Chapter 292 - Imperial Princess
So… what the hell is going on here?
I arrived in the Empress' Chamber and introduce myself to the Empress and her aide. Then, Celestine took off her hood and the Empress jumped on her. The Empress is even calling Celestine sister. Does that mean… Celestine is the Empress' sister?
The Empress and Celestine are hugging each other so tight that I don't think they will listen to what I say anytime soon. I guess I'll just talk with Claudia.
"Well, that was unexpected. Anyway, I'm Roy. You're Claudia, right? The person whom the King of Arturo takes fancy with? Albert told me that I need you to be here."
"…right. I'm Claudia. Empress Lynn's aide. I heard of you from King Albert during the meeting between kings. It was thanks to you that we found out about the existence of the cult. Though the King of Arturo doesn't know it since King Albert told us after someone impersonate him."
I shook my hand with Claudia as we're getting to know each other.
"I see. Let me hear more about what Albert told you. Just in case he's spreading rumors about me."
"Well, he told us that you are his friend. And that you have a harem. And you came from the future as well as your Aura ability." Claudia said.
"…that's basically everything then. Should I really be here to introduce myself when you already know a lot about me?"
"Well, we don't know your appearance. And King Albert said that it will be easier if everyone has meet you at least once."
Should I call him here then? He should already be ready to come over.
"Then should I go get the other person?" I asked Claudia.
"There's going to be another person? I never heard of anything about it before." Claudia looked at Sonia for confirmation.
"Well, he decided it abruptly. I forgot to tell you about it." Sonia said.
I think Sonia is keeping it as secret from the others. Feels like after she returns from the Ghost Town in Monsters World, she has become even more playful.
"Ah, Roy. While we're at it, how about you call Victoria as well." Sonia said.
While we're watching the heartwarming hug of the two, I summoned Victoria here.
"Oh, Roy. Where is this? It looks like a rich person's room. And… what am I seeing?"
Victoria is asking about how the two ladies ended up hugging each other.
"Well, you know that the opposite attracts, right? Like magnet. That's how it ended up that way."
"…that's rude to the flat girl." Victoria said.
"Who's the flat girl!"
Suddenly the Empress who is still hugging Celestine looked at us angrily. So, she's angry when being called that, huh? I'll keep that in mind.
"Well, I guess it's time I call Albert. This will be the first time you've seen my portal, right?"
In front of the two confused ladies, I open up a portal toward the Blobby in Albert's possession. And the other side of portal is in Albert's office.
"Whoa! What is that!?" The Empress said while still not letting Celestine go.
"This… is portal that summoner should be able to use. More importantly, why are you hugging Celestine?" Albert explained and then asked the Empress as he entered the portal. I close the portal soon after he passed through.
"Don't you know the opposite attracts? Just like magnet. And you can see that they are quite the opposite when you're looking at their chest." I give the same answer as when Victoria asked.
"Who is the one with flat chest!?" The Empress looked at me angrily.
"I didn't say that you have flat chest. Since Celestine has huge breasts, the opposite is actually un-huge. Not flat." I said.
"Oh… wait…" The Empress is confused.
"What is it?" I looked at the confused Empress.
"Hmm…"
While the Empress is still confused, I looked at Albert.
"I see why Claudia is important. Who would have thought that the Empress was quite a bit… slow?" I said to Albert.
"She's not a bad leader. She's just a little slow. Now, can anyone tell me what's going on?" Albert asked.
"I'll tell you everything that I hadn't inform you yet. Lynn, can we move somewhere?" Celestine asked the Empress in her embrace.
"No!"
Why is the Empress so spoiled? Just what is going on!?
Since it won't progress like this, I asked Victoria to create some Blobbisofas for everyone here. Now everyone can be relaxed. Other than Celestine who still can't let Empress Lynn off of her.
"Let's talk. Celestine, who are you exactly?" Albert started the conversation.
"I am Celestine. The eldest daughter of Consenza Imperial family. I'm someone who was supposed to take the role of becoming the empress instead of Lynn." Celestine said.
"Wait. So… that mean I have three princesses staying in my house?" I asked.
"Three princesses? Just who are you?" Empress Lynn asked.
"Someone very special. If you paid attention, you should have known about me from Albert's story." I said calmly.
"There's my sister, Shirley, and then my daughter, Lana, and who would have thought that Celestine is a princess? Wait! Does that mean the cult already has information about the Empire!?" Albert asked.
"No. I kept the fact that I'm a princess a secret. Not many people other than the Imperial Family know who I am." Celestine said.
Then, Celestine started telling us about her life story that she hasn't told us yet.
Just like she said, Celestine is the eldest daughter and the first in line to be the next empress once her father died. But the previous emperor finds out about her true nature. Celestine is actually evil.
It was about twenty-three years ago when she was just fifteen and manifested her magic that she started using her magic to attack everyone. Everyone except her sister who is nine years younger than Celestine, that she is fond of.
"Wait! You're twenty-nine years old? Celestine being thirty-eight I can understand, but you're just like a kid!" I shouted.
"Who is a kid!? And don't shout! What if a cult member is here!?" Lynn said.
The more I know here, the less Empress-y she is.
"Don't worry. My Air Barrier won't leak any sound penetrate and leave the room. So far, there's only a few cult members in the city. But none of them are in the castle. But there's one former cult member though." I said as I look at Celestine.
"Wait, sister Celestine? You…"
"…right. After father kick me out and make everyone think that I'm dead, I joined the cult. Not for my survival, but for my evil desire."
Celestine told us about how she encountered the cult. She was already fifteen and already beautiful by that age. She accidentally bumped with the former faction leader of the big boobs' faction of the cult. That leader raised her to be the next leader of the faction after she died.
"Wait! Breasts can be groomed to grow naturally into that size!?" This time, it's Victoria who stopped Celestine's story.
"Sister! I want to hear more of that!" Lynn also asked for the detail.
"Mine's already big since I was thirteen. Let me continue."
Celestine continues her story while Lynn looked depressed. Even if there's any way to grow them, it's too late already for her.
Then the story is something I already familiar with. She became the leader of the faction, in charge of an orphanage, care about the orphans, betrayed the cult, and joined us.
"When I was in charge of the orphans, I started to be reminded of when I was playing with Lynn. That's why I betrayed the cult." Celestine said.
Although I know that she said the truth, I still looked at Albert for confirmation. He nodded, telling me that everything she said is the truth.
"Are you sure that no one in the cult knows that you are the princess?" Albert asked.
"I don't think any of them know. Since I was too evil, father always make sure that I will always stay in the castle and almost had no chance in going out at all. Even for awakening my element, I did it in the castle. I haven't told anyone about being an imperial princess ever since I got kicked out. If someone in the cult knows, it's not because I told them about it." Celestine said.
Seeing how the castle is safe from cult member, I think no one knows.
"Albert, there are no cult member with any explosive devices in their mouth in this castle. Doesn't it mean that the security in this castle is much better than your palace?" I said to Albert.
"I guess you're right. Though after you come, the security has been increased a lot and I don't think there's any more cult member in the capital." Albert said.
"Well, since I'm done with what I'm here to do, I'll be leaving. Lynn, it's fine for me to kill any cult members that I found, right?" I asked Lynn.
"You already called me casually? Well, that doesn't matter. Whoever it is, just kill them. Even if they have high position, kill every single one of them in the Imperial Capital." Lynn said.
"Okay. Albert, you're going home now. As for Celestine, you can stay here with Lynn. I'll visit you tomorrow. If anything happened, contact Sonia."
I opened a portal and returned Albert back to his office. After saying farewell to Celestine and Lynn, and also Claudia who is watching, I went on a hunt.
It sure was surprising to hear that Celestine was a princess. Will she return here or will she continue to be together with us? I'll let her decide her own future.
…so, she's thirty-eight, huh? She looks not much older than thirty. Was it because she's an expert level mage? If so, I bet the girls at home will cultivate more diligently.
The girls back at home will be interested in that more than the fact that she's a princess. Well, we already have two princesses at home after all.