A/N: I own nothing but the plot. Enjoy!
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When Percy and his team of shadow guards headed towards where he recalled the attack on the Kiran princess would be, he was afraid that the three days he had allocated for travelling had not been enough, even with using the transportation portals to shave several days of travelling through Eldoris.
The Kirans were a disgusting and ruthless bunch, Percy thought. They only attacked the princess as soon as they were over the border from Kiran crossing into Eldoris so they could blame the death on Eldoris.
Sure enough, as soon as they had reached the borders, the attack had already begun. The timing had been tight. Far too tight. But this time instead of the carnage of a collapsed carriage and littered bodies, he saw a slim figure of a woman fleeing the scene on horseback. But the people chasing her were quickly closing in.
Percy sent down the orders for arrows to fly, cutting down the pursuers. Then when Percy caught the princess before she crashed into the woods, he was shocked at how emaciated she felt, even though he knew that she had been starved by her own family.
But what really stood out to him was her grey eyes. In the brief moment when she was still alive in her past life, her grey eyes were dull and lifeless. But now despite her gaunt appearance, the princess's grey eyes were now sharp and bright. This was the look of someone who wanted to survive.
Now, the princess was sitting tall on the horse in front of him, injured but decidedly very much alive. She stared down at the bound matron from Kiran.
"Hey, you. Shut the fuck up."
Everyone's heads snapped to attention. No one expected such uncouth words to come out of a princess' mouth. Even Percy's eyebrow twitched.
"W-what did you say?" The old woman said in disbelief.
"Are you deaf, Dame Lune?" The princess scoffed. "I see you're deaf in addition to having brain damage in your old age. According to your logic, you're a Kiran noble so you shouldn't be harmed, but it's okay to try to murder me? A Kiran princess? No, you ugly hag. By your logic, you're the traitor who deserves to be punished."
"W-why I never-" The matron's mouth opened and closed like a fish. "You are mistaken, Princess, I would never hurt you! How dare you insinuate that I would harm you!"
Percy slid off the horse. One of his men came up and kneeled.
"Your Majesty. The assassins are from Kiran as well, but they were carrying weapons of Eldorisian make. It's possible that they were planning to blame this on Eldoris, Your Majesty."
Percy glanced over the evidence carefully, but the answer was what he had expected, since it had all happened in the past. He even knew that it was most likely his stepmother or one of her cronies who had supplied the Eldorisian weapons to Kiran. And this time, Percy had even seen Dame Lune try to pull the princess towards danger. Thank the gods that he had arrived on time this lifetime.
"I see this is how Kiran treats their royalty. But there is no need. As of today, the princess is no longer Kiran. She will be the Queen of Eldoris."
Still on top of the horse, the Kiran princess blinked at him in surprise.
"You still want to marry me?" She asked.
Percy's brown furrowed. "You know who I am?"
It might have been his imagination, but the Kiran princess seemed to pale slightly as though she had been caught saying something she shouldn't have. Looking up at her, he saw that there were bruises on her face in the shape of a handprint. Her golden hair, similar to that of Princess Alana's, was limp and dull. Even her cheeks were gaunt and her chin too sharp from lack of nutrition. Only her eyes were sharp and fierce in her face. She had suffered quite a bit before being escorted to Eldoris.
"I saw you used your water abilities to stop the assassins. No one else but the inheritor of the Eldorisian throne can use such powers of hydrokinesis. As such, I thank Your Majesty for helping me."
The princess bowed her head in thanks after her gentle reply, a sharp contrast to the tone she had used to scold the Kiran matron.
"There is no need to bow or thank me. You will never need to bow to anyone again. This I assure you. After all, this is what one must do for his wife." Percy gave a small smile.
Now it was the princess' turn to look surprised. Percy supposed he should formally introduce himself, even though the Kiran princess seemed to have guessed who he was.
"I am Perseus Jackson. It is an honor to greet the Kiran princess."
"Oh, um, yes. I am Annabeth."
Princess Annabeth was a bit awkward in her introduction, but Percy chalked it up to her limited upbringing and education in Kiran.
At this point, the captured people and Dame Lune had just been listening to the seemingly lovey-dovey words of the soon to be wedded couple.
"Ha! You think you're going to get married? You're not even Princess Alana! As fitting of the foulness in your commoner blood mixing with the dirtiness of Eldorisian-" The matron's shrill shrieks were cut short as the princess slid off the horse without Percy's help and then slapped the matron's mouth.
"I said, shut up. Gods, you're annoying."
Annabeth's dress had already been torn in her haste to escape. She tore off a piece and then shoved it into the matron's mouth, giving peace to everyone's ears. Even Percy's shadow guards, skillfully trained as they were, were surprised.
He felt like he had to step in. "It seems that you scum must be tired of living. I will make sure that they all get a nice...rest."
With a wave of Percy's hand, all the perpetrators were dragged off.
Perhaps he shouldn't be surprised at whatever Princess Annabeth did next. He had been surprised far too much in the span of less than ten minutes. Had his information from the past been wrong?
Princess Annabeth was supposed to be meek and submissive from years of abuse. His sources had revealed that she was largely illiterate, having been treated less than a servant for most of her life. The princess title placed on her head was no less than a title of mockery. Was this the real Kiran princess? But she certainly looked like her. Perhaps her patience or sanity had finally snapped when she had cursed earlier.
Percy could only shake his head at the sorry past of his future wife. The Kirans really had outplayed themselves with the horrid things they did to a royal daughter. He himself had no problem with her soft personality, for it would be easier for him to manage the throne without outside interference. Thinking about it for a while since he had reincarnated, Percy thought that if Princess Alana were to become his wife, she would most certainly be an obstacle to Percy's goal of solidifying his central position in court.
And so, Percy would give Princess Annabeth the respect and whatever else was due to her status of being the Eldorisian Queen but wouldn't expect her to manage the palace's internal affairs as a Queen would usually do. Percy had planned on handing the majority of the work to some trusted aides with his queen being a placeholder so the dowager queen would have no way to get her hands on the power in court.
But now, Princess Annabeth seemed to be much livelier and more valiant than his information had described. It could be that she was only pretending to be meek in the Kiran palace for survival, something Percy had done himself in order to survive under the Dowager Queen. Perhaps because that the princess was free from those watching her, it might be that her true personality was being revealed.
Knowing that Kiran had been out to kill her, and with how she was treated in the past, Princess Annabeth certainly would not have much loyalty towards her home nation. Percy's instincts told him that he could move safely against Kiran without the princess' interference. The princess might even be able to hold against the dowager queen.
This was an interesting development indeed. Somebody with no loyalty to another kingdom and had a spine of courage was better than a puppet with a weak personality but was a stepping stone for others. He only had to prevent his stepmother from influencing the princess. But then again, Princess Annabeth herself had been under the thumb from her own stepmother. It was possible for her to sympathize with him rather than align with the Eldoris dowager queen.
"Are you all right, Princess?" Percy asked.
She was still looking a little pale from earlier. Annabeth shook her head as her knees buckled. Percy caught her just as she fainted. The exertion must have been too much for her.
"Bring me a physician! We're heading straight for the palace right away."
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Annabeth was awake when the doctor was discussing her health, or rather the original body's health, with King Perseus. She had been treated for some bruises and scratches from the last beating, but for the most part she had fainted because she had little food or water in the past couple days.
The king entered the small inn room just in time to hear Annabeth's stomach grumble.
"You're awake? That's good. How are you feeling?" He asked softly with a smile.
"Starving," Annabeth said honestly. "But thank you for the treatment."
She accepted the warm barley and vegetable soup and coarse bread that the king had brought and happily scarfed it down. It was only inn food, but Annabeth's hunger made it seem like it was good from the gods. Slowly, energy and warmth returned back to her body.
"We'll be arriving at the Eldoris palace in one more day. For now, please bear with the sparse living environment." The king told her.
Annabeth looked around at the homely inn. But the room was neat and the sheets had the smell of soap. This was a lot better compared to the original soul's basement room where spiders and cockroaches roamed. It seemed that the previous soul shared Annabeth's phobia of spiders.
"No, I have no complaints." Annabeth replied. "This is more than enough, thank you."
She did not know that in the king's mind, the king had more or less surmised what kind of environment the Kiran princess had grown up in. Annabeth did not care about luxury in her modern life, only meaning that the food he had brought her was enough to feed three men.
"I have asked them to prepare a bath if you'd like, Princess."
"That would be good. Thank you, Your Majesty."
Hunger satisfied, Annabeth sniffed herself. The king was polite about it, but there was a subtle smell on her like a rotting fish that had been rolled around in mud. When the physician had treated her, an inn woman had wiped her body with damp cloth, but Annabeth could still feel an icky layer of dirt around her.
The king stepped out of the room after giving her a gentle reminder of applying medicine on her wounds. An inn woman helped her out of her torn clothes and into a wooden bathtub. Annabeth sighed with relief as the warm water washed over her. For the first time she saw her body fully in this world.
She was about the same height as before, but her limbs were all frail and sickly. Her ribs poked out through paper thin skin. Even after downing two bowls of soup and a loaf of bread, her stomach wasn't caving out like that time when she ate a whole medium pizza by herself on a dare. It would take time, rest, and some decent meals for her body to regain its normal state.
Finished with the bath, Annabeth took a good look at herself in the mirror. Surprisingly, she had the same face as when she was in the modern world, except that the signs of starvation and abuse had left their mark. Thankfully, there were no scars on her face, although there were old wounds on the back of her thighs and abdomen. She felt a little sick to her stomach as her fingers traced the old scars. Perhaps she should have slapped Dame Lune a little harder. It wasn't as if the Eldoris king would have stopped her doing so.
Speaking of the Eldoris king, for a villainous tyrant, he had been quite polite to her. He wasn't even angry that Kiran had switched Princess Alana for Annabeth.
Annabeth dried herself and was perplexed at the dress King Perseus had left her. She didn't like wearing dresses normally, but even then they had buttons and zippers easily placed.
There was a knock on the door, and two women came in. Annabeth recognized the inn woman from earlier.
"Miss, we were asked by your husband to serve you for the time being. I am the proprietress of this inn."
"Thank you, madam," Annabeth said gratefully with a smile.
Husband? They weren't married yet. But Annabeth said no more and didn't correct the misunderstanding.
The women helped her with the dress and then tied her hair in a simple hairstyle that Annabeth requested.
"Are you sure you don't want us to put it in a bun or something fancier, Miss?" The older woman asked, anxiously.
It was clear from the women's clothing that they were employees of the inn and not palace maids. King Perseus hadn't brought any maids with him in the rush to escort her to the palace.
"There is no need, thank you." Annabeth declined.
Her curly golden hair was pushed back with a plain blue silk ribbon that matched the dark blue hue of her dress. All were finer than what the original Annabeth had ever worn. This outfit didn't seem to match that of royal standards and must have been hastily prepared after the attack.
"But miss," the older woman started. "We could really add some more ribbons to your hair. And what about jewelry?"
Annabeth observed that the woman seemed even more nervous somehow. The inn woman's eyes darted towards the door.
Annabeth's grey eyes narrowed. It was as if the inn woman wanted to delay her from something.
She moved swiftly from her seated position in front of the mirror and went out of the inn room just in time to catch the scene of a pretty young woman with her future husband, King Perseus, in a rather intimate position.
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A/N: Don't be mad at Percy, things are not always what they seem in this story, hehe.
I think different from Revenge of the Duchess is that Clarisse's story has been wrecked since Princess Annabeth stayed alive. It's difficult for either Percy or Annabeth to use their knowledge to predict all the events that will happen in the future since the story has now completely digressed. Butterfly effect after all!
They also have vastly different understandings of what could happen. Annabeth's knowledge is solely based on Clarisse's point of view (and thus Alana's POV because the novel is written in her perspective) while Percy has his own perspective of what went behind the scenes. Isn't it interesting that you can consider yourself the protagonist of your own life but you may also be the villain in someone else's? It'll also be intriguing to see how their contrasting points of view will lead to synergy as a power couple or complete misunderstandings lol.
As always, I hope to see you all next chapter!