The city of Eschata welcomed us as heroes. As we passed in its streets, the people of Gelida, who have never seen me even once, now were applauding for me and throwing me flowers.
They were screaming my name on top of their lungs, all together in sync, as I marched with my army on the streets, saluting the citizens of this important strategic capital of the Northern regions.
From being this unpopular exiled
Princess, to defeating the main body of the Barbarian army. It seems the scouts had been manipulated by the garrison of the city, feeding them false information.
The citizens of Eschata knew about the arrival of the Barbarians, but because they had no siege equipment, they couldn't get inside the walls. Talk about primitive.
It could be one of the works of my sister, who's probably freaking out with the death of her co-conspirator, Anastasia Ylva. I'm sure she's calming her nerves down at the moment, monologuing, "The army has got this."
Yeah, definitely, dear sister. So much so that those people have decided to oust their Commander, General Fyrd and his Senior Officers, and replaced them with me. It was sort of a mutiny.
Now, the troops that were sent to kill me have now joined my side. Ah, how the tables have truly turned, Aristea.
I have rearranged my troops to fight like Phalangites, and spiked up the length of their pikes with magic, similar to the Sarissa. I also picked up some muskets from the city, reinforcing my roster. We had enough cavalry to chase down those mongrels, and we have enough soldiers to wipe their faces off the earth forever.
Right now, I am so close to achieving my reality; I am so close to securing my spot inside the Palace, especially when I make those peoples here in these unknown lands submit to me. I'll bring riches in front of father, riches he hadn't yet managed to obtain.
"Wow, look at them shouting thy name...it must be so mesmerising."
I looked at my side, only to see Aurelia, of course, walking next to me.
"Bernadotte. Bernadotte. Oh, Vespertite Bernadotte."said Aurelia, breathing a sigh.
"They make me jealous. I want them to address thee as 'Your Highness', not by your Full name."
Aurelia acted surprisingly spoiled. So, I whispered down at her ear, as I put a smile in front of the people.
"We can do whatever you want after this campaign succeeds."
"...whatever I want? What i want is you, Vespertite."
I blushed, while I was looking at the crowd, elbowing her.
"H-hey! What was that for?!"
"It was for saying naughty things in public. Don't worry, the time will come, eventually."
"Fine, you don't have to give me the elbow for just that, gee."
•••
In just a few days' time, we had crossed the borders of Terra Incognita, pillaging the nearby settlements of the Barbarians we had won against earlier this week.
My men pillaged and plundered all the way to the Barbarian capital, which was all the way up the end of the Terra, on the start of the North Pole, next to the ocean of Terra Incognita.
We burned the villages to the ground, and placed garrisons on outposts, creating camps, securing all the land of the Barbarians. I already have plans to utilise this land to the outmost, erecting cities to stand above the ruins of these pitiful towns, nothing more than nomadic temporary settlements.
We just took anything valuable and transported it to Eschata and my Fortress, for all to see and feast their eyes upon the spoils of war. We completely obliterated the poor bastards.
Not that I have any sympathy for them, to be frank. You could call them the stepping stone of my success.
Meanwhile, I didn't have any difficulties convincing Aurelia to enroll into the Academy, thus recruiting her too. I now had in my control those few thousand strong elite troopers that carried out the plunder and raids.
I garrisoned them, a few thousand in the city of Eschata to monitor any abnormal behaviour from the Imperial Garrison there, because they are obviously in the hands of my sister. She's pulling the strings. First Ylva, then the assassination attempt, and now a freaking ambush?
She's got to be out of her mind, for sure. For now, I wrote a letter of appeal to the Imperial Court and the Council, sending the plunder and the certificates of the cities I was going to build on top the razed to the ground Barbarian ruins.
The parents of Aurelia let her enroll into the Academy. It is basically like she just graduated from the Odeon at the Imperial Palace, the sort of High School for the best talents in the Empire.
From whichever village we dared to pass, the only thing we experienced was pure joy warming our hearts. Songs of our victory are getting composed overnight, as the army with me at the top, marches through the land of Gelida, passing the Hell Gate.
After these last few weeks, they've already erected statues on the littered with the Barbarian's bodies ground. A giant pillar with the Imperial flag at its top, with all the names of our soldiers carved from top to bottom.
We were returning to the Fortress for me and Aurelia to change. This night is going to be a long one.
For what reason, you may ask? Now, imagine you're someone who has experienced victory, and the war he has partook in just ended in a massive, magnificent fashion in a triumph.
You party. That's what you do. And not just any party. It's the party of my Syndicate, or I guess the party of my Academy that has thrown for me. I don't know what is going to transpire in that party, but my imagination can travel to wild places, if you get what I mean.
Me and Aurelia took off our armors, had a shower each, and dressed properly for the occasion.
"I'm a little nervous, I daresay."
I looked at my girlfriend, stretching her silky white socks all the way up to her thigh, her foot firmly planted to the ground.
I looked at her from my mirror, as Ophelia was brushing my hair.
"Relax. I'm escorting you, so try to enjoy it."
"That's the reason why I'm nervous. I don't know what to expect. I don't know what I'm going to enjoy, or whether I want to enjoy it."
"Neither do I. But I'm pretty sure it is going to be amazing. Try to ease up from the campaign, you know. This party is thrown for us. I'm sure all the other girls are dying to meet you."
Aurelia looked at me for a moment, but hesitated to speak.
"Dying to meet me? I don't know about that. Being the girlfriend of the Evil Princess has its ups and downs, you know."
"They can be as much jealous as they want. I'm not changing my mind for anyone."
Aurelia seemed to be pleased by my comment, so she smiled deeply at me. I turned my head to meet her gaze, and then I refocused my attention at brushing my hair.
"You're so cool sometimes, Your Highness."
With that as our final word, we focused at preparing ourselves for the occasion.
I put our dresses for the occasion. Not something heavy, no, not at all, but it was proper for this style of party.
A carriage was waiting for us outside. It was night.
The skies have opened, and from this black and dark blue veil, came on pouring the tears of God, melting the snow from bellow the carriage. The drops of water were violently falling sideways, right on the right window where I was seated.
None of us spoke about anything. Even with our breathing, we were full. It sufficed. We didn't need to talk to portray our feelings or our partnership. All we needed to do was a gaze, a hand lock, or a warm smile.
Soon, the carriage master dropped us in the school. Countless of similar carriages had stopped all outside the academy, yet strangely, no one was outside. From inside the Academy, lights of candles, emanated, giving this sort of occult vibe. Certainly weird, but also aesthetically sound.
Hand by hand, we walked up the stairs, reaching the entrance of the University.
Music was coming from inside. It was this weird, classical music, which strikes vibes of the occult for me. Maybe it was meant to be this way.
When we opened the doors, masked girls assaulted us, from the sides of the door, laughing at us.
"Salutations, salutations, esteemed guests! Please please, be not afraid! State your names!"said the playful girl, dressed in the robes of the Academy, but with Carnival masks on, obscuring their identity.
"Vespertite Bernadotte. This is Aurelia Taliesyn. Greetings."
"Oh-ho, no way! It's Miss Bernadotte! Welcome to the party of Dionysus! Congratulations on your campaign, yes congrats!"said another girl from the party, as they constantly moved around us I'm circles.
"Oh, new blood? What do we have here?!"
It seems Aurelia caught the attention of my students. Or I guess Syndicate members.
"Miss Bernadotte didn't come by herself, oh dear! We didn't expect that, we didn't!"
The girls, grabbing us by our arms and pushing our backs, managed to move us all the way to the Main Hall, where the music came from.
They opened the doors, giggling. Inside, there was Pandemonium. The Pandora's box. Girls, all members of my Syndicate, numbering in the hundreds, were chatting together, playing instruments, dancing, and drinking.
"Everyone! Miss Bernadotte has arrived! Let's show her how crazy good this party can get!"
The girls started gathering around us, in a playful manner.
"Look look! It's really her!"said soke drunken girls.
In fact, almost everyone looked at least a tinge drunk.
"I hope you won't scold us for not addressing your Majesty properly, right?"said another girl, laughing with the others.
Almost at the same time, all of the girl's attention focused around Aurelia.
"Well, well, well...what do we have here..." I know that voice.
From the crowd emerged Artemisia Sevaste, the first member of my Syndicate, and also the second-in-command. She also seemed surprisingly very drunk.
"A face we haven't seen before around these ends. Wait, don't tell me..."
Uh-oh. Artemisia seems to have catched on pretty quick.
"You're unmarked, right?"she said, the girls around her smiling all the way till their ears.
Aurelia looked at me in a worried manner. I just shrugged at her.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
The girls around her laughed. "You don't know? Our dear leader hasn't told you about that? This ought to make it more fun then!"said a drunken Artemisia.
They all dispersed inside the room, one girl increasing the volume on the magnetophone, the other brought a huge amphora full of wine, and others brought special rugs to sit and lay down.
"Come, come! Sit down, unmarked! You too, Your Highness!"said one girl, as Aurelia reluctantly stabilised her glasses and sat down at the rug.
"Have a drink full of wine, everyone, bottoms up! Not sips! The first who spills her wine faces punishment!"shouted Artemisia, grabbing a wine cup with her hand, us grabbing the rest of them. The other hundreds of girls sort of gathered around us, or did other things around the room.
"What? What kind of punish-"
Aurelia tried to reason with my co-conspirators, but they had already made her drink all the way up to her neck, with their arms grabbing her cup.
Of course, like the rigged game it was meant to be, she spilled her wine. The rest of the girls in the circle giggled and laughed, in a devilish manner.
"Aw, too bad! You lose! Your punishment awaits!"said Artemisia, between laughs and alcohol powered hicks.
"What should we have her to do...?! Maybe the Blood Ritual?! Boss is really good at that, after all!"
Oh, I see what they tried to do. They tried to make me mark her. Smart subordinates, I have. They probably don't know she's my partner, so they thought she's just random girl i happened to bring here.
"Eh? What are they talking about, Vespertite?"said Aurelia, trying to imply that we were on a first name basis, in hopes that they would spare her.
I didn't back down myself, and went close to Aurelia.
"Y-Your Highness? What are thou going to do?"she said, awkwardly, as I invaded much of her personal space.
"Just stay still. It won't hurt. Much."
I pushed her body down at the rug, never minding the crowd, kissing her neck.
"V-Vespertite...I don't think this is the ideal place to...do this sort of thing."
Just then, I stopped, opening my mouth, showing my fangs, as they bit through her skin, tearing the flesh of her neck. Blue blood slid down her neck from my mouth, as I began drinking it.
Moans of pain and pleasure came to the now paralysed Aurelia, her two arms falling to the ground, stopping to even slightly resist.
I pulled my teeth out from her flesh, my red lips now painted light blue, sweeping the blood from my face, as I was breathing heavily.
She just looked at me, while I was standing on top of her.
"You taste...so good..."
This made my partner blush so uncontrollably, kissing me in return. I sort of expected this, and almost immediately, I shoved my teeth against my own tongue, making my mixed blood and saliva flow down her throat, pushing it between kisses.
As soon as she tasted it, she wanted more. I wanted to extract her Core, trying to pull my mouth away from hers, as I held my Surger right next to me, ready to pull the String.
She didn't back down. "Nuh-uh!"she moaned, as I tried to pull away. Her teeth managed to find the open skin of my tongue, and she extracted more blood.
"Did you think you could get away with that after such a spectacular move? Think again."
"Hey, she's cheating! That's way more Blood than what everyone has received here!" A girl protested from the crowd.
I could see Aurelia gradually get more beautiful, her skin becoming rosier, her nails more pink and pretty, her teeth growing, which could now tear easily my skin.
She completely turned the tables, from me standing on top of her, now she pushed me to the ground, releasing her teeth from my tongue, and then attacking my neck.
"You're...a playful one, aren't you?"
She continued to drain me, with a smile to her face.
"Hey, if you continue this, we'll get jealous here."said one girl, now visibly annoyed. The others followed up with in a similar, agitated manner.
Artemisia crawled on all fours, and much to everyone's disbelief, she bit Aurelia's neck.
"Let me have a little from her...it's unfair..."said my second-in-command, drinking my blood from Aurelia's body.
The rest of the girls did the same, bitting each other's neck, exchanging my blood, each one passing it on to the other.
After we stopped doing that, I finally extracted the Core from Aurelia, making both of us insanely strong. Her hair appeared to be more blonde than ever, her eyes now glowing blue, her veins turning light blue.
"Your blood...is flowing inside my veins now...doesn't that turn you on?"
I looked at the presumptuous Aurelia, who was caressing my hair, as the other girls were still engaging in their fun stuff.
I turned my head away. I know what she wanted to do. Her hands crawled all the way down to my nether areas.
"I...don't know, Aurelia. Don't get me wrong, you're a wonderful partner, even though I sort of don't know you for a long time, but..."
"...but what? Is it because I'm a girl?"
Disappointed as I was, I didn't even look at her in the eye. I nodded, silently.
Aurelia just chuckled.
"Silly. If you don't feel like it, then it's no problem. I'll be here when you're ready."
I just laughed, defeated.
"Hah, have you ever heard of something like this? A Princess, engaging in acts of debauchery with her fellow friends and peers..."
"First of all, they're not your friends, but your followers. Your servants."
It seems my girlfriend tried to reassure me. How cute.
Then it's time I dropped the façade, the lies for once and for all.
"Look, Aurelia. I...am not who you think I am."
She paused, and pierced my eyes with her own stare, shining under the dim lit candles.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that...I'm not Vespertite Bernadotte. I am just...a random guy who got transported into her body."
Aurelia cocked her head sideways.
"Great, I believe you, but I fell in love for the Vespertite Bernadotte that YOU are. You're a girl. The one who defeated the Barbarians weeks ago. And you're also my girlfriend."
"You...mean you don't mind?"
"Mind what Vespertite?! In case you haven't noticed, we're both homosexual! You aren't doing this because you're a man. The male inside you, if it even existed, has pretty much died a long time ago. You don't have to worry about an identity crisis, since you're Vespertite Bernadotte herself. Right?"
"You're...right. Right."
"What matters is the here and now. And the now, involves making love with me."
I reddened shyly.
"I...don't know how to do that."
"It's fine. I don't know either. Just trust your instinct."
"My instinct..."
Her fingers run all the way across my body, sending shocks at my brain. Her cold fingers touched my abdomen, then run all the way up to my torso and chest.
With her other hand, she began caressing my nether areas, with a moan escaping from my mouth.
I covered my mouth with my right hand, as one of her fingers slid through, touching my walls.
"W-what do you think you're doing...!"
"I'm making you feel good, obviously."
I haven't felt anything like this before. I haven't explored the female body like I should have done months before.
She pressed her lips against mine, softly pecking them.
She pushed her finger up further inside, which made me jolt.
"H-hey! Be gentle...!"
Aurelia just giggled.
"Your walls are wrapping around my finger. It's so cute."
I slowly moved my fingers to make her feel good as well. As soon as I inserted them, she started moaning. I slid three inside.
"Hey, you're being unfair. One at a -ugh!- time, please..."
I continued to press inside, and she intensified her assaults.
We moved and moved and moved, until we both wet ourselves in the end, after an exhausting session of caressing.
"You're...good at this."I managed to say, before taking deep breaths.
"Yeah...you too..."
I went on top of her, and extracted from her heart the second string Core of hers.
"Hey, there's a Core for that too?"she said, puzzled.
"Yeah, there is. It's a powerful one too."
I placed it inside my Surger.
"I think that is a nice way to officially begin with our relationship."
•••
We continued to drink till morning, playing all sorts of indecent and vulgar games, dancing under the moonlight, with all of us in the end, taking a blood oath.
We would all train to fight in the future battle, of me versus my sister. It won't be easy. Neither claiming the throne, scheming against my sister.
But, this is the start of my harem. The start of my reign.
The start of the downfall of my sister. Of my parents. And my claim over the throne.
This is it. My preparations for the upcoming battles yet to come, are complete. I have acquired more than 100 Cores, a Dual Core from Aurelia, an army, I have created a Syndicate, I have made myself popular, and I got to experience my identity for the very first time tonight.
As I slept next to Aurelia and the other girls, I started to come into a realisation: I was in control of all those. All these things happened because I WANTED them to happen.
I smiled with one of my equally devilish smiles compared to my partners.
"I wonder if they'll able to predict what's going to happen next...!"