章 39: Chapter 38
The fact that my slutty nature was found out by the first two princes didn't seem to faze them at all. I might have been more freaked out about it if the bombshell that was Min didn't just drop in my lap. Still, they mostly thought the situation of my maybe wife was amusing.
"Our third brother will be so heartbroken to find out his wife-to-be is already married." Gregory laughed.
When I started to freak out at that, Julian waved his hand dismissively. "Don't worry so much about it. Elf customs are hardly binding here, and she's just a slave, anyway. If anything, it will make her more fiercely loyal to you. I don't see a downside to it. As far as third brother, he may not be as enlightened as me and my brother, but if you held every noble accountable for their sexual perversions, three-fourths of us would be dead overnight."
"Brother speaks honestly," Gregory added. "I know not any noble who hasn't put their hands on at least one servant or two. I know I have."
As Gregory said this, he reached out and ran his hands along the oiled thigh of one of their servants, who merely gave a grin in response.
I was quickly finding comfort as I talked with these two men. Sure, they lived lives of gluttony, but their attitude toward free love made them feel like kindred spirits to me. I felt like for the first time since I had come to this castle that there was a ray of sunshine. These two men were like me. They were my comrades. Fellow seducers, although their path was radically different from my own.
"But enough of elves." Julian clapped his hand. "I invited you to eat with us because I had seen something in you that I wanted. You have the eyes of a woman who craves and desires. My brother and I are all about fulfilling desires."
He snapped his fingers, and two more men came out, just as buff and oiled as the first three. One of them went behind me and started rubbing my shoulders. The other picked up a small piece of fruit in his mouth and leaned towards me. I took the food, his lips just brushing my own as I took the piece in and chewed it. Meanwhile, I felt like I was going to melt. Min had rubbed my shoulders too, I used to think it was because she was a servant, but now it held a more ominous meaning. However, she didn't have the muscles this man had, and I liked it hard. As the man came back with another piece of food, my hand might have accidentally slipped against his bulge. If I could just get a weekend with these servants, I could level to my heart's content.
"Although, more specifically, there is a bit of a society that we are a part of. We would like you to come to a celebration we're holding in a few weeks."
"Ah… that's right," I spoke up, "Your father invited me to a celebration."
The pair looked at each other with grins before looking back at me. "Not that… that's a formal thing, drab and boring, full of old Ninny's talking about how they can't satisfy their husbands. I'm talking about a celebration that is a little more… underground."
"Not that it's full of criminals or anything," Gregory interjected.
Julian nodded. "Yes, of course… this is an exclusive club made up mostly of nobles and a few… special guests. We wear masks, no one is allowed to know anyone else's identity while you're there. Very hush, hush, even speaking it exists now is taboo… but I'm convinced you'll take us up on our offer, dear."
"A-and what will we be doing… at this party."
Julian gave another laugh. "Anything you want, my dear."
"Although most of it won't involve clothing," Gregory added.
"Any man."
"Any woman."
"Royalty, high nobles, low nobles, knights. An invariable buffet of the capital's finest."
This offer was incredibly tempting. Not the part about sex. As a seductress, I could get sex if I wanted sex. Sex was not a problem, and I didn't need to go to some creepy underground club full of perverts to get my rocks off. I liked things more on a person to person basis, anyway. That said, this sounded like a great leveling opportunity.
They were right, I was a lustful and wanting creature, but not in the same way as they thought. I wanted strength and power. I wanted the power to overwhelm Denova. Despite everything that had happened, it's not like I'm a polygamist or sexual deviant. In fact, if Denova hadn't been such a bastard, I'd have been happy to be his exclusive sex toy for the rest of my days. But sex wasn't something I could just enjoy with a single person. I had to level. I had to become stronger. And if I had to fuck every guy, girl, and monster in this kingdom, I would do it. In the end, I hoped to find a place that was safe, for me, for Min, for Jenai… and maybe a guy who was sweet. Someone like Devon maybe. Wait…
"You said nobility?"
"Yes?" Julian chuckled. "Well… no one admits to going. They'd take the proof they went to the grave… but everyone goes. Even the King."
"A-and your third and fourth brothers?" I expected the King would do something like this, but…
Julian gave a sympathetic look. "Sorry, love, even your fiancée partakes. And of course, I've seen Devon there since he turned 18."
With my Conceal not up, I had a slightly depressed look on my face. Julian was trying to cheer me up by saying it was just the way things were.
"No matter how goody-two-shoes someone may look, take our brother Devon, for example, they all hold that deep dark perversion in their hearts. Of course, you can't fault them, since you do as well."
Of course, it wasn't Richard that had made me depressed like this. It was the idea that Devon did this too. I wanted to call Julian a liar, but that would reveal too much. I didn't want to believe Devon was the kind of man who would go to sex clubs. It was weird because the current me was the kind of woman who would and has slept with hundreds of guys, but I held Devon at a standard higher than myself. I wasn't angry… I just felt disappointed.
Then a thought came to me, "But… what about analyze?"
Julian chuckled while crushing my last thread of hope. "The masks we wear are absolute. A wonderful enchanted item indeed. Analyze does not work. Your indiscretions cannot be seen. Even the best special skills will never out you… as long as the mask stays on, you can do whatever you want. We took the idea from a certain Bandit King long dead now, part of the reason we're so hush-hush… these masks would be too dangerous in a commoner's hands. It's locked to the user, and it can only be worn on certain nights. However, I will have one made for you."
I finished breakfast with the two men, fed to me by the mouth of a hunky servant, the act only cheering me up a little. I might have mounted one of the servants right there, but neither Julian nor Gregory got particularly grabby with the servants, so I resisted as well. I didn't want to be the odd one standing out, even if the pair were okay with it. Before I was able to leave, I had to promise them I would come to the next party and cut off a piece of hair, which was used to make the mask.
"Although, the Harvest festival would be the biggest one of the year. That's a month from now. You should start with this smaller gathering in preparation for that one. The harvest can be overwhelming." Gregory explained.
"I will come, I promise." I gave a curtsy, handing Julian a lock before finally leaving.
I bid them and their hunky servant's goodbye, even though it felt good to drop my own metaphorical mask off for a bit and freely talk about sex. Of course, I didn't reveal any of my sexual conquests. That would come too close to revealing I'm not the princess, so I mostly just listened to them talk about men, and women they've fucked. Although they enjoyed the company of men, they stated they would not be averse to enjoying a woman from time to time as well.
However, the way they told it, just about every noble in the kingdom did the same things they did, it was just that Julian was the only one willing to be open about it. Everyone else was very cloak and dagger about their sexual proclivity. He prided himself on the fact that he's brought more nobles into the society since he joined a decade ago than the previous four decades of the society. The parties… although they sounded more like orgies, were much larger than they once were. Even the small one would include almost every knight and noble in the capitol.
While I was deep in thought about all the things I learned by talking to the first and second princes, I had already made it back to the room. It was when my eyes dropped on Min and I suddenly remembered that particular piece of knowledge that my body froze. Min was sitting at the desk. She seemed to be modifying another one of Cornelia's dresses to be more to my liking. When I entered, she greeted me calmly.
"Welcome back, vessë." Min lowered her head in a bow then turned back to work on her sewing.
I slowly approached, and after staring at her back for what felt like minutes, I finally opened my mouth. "Um… Min… what does vessë mean?"
"Mm… elvish for wife."
I winced as if I had been slapped. Wife? She was calling me wife!
"Min… do you remember when we first met? In the goblin cave? H-how do you remember that event?"
"Cold… hungry… thought… die."
"And then… what did I do?"
"Mm… offer marriage. Thought… crazy… but desperate. You say… if married… make safe. Say yes."
I collapsed on the bed. It was exactly as I had feared. She was under some terrible misconceptions. I dreaded telling her the truth, but I needed to.
"Um… for humans, sex is just sex. I didn't realize, I was asking for your hand in marriage." I explained carefully.
After a second, her hands stopped sewing, but she didn't turn back. "Mm… I thought, maybe too… but then you said, I'm yours."
"Ah… I did say that." I scratched my cheek, remembering the time I asserted ownership over her at the slave auction, not quite sure how to explain.
I didn't know why I had said that she was mine either. For some reason, I had become more territorial than I used to be. How could I explain that when I said she was mine, I meant more that she was my family or someone close to me? If I had any other family in this world, I would likely see them as mine as well. If I had a brother and a little more self-control, I could easily see myself becoming one of those jealous sisters that monopolize his time. Of course, self-control was the word. Right now, I couldn't promise I wouldn't sleep with him just to try it out.
"Min… I've slept around with a lot of people. You're not even the only woman. There was another girl I've spent time with…"
"…"
"… Min?"
"Cheater…"
"Min!" my heart nearly broke with that one. "I-I'm a seductress! It's part of my class. I can't level and become strong without it. That's… most of the reason I do it. But also, this class… it's done something to me. It's like, I'm insatiable."
I tried to defend myself although I didn't really know why. I didn't want to be hated by Min, but if she realized I'm a cheater, then maybe she could go to not seeing me as her wife.
"I know…" Min said simply, stopping my tirade of defense.
"M-min…"
"Vessë said, live if marry. Married, lived. Then… Vessë protected from adventurers. Vessë saved from slaves. Vessë has… stayed with Min. Loved Min. Held Min. Gave Min a place to stay, food to eat, things to do. Min… is happy." Min finally turned and gave me a smile.
It was an absolutely beautiful smile, something I was unaccustomed to seeing on her face.
"Oh… Min…"
"So… even though Vessë cheats… Min will become best wife… until Vessë no longer has to cheat."
The resolve on her face was so determined that I just didn't have it in me to crush her with something heartless like saying that it just wasn't going to happen. Of course, I had every intention of keeping her safe and protected. Min was my very good friend and the first person I knew from this world. She knew all of my secrets, and still, she chose to stand next to me.
"I love you, Min…" I said that out loud.
"Mm…" Min didn't turn back around from her work, so I didn't see the giant blush covering her face.
I decided to leave Min to her work. I still had things I wanted to do today as well. Just because a princess could live a life a leisure didn't mean I was allowed to. So I bid Min farewell and closed the door.
As a result, I didn't hear it when the silence was suddenly broken by Min, seemingly speaking to no one. "Min… loves Aria, too."
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