Chapter Text
“Prisca-sama, did you know? It is said that a woman would recognize her ‘special someone’ only after sharing a kiss with that person!” A little girl exclaimed while wagging her tail, stars in her eyes as she addressed her master.
“A special someone? What does that mean?”
“Her one true love, Prisca-sama!”
“Really? And how so?”
“Because when two people kiss, they share an intimate connection! And when it is that one special person, love manifests with such strength that a woman just knows it is the one! That’s how people fall in love, and then may lay together!”
“Lay together?”
“So they may birth a child and perpetuates their lineage, Prisca-sama!”
“...I see.”
“Elder brother, why have you not laid with a woman yet?”
The person whom she was talking to, a man significantly taller and older than her, seemed greatly surprised by such a question.
“And why would I do so, Prisca?”
He wished to know the reasons behind her sudden curiosity upon this matter before giving a proper answer. After spending so much time alongside his little sister, their subjects of conversations very rarely touched upon anything else than the result of their fate in the bloody selection they were born in.
“Do you not give importance to your legacy, elder brother?” she tilted her head, her ruby eyes reflecting a feeling of concern, “if not, after I have taken my throne, no trace of you would be left in this world. Do you not believe such a thought to be regrettable?”
“I do not fear for such an outcome,” Vincent narrowed his eyes, scoffing at Prisca’s subtil provocation, “there is still more than enough time ahead. And if it is just about continuing the Abellux line, the matter would be resolved in one night.”
“One night?” Prisca seemed genuinely confused, “and how would you possibly manage to fall in love with your special someone and court her in such a short time?”
It was now Vincent’s turn to give away his confusion, frowning at what his younger sister had just said.
“Fall in love? With a special…Someone?” He repeated in a low voice while raising a brow.
“I recognize that my elder brother possesses features that would appeal for most women's tastes,” she nodded her head, “however, even with such an asset I do not believe this task to be as easy as you think.”
This current discussion couldn’t be more useless in the eyes of the vollachian prince.
For every man who was given the opportunity to rule over the empire, the very thought of cultivating a relationship was insignificant, absurd. If the question of a lineage should take place, it would only be relevant after sitting on the throne. After which it would only be answered with the preparation for the imperial selection.
In Vollachia, an emperor wasn’t meant to sit by the side of a loving empress. Rather, the only “love” that they would provide would be by giving the many chosen women of the nobility the honor of being impregnated with the possible future ruler.
“And what would ‘love’ be, Prisca?” He crossed his arms, staring directly in her eyes.
“...” The little girl opened her mouth as if to answer, but no words seemed to come out of it. She felt like the answer was right at the tip of her tongue, but refused to come out.
“It is no easy task,” Vincent smirked,”and it is because the definition of such a concept changes regarding who you are.”
“Who i am?” She repeated, seeking more precisions.
“Listen well, Prisca,” He came closer to her, making sure that she was listening attentively, “until you can figure out the answer yourself.”
Usually, the young princess would not give such attention to small matters like these she would consider trivial most of the time, but now she simply didn’t feel like either ignoring or discarding Vincent’s words. It simply felt like the right thing to do to listen.
“For us…Love is to dominate,” he spoke with a strong voice, putting minute weight on each of his words, “to have both heart and soul in our grasp, so we may control it, order it, reign over it. For it is the only way to truly protect what you wish to care for.”
“Is this how you plan on preserving your lineage?” She asked.
Vincent shook his head, “I am a man. My lineage will be preserved because I do not require a 'special someone' to ‘love’ me for it.”
“Then-”
“No.” Knowing full well what she was about to say, Vincent chose to cut her off before any ideas would take place in her mind.
“You, Prisca, shall never even think about laying with a man unless he has surrendered himself to you. Unless you have chosen him to be worthy of even touching you, unless he recognizes you as the only one in his eyes…” His eyes took a dangerous glint, reflecting something akin to anger, and fear…“If not…”
Prisca widened her eyes, the words of her older brother caring themselves into her memory. The words which she would remember, and shape her future forever.
“death shall be their only abode.”
“...” She opened her eyes when the sunlight’s stream from her window began to warm her face.
She redressed herself and sat down on her bed, erasing the traces of sleep off her eyes and took a moment to enjoy the warm sensation of the sun greeting her this morning. Unfortunately, even the star’s servitude couldn’t do anything to appease her sour mood.
“...Such shameful memories,” she uttered under her breath, “why would the dead bother me?”
Her voice grew darker, angrier. She felt a strong feeling of disgust rise in herself, unable to shake off the thoughts her dreams made resurface. Finally, she decided that it was best to leave the bed if she wished for these unwelcome memories to cease meddling with her mind.
Pushing her blankets aside and revealing her elegant night robe, she stepped out of her bed and while turning around to rearrange it before leaving, a glance towards her night table took her attention.
She picked it up and opened it at the page where she left it off before going to sleep last night, which was at the very last page of it, where the story of the Sword Demon came and the Sword Saint came to closure.
The Ballad Of The Sword demon. A tale of the war, where between death and desolation love bloomed still, a story which Priscilla was surprisingly interested in. So interested in fact, that it was not the first time she had read it entirely.
“What is love, mh…” She uttered, closing off the book, “so this is what caused such dreams.”
Her eyes wandered to her bed, and back to the book. She was holding it tightly, and under a deadly silence her eyes narrowed…
“Priscilla-sama? Are you awake?”
She blinked as soon as she heard the young voice calling from outside of her room, rubbing her thumb on the cover where she noticed the dark cinder traces of her finger, and the smell of burnt paper.
Sighing, she rubbed her hand on the cover to remove the small particles of cinders, and put the book back where it belonged.
“I am awake, Schult.” She replied, feeling like smiling as she remembered her cute servant.
“Perfect! The maids are preparing your breakfast as we speak, Priscilla-sama, if you do not need anything I shall go assist them right away!” The boy replied with glee.
“As a matter of fact, I indeed require your assistance. I have decided to take a stroll out in the city today,” she decided, walking towards her wardrobe, “come in. I shall put on my dress now.”
“Y-Yes! Priscilla-sama!” Schult replied immediately, and entered the room.
“So Princess, what do you feel like doing today?” Aldebaran spoke, walking side by side with Priscilla as they wandered in the busy streets of the capital.
“I am bored, bored enough to know your antics will not be sufficient today,” she replied without even looking towards him, “which is why I have decided to leave the task of amusing me in the hands of the world.”
“Not that I’ll complain, that’d avoid me some bruises.” he sarcastically replied, even though they both knew this was not a joke.
“I expect the world to abide by my command, but if it fails, the duty shall still fall unto you.”
“Aw bummer.” He sighed, taking a look around when he noticed the great royal castle.
“Say, ain’t that always funny how every time you want to take a walk out, we always end up around that palace? It almost feels like you’re attracted to it,” he scoffed, “even last time, when I ended up losing sight of you aaaaaaaannnnnd she’s gone.”
Aldebaran looked all around him as the waves of people would walk in front and behind leaving him in a sea of people, as he realized that he once more would have to walk around the capital to find his lost princess.
Now separated from her jester-not that she minded- Priscilla was taking a comfortable stroll everywhere she felt like heading to, patiently waiting for the “world’ to obey her, and provide her something worth her time, something which would fix the sickening taste left in her mouth after this morning.
“Hey, pretty girl! Want to have some fun?”
While at first it could have seemed like a sign to hear such words after knowing what she seeked in the capital today, the tone of voice rung so hideously in her ears that it was enough to earn a frown of disgust from the princess as soon as she heard them.
When looked to the side, she saw a dwarf standing with a wide smile. His hair cut like an upside down bowl over his head and big eyes that made Priscilla question whether he had a disease or not.
“You know, women like you shouldn’t really walk around like that all alone, especially in such dangerous parts of the city,” he began to explain as he walked closer, “perhaps I could be of…An escort, for you dear missy?”
“An escort? You?” She raised a brow, unfolding her fan to cover her mouth.
“You’re a noble lady aren’t ya? It’s important that you come back home safe and sound! It’d hurt my gentleman’s heart to know that something happened to ya in these merciless streets!” He replied, still with his creepy, distasteful smile.
“And what could half a man possibly do to protect me? With your legs so short you cannot even stand up to my gown’s lower half, and your arms so small you may merely hold that dagger up your belt,” She smirked maliciously, enjoying every second of seeing the little man’s smile crumble, “with such a pathetic thing by my side, I would be lucky to have you perish at the first threat encountered, so I do not have to bother myself with such a hindrance as I deal with my foes.”
The pain of the sudden humiliation couldn’t be taken off the face of the dwarf for a few seconds. Veins of angers popping from his forehead as he couldn’t even begin to process what he should answer, his mouth hanging open as rage made him tremble in place.
“Hey, the hell’s happening? Why are you standing here?!” A man with clear blue hair yelled from behind, visibly becoming impatient.
“You’ve gotten so dumb you can’t even lure a dumb lady?” Another man, much bigger and stronger cursed as he got out of the shadows as well.
Priscilla’s eyes narrowed as soon as she saw his acolytes reveal themselves, a look of disdain in her eyes as soon as she noticed their apparel, looks and posture.
“And how could you three possibly entertain me?” She whispered to herself, her ruby eyes glowing dangerously. While she briefly felt amused putting down the little filth back at his place, she obviously didn’t wish for more commoners to come and ruin her eyesight with such poor figures.
“Perhaps if I erase you from this earth, the satisfaction of knowing worthless pigs will not set foot in front of my castle will be enough?” She thought again, contemplating how she could slay them.
“T-That…THAT FUCKING WHO-”
“You three.” She cut him off before he would say the unthinkable, and got all of their attention.
“Do you not think it is inexcusable that you would live with such impoverished faces and attires?” She spoke up, as they all widened their eyes.
“What…What the hell did she just say?” The bigger one seemed confused.
“I don’t know, but it was definitely insulting!” The second one replied, already feeling the anger rising in his chest.
“YEAH?! WELL YOU DIDN’T EVEN SEE HALF OF IT!” The dwarf yelled, and before he could continue, the bigger one grabbed Priscilla by the arm and pulled her in the alleway.
“Don’t screw around with us!”
“Yeah, you want us to mess up that pretty face of yours?!”
“Don’t make such a racket, commoners,” Priscilla smirked, already capable of foreseeing how this would end up, “Fools with no character picks fights for the most foolish reasons.”
But before any of them could answer, another voice echoed from the entry of the alleyway, a waving boy wearing a suit, holding a bag of appas, “Sorry I’m late Honey!”
Priscilla narrowed her eyes, staring curiously at the boy who rushed closer to her.
After a series of tumultuous events, Subaru found himself pulling Priscilla away with her despite her reluctance, trying to run away from a mob of thieves who rallied up to take their revenge after Subaru had threatened them with the name of the sword saint.
While she felt like putting an end to this farce, a part of her seemed to whisper in her ear to let the things flow, and to see where this would lead her. So she kept to herself, and allowed the boy to pull her away. Surprisingly, as she went along with his antics Priscilla didn’t feel bored at all. As a matter of fact, since he had appeared to “save” her, she felt nothing but amusement. From the wager they had put in place for the bag of appas, to their sudden runaway as she observed first handily the boy’s boldness…Until he suddenly stopped, out of breath.
But before the thieves could catch up to them, they had made another encounter, of someone Subaru knew very well.
“Been a while since I’ve seen you. What are ya doing here?” A large, old giant spoke as he walked out of the darkness.
“Old man Rom!” Subaru smiled in hope, “Gramps is here to save the day! We can win this—!"
"You're quick to annoy someone who hasn't seen you in a while.” Rom seemed deadpanned,” I'm leaving you here."
"Wait, I really need your help! It's, like, the tenth crisis I've had in the last month!"
"That's too many!"
As they exchanged banter in lieu of greetings, the giant—Old Man Rom—peered at Subaru and the girl.
"What, in more trouble, are you? Causing a ruckus with a woman? Quite the adventurer you are."
However, Priscilla didn’t appreciate at all the look that was just given to her by the old man.
"Do not look at me so rudely, you filthy gnarled tree."
"Hey, I'm ribbing him, too, but that's really harsh! Don't say that to the old man giving us a get-out-of-hell-free card! Don't take it personally, Old Man Rom. We've just got a little case of excessive honesty here!" He pleaded, worn out and afraid, he didn’t want to waste his last chance of getting away unscathed.
"You certainly are good at wearing a man down. Hurry and hide!"
Subaru covered Priscilla’s mouth before she could spew insults again and without skipping a beat, ran behind the giant pulling the princess with him and squatted under a large sheet held up by a few sticks under which was a pile of wood ideal to conceal two people.
Pushed against the ground, Priscilla looked like she wanted to complain about the dust or the position she was in, but Subaru’s hand over her mouth kept her quiet.
Grumbling all the way, Old Man Rom hid them completely behind his huge body. A mere ten seconds or so later, a commotion of footsteps came from a nearby alley.
“Shit, they’re here…And there’s way more than I thought!” Subaru uttered with enough voice for Priscilla to hear, while he observed the situation through a concealed hole, “aaaah in what mess did I just put myself in…”
Priscilla stared at the boy, still with his hand over her mouth. From the position she was, she could take a moment to observe his physical features, and quickly came to notice his unusual hair color. Her eyes widened, as she remembered the last person who appeared in her dreams just this morning, and her mood turned sour again.
“Why am I even playing around with this?” She thought to herself, her eyes narrowing dangerously as she took a glance to the side where the thieves stood.
“Great…This is working!” Subaru began to smiled confidently, thinking he was already out of the woods.
A whisper-like voice interrupted Subaru's thoughts, prompting him to look down. Right under him was the beautiful girl, so close they were practically breathing the same air, her mouth still covered by Subaru's palm
With a sudden movement of her head, she released herself from his hand and stared directly into his eyes with such animosity that he felt a shiver down his spine.
“No no no no…! Please! PLEASE! I’ll do anything!” Subaru began to panic.
“Uh? You heard that?” One of the thieves looked up, trying to pin point where the noise was coming from.
“Oh shit…” He uttered, but felt a sudden weight going down the top of their makeshift hiding place, pushing subaru an inch closer to the princess.
“What? You’re joking bout’ my old age but ain’t ya a number yourself?” Rom criticized as he leaned backwards, as if to send a message to the hidden ones.
“Shut up! I know I’ve heard something!” the thief stomped the ground.
Subaru began to control his breath, turning back towards Priscilla as he put a finger on his lips, silently begging her to stay quiet.
“No.” Priscilla replied without a care in the world for her tone, making Subaru’s face go pale, “I have lost interest.”
Rom loudly coughed as he held his chest, waving the dust around him with his hand,” yeah well can ya go and hear whatever away from me? I don’t wanna deal with everything you throw around.”
“Come on, you didn’t hear this one?!”
“Hear what?” Another thief raised a brow.
“Stop shitting me! A woman just talked!”
“He saved us again …Come on, stop it!”
“Are you not the one betraying yourself if silence is what you seek?” Priscilla asked him, unimpressed.
“I’m trying to-” before he could finish, Subaru was pushed further down by the old man, getting sick of having to remind them to stay quiet.
And as fate would deem it to happen, his face already so close to the princess went further down, leaving both man and woman widen their eyes in shock when they felt the sensation of their lips connecting.
It was but an instant, albeit Subaru wanting to back off as soon as he could, the large body pushing him down didn’t allow him to do so, while the urgency of their situation forced him to conceal his voice.
The princess however, seemed to be still processing what had just happened, staring in the eyes of the boy in a way none could describe. They remained like this for a few seconds, before Rom changed position and finally allowed them to part ways.
Subaru’s face was bright red with shame, guilt, embarrassment and frustration of not being able to exteriorize any of it, while Priscilla remained stoic, glaring at him with the eyes of a judge, but didn’t seem to be taking any actions just yet.
"Yeah, fine. Now, Cromwell… Did you see two brats runnin' this way?"
"I didn't see them. Do you know where my blond daughter is?"
"Beats me. You picked her up off the street, so what's the big deal? Man, goin' senile must suck."
The men waved farewell, laughing derisively as they noisily left the area. Old Man Rom watched their retreating backs, biting his lip as he held back his anger.
When the coast was clear, Rom sighed heavily and stood back up.
“Damn you two can’t shut up for a second now can’t ya?! We were this close from blowing everything up!”
He waited for them to come out, but didn’t meet any of them even after waiting a few seconds.
“Hey! You hear me? Fell asleep in there or what?” He grumbled as he pulled off the sheet covering them, only to grimace in confusion as he saw the girl laid down on the ground under Subaru, both staring in each other’s eyes with the strangest expression he had seen today.
In complete silence, Subaru stood up from his position, trembling as he held his mouth. Priscilla followed, but didn't have much of a reaction aside from shaking the dust off her dress.
She was expressionless, acting as if nothing had happened.
"What’s up with you two? A second ago you wouldn’t shut up!” If he knew what happened, perhaps he’d have been less upset, but regarding the situation at hand Rom really felt as if they were playing him.
“Which way is it to go back to the garrison, old man?” Priscilla demanded with her usual tone.
Confused at first, Rom then pointed the direction with his finger to the lady while glancing at the boy.
“...It happens that I CAN’T GET MARRIED ANYMORE!” He turned around and yelled as he faked a cry, “couldn’t you just do something else than pushing down on us?! Aaaaah Emilia-tan! I’m sorry, I betrayed you!”
Rom grimaced, unable to find the words to describe how disturbed he was. None of what Subaru said made sense.
“Would you shut your mouth?” Priscilla spat out, “Have you not passed the age of crying for such futile things? Be a man.”
“How can you be so carefree about it?! Wasn’t your purity as a maiden tainted with all of this?!”
“Purity of a maiden…?” Rom repeated, trying to understand what was going on, “H-How fast do you work, you stayed less than 5 minutes under these sheets!”
“It was an accident!”
“How do you do that by accident?!”
“Nothing would have happened if you would have stayed where you were, you old withered tree.”
“So it’s my fault you couldn’t hold yourself back?!”
“In any case, cease pestering my ears with your incessant whining. What is done is done.” Priscilla concluded, walking ahead of the two confused men.
Subaru glared at her and then towards the ground, holding his head with both his hands as he tried to forget all the details of what he felt when he kissed a woman for the first time.
“Why doesn’t she care more than that…?!” He whispered, still with his alarmed expression, “damn it! Are women in this world so carefree about their bodies?! First she offered me her breasts, and now a kiss is like a walk in the park?!”
“She offered her–what the hell is wrong with you youngsters these days?!”
“You’re surprised too?!” He immediately turned back to Rom, who visibly couldn’t take anymore of this.
“So this is what happened…” Rom sighed with a hand over his forehead, “you brats started having me worried about things Felt could’ve hidden about people her age.”
“Hey, I’m still older than Felt!”
“You’re barely able to take a drink without coughing your lungs out, sit the hell down!” He retorted, “besides, may it be you, Felt or the arrogant chick, you’re all kids to me.”
Subaru chuckled at Rom’s comment about his own age, and kept an eye ahead on the fiery woman they followed. Even if he had calmed down since the unfortunate happen moments ago, he still couldn’t shake off the mixed feelings he had about all of this.
In a way, he should be happy that he finally managed to kiss a woman, and an amazingly beautiful one on top of that. But in another, it was a perfect stranger, and most importantly, she was not Emilia.
But what seemed to pain his heart more than anything else seemed to be the woman’s response to this. She didn’t seem to think anything about it, nor care at all. Could this be something that happened so often to her she wouldn’t care anymore? Was it nothing but a daily occurrence perhaps?
Truth is, neither he or she seemed to value this interaction initially supposed to be so special for a boy like Subaru, and as childish as it looked, it hurt him.
“Bah, get some backbone!” exasperated, Rom slapped the back of the gloomy boy in an attempt to cheer him up, “it’s just a kiss, ya’ll get a hundred more in your lifetime.”
“It’s not about the quantity but the meaning, old man…” He replied, exhaling loudly, “but yeah…I guess what’s done is done…”
“Aside from the useless wailing. Do you know where Felt went off to?"
"…Haven't you heard? Reinhard took her with him,” Subaru rubbed the back of his head, “or so I was told.”
"Reinhard…the Sword Saint?” Rom narrowed his eyes, clenching his fist, “Why would the knight among knights take her with him?"
Apparently, this news was a bolt from out of the blue.
Subaru thought back to how things had gone down at the loot house, finally noticing the inconsistency. Old Man Rom was out cold before Reinhard had entered the fray. Rom and Reinhard hadn't interacted while Subaru was conscious.
He then went on to fill up the old man with everything he had missed or wasn’t aware of, including how Reinhard appeared in the middle of their battle to save the day, and how he was sent to Roswaal’s mansion afterwards, a discussion that was heard not only by Rom, but by the princess also.
“And you went through all of that just to get the name of a girl you didn’t even know?” Rom scoffed, his eyes wandering elsewhere as he thought about what he was told.
“I was kinda desperate, you know…”
“And how about her?” Rom pointed out with a move of his head forward.
“Nope, don’t know nothing about her.”
“So you put your life on the line again for a chick you didn’t know?”
“And my first kiss! MY FIRST KISS, don’t forget about this one!” Subaru immediately retorted.
“You’re still on that?!”
“Ugh! You’re right, I gotta be strong! My body might have failed, but my heart and soul still belongs to Emilia-tan!” He clenched his fist up.
Priscilla’s eyes widened as she heard the boy speak, glancing behind her.
“...Right, anyways we’re here,” Rom had just about enough. With a worn out expression, he pointed towards the end of the alleyway which was the first place Subaru and Priscilla met.
As he recognized the place, Subaru couldn’t help but smile in relief.
“Thank you Old Rom, I don’t know how this would have turned out without you.”
“Yeah yeah. If you want to repay me…” He seemed hesitant for an instant, but Subaru was quick to understand.
“It’s about Felt, right? If I learn anything, I’ll be sure to tell you.” He smiled at the old man, who smirked in gratitude.
“If you got anything, just go towards a merchant named Kadomon. He’ll know where to find me.”
“Kadomon, gotcha-Wait, Kadomon?”
But before he could explain the reason of his surprise, Rom was already walking away, not willing to witness any other antics of the boy for today.
Subaru grunted before turning around, when he noticed the crimson princess observing him from afar, both arms crossed under her generous bosom.
“I guess this is it then, we finally made it-”
“you.” She cut him sternly, “Who is it that you serve?”
“That I-Oh yeah, I’m still wearing the butler’s attire uh…” He perked up, looking at his clothes.
He glanced back towards the lady, still waiting for her answer.
“I work for Lord Roswaal L Mathers, and of course, I serve my beautiful, cutest, amazing, Emil-”
“Very well. Starting from today, you shall be serving me. I shall send forth notice to your lord that you have been relieved from your functions.”
“CUT! TIME OUT!” He yelled in outrage, “What do you mean serve you?! Relieved from my functions?! I would like to tell you that I have chosen this job myself and have been performing with flying colors thanks to the unending support of my angel, and I have no plans on stopping now!”
“This was not a proposition, nor a demand.” She narrowed her eyes, “you shall be working for me, may you want it or not.”
“...Give me one good reason?!” He pointed his finger towards her, “even if I was looking to switch jobs, you did nothing but cause me problems since I have met you!”
“Regarding what you have told to the old man, the girl you seemingly tried to help on your first day here did not do any better,” she tilted her head haughty, “she even managed to have you nearly getting killed.”
“...” Subaru blinked several times as he began to think of a way to answer, but Priscilla swiftly turned her head towards the entry of the alleyway.
“Mhm. This matters little, you shall be coming back to me on your own, in the end.” The princess began to walk away, leaving the boy dumbfounded behind.
Something is strange about her is what Subaru was thinking. From the moment they met to this very moment they parted ways, he noticed that she became far more…Bearable, since…
“Since we–” Subaru’s eyes widened in shock.
“So it DID impact her in the end!” He didn’t know if he had to be happy or not, but the fact that she seeked to hire him to work for her…Was it her way of trying to bring him closer?
“Hey arrogant chick.”
“A very poor choice of words,” she scoffed, slowly turning around, “perhaps I was wrong about y–”
“Catch.” He gently threw an appa towards her that she caught with both her hands, looking at it with a blank expression.
“We didn’t have the best experience today, but it would be ungentlemanly for me to end things on a bad note,” he smiled, “so take these, as a compensation for…Well, I don’t need to talk about this again. Just be careful to not wander around bad guys again, will ya?”
“...You are truly a sad man,” she closed her eyes for an instant, “I do not understand that at all.”
“Well what a way to ruin the mood–”
Without notice, the fiery woman grabbed the tie of the boy and forcibly brought him closer to her face. They were so close that a slight gust of wind would put them in the same situation as before, so close that Subaru’s head was spinning as all he could see was the beautiful ruby colored eyes of the princess.
“I cannot understand it, but if the world has offered you to be that special someone , so be it,” she glared in his eyes, “there is great work to do, but if I have to hammer down that shell of yours to bring a man out of it and make you worthy of living, then I shall do so.”
“W–w-what a-are you–?!”
“Mhm…In a way, you are somewhat adorable,” she smirked, tightening the grip on his tie, “very well. For having entertained me today, here is your reward.”
She brought the confused boy’s face closer to hers and met his lips once more. This time, she closed her eyes and made sure to enjoy it more than when it was accidental. Subaru looked like he wanted to protest and pull away, but the sensation he felt was so intense that his body wouldn’t listen to him.
When their lips parted, Subaru seemed shell shocked. Still trying to process what just had happened, while Priscilla smiled wide as she licked her lips.
“Until we meet again, servant.” She turned back to the alleyway’s exit,leaving the boy alone with his own thoughts.
“...What the hell WAS THAT?!” He growled as he held his fingers to his lips, “who the hell she thinks she is?! Just because she’s a noble, she can go around and kiss whatever dude she meets?! Damn her!”
It was not an incident anymore, she had deliberately become intimate with him without a care in the world, as if she owned Subaru. If it wasn’t enough that his special first kiss was stolen by fate, now his pride as a man had to take another hit by the same woman.
He began to walk towards the exit as well, furiously rubbing his mouth with his sleeve, “Reward my ass! I hope I never ever see you again! Even from afar you bitch!”
“Subaru???” When he heard his name being called, he turned to his side to see a woman that finally brought a genuine smile to his face.
“Emilia-tan!” He jumped towards her, “Finally, I was so–”
“Where were you gone?! I told you to wait for me!” She immediately began to berate him, “why didn’t you wait just like I told you to?!”
“Wait, Emilia-tan! There’s a perfect explanation to this, let me explain!”
“Knowing you, you will just weasel your way out of this again with your weird speech, I don’t know if I want to hear anything from you.”
“Emilia-tan…!”
Emilia felt like she should listen to what he had to say, but another part of her thought that she had definitely been carefree with him these past few days, and how she absolutely couldn’t afford him to get into further trouble in the capital right now.
“Let’s just go back home for now, Subaru. You will tell me whatever you did on the way there.” She grabbed his hand as she forced him to follow her.
“...” Suddenly, Subaru recalled the face of the woman he had just met, and while his eyes fell on Emilia’s hand, he couldn’t help but feel his heart squeeze in guilt.
“Oi, Princess! I finally found ya,” Al walked closer to the crimson princess, busy observing the red fruit gifted to her by every angle she could,”where did you find that?”
“...It is a gift, by my ‘special someone’.” Priscilla declared.
“Your…Your what?” Al seemed confused, but his attention was taken elsewhere as he noticed a group of bandits come out of the alley with their weapons out.
Without skipping a beat, Al put himself in position right between his lady and the thieves, his single hand on his sword.
“At some point, we were bound to fall on you again, but the other brat ain’t here eh…” One of them pointed out with a malicious smirk, “Fine, you’ll have to do it for both of you then!”
“Oi, you guys really chose the wrong person to play your games with, you should get away while you still can…” Aldebaran tried to resonate with them, only to be met with laughter.
“Who do you think you’re scarin’ with that one arm of yours?!”
“Yeah, get the hell away when you still can, clown! Or we’ll take that last arm of yours!”
The situation became tense, it was now an evidence for Al that it would not end without a fight. He glanced back at his lady, who didn’t take her eyes off the appa, but suddenly glanced towards the criminals.
“Or you know what? When we’ll be done roughing you up, and maybe have some fun…” the leader of the group laughed as he took a good look at the princess from head to toe with a lustful gaze, “we’ll find him, and give him the exact same treatment, so there’s no jealousy and everything’s fair–”
In one swift movement, a flamboyant sword appeared in her hand, that she pointed out to the one further forward of the group. And without even letting him the time to process what appeared right before his eyes, Priscilla set him ablaze.
He burst into flames, the fire so strong he didn’t even have the time to scream before it turned his throat into cinders, as every single other thief ran with their tails between their legs screaming their fear aloud.
Al coughed a bit, nodding his head pitifully as if to say “I warned you” while Priscilla stared at the burning remnants of the man, taking a bite of the appa.
“Mhm…Bittersweet,” she thought aloud, “I am forced to admit, he was indeed right and didn’t just dye them in red. So this is the true color of appas? I am shocked.”
“...Are you alright, princess?”
“Of course, why such a question Al?” She smiled back at him.
“Usually you’re in a bad mood when you…Burn down people.”
“Oh no, I am in a very good mood.” She scoffed as she took another bite of her appa, “can’t you see? The others were spared, after all.”
“Right!” Al cleared his throat, “right…”
When the fire had died out, and what’s left was only a pile of ashes, Priscilla looked up towards the setting sun, and thought aloud, “body and soul…”
Her eyes fell back on the appa, as she smiled widely, “you shall belong to me…Body and soul.”