feigned ignorance, but Sena had momentarily forgotten that Astria was a tyrant who knew only one direction: forward.
“Sena. It is you.”
“……!”
She stopped directly before him and studied him from crown to toe. A size perfect for embracing. Silver hair she longed to sully. Every last strand. From this moment on, all of it belonged to her.
Astria’s possessiveness swelled without limit. Everything of value in the world had to be hers. Therefore it was only natural that the most beautiful jewel in existence should also become her possession.
“Sena.”
She hooked a finger beneath the chin of the half-crouching young man and lifted it.
“From today onward, you are mine.”
Sena’s entire field of vision filled with her.
“Do not even dream of running away.”
“…….”
The raw ownership radiating from her gaze made him swallow hard. Threats to his ‘first time’ were nothing new. Women of this medieval era could be surprisingly forward. Whether from boredom or not, Sena had endured countless temptations since arriving in this world.
Yet he had stubbornly protected himself, because he wanted his first experience to be with someone he truly loved.
Sena did not love Astria. In truth, such emotions had always been difficult for him.
Will refusing change anything?
Without mana, he was no match for women who possessed it. If they decided to take him by force, there was nothing he could do. Not against Cloe, Seria, or Silvia. Any of them could claim him whenever they wished.
But Sena had found a way to avoid unwanted relations. The secret was simple.
Beg for sympathy.
If he acted frail and pitiful enough, they usually couldn’t bring themselves to go all the way.
“I am not anyone’s property.”
“From today, you are mine.”
“A-and besides, I come from a clerical family! I must uphold premarital chastity…!”
Sena cried out in desperation. Unfortunately, his resistance only seemed to whet Astria’s appetite further.
“The precious first time you have guarded until now was preserved for my sake.”
“N-no, it wasn’t.”
“Was it not?”
Astria gave a small laugh.
“Then cry for me. I adore conquering a partner who has fallen into despair.”
She really is a psychopath…
His usual tactic was useless against her. She might be his perfect natural enemy.
“…I won’t cry.”
“Then the conclusion is?”
“Do as you wish. If you don’t mind angering Lady Justitia.”
Sena stared pitifully at the floor. Perhaps this display of misery would earn enough sympathy to make her relent, just like the others.
“I can endure no longer.”
Yet Astria swept him up without the slightest hesitation.
“Huh?”
Sena gave an awkward laugh at the sudden elevation. This wasn’t what he had planned.
Astria hurled him onto the bed.
“Y-Your Majesty?”
She climbed atop him, eyes blazing like blue flames as she looked down.
Sena was utterly flustered. It seemed he had accidentally flipped some dangerous switch.
“C-could you please calm down?”
“Impossible.”
She looked ready to devour him at any second.
“…Um, about that…”
Sena squeezed his eyes shut. Fine. I surrender, Your Majesty. I’ll allow it.
“Let’s wash first! The two of us!”
“Hm?”
“I’ll do everything Your Majesty desires. A-anything at all.”
His face burned with embarrassment. But for a clean-freak like himself, this was an issue of critical importance.
“Just… let’s do it after we’ve washed. Doing it without bathing feels far too unclean.”
She’ll accept this much, right?
“Is a bath truly necessary merely to create a child? You may wash in the morning.”
“That is completely unreasonable!”
“I must create an heir immediately. I grow sleepy.”
Do you really get sleepy the moment the clock strikes midnight…?!
Resentment rose in Sena’s throat, but he knew Astria only showed consideration when declaring war.
She spoke as though the very idea displeased her.
“That robe looks stifling.”
“I-I’ll remove it myself.”
Astria tilted her head, puzzled why he would bother with such a tedious process. She seized the front of his robe, clearly intending to rip it apart.
Sena slammed his eyes shut and shouted, “It’s a precious robe!”
“……Even now you remain particular.”
With a faint return of reason, Astria moved off him. She simply stood on the bed, gazing down.
“Hurry and undress.”
“…Yes.”
Sena wanted to weep.
Why does even my first night have to be like this?
Had the roles of man and woman completely reversed in this world? At the very least, he had wanted to take the lead for his first time—to see a woman blush and act shy. Instead he was the one being dragged along like a dog on a leash.
This is genuinely upsetting.
With his neck flushed crimson, Sena knelt on the bed. He loosened the robe’s ties and hung his head.
“Please don’t watch.”
“I will watch.”
“That’s too cruel.”
“And if it is? What will you do about it?”
Astria stood with arms folded, openly enjoying the view. Her bare feet entered his line of sight, and he suddenly noticed how small they were.
…Wait a moment.
Halfway through lowering his robe, Sena looked up.
Astria is also experiencing this for the first time, isn’t she?
Stripped of her imperial title, she was simply a lovely blonde girl. Her frame was tiny—nearly the same as his own. No matter how tyrannical she might be, surely she wouldn’t act the tyrant in bed as well?
Perhaps there was no need to be so afraid. They wouldn’t be using mana during the act, after all.
How long will you keep letting yourself be pushed around? Are you really going to let even your first experience be taken by force?
Sena recalled all the times this golden tyrant had pushed him around. The memory made anger flare.
Yet sometimes she revealed a girlish side appropriate for her age.
His fingers no longer trembled as they worked the buttons.
“…Your Majesty?”
“Yes?”
“You should undress as well.”
“Indeed.”
Now it’s your turn to feel embarrassed. I’ll stare right back.
It was his trump card. Or so Sena believed.
Rip.
“…….”
With one hand Astria tore her blouse open. Buttons scattered as her pure white skin was revealed.
“……What are you doing under the blanket?”
“Turn off the lights! Lights out, lights out!”
Completely covered by the quilt, Sena shouted in a muffled voice.
Does that woman have no shame at all?!
Astria’s elegant brows drew together.
“Now you dare order the empress to extinguish the lights…”
“Quickly!”
“Before that, remove your clothes. How can you undress in the dark?”
Rustle.
Sena pushed something through a gap in the blankets. It was his robe, neatly folded. Even in this situation he had taken the time to fold it. Astria’s expression filled with disbelief.
“If that is a talent, then it is an impressive one.”
“Now please turn off the lights.”
“…Very well.”
Astria extinguished the lamps. Only then did Sena cautiously peek out from beneath the covers. With nothing visible in the darkness, he finally relaxed—until Astria lay down beside him and his heart nearly burst from his chest.
Thump. Thump.
His heartbeat was so loud he feared she might hear it.
Am I really about to do this?
Even in the dark, Sena’s pupils trembled violently. The day had finally arrived.
“Then let us begin.”
“…!”
“The creation of an heir.”
At Astria’s relaxed declaration, the moment Sena swallowed dryly—
—she took his hand.
Soft. Small. For an instant his heart seemed to stop.
“With this, all of your firsts now belong to me.”
Her voice was deeply satisfied.
Incidentally, aside from holding hands, there had been no skin contact whatsoever.
“It is exactly as I was told—sweeter than any dessert, like walking upon clouds. The feeling is most pleasant.”
“……Your Majesty.”
Sena stared at the woman who had done nothing but hold his hand.
“What exactly are you doing?”
“What does it look like? I am making a baby.”
“…Pardon?”
“I was told that if I do this, the goddess will grant me a successor in my womb.”
Are you a hermaphrodite…?
Suddenly Sena remembered Astria’s history. She had become empress at the age of twelve. It was extremely rare, but what if she had reached that age without ever learning how children were made?
…There was no one in the empire who would dare explain such matters to the supreme ruler.
Sena’s eyes glazed over. Why had he been so terrified of this utterly clueless emperor? Give me back my precious time.
“Will it be a daughter, I wonder… or a son…”
Still, she looked so happy that it was rather endearing. She really did have a cute side.
In the end, Sena fell asleep with a smile on his lips.
“Cough.”
In the deep hours of the night, Sena clamped a hand over his own mouth and snapped awake. Blood he could not hold back spilled relentlessly, soaking the sheets despite his desperate efforts to stay silent.
Just once more.
His eyes widened. His body jerked, but he somehow managed not to make a sound. It was too dark to see clearly, yet he knew his hands and the bedclothes must be splattered with red.
This cannot happen.
A chill ran through him as he curled inward.
Can I keep hiding it?
Deep down he already knew the answer. He had been lucky tonight, but if they continued to sleep together like this, it was only a matter of time before he was discovered.
Yet—
Sena clasped both hands together and prayed fervently to Justitia.
Even if the others learn the truth, please—above all—keep my illness hidden from Astria. If you grant me this, I will depart quietly, exactly as you desire.