CHAPTER XXII.
Roland was washing himself from last night's activities.
With Mylene busy arranging the fleet to finish what remains of House Offrey and maybe even the Redgraves he finally had the time to go out to the campament and find himself a fresh, virgin lover.
This time he chose a brunette, seventeen or eighteen years old, her face had such a soft, delicate features he would have never suspected she was a commoner if not for her apparel, her bust was nothing to write home about but her wasp waist and round butt drove him crazy!
It didn't take long to take her to his bed, even without telling her he was in actuality the man the masses adored, the King of the whole… kingdom, the most powerful knight in the realm, the Masked Knight!
Inhaling sharply he took a towel and scrubbed himself vigorously.
He was still dirty.
No matter how many times he bathed, or what he bathed himself with he couldn't wash the humiliation that brat put him through!
That plain looking bastard managed to defeat that thrice damned pirate with an elite armor using just the standard armor House Redgrave uses for their knights!
It would have been forgivable if he only used that supposed Lost Item he has for a knight armor, that way they could have credited the power of his artifact and then he would get his hands on it, probably from his death, cold hands after they deal with the House Redgrave.
And after the duke falls, Fanoss would follow, thinking the kingdom to be soft from its civil war!
Yes, those dogs would surely think it would be easy to deal with the kingdom…
They would even deploy that old man that still thinks he is the best knight of the continent and he would have a chance to put him down, permanently!
Despite everything he could kiss his son like when he was an infant child again!
His stupidity has given him so many chances to shine!
But first, he needed to put that upstart in his place!
No one soils the name of the Masked Knight!
No one!
That pirate was lucky he was dead, otherwise he would have to face the real Masked Knight!
And in his absence the brat that disrespected the name will have to carry all the weight of his fury!
Soon he will have the satisfaction of putting the Redgraves in their places too, so all said it would be a nice day.
He had the perfect outfit for the occasion as well, it was a classy sky-blue robe with… damn!
His new lover just stirred on his bed!
That girl's ass was made to be pounded and her hips would make childbirth easy!
He has time for a quick one!
0x0x0x0
Mylene was tired, after the Offrey's exposure she had to cut all ties with them while maintaining her new alliance with the Framptom faction.
Something the Roseblades took issue with. That impertinent gnat Dorothea kept asking questions about how the Crown never suspected a thing when the pirate activities were on the rise in the Offrey's territory!
The Offrey's rank offered Mylene the perfect out and she even reminded the Roseblade daughter that Roland even offered the traitors help with the problem, which was rejected.
In all fairness the statistics were never high enough to grant the Crown's intervention. and when she finished saying her piece, Dorothea, was politely waiting for her to finish, dropped the bomb that had a few of the rural nobles to cheer on her.
"I guess the Crown simply doesn't have the tools to banish the pirate plague"
The obvious reference to the knight known as Pirate Bane and his affiliation with House Redgrave were a slap in her face, but due to the current circumstances there was nothing she could do but to promise swiffer action from now on.
Framptom's vassals all cheered on her, it was empty and they were an awful crowd, barely convincing enough to get a few of the still neutral Lords to her side, for now at least.
She recruited every last warship the Marquis had and even all of the available in the campament to support the Redgrave's siege and they were finally ready to leave.
Her son and his entourage were eager to join the battle after the Tourney ended.
The tournament was a failure marred by Offrey's betrayal and no one was even talking about how Chris won the whole thing.
The prospect of a real battle had drained all the interest in the tournament and even if the final fight between Chris and Greg was truly spectacular no one cared.
Not even herself, it was obvious that Greg was going to be defeated, the fact that he put up such a good fight even in the face of superior armor was inspiring but it just looked like the young man shooting himself in the foot because he can afford better armor.
They were finally in route to the Offrey's territory and they will join the fray like a war hammer, the authority of the Royal House will be restored!
For once Roland's tendency for the dramatics would be a good thing, so much that she was willing to once again ignore him gallivanting with that peasant!
0x0x0
There were no signs of battle, her scouts say that there is no one fighting over or near the Offrey's main Island.
Mylene ordered some of the ships to patrol the area and look for pirates but it is likely that they have fled with the Offreys.
In the town no one knows what has transpired or what happened to their former lords, they just know that the whole fleet took off five days ago.
The Offrey's palace is intact and empty of its treasures, those traitors took everything they could and escaped.
Soon her scouts return with news.
Not far from here there was a battle, in the depths of a lake they found the Offrey's fleet sans their cargo ships.
That wasn't bad per say, however…
No Redgrave ship was at the bottom of the lake!
'What the hell happened here?'
0x0x0x0
PIRATE PARADISE: CLOSED.
By Alan Fia Spencer.
Probably my dear readers are wondering why we are not writing about the rather dull end of the much anticipated National Tourney promoted by Marquis Framptom and about our rather bold headline.
Tensions were high even before the start of the tournament, with many nobles of opposing factions it was to be expected.
What was not expected was the attack on Baron Leon Fou Bartfort's tent by the daughter of House Offrey Stephanie, that endangered not only his firstborn and heir but also his wife.
After successfully defending his family the Baron, better known as Pirate Bane was arrested and forced to defend himself from the false claims from Offrey House in front of the Royal house.
The Crown decided to go for the Trial by combat approach.
The aftermath of the good baron victory was the exposure of the Offreys as traitors. My dear readers must be wondering: How?
The knight the Offrey's chose as their champion was none other than Calico Jack, captain of the feared Sky Vipers, the scoundrel had the audacity of posing as the Masked Knight too!
His identity was revealed after the duel in which he perished at the hands of Lord Leon.
This event forced House Offrey to flee the tourney with the help of a pirate ship and no small use of force.
However they only postponed the inevitable.
Duke Redgrave gave chase and defeated them shortly after.
I'm sure that without their patrons the pirates that used Offrey's territory as their hideout will soon be eliminated.
As it is, the Pirate Paradise is Closed.
Alan finished reading it from the pamphlet he was forced to use instead of the gazette, he doesn't blame his boss for not publishing it, he would have done the same.
But for the kind of Dia the duke's heir was paying him he was ready to take his leave from the capital after this.
He has already packed all of his worldly possessions and his family is ready to move on from the capital to Bartfort's territory where he would be able to better record the oncoming wars from a closer position to its main hero.
Soon the story he wrote will be in the hands of every citizen of the capital when they drop the ten of thousands of pamphlets from an airship Lord Gilbert provided.
"You love to cause chaos too much, Alan!" his wife reprimands him when she sees him smiling at the paper in his hands.
He could not himself and he kissed her, grabbing a handful of her round ass that is almost covered by her long green hair, Cecile is the black sheep of one of the less prestigious branches of the Marmoria House, but he loves her nonetheless, she even encouraged to name her dear cousin that one time he got dirt on him.
"Milord, we are ready to leave… HMPH!" his concubine says upset to have witnessed him expressing his love for his lawful wife.
Cecile deepens the kiss to rile her up.
To be honest, he was the one true winner of their little rivalry.
Once Cecile is done kissing him he is grabbed by Karen Fia Stadfelt, eleventh daughter of a rather successful court noble; she was a red-headed beauty with a fiery, competitive personality that had no choice but to become his concubine because her father cared not for any of his offspring after the fourth in line to inherit his title.
"Ewwww" two voices interrupt them.
They are his daughters, Nunally and Milly, at fourteen and thirteen years old they are at that age where they do not want to see their parents showing their love for each other.
Moving them away from the capital before the incoming wars can birch it, is probably one of the better reasons to leave.
He is either saving or damning his family by moving to the Bartforts, but after witnessing how they massacred the Offreys with little effort he feels like he is making the right call.
0X0X0
The academy was a less intimidating place than she had been expecting…
Sure there were a lot more people than she used to have around, but that wasn't so bad, there were a lot more people at the Tourney.
"Lady Finley, let me carry this bag please" a boy's voice turned her attention back to her entourage… She is the second daughter of a rural Baron, but the current situation of the kingdom has somehow made her the most important person from the Redgrave faction to enter the academy this year, and thus, she was given followers.
She, who two years ago was planning how to make an impact to secure her future starting from zero just like Jenna did, was now entering the academy in the center of a group six strong… it still wasn't much but it was definitely a better starting point than she ever dreamed before she met Big Sis Angelica.
Her older brother's wife made an impact in her family, she took out the trash and gave her siblings and her their proper place!
And perhaps more importantly, she made an impact on the kingdom at large…
Even through the isolation her followers provided she could still feel the eyes of some of the other students and hear some of what they had to say, her followers were intentionally silent to allow it, it wasn't easy but she could hear phrases like Pirate's Bane's sister, the Duke's faction… something and Offreys are gone because of them,
She was there in her father's ship when they battled the Offrey forces… she was scared but her anger easily trumped her fear, she saw every enemy ship but the one that transported the Count and his family was shot down, then she saw the Offreys themselves being thrown to the skies.
Her followers too, they saw the might of House Bartfort from the deck of their family's airships, they saw the destruction of a house far stronger than theirs being annihilated by House Bartfort, sure, they lent their knights and cover fire, but none of them alone or together could match the destruction brought forth by her family.
Even if they were sons and daughters of Viscounts, they knew who would prevail if they fought her family.
Big sis Angelica was in a similar position to her two years ago, but she was abandoned by her followers when it mattered the most. So she told her: Don't rely on them when things are going bad, look for Daniel, if he can't help you, call for us and we will take you out.
She admired Angelica, there was no denying it, she has become her role model and she listened intently whenever she had something to say.
Right now, Finley herself was Redgrave faction's biggest weakness, after being told the reason for the academy's creation she would have preferred to stay at her father's territory… or even better, at her brother's.
She was now a hostage of the royal palace… the same people that sent pirates to attack her family.
Surrounded by enemies she tried to project the same dignified aura of authority Big Sis Angelica had, if she succeeded in projecting even a fraction of it, she was sure many of the other first years would be intimidated.
"Look, look, it's Prince Jake!"
She didn't turn around to see, that was her enemy, she knew how the prince and his foster brother Oscar Fia Hogan looked, as well as the Crown Prince and his entourage, lover included.
She hated them, almost as much as she hated Zola.
Especially the green one!
Soon she was at the reception of the girls' dorms with her female followers, and the women who manned it limited themselves to giving her the key to her and her followers unlike the noble behind her, some Count's daughter, they took her baggage and escorted her to her room.
Her own room was probably smaller than that of her followers, but that didn't matter, one's status in the academy doesn't reflect their real world standing.
"The academy is a petty little world full of lies!"
"This room is too small" it wasn't her complaining, but her brother's familiar, Cleare. She just nodded.
"This is not my room" she told the familiar "This is my cell" Cleare was her first and last line of defense, she must keep her existence a secret at all cost, all other measures are there for appearances sake, in the end she would trust Cleare's avatar.
After leaving her bags in her room she reunites with all of her followers and go straight for a garden in the west of the academy, she was supposed to meet with Big brother Daniel there, her older true sister fiancee was supposed to be waiting there for her.
Daniel didn't have much power inside the academy, but thanks to Jenna, he had some.
After some campaigning Big brother Daniel had become the leader of the Poor Barons group, the name was lame, as were their objectives, but they could protect her better than her followers.
A third year student was standing in the entrance of the garden, and when he saw her he asked: "Are you Daniel's sister-in-law?" she smiled and curtsied, this was a better start than she expected, perhaps this group wasn't as pathetic as she thought!
Soon she was in a sheltered area where some third year students, both male and female, were waiting for them, although the girls didn't look like they wanted to be there. One was reading a book, another was drawing in a notebook and another was just napping on a bench…
The pleasantries were met and for some reason all the girls directed a look of terror towards her when they heard her House's name, she had the feeling that it didn't have anything to do with the extermination of the Offrey House.
They soon started talking, Daniel had some advice and even had some maps of the academy drawn and one had marked the zones she had to avoid, another had the best escape routes he knew of and the last one had the best places to eat.
There wasn't much interaction between students of different years within the academy, except from first year girls being invited to tea parties by older students so she would be invited regularly, they have the perfect facade.
The first year students inducted to the group would be her main protectors in the eye of the public but to achieve that they wanted something from her.
It wasn't anything she wasn't expecting, Jenna had told her that to gain the favor of the group and make Big brother Daniel it's leader she introduced the most prominent members to the weird girls of the academy, the ones that paid more attention to their hobbies than to their status.
Her part of the bargain would be to look for these girls and introduce them to the first year Barons, this apparently would make them kiss the ground she walked on, literally according to her sister.
Just when they finished their business a second year student warned them Princess Erica was coming directly to them… and she was a couple of steps away!
0x0
Erica Rapha Holtfort has enjoyed comfortable lives.
Yes, plural.
You see, this is actually the second time she has is alive, or probably, the second time she remembers being alive.
The first time she lived a good life, she lost her mother at a young age, her mother was killed in a bout of domestic violence. She was already living with her grandparents by the time this happened.
She doesn't have any clear memory of her mother, she could remember eating with her in a restaurant with her on weekends, she was always tired and it led her to worry for her.
The few times her grandparents allowed her to stay at her mother's place she remembered her complaining about her older brother, and his death, it was something she blamed herself, her grandparents as well, but as she grew up and matured she realized that her uncle should have taken better care of himself.
As a teenager she felt the need to learn more about her mother, and that led her to play a certain otome game, not the one her uncle played to death, but the second sequel, the third game in the series.
She liked it well enough to remember it all her life, and even the next.
Imagine her surprise when she was reincarnated in the game's world as the villainess of the story!
She was the first Princess of Holfort Kingdom, but her personality, that of a woman in her sixties didn't match the one from the game at all.
But she could use her knowledge of the game's script to her advantage, not too much though, she only influenced her fiance, she encouraged him to make himself better and she was satisfied with the results.
Another thing was to keep distance with Angelica, she knew she would not become Queen years before her older brother abandoned her.
But not everything played out as in the games events.
Like the woman occupying the place of the protagonist going for the reverse Harem route and capturing all the boys.
Or the old protagonist simply banished after the first semester of her first year.
Or the fact that Angelica remained relevant for the kingdom's politics due to her husband being an extraordinary knight, known all around the kingdom as Pirate's Bane, the most relevant adventurer of the century and a man who pledged fealty to House Redgrave.
Vince Redgrave is a massive threat to the kingdom, he retreated from the capital after the incident that destroyed House Offrey and only his son and Heir remained in the capital being a thorn in her family's side.
And there is war on the horizon, from what she has heard in the palace they have been receiving messages from the Principality of Fanos asking about House Offrey's fate.
Of all the excuses they could use to start a war they decided to use the annihilation of a corrupt House to attack them, it was asinine and infuriating.
Her older brother, the Crown Prince, paid the situation no mind and only wanted to spend his time with his lover ever since she was declared the Saintess.
She could understand his desire to live his life as his own person and not just his title, that was how she lived her first life after all, but the consequences of his decision will soon be felt by everyone in the kingdom, when they win the war, there will still be lives lost.
Her half -brother Jake was ignoring the war situation as well and focusing on a way to displace Julius and became the next king.
She confirmed the presence of the protagonist of the third game as well, the exchange student from the Empire of Voldenova, this world's super power.
Milialice Lux Erzeberg as described in the game was cheerful and energetic but she did not come alone, she had with her a personal knight, a bodyguard, the young man was tall, with tanned skin and silver hair.
According to the game, the villainess would make her life difficult and put her through various troubles with the help of her fiance… but she was reincarnated, or perhaps it was more accurate to say she possessed the villainess and she had no intention to make life difficult to her, hopefully her knight would be able to keep her safe and help her advance with the plot, without her making things difficult it shouldn't be difficult for her to attain a good ending.
Erica would marry Elijah and live her life as the Marquise Fraser and guard the border with the support of her siblings.
Earlier today she decided to take a walk around the academy to get to know the place with her followers.
Eventually they arrived at a garden in the west wing of the academy, and there they found a student's blockade, nothing that could really stop her and her group. The most the students guarding the place could do was run ahead to warn the people that organized this.
When they arrived at the place, she could see two groups, one of third year students, and the other group was made of first years, they looked innocent enough, as if the older students were giving advice to the younger ones, that is until one of her followers whispered to her the identities of the heads of the groups:
Daniel Fou Durland and Finley Fou Bartfort.
Vassals of House Redgrave, rebels, in a secret meeting.
They greeted her politely, no doubt they are just keeping appearances, she did the same but not inquired any further, according to her sources, Bartfort's older sister will be marrying Durland as soon as he finishes the academy so they have an alibi to meet.
She doubted either of them could do something to endanger her or her siblings, but they are both valuable as hostages, and at this rate it's just a matter of time her mother gives the order to detain them.
For now she would keep an eye on them.
0x0x0
Angelica sat in a chair near their tea party room listening with concern.
"No, you can't go, Luxion, we need you here!"
"Master, Lady Angelica can manage your territory and your people just fine, and Cleare can take care of my duties easily enough. It is not the time for you to behave like Gil's younger brother!"
"There is nothing out there that we can't beat, there is no need to go hunting for something that probably doesn't even exist anymore!"
"Are they still fighting?" Livia asked her, arriving at the same hall, probably to check on them as well.
Angelica could only nod, Leon and Luxion have been having this same argument for the last week, after they returned from the battle with the Offreys.
Luxion wanted to leave the kingdom to look for one of its enemies, or more specifically, to make sure said enemy is really gone.
She knew her husband's familiar liked to wander around the kingdom, he was quite the accomplished spy and scout after all.
Angelica at first thought it was because he was looking for more treasure and said nothing, then when he found Cleare she thought that finding her was his objective all along, but recently she learned that he was looking for an ancient, evil weapon he wanted to destroy.
"War is coming, we need you here!"
"You can deal with those low level scrubs on your own easily Master, let me deal with the real threat!
"It must have been a terrible opponent to scare Luxy like that" Livia commented after a while.
Angelica nodded, she didn't want the familiar far from them when the war was about to start.
"What if something happens or if a Core appears huh?!"
"Master and Cleare can deal with it, but It is a different matter, I don't want to risk Master's family if that thing is still out there"
Livia and her shared a look and they both smiled softly, Luxion can be a worry wart but he always has their well being as his highest priority.