Royal Princess of Blood

Once that sun was now in view, Estelia changed into her combat outfit. It was her most comfortable outfit, especially that she would be walking in public. In front of the mirror, she straightened her hair with her fingers. There was a comb in the room available, but considering whose room this was, she would rather not use it. It would have to be cleaned first. She didn’t want any disgusting thing from that man’s scalp unto her.

Although it was a bit strange, considering that she had already laid on the bed. But a scalp was different to some sheets. Perhaps she was just being petty. But she just didn’t want to, that was all. She straightened her clothes and looked at herself and admired how beautiful she was, and she smiled. But that smile immediately drooped.

With a sigh, she grabbed her one precious dagger. It would do for what she was planning on doing. She sheathed her dagger to the back of her waist as she exited the room. Waiting outside was the soldier, Velar, and for some reason, Taneva, too.

She turned towards Velar. “Come with me.”

With that, Estelia stepped down the stairs, Velar following behind her. But again, for some reason, Taneva as well.

“You’re coming with?”

“Don’t mind me. Just curious.”

“... Whatever. Do what you want, just don’t intervene.”

As she went, the people on the deck stared at her, and others kept their distance. Estelia glanced at them, and it would seem they were interested in why she got out and what she was planning on doing. She also noticed the two Cursed Children at the bow. She still couldn’t trust them completely. No, it was more like she had no intention of trusting them at all. They may have saved her in some way, but they seemed to want her for something, so she was wary of the shady two.

Estelia stepped down the stairs to the inside of the ship. Her sudden arrival and presence startled the people inside, and they quickly moved out of her way. Estelia noticed someone holding a stringed instrument sitting in the corner. It took a moment for her to recognize the instrument, but it seemed to be a lute. Not common to see one. She didn’t even know how to play one. Although, that instrument might be quite common here in this world.

And then, they arrived at the cell where they kept their prisoners. There were a couple of men guarding them. They flinched when Estelia turned to look at them. Truth be told, Estelia had been contemplating on how to act in front of people. Should she stick with the innocent behavior? But, to be honest, she was not in the mood to do that. And, acting that way would only slow things down. Thus, she decided not to and let go of the pure princess act.

“Unlock the cage.”

The two guards blinked.

“Really? But…”

“I want to talk to them.”

They turned a look at Velar, and he nodded. With that, one of the guards quickly went to unlock the cell. It would seem they truly had a lot of trust in the soldier. Was it because he was more approachable? Definitely. Unlike Estelia who was just too different from the rest of the common people.

“You two can leave us. We can take it from here,” she said to the two guards.

The two hesitated for a moment, but then left after giving Velar the keys.

Estelia grabbed a chair and began dragging it inside.

“What are you planning, exactly?” Taneva asked.

“Just talk.”

She let go of the chair and elegantly sat on it, crossing her legs as she stared at the three men in the cell. One was leaning on the wall, the other sitting on the floor, and lastly the captain was standing in front of Estelia. The three of them pointed a sharp look at her.

“Do you remember me?” she asked, but her gaze was stuck on the captain.

The captain looked at the other two men with her before responding. “Of course. You’re the special package.”

“And you made a deal with a demon. You’re pretty prepared for my arrival. How much did he pay, I wonder?”

“Not sure. I was not the one who took the deal. I’m only following orders.”

“I see.” Estelia nodded. “Tell me about the details of my transport.”

“... Why would I tell you?”

“Because I said so.”

He paused for a moment with a clenched jaw. “... Why are you asking now? Is there even any point?”

“That’s because I want to.”

The captain chuckled. “And if I don’t want to?”

Estelia raised an eyebrow and glanced at the other two prisoners. “Do you really have a choice?”

“You’re here in the cell with us. You’re so close.”

She leaned back in her chair, showing her nonchalance. “You appear to be under the delusion that you hold the upper hand. No, Mr. Captain, you’re in the cell with me. And you will do as I want… To put simply, you’re my bitch.”

The captain frowned and let out a quiet groan. “... You’re right. I was just testing you.”

“There are reasons why people say not to test God.”

“Are you God now?”

“At the moment, yes. I am your God.”

The two of them glared at each other, but in the end, the captain nodded. “I saw your power. You’re scary enough.”

“Good. Now answer my previous demand.”

“... I heard about the deal months ago. Said to prepare the moment the demons arrive with a package. To set out immediately to Shinoroa.”

Estelia was a bit surprised to hear that the demons had been preparing for this day months ago. For them to kidnap her. Estelia and the others never in a moment ever expected the demons to just come in.

These demons did a pretty good job of hiding until the opportune moment.

And she found it incredibly annoying and frustrating that she lost to them.

“How did the demon get from Wisteria to Eventon so quickly?”

She found it strange that they got here on a ship while she was asleep. She doubted it took days because she would have woken up. Or was she wrong?

The captain seemed to be confused. “Wisteria? Why? What’s with Wisteria?”

“You don’t know?”

“Hey, all I know is to transport you and the demon to the port town of Enikada.”

“I may have an answer to that,” Taneva chimed in. Estelia looked at him from the corner of her eyes. “The demon used a teleportation magic circle.”

Estelia’s eyes widened. “That exist?”

“Of course. But it’s pretty complicated.”

I should have known something like that was in here. It was never mentioned in the magic books.

Concepts of teleportation magic were prominent in her old world. Fantasy stories have that in various ways. She just didn’t think someone would ever use it when the palace was unaware of such a thing. Although, it might be a rare magic, and the cost may not be easy to pay.

Did the Empire use it to bring their army to the kingdom?

If they did, it would explain all the confusion she had about how the enemy got through the defenses. With the enemy having teleportation magic, Wisteria was already at a disadvantage. But if they had such a thing, why did the Empire take their time to slowly cripple Wisteria? With teleportation magic, you could easily transport armies in different vulnerable spots in Wisteria. And Wisteria would never, ever be ready for such attacks. They could easily win any invasion or cause heavy damage.

Even Estelia would abuse such magic if she could. Then that could mean the Empire couldn’t abuse it.

“The inhumans were with the Empire. Were they the ones to cast the teleportation magic?” she asked Taneva.

“Oh yes. Humans don’t know about such a spell, so definitely.”

“You were there during the assault.”

“Of course. I told you, I was watching you.”

“From our first conversation, I had the impression that Wisteria won against the assault.”

“Yes, they won.”

“... Then…” She looked away for a moment with a pause before turning back to Taneva. “What about the rest of my family? Are they… alive?”

“I’m surprised you’re only asking that now.”

Estelia had only realized it just now. Perhaps…she was just afraid of hearing what happened. She might have lost more than her mother. If her father died, or any of her brothers, she didn’t know how her heart would take it.

“Answer me.”

“Your father and both your brothers are alive.”

“Are you not lying to me?”

“Why would I lie?” He smiled. “Ask the two Cursed Children if you don’t trust me.”

“Hm. That’s great.” Estelia nodded with a great feeling of relief. She turned towards the prisoners again. “Let me tell you who you kidnapped. I am the Princess of Wisteria.”

The three prisoner’s eyes widened in surprise. It would seem the demons truly didn’t tell them about who they were transporting. And that was for the best. They did not need to know about it.

“And currently, I’m not in a good mood. One reason being you.” She pointed her finger at them. “You’re one of the reasons I’m away from my kingdom.”

“P-Princess…? Hey, we were just doing our job, you know,” said the captain with a wry smile.

“That is not only among your sins. You transport slaves — men and women. You mistreat your own kind, abuse them.”

Although Estelia didn’t really care about that part, she just wanted to mention it.

“One of your men tried to force himself on me. Which I imagine also happened to the other slaves here.”

“H-Hey that wasn’t me.”

“That wasn’t me either. I didn’t do anything bad.”

“I was up there on the deck the entire time! And I didn’t touch anyone!”

Estelia raised her hand to silence them. “We’ll set that aside for now. I have another matter I’m interested in.” Estelia smiled a little. “I want to know about this organization of yours, which offended me greatly.”

The three of them looked at each other and then the captain spoke. “It’s, it’s a pretty big organization. I wouldn’t know much.”

“Then tell me what you know. The history, how you operate. The different branches. Your leaders. Everything that you know.”

“T-They’ll kill me.”

“Huh. So you fear them more than me.”

“No no no! It’s just that—”

Estelia raised her hand again. “Don’t worry. I understand. Criminal organizations are pretty dangerous and ruthless. They’ll either kill you or your family.”

“Y-Yes.”

Estelia exaggeratedly nodded. “I see.” She pulled out a beautiful dagger from her back. “I saw this in your room, Captain.”

“Oh… that…”

“Did you know that it’s mine?”

“...” He didn’t reply. He was feeling utterly nervous.

“I wonder, what were you planning to do with it? Be honest.”

He hesitated, but the princess’s sharp gaze compelled him to speak. “... It looks expensive… Either keep it or sell it.”

“That makes me mad. Do you have any idea how special this is to me?” Estelia slowly stood up. “Let’s do an experiment.”

“Experiment?”

“Experiment slash game, to be precise.” She moved the chair to the side. “I have a special ability, you see. I can use blood to enhance my dagger. And it’s what I used to defeat an ever regenerating demon imp. With my blood, to be exact.”

She stood in front of them with a small smile.

“And I have to say, because of you, I missed using this dagger to kill my target.”

The captain gulped.

“Anyhow,” she fiddled with her dagger. “Slashing the imp with the blood enhanced daggers to slow his healing was tedious. That’s why I want to try another approach. What if I just inject my holy blood into the demon? Wouldn’t that be akin to a poison to them?”

“Oh, that’s smart,” Taneva casually said, but Estelia ignored him.

“I haven’t tried it, so I want to do it now. If I can inject blood into a person with my dagger. You three will help me.”

“You…” the captain stepped back. “You can’t do this. We’ll fight back.”

“I’m sure you will. But have you considered the opponents you’ll be facing?”

The captain gritted his teeth.

Estelia shook her hand. “Oh, don’t worry. I have no intention of killing you in the experiment. I mean, it’s just blood being injected. It’s not like it’s poison. And I don’t have to kill to get blood.”

“You…”

Estelia formed a kind smile. “Velar. Will you assist me, please?”

Velar entered the cell and stood beside the princess.

“Good. I will need you to hold them in case necessary. Otherwise, help me wherever.”

“... Understood…”

Estelia looked at one of the prisoners. “You, come forward.”

The man had a scared look on his face. He was hesitant as he stepped forward.

“Hold out your hand.”

The man extended his hand.

“There will be a little pinch.”

As what a doctor would say before inserting a big ass needle.

Estelia slashed his palm, and it started to bleed. She touched the tip of her blade on the blood, the red liquid began spreading on the blade. The man she was getting blood from looked disturbed.

Once she was done, Estelia retracted the blade.

“See? That’s all I need to do to get blood.” She turned towards the captain. “As for the game. As I inject blood into you, you will tell me what you know about your organization. Savvy?”

“Y-You’re insane!”

“Trust me, I am very sane right now.”

The captain clenched his fists and glared at her.

“Don’t worry, Captain. It’s just blood after a small stab, right? Is there anything you need to be afraid of?” she said.

Well, except if you don’t have the same blood type. And if this blood has some diseases like STDs. Hm, are there even STDs in this world? Huh. I have heard nothing about that.

With that in mind, perhaps blood was a kind of poison, after all.

“Now then, shall we get started?”

The captain began stepping back. “S-Stay away from me!”

Estelia sighed. “Velar. Please hold him.”

Velar grabbed the captain and restrained him from the back.

“N-No! You two! Help me!” He asked for help from his two allies. But they did nothing but watch.

Estelia inched closer, a smile radiating on her face, as if trying to comfort her victim.

“Just the tip.” And she stabbed the dagger into the captain’s shoulder.