The night of the banquet had finally arrived. Such would be the perfect opportunity to enact ‘retribution’ upon house de Lance, or so Steinar had declared. Though things weren’t going quite as Leila had expected them to.

During the day, instead of training, discussing strategies or doing any other kind of preparation, all the girls did was walk around the city with Steinar. For some reason he went and bought them a bunch of expensive looking clothes and jewels, he even went so far as to take them to a beautician. After that they had lunch on an expensive restaurant and went back to the inn, to bathe and get ready for the banquet. It seemed more like they were preparing themselves for a date night than for a battle.

The girls were offered no explanation at all. As always, Steinar just went with ‘shut up’ and ‘do what I tell you’ whenever Leila tried to ask him about the logic behind his actions. And that’s exactly how they found themselves in such a predicament.

‘A lady on each arm’, is that what they call it? They were all dolled up, wearing extravagant and expensive dresses that for some reason showed a lot of skin. Steinar was wearing a fancy black tunic and overcoat, as he walked with his arms around the girls’ waists.

Usually Leila wouldn’t complain about this, and being pampered certainly felt nice after all the shit she had gone through. But as backed up as she was after almost one month of intensive training, feeling the touch of his rough, callused hands against her skin proved to be it’s own kind of challenge. The fact that she was wearing minuscule g-string panties and no bra under that skimpy dress didn’t help at all with her situation.

Not only was she feeling the moistness pooling down there, but her now erected nipples were also visibly poking through the dress’ thin fabric. She was feeling horny, and it certainly showed. Annie was much in the same condition as her, perhaps even worse. They were wearing the same clothes, after all. Long halter neck dresses with slits high above the waist, they were practically naked on the sides. Jewels that they would never be able to afford on their own now decorated their bodies. Golden, jeweled chain necklaces, earrings, bracelets and even anklets. Their high heeled shoes alone already costed more than what they would earn by working for an entire year. How much money did he even spend to buy all of those?

At this point, no matter who looked at them, would see nothing but two rich noble ladies. Even though in reality they were nothing but poor peasants. Were those perhaps some of the perks of becoming Steinar’s ‘property’? They couldn’t help but wonder.

Once they reached the entrance to the de Lance manor, the guards didn’t even stop them to ask for their invitations. Was it because they looked filthy rich? Or maybe because even dressed in formal wear Steinar still looked highly intimidating? The banquet was an event restricted to the city’s elite, but they had somehow managed to infiltrate it without much trouble.

“The smell the two of you are giving off right now is delicious.” Steinar remarked, his arms pulling them closer.

“Is it the perfume?” Leila asked, trying to catch a whiff of her own scent while doing so.

“No—“ His hand slid from her waist all the way to her butt, his fingers sinking on it’s right cheek. “It’s the naughty smell of females in heat.”

Her face immediately flushed a deep shade of pink, but before she could say anything the weirdest thing happened. A small eyeball, the size of a cherry, with tiny bat-like wings showed up before them. It was… Kind of cute? Perhaps a little creepy, but also cute in it’s own way.

“Brother…?” A voice came out from the eyeball, it sounded like a girl’s.

“What is it, Bruna?” Steinar answered the little thing, it seems like he knows the one speaking.

“Who are these women?” The eyeball asked, flying around the two girls.

“My new pets.” He declared. Leila wanted to raise an opposition to his statement. Sure, they had accepted to be his ‘property’. But pets? Wasn’t that going a little to far? Still, she knew better than to try and talk back to someone as stubborn him. By now she was sure he said those mean things on purpose, just to bully them.

“I see…” The little eyeball flew back to meet Steinar’s gaze. “I have the twins. We are aboard a ship that is sailing towards the city of Alcara, in the Kingdom of Arum.”

“Eh—!?“ Leila gasped in surprise. Twins heading for Alcara… Was she talking about the Taylor girls? “Are you perhaps talking about the young ladies Iris and Alice?!” She asked enthusiastically, hoping that the two of them would be safe.

“Ah… I think I get the situation. Give me a moment, please.” Said the voice coming from the little eyball.

Half a minute of silence followed, and then a few weird noises before a different voice started coming out of the eyeball. “Do I just speak into this weird jewel?”

It was Alice’s voice. Leila was beaming with happiness upon hearing her.

“Erm… Leila, is that you?” Alice asked, through the eyeball.

“Yes! It’s me, lady Alice! Annie is here too!” Leila answered enthusiastically.

“Lady Alice… I’m glad...” Annie spoke too, though without showing much emotion. She still didn’t quite fully recover from the tragic events she had gone through, and perhaps she never will.

“I’m so happy that the two of you are safe!” Alice spoke cheerfully.

“Likewise! I assume lady Iris is there with you?” Leila answered in kind, though also inquiring about Iris’s presence.

“Ah, not right now…” Alice replied. “She is feeling seasick so she has been sleeping for the last five hours or so.”

They kept chatting for a few more minutes, thankfully the mansion’s courtyard was relatively empty so no one noticed the weird situation. Leila informed Alice of most things that had happened to them after splitting up from the group, though of course she kept hidden the part about what they suffered under the baron’s men. Mostly, she told her of how they were in danger and how Steinar had saved them.

“I see… I don’t know how I can ever repay you, mister Steinar. These two are very precious to us.” Alice spoke in a silky tone.

“I’m sure we will find a way for you to repay me once we meet up.” Steinar remarked, with an obvious extra connotation.

Leila stared daggers at him, her eyes clearly saying ‘don’t you dare’. Alice may not understand what he meant by that, but Leila sure as hell did.

“Eh… Uh… Sure. I guess we will, won’t we?” Though they couldn’t tell, since they were only hearing her voice through the eyeball, Alice was blushing deeply. It seems like she understood what he meant after all, she even seemed a little excited at the thought.

“Ah— wai— Kya~!” A few random noises came through the eyeball again.

“Give that here! Do you have any idea how much mana this consumes? This thing is meant to deliver quick messages, not to have full conversations!” It was Bruna’s voice once more, she seemed a little angry. “Brother, we are getting too far for me to maintain communication, this little familiar will vanish soon. But before that, tell me, have you finished your mission?”

“I’m about to.” Steinar affirmed.

“I see… It will take from three to four months until this ship reaches Alcara, do you think you can make it there before that?” Bruna enquired.

“Barely.” Steinar mused, rubbing Leila’s butt while doing so.”If I leave next morning it should be possible.”

“Then I pray that you will make it. And please, try to not break those two. The twins seem to like them.” After leaving those words, the little eyeball vanished into dust.

“Hey, you better not try anything with the—“ Leila was going to warn him not to try anything with the twins, but she got cut off in a most unexpected way.

Steinar pulled her over and planted his lips upon hers, his tongue reaching for the insides of her mouth. It was a savage kiss, she felt like she was being devoured by a hungry wolf. With his left hand on her back, he pressed her body tightly against his. His right hand made it’s way under the slit of her dress and grabbed her left butt cheek with enough strength to easily leave a few red marks.

The whole thing lasted for a good five minutes, perhaps a bit longer. Once he was done, Leila was left panting hard and could clearly feel a stream of warm, viscous moistness running down her inner tights. That was bad, really bad. Though her dress was long, it also exposed a lot of her thighs. In fact, it just covered her front and her behind. The slits were so high and wide that they left her sides literally naked, to the point that if she moved harshly anyone would be able to see her utterly soaked panties and the moistness that was leaking down from them.

But what was really bad was that she no longer cared if anyone saw it, a part of her even wished for Steinar to just take her right then and there. To ravage her like an animal, onlookers be damned. She was dancing on the palm of his hands, singing to his tune. And with each passing day she felt like she was becoming more and more of his ‘property’. The notion that she belonged to him was becoming increasingly exciting, to the point that she could barely recognize herself.

“You’re annoying. Shut up.” He chastised her, kissing the sides of her neck and giving it a few playful bites.

Although Annie was only watching the scene, she too seemed like she was in the mood. Even though her eyes were still empty and lifeless, her breathing was rough and she was rubbing her legs together impatiently. Her nipples hardened and clearly poking through her dress as well. It seems like Steinar was avoiding doing anything to her, one may even think it was out of consideration for the fact that she recently lost her husband and family. But Leila knew better. He was absolutely doing that to make Annie jealous, to make it seem like he didn’t care about her. That poor girl will likely only get some action once she begs for it.

“Let’s go, we gotta find our target.” Steinar went towards the manor’s main doors, still holding the girls by the waist.

##

Viscount de Lance was happy. In fact, he was having the best time of his life. With the help of his third daughter, Aveline, he had seized most of the Taylors’ fortune and now could spend it lavishly by throwing as many parties and banquets as he wanted. Today he was with his other two daughters, his son and his own wife. They were all together to honor an important guest that came from the capital, Princess Elyn Pryce, the fifth daughter of King Bartholomew Pryce.

Though she didn’t have much standing in the court, being the fifth daughter and all, the fact remained she was still the daughter of a king and that by itself already carried a lot of weight. The viscount wished to get in her good graces and maybe get her to like his son, that could eventually help their family ascend in rank.

Princess Elyn was a very… Peculiar girl. Cute, but also snobbish beyond what one could usually tolerate. A spoiled brat that thinks she can have everything go her way— and usually does, since her father is the most powerful man in the kingdom now.

The insufferable girl kept nagging them about every little detail. Color of the tablecloth, uniforms of the servants, even the damn spices chosen by the cook. So one could only imagine how relieved the viscount was when someone threw the banquet hall doors open loudly, catching the princess’ attention.

The first thing the viscount noticed were two gorgeous women, wearing very revealing clothes. Their perfectly shaped thighs, naturally thick and lightly toned, peeking through the slits of their skin-tight dresses. Their faces were flushed and they were breathing heavily, nipples hard and poking through the thin fabric that was covering them.

One of them had shoulder length chestnut hair and hazel eyes that seemed kind of empty and lifeless. Her dress was black and contrasted well with her fair skin, it also matched the gloomy air that she had about her. The other had auburn hair, it’s length a bit bellow her shoulders, and beautiful forest green eyes. Her dress was completely white and likewise matched her soft, milky skin complexion.

The viscount was at loss for words. He knew those women, he had seen them before. They were servants at the Taylor estate, a maid and cook, if he remembered right. He had seen them when he visited Earl Taylor for his birthday two years ago. However…

They have changed much, far too much. They were only average looking women before, but now they look like top tier beauties. This is not something that is achievable through just the use of makeup and skincare products, it is something far deeper and more complicated. They look younger, healthier. Even their bone structure seems like it has improved. Their bodies are lightly toned and the way they walk shows that they must have been training some sort of martial art.

Certainly, all signs point towards someone, somehow, having taught them how to use aura. There’s no other answer to how one would be able to change so much, so fast. But the viscount himself was an aura user, so he knew that there is no way to teach untalented peasants above the age of childhood how to use aura, it would kill them in the process.

To have even the most remote of possibilities it would be necessary to infuse them with ridiculously high amounts of aura and force them into a state of near-death multiple times, so that their clogged up bodies can open up and acclimate to the feeling of aura running through them. But that would normally be impossible, since aura is a very violent and destructive energy. It would definitely blow up their bodies from the inside the moment you started infusing them. To be successful it would require someone with a tremendously high mastery of aura, not something you could achieve unless you were—

Then the viscount finally noticed the third person that had entered the banquet hall. A man, a very tall and muscular man wearing a black tunic and overcoat. His eyes were unbelievably cold, staring at him as if he were just trash on the side of a road. His presence was so intimidating and overbearing that everyone in the hall went silent, even the nagging princess.

—a grandmaster.

End of Chapter 6: Night of the Banquet.