CHAPTER 47 - THE NEW KING

It was just for a second, but I felt her feelings. Her lips were moist, smooth, soft, and sweet; like a fresh pure honey that came from a comb. I actually thought that I was in heaven for a brief moment.

“L-Lizzy!?”

“Don’t you ever think that you’re always neglected, stupid donkey.” Lizzy pouted with reddish cheeks. She crossed her arms once again and turned away with a “Hmph!” sound.

“W-What was that for!?” I cried.

“Nothing! I told you, I can’t go out with you! I won’t change my answer! I have a lot of things to take care of! I don’t even have time to think of trivial and worthless matters such as romance! You’re really a stupid donkey, you know that?”

“F-Fine.” I touched my lips. I can’t believe a princess just kissed me! I’m in cloud nine that I could die! “Squeeeee!”

“H-Hey, don’t be full of yourself!” Lizzy aggressively pointed her index finger at me. “That’s just a reward for saving my ass a lot of times, okay!? It’s not my response to your confession! I may have given my first kiss to you, but you’re still rejected! Rejected! Rejected! Rejected!”

I still continued to celebrate even with her sermons. Completely pissed, she splashed a lot of water to my face just to stop me from fangirling.

“Scram already! Shoo! Shoo! I want to be alone!”

“Ahahaha! Okay! Okay!” I laughed as I made a few steps back until I’m finally at the edge of the lake.

I think Lizzy’s emotional health is back to normal now, so my job here is done. I will just go back to the cathedral and daydream until morning. I don’t even think I’ll be able to sleep.

All of a sudden, I heard a distant feminine shout. Lizzy heard it too, so she stopped barraging me with water splashes.

“Mister Casterdyne! Princess Lizzy!” It was Yufa Haruna’s voice.

A few footsteps later, and she finally revealed herself. She’s still wearing her nurse outfit but her hair is messy. There’s also leaves and twigs on her uniform, and she’s panting when she looked at us. She seemed to be in a rush.

“Yufa!” Lizzy and I exclaimed.

“Oh, are you guys doing some pool party? I want to join!” Yufa smiled like a kid. She immediately retracted her jolly expression to a dreaded serious one. “Ah, my apologies! I’m not here to do that! You have to go back to the cathedral, Princess Lizzy! You need to see something!”

“Okay, I’m coming!” Lizzy said in a happy tone as she marched towards the shallow part of the lake. When she was already less than a meter close to me, I felt her boot stepping on my left foot!

“Ouch!” I cried. “Ow! Owowowow!”

Lizzy drew her face towards my left ear and whispered with a scary tone.

“If you ever tell anyone about what I did to you, the next thing you’ll be kissing is my knuckle. Do you copy?”

“Yes, fuhrer-general!” I saluted.

“Yes, your royal highness.” Her heels drilled deeper on my foot.

“Y-Yes, your royal highness!” I repeated.

“Good.” Lizzy finally let go of my almost-crippled foot. Transforming herself back to her one-hundred-percent tsundere bitch mode, she ascended from the lake and purposely ignored me afterward.

<>

We didn’t have a chance to change our wet clothes or dry ourselves. Yufa said it was urgent, so we ran until we exited the grove and went back to the mansion of the Cathedral Exa’s grounds.

We ran through the corridors until we reached the actual lobby of the mansion. There, we found Zell who have some medical wires stuck on his body as if he just got up from a mad scientists’ experimentation. His quite bulky chest is covered with a thick layer of bandages.  

“You two finally arrived!” Zell said. “There are three things I hate: people who hate cosplays, people who despise crossdresses, and people who are always late!”

We also saw Guinevere Arcaliburn and her Fighter Kiryu Kisaragi who are just leaning on the wall of the lobby. The overseer of the cathedral, Father Corsola is also there, sitting. Aside from that, there’s also this Japanese man in black sunglasses and tuxedo who looked like the priest’s assistant.

“What’s the matter?” Lizzy asked.

“Your majesty, look.”

All of their attention was already on one thing when we arrived. It was a wide flat-screen TV that covers a broadcast of some sort. I’ve familiarized myself with all the channels on TV, but I’ve never seen the broadcasting company’s logo.

“Is that the Agarthan National News Channel?” Lizzy asked.

“Yes,” Yufa answered. “Our cathedral is subscribed to an interdimensional cable that covers all news stations in all legendary countries. We rarely use the frequency though, since most of us are always watching Netflix.”

The Agarthan National News Channel looks the very same as the news channel that normal humans like me watch. In fact, there’s nothing weird at all. However, if you read the flashing words at the bottom of the screen, you can conclude that this news channel is from a legendary kingdom.

“Chancellor Mimosa will have to address the kingdom in a few moments.” That’s what the words say.

Lizzy clenched her fists as she braces herself in the incoming broadcast.

All of a sudden, the video flashed to a podium where the logo of the Agarthan government: a subterranean castle under the globe, is displayed. There is also this gigantic curtain behind the podium. An all-familiar person went up to give her speech. 

It was none other than the blonde blind bitch herself, Chancellor Mimosa.

“Greetings, my fellow Agarthan citizens. I am here to address our holy nation about the problems we encountered during the past twenty-four hours. As you have known, the murderer of our king, the fugitive Princess Alessia Erindel has run amok on our great kingdom and terrorized our citizens.”

Pictures of barren land, ruined highways, collapsed buildings, and other collateral damages flashed on the screen. All these pictures made us infuriated, and the one who’s greatly pissed is Lizzy.

After a slideshow of war aftermaths, the final picture revealed itself to be the face of Lizzy’s mother, Queen Astrea Erindel.

“This genocidal princess of ours has committed yet another crime. Our great Queen Astrea Erindel, who is suffering from a mental illness, was killed again by that treacherous princess. We were lucky that there are no other casualties from the princess’s rampage, but we cannot let it slide any longer. As the chancellor of Agartha and protector of the people, I shall proclaim Princess Alessia Erindel as persona non grata.”

The screen shifted to Chancellor Mimosa’s beautiful face. Fuck that face!

“According to the Agarthan Constitution Article 2, the crown shall be inherited by the firstborn child by the King and the Queen. Since Princess Alessia Erindel has proved her ingratitude by killing her own parents, she shall now be disqualified to inherit the crown. But fear not, my dear citizens, for there is good news!”

All of a sudden, the white curtain behind the podium opened up, revealing the wide hall of the Agarthan castle. At the edge of the red carpet is a golden throne where the ruler of the legendary empire sits.

And there is someone sitting on that throne.

It was a handsome teenage man with black hair, golden eyes, and medium build. His complexion is pale white which is quite different from his appearance when we fought him. He looks normal, way too normal for a demon.

And on his head is a golden crown.

“I shall present you, the 99th King of Agartha: King Alfeus Erindel!”

All the on-site audiences applauded. Their shout of praises is filled with willpower. However, the echoes of their wails are filled with hatred, not to the king, but to the dishonored princess. It makes it clear as day that the chancellor has brainwashed the people.

“All hail Alfeus! All hail Alfeus! All hail Alfeus!”