Princess of White

For the nation of Curtis, in the Eastern Continent of Acceltra, she would soon be regarded as a revolutionary heroine, inspiring generations with tales of courage and victory in the face of the impossible odd—a figure who inspired both fanatical worship and heartbreak for countless jealous men who cursed upon the Unity Lord for his oppressive Monopoly of best girls.

However, those same men would raise the white-flag in supplication of the Herculean effort it took for their success.

Men weren’t created equal, but Karma bound them all the same.

Like many brides residing in the Lord’s Residence, the Princess of White wasn’t won with a sword through the heart, luxurious jewels or honeyed words. Instead, it was the Lord’s uncanny gift for caring and seeing beauty inside broken things that transformed an abandoned duckling into a beautiful swan.

…

Springsong was, in a single curt word, a shithole. It was the worst location to manage in the entire country, with the net negative population growth since its founding. Even criminals didn’t want to make this place their primary operating base if they got a choice.

The mayor’s office was the representation of such hopelessness — a three-room shack with bedroom containing a broken bed and a shattered cabinet, dusty storage room filled with cobweb, and finally, the crown jewel of all derelict barren offices that was a termite infestation away from being torn from history.

It was the place Xiahana La Louve toiled away pointlessly for two years. She would never miss it or thought of it fondly, but the very knowledge that this was her final occupation before receiving such dismissal was harrowing.

For the third time, Xia skimmed through a letter sent by the Curtis’ crown. The envelope the letter arrived in was torn in half on her desk. She sat the letter down and glanced at the dusty ceiling of her office, letting her cramps, aches and raw muscle pain overwhelmed her semi-malnourished, insomniac body for a second of vulnerability.

She dreamed of the day she could relax in the park. Where she could greet people who actually care about her. The bygone days when she could take a nice long bath after work. She missed the thank you, the compliments, the flowers’ bouquet, and the good sleep.

For two years, she sincerely longed for those things, and what faced her now was a courteous death sentence.

A single tear trickled down the girl’s cheek as she cried in silence.

…

Elsewhere in the town, Ciel sat opposite of Betty in a private room, and he was the furthest away from enthusiastic about what he was asked to do.

There was no doubt this well-cleaned room with modest decorations, cheap carpet and the decent view of the horrible state of the town was the best accommodation in the entire town. It was a fact which spoke to the mess called Springsong that the room worth 3-star hotel was the best it could offer.

Ciel stared into the soul of Betty sitting opposite him. Meanwhile, inside the isolated dimension, the council of two convened in the Residence of the Lord, monitoring the situation and preparing to give input.

“Can you say it again, please?” Ciel asked in a polite, hardened voice.

Betty closed her eyes and inhaled, “I’m going back to deal with a factional dispute in a capital, and I need you to accompany Xia as an emotional support in what’s likely to be a suicide mission to the Forest of Separation.”

The council’s opinions were diametric in tone, but unanimous in the message.

Caislean: Master, although the prospect of dying horribly or getting devour by a pack of rabid animals in a doomed mission with a half-dead mayor might be a romantic innovation in the horror genre, I still want to finish my horror fanfiction, and we don’t have a coffin, so I recommend you politely decline.

Amy: Ciel, don’t accept the suicide mission. Apologize to Betty, but whatever you do, don’t accept. I have a terrible feeling about this.

But to prove how dumb this Lord could be, he disregarded those advices.

“I need an explanation.”

“A long explanation or a short one,” Betty asked.

“Long because I know short won’t give me the context.”

“What do you know about this country,” Betty began.

“The basics,” Ciel said. “Acceltra is divided into four continents: Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western. This country, Curtis, is on the Eastern continent along with 2 other countries, divided by the Forest of Separation.”

“That is correct. The Eastern continent is divided into the Papal White State: Montgomery, Mercenary Port Eleanor and its associate city states and the Magic Kingdom Curtis. The long story is, because of the issue with my father, the previous monarch, Xia is being heavily suppressed. That’s the reason she is relegated to this town, despite her status as the crown princess. I’m afraid Amy coming to her fold might have finally pushed the Military Police and the current King, Spade La Louve, my cousin, to drop the ax on her.”

Amy: I AM SO SORRY!

“A question? What about you?” Ciel pointed out the obvious. “You are also the daughter of the former King, right? Why aren’t you getting sent to a border hellhole to manage a coalmine?”

“Because I handed Spade the crown.”

Ciel buried his face in his palm, “I think I ask for the long story.”

“You want the beginning?” Betty spoke like she wanted to vent her frustration. The fact that this subject touched her nerves didn’t improve her attitude. “Fine! For some reasons nobody knows, my dad turned paranoid and started befriending the ambassador from the Yulong Empire, which ruled the Southern Continent. Rumors started circulating that he was about to make a deal with the Dragon Emperor that will turn Curtis into Yulong’s puppet state. The Magic Tower, the most powerful organization in the country, even launched an investigation. The morning after that announcement, my father turned up dead. Some say Yulong sent an assassination to kill him, or his mental-state was so deteriorated that the pressure from the investigation led to him killing himself.”

“But what do you think?” Ciel asked for her opinion.

“What do I think?” Betty snorted. “I think he totally lost it. He said godlike beings are pulling the string behind every nation, and they will screw over humanity eventually. He got so nut that he started collecting books and ancient texts to learn more about these enemies. Isn’t that a picture-perfect image of a conspiracy theorist?”

Ciel stared. He must admit that Xia’s father was one sharp son of a gun to notice the existence and eventual goal of the Lords.

Amy: (silence)

Caislean: I wonder how she would react when she realizes her crazy father is actually the wisest of all humanity. The screams and wails will be popcorn worthy.

Betty continued, “My father lost his screw, but I still had to prevent the utter collapse of the Louve dynasty. It was a hard choice. I made an emergency announcement to relay my father’s suicide and personally crowned my cousin, Spade, the Magic Tower’s golden boy, the new ruler. Then I declared the head of Military Police as Hero of the Nation for holding Curtis together during my dad’s mental breakdown. Spade became the King. I became the Kingmaker, and thus guaranteed my influence as the vital promoter of both the Military Police and the new regime.”

Ciel looked at Betty in a new, horrible light.

“You throw your dad under the bus?”

Amy: (stunned silence)

Caislean: My master, I think we might need to reconsider the seduction candidate. I can’t trust this woman not to throw me to the wolves for the greater good.

“I do what I have to do for the sake of Curtis’ stability,” Betty said bitterly. “You would have done the same thing.”

“If a country collapses from a single truth, that country is over to begin with. Hell, you don’t even know the truth. You never ask your father about his end goal.”

“It doesn’t matter!” Betty refuted Ciel’s words. “What matters is Xia refused to follow the plot. She came out and publicly called Spade a usurper. After that idiotic display, not even I can stop the court from relegating her to this hellhole at the border of the Forest of Separation.”

“Geez,” Ciel couldn’t help but side with the true heroine of the story. “The only thing Xia did wrong is actually obeying those stupid orders instead of kick-starting a revolution.”

“You don’t understand. If Xia openly rebels against Spade, it will be an equivalent to renouncing her right and obligation as a princess. She will be betraying the entire nation,” Betty tried to placate Ciel. “Look, I understand I caused Xia’s suffering, but we all have to make sacrifices. I want to help her, but I have an image to maintain. As long as Xia refuses to recant her statement, I don’t have the bargaining ground against Spade. Even now, it is too risky for me to stay here, because the capital is starving to get their hand on the only leverage against Gordon Seyfert.”

Amy: I AM INCREDIBLY SORRY!!

Betty sighed, “I know I am being selfish, but I want you to help Xia. She is a lot more emotional than most people realize, and you are the only trustworthy person I can ask to help Xia without igniting a factional conflict.”

“Yeah, I will try my best, but I don’t like my chance.”

“I understand the issue and that’s why I will give you this,” Betty took out a box containing three spherical crystal orbs. “These are magical bombs I created. They store powers equivalent to Rank 3 Red Magic, perfect for use as emergency weapons.”

“Fine,” Ciel still didn’t like his chance. “What can you tell me about this suicide mission?”

“There are developments in the Forest of Separation near Springsong. It turns into a no-entry zone where people went missing. The Lord of Cutler is the one who sent the petition for the investigation, and he can tell you the rest of the details. Springsong is within his fiefdom, and he is a half-day walk away from here.”

Ciel sighed. Well, things looked sunnier by the minute. Ciel just knows no matter how it ended, his suffering would be inevitable.

…

Later, Betty would look back at this moment and curse her idiocy for creating the worst power couple in all of Acceltra. If she had any idea what she unwittingly unleashed, she would choose that exact moment to French Kiss Ciel, perform dogeza to Xia, and raise a rebellion against Spade La Louve to prevent the cascading of disaster domino.

But, as they say, there was no medicine for regret. Betty never won that favorite position in the Residence. Instead, the Princess of White ascended as the general manager and held the upper hand through the Lord’s beginning years.

It took Betty a gut-wrenching alliance with her worst enemy to put a losing resistance against White’s tyrannical presence. Eventually, players would enter the battlefield and balance out the harem warring era. But considering the steep price, stomachache, wheeling and dealing involved, Betty would love to go back in time and deck herself in the face for starting the crisis with Spade’s crowning.