《Wanting in Paradise》Chapter 15: The Ever-Plotting Princess
Advertisement
The two entered the room by the princess’s order, Mia taking a moment to inspect the room. Gaudy was the first word to come to mind, quickly followed by pink. A large bed with pink covers and drapes, a gold trimmed mirror adorned by pink gems, a rug made from an animal with pink fur taking up much of the floor space. She even had two couches with a pink lined glass table in the center.
Everything in this room hurt her eyes to look at, minus the large mirror that provided a lovely view of the outside world but even that was ruined by pink drapes.
“That is all Ashley, you may leave.” Athena who sat next to the mirror inspecting herself said. Giving the maid a fleeting glance as dismissed her.
Ashely bowed “Thank you, my lady.” She took one final peak at Mia before leaving the room.
When the door shut all that remained in the room was Athena and Mia, the latter standing in silence waiting for the princess to speak.
Eventually, a sigh broke the silence “We shall start with your report. Did John tell you anything of note? A secrete plan? Anything I will have interest knowing?” Athena turned in her seat to face her while resting her shoulder on the desk.
Mia thought back to the discussion she had with the hero, most of it she assumed the princess already knew. “Came from another world, no magic. Said more advanced, had books, other things, showed things like it is here.” Mia said, “Told was his fated maiden… said will save everyone.” She finished, thinking that covered all the important bits from what she remembered.
“Ha! ‘Fated maid’ what even is that nonsense? “Athena couldn’t help but laugh “And he is going to save everyone? Well hopefully he will continue to do his best for this kingdom he wants to save.” She mocked. “As for the rest, I have had some idea from the way he speaks. Did he give any detailed information on what kind of knowledge he has from his other world? Any events or preconceived Ideas of this world from his books?”
Mia squinted, combing her mind of anything he might have said “Said king might be untrustworthy… church might be evil…”
Athena’s expression changed, becoming stern and serious. She opened her mouth to speak but paused, bringing her hand to her chin she began to pace around the room “That is, concerning…” She continued to pace around the room mumbling to herself “At the same time, could be useful.” She stopped and faced Mia once more “Is this speculation, or does he believe it to be fact?”
Advertisement
Mia had to think a bit on that. From how he talked about it at first she would say it was speculation, just something he thinks might be a fact. However, his declaration at the end complicated things and just ended up confusing her. “Both?”
“Both? How can it be both?!”
“Don’t know. Confusing.” Mia shrugged.
With her anger rising Athena stomped on the ground with her foot “What do you mean it is confusing?! He told you, right?”
Mia began to panic, flustered she tried to explain “Think said both, don’t know… maybe thinks it’s real from the end? Hero is confusing.”
Athena clutched her head “Hit yourself as hard as you can.” She commanded, and unable to go against her order Mia complied, hitting herself in the face. “I do not know if it is you, the hero, or both being stupid but I do not have time for this.” She then began biting on her thumb’s nail “I will have to plan for the worst, the church is fine… they have been getting out of line for a while, daddy is another story…”
Rubbing her bruised cheek, Mia remembered a certain detail about the hero’s declaration. She was conflicted on if she should say it or not…
“Maybe it really is the best to dispose of him now… having him recklessly attack the church should be enough to get the backing for it…” Athena pondered.
That wasn’t good, Mia knew that once she got rid of the hero she’d be next on her list. If she was lucky she would go back to the slave merchant, she had a decent idea that wasn’t what was going to happen. Needing something to convince her not to ditch the hero, she decided to tell her what she remembered “The hero also said, would make you queen.”
“What?” Athena paused in her pondering and rapidly approached Mia “Do not lie to me beast, what did the hero say about making me queen?” She gripped the girl’s shoulders, holding her in place.
Mia was taken aback, carefully she spoke “After taking care of king, wants you to replace him.”
“That would be…” Athena’s gaze fell on Mia’s collar “It is not going off, you are telling the truth.” She let Mia go and unsteadily walked towards the sofa, plopping down on top of it. “Does he not understand the lengths he would have to go through to make that possible?” She nervously laughed to herself “The biggest obstacle if daddy is removed would be my older brother, who is in good health and good standing with the populace. He is next in line, but he intends to skip that.”
Advertisement
Mia watched the princess raise the back end of her hand and place it on her forehead as she quietly laughed to herself. She found the sight a bit unsettling, as if she was watching the exact moment someone realized their evil plot to mark the downfall of a nation to their own benefit…
oh right, that was exactly what she was watching.
Athena rose from her seat, a wide smile on her face “If played out correctly and with the right support, this might just work!” She rushed over to her desk and raised a golden bell, giving it a ring an old butler entered the room shortly after.
“Yes, my lady?” The butler bowed, then stood at attention.
“I am giving you another task, Doug, Get me a copy of my brothers schedule for the past year. Along with any outings he has made to the church. “Athena paused and brought her attention back to her desk, scanning through the contents of the paper work on top of it “Also direct the handling of the nobles Ferly, Riese, Krier, and Count Holland unto him.” She then forced a bundle of parchments into his hand before waving him off.
The butler stood there, a bit stunned at the rapid development but in a show of professionalism, bowed “It will be done, my lady.” Then left the room with his new tasks.
Mia blinked, while she may have insured her living conditions for now, she had to wonder if she had just made a massive mistake. But oh well, not like she could take it back now… how bad could it be?
She brought her attention back to the princess, who was still riffling through some parchments on her desk, giggling and mumbling to herself. Seeing that sight caused Mia’s doubts to grow. She shook her head, giving up and decided she was just over thinking it. She had secured her spot for the time being.
Standing up Athena brought her attention back to Mia “Now then, now that the matter of the hero has been handled, and while I hate to say this, I must commend you for doing an excellent, albeit annoying, job as my spy.” Athena’s expression then turned stern “I am almost willing to forgive you for last night, almost.”
Mia didn’t say anything, instead just standing there while listening to the princess.
“But first, let us get this out of the way.” Athena approached Mia, looking her over briefly before continuing “The matters discussed here are to remain private, do not discuss them with anyone. Furthermore, after the events of last night do not supersede my authority by sucking up to the hero. This is an order.”
Mia nodded; she knew that was coming. With this she no longer could go to the hero for help… as long as the princess was aware of the matter beforehand. She would have to hope there would be a time when the hero and her were alone so she could educate him as much as possible.
Athena stared at the slave collar fastened around the girl’s neck “Now as for your punishment… I will admit I struggled with thinking about one. I could have you hit yourself until you pass out but that has started to bore me.” Her gaze on her collar remained as her cold words exited her mouth “Instead, how about a more painful and amusing order. Now seeing your collar reminds me of the time in the carriage, you writhing in pain as it activated full force.” She then gave a light smile “This is an order, do what ever it is you did at that time to activate the collar this instant.”
Mia blinked, that’s it? She then opened her status and focused on the bottom part, the familiar blue screen blocked out by a red X appeared in her vision and without any hesitation poked it. She instantly dropped to the floor as the collar activated and as her vision faded she heard the displeasured talk of the princess.
“Wait, really? Just like that? No protest? How dull…”
With her last remaining bit of consciousness Mia mentally apologized towards Athena that she failed to be more entertaining.
Advertisement
Truck-kun Gets Sacrificed
Driscoll is my own version of a world with a game-like "system" of endless possibilities. MC has his own status, classes, skills, magic, and a living greatswordstaff in a world of monsters, demi-humans of all kinds, and even the supernatural. Sound good? Well, at first for Tru, it was a dream come true(I'm sorry). At least until reality hits him again and again. His quest from God is vague and must be discovered by him along the way. Hopefully, he can figure that out someday but for now, this new world's threats and his potential for power are motivation aplenty. With His new partner by his side, he's ready to embark on his mission of infinite sacrifice, however many lives it takes. The setting is pretty standard for fantasy, with my beginner attempts at writing. Litrpg elements are definitely involved here but It'll calm down as the story progresses and the world's foundation is laid. Judeo/Christian themes and principles take a major role and will be a backbone for much of the story. The fights will paint a picture in the mind rather than just be a bunch of number crunching. While he is meant to be a sacrifice to save all of Driscoll, he needs to gain enough power and influence to be a worthwhile sacrifice, or so he thinks. And so carnage will ensue as he avoids death as best he can while at the same time sacking himself for others. Truck Coon is your average determined, jiu-jitsu practitioner, tax associate that just started his new career. He dies to save kids from a semi-truck(Truck Coon got truck-kun'd, making him Truck-kun) and is transported to another world rather conventionally by God. Upon his arrival, he is quickly confronted with his first conflicts in the wild. Give it a shot and let me know what you think. Chapters are currently between 2300 and 4000 words and I try to post weekly, but also deal with severe limitations that cause late posts often. I have zero actual experience with writing stories and only recently started reading web novels in 2020. If you end up hating it, let me know your thoughts in a detailed comment or review, especially if you love it though :D I want to get better and welcome the feedback, so expect changes to be made with any flaws that y'all point out which I don't already have plans to address in future chapters. That being said, keep it constructive in nature, please. I have no Idea how the formatting and such will go, so if you like or dislike some techniques I try, give me that well-appreciated feedback! Thank you for reading.
8 544A Necromancer's Village
Life is for the living, and death should be forever. So say the gods, and all humans of good mind. But what happens when someone with power disagrees? A Necromancer's Village follows the mage Annel on his quest to right a wrong, even if that means committing more wrongs on the way.
8 186Littlehand Hakuria
Hakuria and her mech Littlehand, set out to escape Deadworld so she can find her brother Shiro. Volume II - The Dregs: A group of undesirables called the Dregs, meet an ex-cop with eyes on a conspiracy to poison the red zone inhabitants on the world Glemora. Together they set out to breach the green zone to steal some medicine for the sick members of their resistance group.
8 301Mythical Legion of Hades
A land of mythology and demigods collide fighting to defend their world's and survive. The shackles binding Tartarus was shattered by Mother Gaia during the fall of Greece, unable to repair the damage done the 12 major Gods and minor Gods sealed off the prison world and called upon their demigod children bestowing them magic and power. Legion Legate Mikael Verrater leads his men in bloody conflict against the forces of Gaia while struggling to keep his own men alive and his haunting past in check, all the while carrying the burden of eternal damnation. An escaped soul Natalia Vergeben is tossed into the world of bloodshed after forming her contract of damnation. She struggles to remember her past and just what horror she's committed as she battles alongside Mikaels Legion.
8 156Dick and Dami Week 2022
So... I fell headfirst into DC and got attached to the Batfam. Especially Dick and Damian. When I found out there was a Dick and Dami week I just had to give it a go. And here we are!The event runs from May 8th to 11th so that means there'll be a new chapter each day for this week. Summaries are at the start of the chapter along with the prompts for the day and the one(s) I used. Each part is meant to be read as a standalone piece and won't be connected.Also, this is my first work in the DC fandom so don't be too harsh. Constructive criticism is always welcome!Cover art is not mine. It belongs to Toixx on tumblr. Link to original work:https://toixx.tumblr.com/post/142125106066/damian-lost-a-bet-and-he-has-to-put-on-some
8 113Just a bully(completed)
" you promised me you wouldn't leave me, yet you do it anyways!"Min yoongi is a popular bully around school, but when a new student arrives, will they be intimidated by the bully, will they fight back? Or will they fall in love?
8 67