Arillia by Illuminati Architect

Chapter Four, The Sage

Shortly after dawn on Monday, 28th Nodwin, 22nd year of Peter III found Rebecka clinging tightly from behind me as we rode the horse bareback through the woods around to the other side of the Glister estate. Her body, clad only in rough furs, rubbed against the back of my ruined ball gown, a sensation I didn’t mind at all. Apparently, she had little experience in horse riding during her life in the wilderness on the outskirts of Lermont. I dropped her off at a location in the forest near Lake Olgan I had spotted on the way to the estate the day before with instructions to await my return.

I then rode back along the road to the estate where Duke Glister was “just about” to arrange a search party in response to my “mysterious disappearance.” His sons were much worse actors but at least had the sense to keep quiet. I handed the horse to the stable master, who lied badly when he claimed that he’d never seen it before. Then flanked by my guards, I reclaimed my luggage, then had my guards stand outside the guest room door as I changed back into my traveling clothes with Mary’s assistance. I packed away the tatters of my ball gown, unwilling to leave this behind, and noticed that one of my panties was missing from the luggage. I gave my farewells to the Duke and his two sons. Simon seemed to have the most guilty expression, but I let him keep his stolen prize. I’ll have the heads chopped off the three of them in due time.

Stopping the carriage on the ride back, I stepped out with one of my luggage cases as I had the driver, Mary, and the guards remain behind. I then walked fifty paces through the trees to the lake shore.

“You have returned.” Rebecka stepped out from behind a tree I had just passed.

“Lady Rebecka, I need you to wash up and change into some clothes I have brought so we can return to my castle without question.”

“Lady?”

“Lady of what and where we shall reveal when the moment is right.”

“As you require.” Rebecka stripped out of her furs and washed herself in the lake. She did not shiver or complain about the cold as she stepped back toward me, but her nipples responded by standing proudly out.

I stood there stunned by her beauty in the morning wood and noted that my initial impression was indeed correct. She was precisely the same height as me with exactly the same body shape, and even her face was as close to my own as a twin’s. The only differences between us that I could distinguish, other than a slight difference in skin tone, were that her eyebrows and hair (above and below) were of the darkest black and not my deep red and that her eyes were of some woodland creature’s wild brown instead of my bright green. In that moment, I finally understood what Carnel saw in my body.

Wow, and wow! Thanks, but you’re still the best girl in the game, Arillia.

Blushing, I looked away and held up a towel. “Please dry yourself, then put these on.”

Rebecka had no problems with the panties but struggled with the bra.

I stepped up from behind her to help fashion this and allowed myself only a brief touch to ensure that her breasts were cupped correctly. Afterward, I helped her lace up the dress but was careful not to touch her body. Even my spare boots seemed to fit exactly from her toes to her calves. She finished this off by fashioning her knife belt around the waist of her dress.

I had her place her bow and other gear into the luggage case, which she insisted on carrying back to the carriage.

On the ride back, we were almost within sight of the last ridge before Kristophoro Valley when I reached for my wand in response to a tingle in my head.

Sister!

What are you doing? Are you under attack?

Hello, Carnel.

Can you see where you are being held captive, or what direction they’re taking you in?

Shout out, “Arillia is returning home” before you pass out, please.

I did, but what happened? Where are you …

And the link was cut from the other side in mid-thought.

What were you casting? Was that Carnel again?

“Your Highness?” Mary asked as I put my wand away.

I saw that the guards had noticed that Rebecka had her hand on the handle of her knife. “My apologies, Lady Rebecka. My sister attempts to contact me occasionally, and I must respond within a second or two to greatly reduce the stain the casting has on her.”

Over an hour later, our carriage hadn’t entirely stopped inside the castle when King Peter III ran up, yanked open the door, and shouted, “Arillia!” as he grabbed Rebecka’s arm.

His face landed with a crunch against the ground, and she was on his back with his offending right arm pulled behind his back with her left hand while her right hand held her knife at his throat.

“Lady Rebecka, stop! Release my father, please!”

She stepped away from him and resheathed her knife. “Why was he attempting to grab me?”

I waved back the gathered guards. “He had us confused.”

“Why was he attempting to grab you?” Rebecka glanced at the guards who pointed spears in her direction from a safe distance, and while they did not retreat, their knees shook.

“The King is an ordinary father. He shows affection and reassurance through physical contact.”

“Ow!” Father stood and held his nose while Mother spoke the incantation for Heal on this.

“I see you brought another fine warrior woman!” Father stepped up to slap Rebecka on the back, but she moved her head slightly to glance him in the eye, and his hand dropped back to his side as he turned back to me. “By the gods, the resemblance is uncanny!”

“I’ll get Lady Rebecka some red hair dye to keep my ribs safe. Where is Princess Carnel?”

My Mother replied, “Dame Elizabeth has taken your sister to her room.”

“I’ll need to lecture her and our maids on how to deal with the fainting, which has killed several wizards over the centuries.”

“Now, Dear, you fainted once before yourself.”

“But only that once.”

“How are you here? We received word this afternoon of your disappearance.”

“Lady Rebecka rescued me. The rest can wait for dinner, for I am famished.”

At dinner, Father stated that he was just about to lead a rescue mission with all the forces at his immediate command and plans to call up a mass levy on the way to Lermont, when Carnel shouted out my message and then was caught by Elizabeth before she could fall from her chair to the floor.

After I explained all that had happened, he was even more keen to march there in the morning and install Rebecka as the duchess.

“No.”

“You will not take immediate revenge after he touched your private parts?”

“Don’t worry, Father, it didn’t leave a mark. I am still marriageable, and we can cut off the hand of the thief later.”

“You have always had a hotter temper than myself, Arillia. Why do you hold back now?”

“In my premonitions, I see the entire continent balanced on a knife’s edge. If we go to war now in our own country, all our neighbors will roll in like the tide to each devour a slice like we were some sweet pie. We will respond that I have called off the betrothal because Simon acted disrespectfully towards my person. That he did so in front of the duke’s guests boasters our case. If Duke Glister then takes action, his supporters will fall away, and in the meantime, the Prince of Dinana can’t invade through his puppet without undermining him. By the time they do strike, I will have gathered companions and weapons of decisive power. Then we will make one example in battle and have a peace where none dare to move against me.”

Rebecka nodded at this, but my parents seemed a bit taken aback.

After dinner, I showed Rebecka to the room adjoining my bathroom that Elizabeth had vacated two weeks before, with instructions for Mary to show her how our modern magical amenities worked. Then, exhausted, I collapsed on my bed, soon asleep.

The next morning (Tuesday, 29th Nodwin), I was awoken by the voice in my head and opened my eyes to look up at the canopy over my bed.

I can think of a few mana-boosting items you could pick up to help Carnel cast more.

“One does not just give a bigger horse to a princess who keeps falling off her pony. I need to teach Carnel better control of her mana before I have her dance on the edge of a taller cliff. But remind me when we pass by these items so I can use them for myself first.”

Speaking of toys you can use, ever since you saw Rebecka naked at the lake, you’ve been on edge, and it’s weird and distracting. Female horniness isn’t quite the same as male, but I’m long past the point where I’d pause the game and go wack it off, if I still had it. Now that you’re back in your room, why don’t you indulge yourself, or go next door and try Rebecka?

“Greg, the main difference between us isn’t gender; it’s discipline. You’re weak. I suspect that you’ve never once feared for your life or safety or even gone hungry. That’s why you waste your time playing the same game over and over.”

When did you go hungry before the game started?

“Academy survival training. It’s one of the many things that Carnel is missing out on. I shall not touch myself for your entertainment. However, should any of my companions seek the comfort of my embrace, then I shall freely offer it to her, to the relief of all three of us. But if during that process I hear the slightest peep out of you, then that event ends instantly. Am I understood?”

Yes, Your Highness.

“Once we are alone again afterwards, then we can compare notes, and I admit to some fascination. How many women (or is it men) is it that you have been with?”

Zero, the same as Your Highness.

“Or so you presume. And yes, that does explain a great deal about you.”

Why is it that Rebecka sets off so much more than Elizabeth does?

“My awe of the goddess of war makes her distant, while I feel I understand Rebecka much better. I could have lived her life and felt her pain as my own. I long to hold her in my arms and let her cry for the first time in her life before gently showing her the joys of womanhood. But enough about what might someday occur. What new beauty do you have to distract me with now?”

Alice, the sage’s daughter.

“I requested a beauty. How exactly does glasses-wearing, overweight, baggy-robed, clumsy, messy-haired Alice qualify? And what quest is this, to go down a flight of stairs to the castle library?”

The glasses girl is a checkbox item in every harem. Once she’s out in the field, she complains about all the walking around for about a month, then shapes up with curves that show up nicely under skimpier clothing.

“I’ll humor your request for the moment. What is her part in the plot of my story?”

After Carnel goes bad, Alice escapes, thanks to her father’s sacrifice, with the book of Mantup, which includes clues to the Tomb of Sparot. Then she deciphers the runes at the tomb so you can enter and defeat Sparot’s wraith and force this into his saber, which you wield for the rest of the game.

“Retrieving one book from my own library sounds simple enough, but how do I recruit Alice into this ‘harem’ you speak of?”

Use yourself as bait?

“Oh?”

Just this one time, trust me to pick out your outfit.

“Very well, but let me get washed up first.”

Okay, go to your bathroom.

“Nice try. I’ll wait until Rebecka returns to her room.”

Huh, she’s in there?

“We’re using the same ears. I suspect the difference in our ability to use these ears is that I am much smarter than you.”

You’re the one controlling your senses. A lot of the time, I’m halfway through translating the game script for one page, and you’ll have flipped to the next.

“Then try harder.” I waited for Rebecka to return to her room, went to clean up, then returned to my room, dry, naked, and not looking at myself.

First, go to your underwear drawer.

“I’m not going to show off my panties to Alice.”

It’s for you, not her. When you feel sexy, you are sexy. Run your finger along the selection, and pick those panties and that bra. Now you need a dress. Yes, that short hemmed deep-v white sundress with the green trim.

Looking away from myself, I changed into the requested underwear and dress. “This is a bit chilly for autumn, even indoors, given how drafty the castle is.”

We’re not done yet. Put on those stockings, your white sandals, and the long lace gloves. Now, go check yourself out in the mirror. What do you see?

“I see the outline of my figure, of course, especially the shape of my legs through the stockings, and the hint of my nipples under the thin dress and bra, but the only skin I’m showing are thin circles at the top of my arms and my upper thighs, the face, the neck, and just a hint of my breasts where these are pushed together in the center.”

Yes, cleavage and maximum forbidden zone. You’re drawing the eyes to places they should not go and are actually blocked from seeing.

“If you say so,” I added my white leather belt and put my dagger and wand in its pouch.

Mary had gotten Rebecka dressed (in an outfit I’d only used for hiking) by the time I was done, so I took her downstairs to breakfast. Rebecka and Elizabeth just nodded to each other, and in that moment, each seemed to take the measure of the other and find a satisfactory warrior.

Carnel looked back and forth between Rebecka and myself. “What?”

“Yes, Carnel. You’ve finally found us out. The real reason why your big sister has seemed twice as good as anybody else is that we’ve secretly been twins all along.”

“Where’s my twin?”

“Dear, your sister is playing a joke on you. This is Lady Rebecka. She’ll be staying with us for a bit.”

“Sorry, Mother. I knew I’d only have one chance at it, and I couldn’t resist.”

After breakfast, Carnel took Rebecka by the hand to show her newest ‘big sister’ around the castle, and I returned to my assigned quest.

The sandals made a bit of a clicking sound down the stairs, and I adjusted my stride to silence this, but Greg insisted that I return to making that somewhat annoying noise, and “put some sway” into my ass.

Alice looked up from the book she was reading as I clicked my way into the library. “Your Highness. What brings you here?”

I looked her confidently in the eyes as I walked up to her. She lowered her gaze but seemed to get her eyes stuck in what Greg called my ‘cleavage’ as I leaned towards her over the table. Then she blushed and looked to the side.

What does your gaydar say now, Your Highness?

“Alice, I wish to see the book of Mantup.”

Her flat brown eyes snapped to mine under her glasses and messy, dull brown hair, and her blush went white. “How, how do you know about that, Your Highness?”

“Is there anything in my family’s castle that I ought to be unaware of, or be unable to examine as I demand?” I looked down at her sitting there and smiled.

She blushed again, and her eyes darted back and forth between the small patches of my skin that were exposed in various places. Then, her gaze dropped to the table as she rose from the bench. “At once, Your Highness.”

I followed right behind her with intentionally clicking sandals to a door she unlocked with a key from the ring she wore on the oversize belt that fit loosely around her shapeless dark brown robe. She opened the door, looked into the small dark room for a moment, and then turned around as if she had forgotten something.

I cast a Light spell on my right forefinger and held it up to her nose.

She froze, nodded, and then turned back into the small room, which I now saw had shelves on every wall. I held my lit finger over her shoulder as she looked over the books and then selected one.

“Is that the book?” I whispered into her left ear.

She shuddered and almost dropped it, then nodded.

“Then take it back to the table, please.” I motioned past myself.

She looked around for an alternative path, then closed her eyes and bit at her lip as she brushed past me.

I followed her back to the table, put my hands on her shoulders, and gently nudged her to sit on the bench. Then I leaned down next to her left ear and whispered again. “Show me the section about the Tomb of Sparot.”

She swallowed and then, apparently unable to speak, nodded and began searching through the book for a page she seemed to know well.

I kept only my right hand on her right shoulder as I sat down left of her, then nudged her towards me. She responded to this by leaning against me, but she didn’t seem to notice her own motion, so engrossed was she in the book. Finally, she pointed to a section on a page.

“Does it give the location, my dear Alice?”

She gasped, took a few deep breaths, then said, “Only cryptic clues to landmarks long since faded, Your Highness.” She turned towards me, noticed that her lips were about to touch mine, and quickly looked away.

“Can you look into this for me, please? You can come to my room if you have any questions on this or need me to do something for you.”

She dropped her hands to grip her knees through her robe and whispered back. “As you desire, Your Highness.”

“I hope to hear from you soon.” I traced my fingers from her shoulder to her lower back, then rose to my feet and walked to the library exit with that awful clicking sound. I silently cast Sight Around and could see that her eyes followed every sway of my buttocks under my thin dress, with her mouth wide open.

I failed to resist the temptation to tease her a little more, so I turned back and moved the ladder over to a selection of spellbooks behind her. I could hear her slide around on her bench to watch as I climbed up, then she quickly turned towards the table again after I returned down the ladder with the correct book.

She pretended to read the book of Mantup (with occasional glances towards me) as I circled around her table, then she looked up as I placed Nellis’ Basic Spirit Binding Techniques in front of her.

“I’ll be taking this book with me. Please make a note of it.”

She nodded and licked her lips, her eyes once again glued to my cleavage, with occasional glances to the sides, where my nipples were slightly more obvious given my own excitement at this power I had over her.

As I closed the library door behind me, Greg suggested that I turn left and watch from down the corridor. A few minutes later the library door opened and closed again, and I heard the lock being set. Then Alice emerged and hurried the other way, the keys jangling at her belt.

“Where is she off to?” I whispered.

If I recall correctly, that’s the way to the servant’s quarters. So, she’s most likely running back to her own room for some stress relief. If you call out to her now, you can march her into your bed, ready to go. Or you can wait outside her door and hear her cry out your name in ecstasy.

“Not quite yet. I have a book to read, and I don’t take advantage of my servants like that. After all, I am a moral princess, if a bit more wicked than I had naively assumed. Is there anybody else I have that effect on?”

Forget beautiful, young, fit, genius, mage, princess. None of that really matters. You are Protag-kun and can, therefore, have your way with any human and most animals with just a little bit of effort.

“Now you’re just being icky.”