Chapter 5

I went to my bedroom, making sure to clean up from the previous night. I didn’t want there to be any sign of what I had been doing. I wanted to forget it all like a bad dream. That’s when I heard something from the door. I turned around to see the princess standing there. I was shocked, but then a little worried. Did she know about my sister? How could I even ask that question?

“You’ve been gone the entire morning,” she said. “I’ll expect you to make it up this afternoon. Your work is too important.”

I could only stare at her in disbelief. Her captain had locked me in a room and tied me to a chair, and she was berating me for not working on identifying stuff? I was standing in the middle of the room with my shirt off and a towel over my shoulder, and then she just walks in.

“Hey, Connor… where have you been…” At that moment, the door was pushed open and Kate appeared as well.

“I apologize, Connor has been with me.” The princess responded so quickly it made my head spin before turning back to me. “Thank you for showing me… a good time.”

She smiled slightly, but it looked sadistic. She then turned and walked away without another word. Kate looked at me, an ugly expression on her face.

“Rumor said you snuck out last night to the Princess’s chambers,” Kate said. “I tried to believe you wouldn’t do that, but I guess I was wrong!”

“No!” I cried out. “That’s not what happened?”

“Oh? Then where were you last night? Where have you been? Why did you just take a bath? I can see your wet hair from here! Don’t deny it!”

“I was with… I was out… I was just out!”

“With the princess.”

“I wasn’t!”

“Hmph… maybe the prince is right about you.”

“What? What did he say about me?”

“It’s nothing.” She held up her hands. “I just… hope you’re happy.”

“No… Kate please…” I took two steps forward but she spun and ran from the room before I could reach her.

I ran to the door and looked out, but she was nowhere to be seen. I felt a strange electricity in the air. Did she use magic? There was no other way she would have gotten away so quickly. I felt extremely angry. Did the princess set me up? Is she working with the prince?  She flat out lied and said she was with me, but that wasn’t true.

As far as where I was, what was I supposed to say? I was busy raping my sister? I was jacking off on her face while a line of men fucked her? I felt angry… and I felt completely lost. This was all so fucked up. I didn’t know how to react to this situation. I was already trapped in another world. Was there anyone I could depend on for help?

I slapped my face and then strengthened my resolve. What I needed to do now was talk to the others. If my friends knew what these guys were like, then we could work together. Even if Kate wasn’t willing to listen to me, she’d listen to the other girls. With enough support, I could blow the lid on this entire questionable war. Then, I would save my sister and we’d turn our strength against this rotten kingdom, taking revenge for everything they’ve done.

With a renewed sense of purpose, I finished cleaning myself up and then left the bedroom, heading directly for the courtyard where Willow should be training. Willow was my childhood friend. There was no way she’d doubt my words, and she’d be more likely to sympathize. Upon walking out into the courtyard, I could see her battling with the sword. She moved elegantly, even beautifully, as she spared against a handsome young man.

I was stunned because I had never seen her move like that. She did look like a warrior. The sight of her fighting didn’t just catch me, but many of the other men as well. They all watched with wide-eyed wonder. Sweat dripped down her face, and she tied up ponytail fluttered in the wind as she swung her sword, blocking attack after attack. However, this fighting came to a sudden end. The one she was sparring against was just too fast. He struck her in the stomach, and she went flying away.

“Willow!” I cried out in concern, running over to where she landed. “Are you okay?”

“Connor?” She asked dizzily as I helped her up.

“Are you okay?”

“Ah, di-did you see?” She asked shyly.

Willow hadn’t changed at all as she looked up at me shyly, a little embarrassed that I had seen her fight.

“You were beautiful.” I smiled at her encouragingly.

“You are dead.” The man said, wiping the sweat from his face with a towel. “That strike was a killing blow had we been using real weapons. You failed.”

I frowned. “Why are you being so hard on her? It’s her first day! Couldn’t you have held back a bit and gone easy on her? The fact she’s come this far this quickly shows how good she’s getting!”

My words resonated with several of the people there, especially other students, who all nodded in agreement.

“Do you think the demons care about fair?” The man demanded. “Do you think they’d hold back?”

“She’s not versus demons yet!”

“No… he’s right.” Willow broke in.

I turned to her in surprise to see her face was downcast with a look of defeat. “I told him to treat me just like one of his soldiers. I can’t expect special treatment now.”

“Willow…”

“Good…” He smiled suddenly, and his smile was radiant. “Are you ready for another round?”

I instantly didn’t like the guy. Willow smiled back though and then nodded enthusiastically. She started running back onto the field.

“H-hey! Wait! We need to talk about something!”

“Oh… Connor…” She turned back, causing the young man to frown. “I’m really busy right now. Can we talk about this later tonight? We’ll do this later tonight, okay?”

She didn’t give me a chance to say anything edgewise. She turned and ran the rest of the way onto the field, and then brought her sword up.

“Your mistake last time was that your wrist wasn’t loose enough. You were too inflexible. I will loosen you up if it takes me all week! Go!”

He attacked her again, and the two fell back into their dual. It was clear her attention was elsewhere, I wouldn’t be able to have the conversation with her that I wanted. Feeling partially annoyed, I frowned as I continued to watch her fight. That’s when I heard a conversation from some other classmates who were also training here.

“What was that? What did you say?”

“Huh?” The boy I called out jerked and then gave a half-wave. “Oh, hey Connor. I said that I saw Riley earlier with some priests. She was carrying books that were nearly as tall as the top of her head. I’m glad my ability lets me be here. I didn’t get sent to another world just so I could still have to study my ass off.”

“R-right…” I smiled and nodded, then turned away. “Riley…”

I excused myself and left the courtyard. Since I couldn’t talk to Willow about things, I could talk to Riley. She was a friend too. If I could find comfort in anyone, it was her. Who knew, maybe Willow would give me her virginity. Things like that happened when you were in another world. I felt frustrated with how things were going with Kate. Since she was already accusing me of cheating on her, what did it matter if I slept with Riley anyway. She already all but permitted me anyway.

The next place I ran to was the temple. This building was within the castle. The castle wasn’t one single massive building but an assortment of various buildings, each one having a purpose. The courtyard connected with a barrack as well as a weapons warehouse. The palace was on the opposite side of the castle grounds, but it wasn’t hard to find because of the tall towers. I didn’t have to ask around too much either before a man told me where she was. I felt relieved that the priesthood wasn’t like the soldiers. I supposed it made sense that men like this would live pious lives.

I knocked on the door I had been told about. There were a few sounds of things being shoveled, and then the door opened.

“C-Connor?” Riley’s eyes widened as she answered the door.

She was wearing a robe like she was in the priesthood herself, but otherwise, she looked normal.

“Riley, I’m glad to see you!” I rushed in and hugged her.

“Ah!” She cried out, her face turning red. “Wh-what are you doing?”

“I’m sorry,” I pulled away from her, feeling a bit out of breath. “Do you have some time to talk?”

“Always…”

With Riley in the chair, and me sitting on her bed, I started to explain what happened. I told her about last night, well, at least as much of last night as I was willing to talk about. I told them that they had locked my sister up, and that they were torturing her to get pheromones out of her and that they threatened me and everyone else around me to silence. I also mentioned how the prince and princess seemed to be liars. Riley listened to everything I said, and I felt like I had released an anvil weighing on my chest.

“So, what do you think?” I asked.

“I believe you… about everything.” She said, her brows furrowed. “If this is true… it’s really bad.”

“You believe me…” I let out a breath.

“Connor, you reached out to me when I thought I was alone.” She smiled. “How could I ever doubt you?”

“Well, that leads to my question. What do I do about it?”

“That… is hard to answer.” She bit her lip. “I can say that there are three powers in the castle. The first is the royal family, the second is the military, and the third is the priesthood. The military takes its orders from the royal family…”

“That prince and princess are in on it!” I finished the thought, my hand tightening. “The guard had said he was working with the king and prince’s approval, but it was nice to hear someone else reason out that they were indeed rotten to the core.

“We don’t know who we can trust.” Riley sighed. “We need two things. The first thing we need is evidence. The second thing we need is the right people to tell.”

“Can we trust the priesthood?” I asked hopefully.

“Maybe… I’ve heard stories that there are times the church has granted people protection from the royal family. Imagine that, a wanted man living next store to the king, and they can’t touch him without causing a fight with the church.”

“Then, can you find out if they are trustworthy or not?” I asked. “You need to be careful! Just… keep an ear open. Don’t say anything.”

She giggled. “I’ll be careful, Connor. I promise. We’ll figure this out together, okay?”

As she said that, she reached out and grabbed my hand. After this morning and the previous exhausting night, her hand felt extremely good. Maybe I still had a bit of aphrodisiac in me, or maybe I had just been driven to a point where I couldn’t think too well, but I moved forward and kissed her.

“Mm!” Her surprised noise was caught against my mouth.

She put her hands on my shoulders like she wanted to push me away, but after a moment, they relaxed. I was kissing her, but when I tried to put my tongue in her mouth, she refused. This caused me to feel even more desperate. I pushed her back down onto the bed. My hands reached out and touched her waist. They started to move up her shirt.

This time, her hands did come up and push me away. “Connor, no!”

I was stunned at the sudden rejection, but my senses quickly returned to me and I sat back on the bed. “S-sorry…”

She sat up, breathing hard and slightly flushed. “It’s not that I don’t want to… it’s just that I don’t think it’s the right time. With everything that is going on… you and Kate being on thin ice, just not now.”

“I understand.” I nodded, looking away and feeling ashamed.

She reached out and touched my shoulder. “I really like you, Connor. I know about your… relationship with Willow. It’s just… I need time. I’ve never done it before, and I want it to be special.”

I breathed in and turned to her with a smile on my face. “I understand, Willow. I’m willing to wait for you.”

She relaxed, smiling too. “You know, the priests here take a vow of celibacy.”

“Is that so?” I asked, a flash of panic quickly hidden.

She giggled. “Don’t worry, I won’t go that far… but when the time is ready, I’ll tell you, okay?”

“Yeah… okay.”

I parted with Willow, feeling a little bit better. At the very least, I felt like I could get through the day. There was no telling what tomorrow would bring though.