Valentine hesitated for a moment, then slowly turned towards the door, turning her back on Mistress.

I ran towards Mistress and kneeled in front of her, pressing her blade against my throat-- too eagerly, in fact, it cut into my throat just a little.

“Please forgive me, Mistress! You made it sound like you might not be coming back, and Princess Asperia was going to seize control of me soon, and I was just doing my best to survive… I seduced Valentine because I wanted someone strong on my side, it’s not her fault!”

Mistress looked down at me and blinked-- apparently not the reaction she was expecting.

I stared up at her, trembling, and then closed my eyes, leaving my life entirely in her hands… well, it already was from the moment I was within striking distance of her, but I needed to utterly submit to her and prove my loyalty.

I felt the blade pull back from my neck, and opened my eye to see she was laying the sword on the bed next to her, blade pointed behind her, handle close to her hip, her other hand tracing down my cheek and along my neck where her blade had cut, where I felt intense itching… she was healing me.
“Be a good girl next time-- don’t hurt my beloved pet like that, okay?” My tail wagged. Mistress was forgiving me! I nuzzled against her thigh… would sucking her cock prove that I was a good girl? I pressed my head further forward against her crotch, only for her to gently take me by the shoulder and hold me back.

“Not now, my slutty little pet.” Fuck, I was actually wet – was that because Mistress was in control of me again and I was submitting together, or…? Nope, that was definitely it, there was no other possible reason, and it would be bad to think there was.

Her eyes slowly shifted back to look at Valentine behind me… kneeling on the floor, judging from the angle of her eyes. Her hand slowly petted my head, which felt a little nice despite everything else going on.

“And you, do you have an explanation for yourself?”

“I’m loyal to Princess Asperia. Wasn’t that what you expected to happen when you brought me here, O Hero From Another World? For which I’m very grateful, of course, but that doesn’t get in the way of my loyalty to Princess Asperia.”

“...I suppose it wouldn’t. And at the same time, you know fighting against me you’d have almost zero chance… and causing any commotion would just be more likely to get more people killed. Close your eyes for a moment and relax, Valentine, and I’ll put you to sleep.”

“...are you sure you two will be able to leave okay? Assuming that’s what you’re here to do.”

“...yes, that’s the plan for the moment. I can’t really collaborate with someone who’s trying to backstab me.” The irony. Her hand tightened on my hair for a moment before letting it go. I had to get better about hiding my thoughts.

“Or you could just think better thoughts, Sasha.” I hung my head a little.

“...sorry, Mistress. You’re the only one in the world I really trusted, once upon a time, so it’s hard to let go of.”

“I think I can understand that a little, so I’ll forgive you as long as you behave from now on.” She scratched behind my ear softly, her gaze shifting back to Valentine behind me.

“So what are you proposing, exactly?”

“Simple-- I’m a guard, I lead you out of here.”
“Won’t that get you in trouble?”

“Maybe! It’s my job to protect everyone here, and I don’t think anyone here can fight you-- even less so without harming Sasha in the process. I don’t actually want either of you to die, either? I was really hoping the two of you and Princess Asperia would get along.”

“...yes. Me too.” She sighed softly. “Okay. I’ll trust you on this, don’t make me regret it-- I’m hesitant to kill so many slaves if I don’t have to, but I absolutely will kill every last one of them if I have to.”

“I know. I’ve known gladiators like you before. Permission to rise, Ma’am?” How was Valentine this relaxed through all of this?

“Granted.” Mistress lifted me up to my feet effortlessly, and I blinked, a little disoriented, as she stood up, glancing over at the sword. She walked over to pick up a large bag, and handed it to Valentine. “Carry this.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” She took it, and handed my cloak back to me, which I put back around my shoulders, smiling up at her just a little, relieved. Maybe we’d all make it out of this alive.

We made it through most of the harem easily enough-- people were looking at us of course, this was juicy gossip, but a new mysterious girl and Valentine and her girlfriend(?) Sasha wasn’t really new news to anyone, persay. But Valentine and Mistress projected confidence, and while I looked like a blushy nervous mess, people must have gotten kind of used to that.

I wonder if it was a disappointment, to those who held any admiration for Sasha. I couldn’t even fulfill this most basic role….

We walked into a room and there was no other exit, just a throne in front of us, with Princess lazing in it-- it really didn’t fit the rest of the décor, though. Mistress narrowed her eyes.

“Valentine…! ...oh. I see. Stop anyone from getting in the door.” Her thoughts, whatever they were, must’ve convinced Mistress that Valentine hadn’t intentionally betrayed her. Valentine stepped back to hold onto the handle of the door, and Mistress shook her head and stepped forwards, holding my hand. I followed alongside and slightly behind her, clutching to her hand nervously.

“I’d really prefer not to kill anyone, even you, so can you get out of my way?” Princess Asperia laughed.

“Awwwh, my beloved fiance being so angry. If you walked into a trap, it’s already perfectly set up, so there’s no harm in talking for a while, is there?”

“I’m surprised you got a throne in here this quickly, to be honest.” ...it was bigger than the door behind us we had came in. “As for beloved… you were trying to make my cute pet here into an instrument to control me.”

“You left your greatest weakness in my hands… which I didn’t expect, but I guess you didn’t expect me to know that she was as great a weakness as she was... or that you were digging around looking for information on me and my weaknesses.”

“How do you know it was me?”

“Because most of the outside world doesn’t know you’re visiting me, so if they were curious about that, they should’ve been focusing on me instead.”

“Um… actually, it’s possible that some people do, someone tried to apprehend us and saw us with Valentine.”

“And you left them alive? Sloppy, Sasha.” Mistress smiled.

“I’d greatly prefer if you didn’t call me that, if you really are trying to negotiate at all.”

“Okay! I’ll call you whatever you like, and you become my obedient servant and submit to my means of control.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t intend to become someone who ‘fixes’ unruly slaves ever again-- that’s what you want me for, right?” Princess blinked, then laughed and waved her hand.

“Oh, goodness no… I need your professional help with a little issue that’s come up, but it’s actually related to me… I was wondering if I might be under the influence of mental magic.”

“You’re going to have to let me into your head for me to tell that, I’m afraid.”

“Yes, which is why I need to be able to trust you first.” Mistress furrowed her brow.

“And how are you going to come to trust me, exactly?”

“I thought making your pet into a leash for you would work well enough… plus giving you some artifacts that’ll shield you both from Null, so no one outside can threaten you with that.”

“...you have those?”

“Of course. My magic capacity has been diminishing, as you no doubt have discovered, but I’m a fantastic artificer.”

“...oh. I wasn’t actually sure that one was real.” Princess shrugged and smiled.

“Well, I guess I’ve accidentally shown you a little bit of my hand, then. So what’s it going to be?”

“You think your survival depends on getting this Mind Magic?”
“It absolutely does, I’m afraid… why else would I go to such lengths to get you on my side? You are a very valuable piece of ass, I must admit, and I love your new look, and I’m sure I’d enjoy seeing your head between my legs as you are now… and your skills in combat and subterfuge are genuinely amazing. But if I wanted simple control of you, I could’ve just popped a Null spell in Sasha’s head– sorry, not you, to clarify, your pet Sasha.”

“...Okay. Let me go, as a proof of your good intentions, and I’ll try to figure out a way we can both be satisfied with a balance of power.”

“Very well. Valentine, be a darling and move this throne for me, will you?”

Valentine walked up and shifted the throne, and was rewarded with a pat on her bicep, which made her beam up at her Goddess. Asperia hopped off her throne, and opened the door. “This is one of the ways back out into the Royal Garden of Eusythne. I don’t know how Valentine intended to get out, though, she’s never been through this way.”

Valentine laughed a little nervously, glancing back over to Mistress. “Well… it seemed like the most secret way out. Mazes can’t be that tough, can they?”

“I suppose you wouldn’t know… mazes made for gladiators are never truly intended to prevent them from meeting, sweetheart… and if I hadn’t already heard rumors of this beautiful new woman and decided I wanted to know more, I wouldn’t have thought to come here. Speaking of, I’ll guide you out myself. Valentine, you stay here.“ I blinked a couple of times. Valentine frowned, but nodded after a moment.

“As you wish, Goddess. Shall I go and inform the other guards of what is going on?”

“Talk to Zince, she’s the one who’s keeping track of everything while I’m gone. She’ll know who needs to be informed of what.” Mistress looked over with a bit of interest.

“Your second in command?”

“Sometimes, I suppose? The power structure is somewhat loose, other than me being at the top.” Mistress furrowed her brow.

“A bold lie.” Princess smiled.

“No, ask Sasha here.” She looked to me, and I shrugged.

“As far as I can tell, she speaks the truth, Mistress. If it’s not sort of chaos usually, her followers are all very good actors.”

Mistress nodded, and Princess entered the passageway, and we began to follow her through all it’s twists and turns.

“...How did you memorize this?” The words left my mouth before I thought to stop them, but neither Princess nor Mistress reprimanded me now that the three of us were alone.

“I have a three-dimensional image of it in my head… a bit like a map, I suppose.”

“Impressive, Princess Asperia. Are you leading us into another trap?”

“For what reason would I take you away from one trap to lead you into another? Really, now, whenever you’re in my harem and I’m aware of it, you’re just as much at my mercy as I am yours…” she sought to take Mistress’s hand with her own free one, which Mistress allowed. I felt a little pang of jealousy.

...now? Really!?
“Don’t you think that terribly romantic? A former slavegirl and a princess, on the verge of marrying, with blades pointed at each other’s throats… if those who sing the past ever find out, I’m sure there will be many stories of it.”

Mistress shook her head a little, but fell silent, and we continued through the passage for a while, until she brought us out into a small clearing in the garden itself, surrounded by vines. “This is where you came in, so you should find your way out easily enough, yes?” Mistress nodded.

“Yes.” Suddenly, her hand was released from mine, and she was holding a small knife against Princess’s throat. I froze, entirely unsure what to do. Killing Princess seemed Bad.

“Ooh, so you do know how to flirt.” Princess batted her eyelashes at her.

“...no, I’m trying to find a reason why I shouldn’t kill you.”

“As if you didn’t already have three.”

“Three?”

“First, I can protect you. Second, I can end slavery. Third, you like me.” She said the third reason in a teasing, almost sing-song manner.

“First, you can destroy me. Second, you can continue slavery. Third… I’ve done worse things than kill people who I liked more than you.” Oh no. So she did like her. The jealousy was really bad now. I felt like nothing, just a servant, a slave, a third wheel before their far more impressive romance.

Mistress’s eyes moved over to me, and she smiled gently, contrasting with her threatening Princess’s very life as we spoke.

“Don’t feel jealous, pet… you’re still the center of my world. And I am grateful to you. To prove I care for you… should I kill her?”