Joseph gets out of the Countess' parlor, feeling this overwhelming victory inside when he was able to stupefy that indigo-haired girl. She was so cocky that it took him every single piece of decorum not to jump out and strangle her, being an anarchist as he is. He has to be reticent right now, but when his plan is completed, he swears the discrepancy of hierarchy would be obsolete, and so would the discomfiture when his rights are abridge. He will debunks both the true and false princesses.
Now at that time, Joseph possesses a brawny body, therefore it is not too hard for him to disguise into one of the Specialists. His body is adamant, unlike his face, and this would be the weakness erring for him, if he does not pay attention. The Countess and her daughter seem to have yet discover this flaw, so he ought to make sure no one in the castle does. His resolution is simple: finish everything before anyone even discovers his power, avoiding as much obliteration as possible.
Stella is such a busy body today. She doesn't even have time to rest. To be ponderous with her work, she has no time to take food or any restorative, nor can she afford to err at any point. She also has no time to think about her ill father, and her body languishes over time. Lately in the kingdom, there have been several misdeeds happening, from the larceny in some small stores to youngsters lampooning the government and got through into detention center, heeding the tirades from some old officer women about their wrongdoings. Misanthropes also emerged, mostly from the rural area, but got oppressed quickly. She does not mind the wrongdoers to be punished for a better society, but she is troubled if every aberration brings her a stack of papers as presents. But in any means, the news of the fallen king seems to have percolated.
That even brings her to be terser and more acrid to herself. Brandon has already warned her about not overworking too much, but what else can she do? Is there even a reliable person in this palace? The kingdom has this proclivity towards doom if Countess Cassandra and her evil daughter Chimera were to usurp the throne. Such specimen has no altruism towards anyone but themselves, and no matter how grandiose the palace can be, they will strip it to the last penny for their own recreational purposes. It would have been wonderful if there could be a caricature to epitomize how ridiculous the future view would be then, however, there is none, and the whole government is nothing more than bigots who are nullified by the Countess.
The door opens, and she sees her boyfriend walking in. She does not expect to see his face, for some strange reason, she has predict something different. Probably the visceral thoughts of a girlfriend, but obviously it was wrong.
Stella did not know that her instinct was right. It is Joseph who walks in, adroitly disguises. He has this cordial expression on, the one that a boyfriend is trying to comfort his hardworking girl.
"Why don't you take a break?" He asks, handing her a cup of steaming coffee. "I brought this for you. Thought it might restore your strength."
She takes the cup, not knowing it was drugged, and smiles to him. "Thank you, Brandie. This is really what I need."
However, before she has a chance to take a slip, an officer ran in, looking timorous, panting nonstop before he kneels down and reports about the hedonists who know nothing but pleasure for themselves, and troubling the people very much, even go so far as to envenom families as they abuse the children. No one dares to stand up to them, and the soldiers are not strong enough against them. That is why the officer has to resort to asking the highest person right now.
"Those idiots need retention." Stella puts down her cup, and stands up immediately. "Brandon, sorry, but your coffee has to wait for another time. I have business to take care of."
"Wait!" Joseph rushes after the princess, tentative of what he has to do next, but follows her anyway. "What are you planning to do?"
"What else?" Stella looks at him. "I will go see and punish those hedonists myself."
Joseph rolls his eyes, assuming that the girl is just pontificating the fact, the way royals do. Their harangue might sound heart-lifting and wonderful, but their deeds are nowhere close to that largess they promised.
But to his surprise, the princess really does mean what she has said. It takes Stella few seconds to transform into her fairy outfit, and they needn't run, as the rebels have already arrived at the palace, standing outside beating the guards.
"I demand to meet the King right now!" Shouted a large-built man with a thick plumage of some weird bird wrapped around his shoulder, seems to be the leader. "I will take this dearth no more, give us money, give us good food, and give us fortune! We are stronger than all the men here, how comes are we living in poverty?!"
"Stop such ridiculous reprimand." Answered Princess Stella as she walks closer to the guards lying on the ground, putting up a gleam barrier around them to avoid any further injury. "Your calumny has no evidence. I have already received papers about your background, and with that much of fortune, you are doing just fine!"
"A woman?" He questions ironically, causing the crew to burst out in laughter. "Ha! Where are all the gentlemen of this place, so that they have to resort to such a slim girl like this? Hey, what can a wimp like you do? Can you even make a punch? And what's with that ridiculous wings behind your back? For decoration? Ha ha ha!"
"You done talking? If you cannot even beat a girl, then the tenuous disparities in gender don't matter that much, right? Curtail the formal speech and just come at me. I don't need to listen to the reasons from idiots who think only of themselves like you."
What Stella said has angered the man. As a matter of fact, no men would stand being mocked by a weaker woman, and he is not any exception. Gritted his teeth, he shouts to the crew:
"Looks like the Princess wants her era to plummet right when she has just got the throne! Let grant the girl her wish, guys!"
The group, full of brawny men, replete with desire for the power and fortune, are motivated enough to go all at once with an unarmed girl. However, this is an unlucky day for them, since Stella is not just any 'girl', and the foremost, she is not 'unarmed' either.
With a move of the hand, the Princess of the Sun created rays of light beam, throwing them against the rebels. No matter how strong a man can be, if he does not have any power of magic, he will never be able to win.
"Oh?" Stella smirks, crossing her hands in front of her chest. "I didn't know that you guys are so ephemeral. Is your spirit just that low? Is it already time for resignation?"
Hmph. Is this kingdom rife with odious fools? Such officious poseurs like that, even if they come in legion, there is no problems at all. Joseph chuckles quietly at the bourgeois. However, he would never think a royal would ever go and obviate such idiots like this. Either she is really something, or she is just a moron herself, digging her own grave when all she could have done is just ensconcing behind the palace's bulwark.
"You are a hundred years too early to pick a fight with me!" Declared Stella, pointing at the rebels trapped inside a magic net. "Even your posthumous posterity can't handle this nation's leaders, so don't even try."
With that obstreperous warning, she goes back inside. However, while walking along the hallway, Joseph notices somewhat torpid in her walking, as if she is tottering. He also notices her heavy breathing.
"What's wrong, Stella?" He asks, catches up to her.
"Nothing!" She answers, a bit brusquely. Damn, my eyes can hardly even see. My legs can take it no longer. Did one transformation take this much energy before?
"Stella, I think you're exhausted. Don't overwork yourself too much." Joseph gives out advice in a worried way, though in fact his hope is lightened that the Princess shows to be weakened. But Stella still obdurately abrogates, enshrouding her debility. She tells him to stop such hyperbole, and that it is just his imagination. What a foolish princess. He frowns. This blunder will lavish what she has been trying so hard to build up.
Joseph can already portend accurately the seconds until she falls. Due to the adversity in polemical stuffs she has endured until now, adding the energy she used up in work and fight, Stella – despite how hard she tries to deny – falls into torpor right in front of a danger that she has not yet been aware of.
The fake Brandon catches her. Half of him is lauding himself in eulogy for how effortless he has to be in capturing the victim, while the other half has somewhat of deference for the poor hardworking princess. He feels bad for using her and lying to her. However, those erratic emotions make him feel histrionic, so he quickly dumps them aside and focuses on how to deal with the blonde in his hands right now.
At that time, the real Brandon – having been dealing with the royal works in Eraklyon for Sky – has returned to Solaria. He went to check on Stella right away, but could not find her in her parlor. After a moment of demur, ruminating about what could have happened to the weak girl that is currently not in her right mind, he couldn't help but immediately rush out to seek after her. How could he lax so much about the ruse of evils rising inside the castle? How much will this levity cost him? If anything ever happens to his girl, he's afraid he will ever be able to forgive this ignominy!
And he comes just in time when Joseph was about to take his leave.
No words can delineate enough how livid he is at the scene. From the look of it, what happened is pragmatically all his fault. A man – looking exactly like him – is holding his unconscious princess in those filthy arms. And above all, her face looks so pale. She must have believed that she was talking with her real boyfriend, and completely bewitched by the bastard. How can he blame her? No matter how sharp she can be, with this deleterious mental state, he doubts she can even realize her best friends.
He feels the alacrity to run towards her and snatch her back as soon as possible overwhelmed in his body. Wasting no more time to ogle the unpleasant scene, Brandon draws out his sword.
"Oh?" Chuckles Joseph, still in Brandon's appearance. "Has the prince come to rescue his precious princess? Oh, sorry, my mistake. A squire. Too bad, she has chosen me. Don't worry, such an onerous boyfriend like you don't have to take care of this sacrosanct princess anymore. She will die soon. I'm sad for her transient fate, but it was her own blunder that pushed her this way. Now then, farewell!"
Before Brandon gets a chance to even traverse closer, Joseph throws out a bomb that distracts olfactory sense of the enemy, making the brown-haired Specialist step back in frustration.
His girl is taken away right in front of his eyes.