“Answer some of my questions, will you?” the smirking princess asked.

Amelia Fitzimons vi Angnarmarak. The angelic second princess of the Angnarmarak kingdom was as witty as she was beautiful. A woman wise beyond her years, who quickly rose from the position of a normal princess to one of the leading candidates in the race for succession.

People said no one could fool her wise eyes, but as she was smart, she was also kind. A staunch advocate of justice and a symbol of benevolence. Her forgiveness and kindness knew no bounds, and neither did her unending grace and beauty. Such was the image of the second princess of Angnarmarak. The same princess who had spat out words upon words so foul even the Otherworlder had to squint his eyes.

It wasn’t strange. After all, she was the one he had heard the most from Vera about. Amelia was the princess of many faces. For the world, she was an angel, for her ministers, a charismatic leader, and for her aides a psychotic and impulsive royal. The directions her mind ran in were so many that no one could hope to match up to her intelligence and she made full use of it.

The Otherworlder eyed the princess for a few seconds. ‘Answer my questions,’ when coming from royalty, these words were simply an order everyone had to follow.

“No thanks, I’ll pass.”

“HAH?” the princess exclaimed. “HAHAHAHAAH! Did this bastard just say I’ll pass?! HAHA!”

Princess Amelia smacked her hand on the throne and grabbed her stomach as she laughed at the Otherworlder’s words. Suddenly, she sat back up and stared coldly into the Otherworlder’s eyes.

“Ok, no problems. You can just listen.”

In an icy cold voice, the princess started speaking without moving her eyes from the Otherworlder for a second.

“Your name is Iatra Fors, a copper rank adventurer. You have earned the moniker of ‘the destroyer’ after annihilating a siege weapon three months back. There are no records of your existence before that point. And your Spirit Badge records are rather average or below average for your reputation.”

The Otherworlder’s eyes narrowed as she relentlessly continued.

“You could have a special ability, maybe some secret skill the Spirit Badge doesn’t recognize. But neither of those is correct. You see, your speech was rather clumsy when you registered as an adventurer and even now you avoid speaking a lot. Your looks are rare and so is your transformation in the last three months.”

Goosebumps rose on his skin as the princess broke into another haughty smirk and crossed her legs.

“There is one simple reason for all this. You are an Otherworlder.”

“What…”

Raeran’s eyes widened as he heard Amelia’s declaration. An Otherworlder, suddenly things made sense. But if he indeed was an Otherworlder, why was he in the boonies? Before Raeran could pose his question, the Otherworlder interjected.

“That is a bold assumption. But it is not the case.”

“Oh, yeah?” The princess scoffed. “Why?”

“Your points are rather basic. Anyone could notice all those. They prove nothing other than that I am an immigrant, just like many people in Angnarmarak. I don’t speak much because I am yet to accustom myself to the language of this country.”

“Right, then, where are you from?”

The Otherworlder swallowed a smile. He had prepared well for a situation like this.

“I am from…” the Otherworlder spoke, his voice tinged with false hesitation. “Rubel.”

Rubel, a country on the other end of the continent. A country beyond the forest of mists with borders so closed off that not a single diplomat could go inside with their heads intact. A place so secretive that most common maps or people didn’t even know about it. This was the place he and Vera had decided to make his cover.

There were two reasons to do so. The lack of information made his identity less questionable, and furthermore, it guaranteed his safety. Rubel was a place of interest for nobles all over the world, let alone the continent. If there was someone who, on the off chance, was truly from Rubel, even if just a peasant, their knowledge and information could be more valuable than gold.

“Juher. Klllabg jin kiumg hora fur Rubellian hoshel.”

An air of silence surrounded the two others in the room as they looked at the princess with confusion. Then, a wave of realization splashed on the Otherworlder, sending a chill down his spine.

This princess, she had just spoken in the language of the very country he was pretending to be from.

“What do you have to say?” she asked with a sadistic smirk.

“It seems I messed up,” the Otherworlder said.

Princess Amelia broke into another amused fit of laughter as the Otherworlder bluntly admitted his mistake. After laughing with her hands on her stomach for a few seconds, she stood up from the throne and walked up to the Otherworlder who had remained still.

“You see, Otherworlder guy. People like you, you have something that people of this world can’t. The ones not of this world are undoubtedly an important resource.”

The princess closed in on the Otherworlder, her eyes peering deep into his own.

“Don’t worry about the hero. I’ll make it so you are never blamed for killing him.”

She could it pin it on him any second.

“In return, why don’t you become my dog? Huh?”

Her voice, thinner than a whisper, brought down an unbearable pressure on the Otherworlder as if she were a flower alluring him like a bee. A blatant threat sounded sweet as nectar, but the Otherworlder wasn’t one to lose himself.

“I will not do something like that,” he said.

The princess backed away slightly and smiled at the Otherworlder. “Of course, I understand. There is no way you will agree right away. I will still clear your name off though, so you can think about it peacefully…”

The princess turned away from the Otherworlder as he breathed a sigh of relief.

“… think well in jail, that is.”

-Snap

With a snap of her fingers, the doors of the courtroom opened as a handful of knights in white armor stepped in. Their blades pulled out and guns loaded, they pointed their weapons at the Otherworlder as they awaited an order from their master.

“Lock him in that place.”

The Otherworlder stumbled back and raised his hands as the knights rushed at him from all directions.

‘Shit! Am I going to be locked up? No way.’

“Wait, wait, wait, wait,” the Otherworlder shouted out, but the knights didn’t hesitate for a second. Fighting was not an option. He had to say something to get out of this.

Before he could even say a word, one knight had inched ever closer to his back while another had grabbed his hand. Something, there must be something he could say to avoid this, anything.

The Otherworlder’s hands were grabbed and lifted as the knights had circled him completely within their grasp.

“Please! G-give me a rest!” the Otherworlder spat out.

“Huh?” the princess said.

A pun.

-Slam

-Slam

-Slam

In the farthest corners of the dungeon at the bottom of the palace, the Otherworlder had been locked up.