The pursuit of magic was an endless one, for various reasons and goals. Some wanted power, to conquer and destroy. Others wanted to mend the world, bringing peace and joy. Some wanted prestige, fame and fortune abound. So naturally there was a cavalcade of motivations for people, some good and some ill.
And more than you’d expect were just plain selfish. Even if it was for a dare or to satisfy one's ego thousands would pursue it. Some ancient magi prepared for this and set up punishments for those who would rob graves or delve into tombs in a quest for power.
One such person was a powerful sorceress, Prinzessin Freja Von Rosenburg. A young woman gifted in the magical arts who naturally wanted to have the best of the best in terms of magical equipment and prestige. Naturally, however, this had led to a bit of an ego problem with the woman.
Born to a prince elect, having access to anything she could want and being talented in magic. It was a damning combination. Especially when she realized what she could force her way through due to her large personality and similarly large assets. Meaning it was a simple task to get adventurers hired to get what she wanted if it’d turn out to be a challenge.
And she did, a group of her servants and adventurers looking to move up socially were easy to buy. Especially for a dangerous place full of dust and dirt. Monsters were no issue, after all she was the most powerful person (in her own mind) in the world.
So, the traps had been sprung, the monsters had been blasted and she hadn’t even had to risk chipping a nail. Her entourage was exhausted, but the relic she wanted was right in front of her.
“Well, thanks to MY hard work,” She boasted, knowing the grumbles from her group were just proving how hard she worked. “We have our treasure!” and said treasure was now being held right against her body. The pink staff of some powerful mage she didn’t care to remember the name of.
“Ugh, how tacky.” she mumbled as she motioned for her entourage to start carrying her out. “Really? A heart? I heard this old fogy was cringe, but I didn’t think it’d be that bad.” She ignored the grumblings of her allies, since after all they should just be happy, she is letting them use this as experience and exposure. “Come on, move faster! Everything's dealt with and I am not chipping a nail!”
There was almost no resistance from any of the other adventurers, they all knew they would get paid one way or another. Even If the bratty woman who hired them didn’t want too. But nonetheless, it was a pain to carry someone out of a dungeon, almost worse than carrying them in.
The trip back was thankfully uneventful, other than more grumbling from the people who did most of the work.
“And now, adieu!” Freja laughed, leaving the adventurers on the doorstep as she took the artifact with her. The tired grumbles now leaving her mind as she admired her treasure in actual lighting. It certainly had an aura of powerful magic, maybe if she had bothered to pay attention to stories about the sorcerer who used it, she would know more. But that stuff was just boring to her, why should she care about the past?
But now, as she entered her lavish bed spread and looked at herself in the mirror. She saw the most horrible thing that could have happened to a brave and more importantly beautiful magic user.
Her dress had the slightest, most miniscule smudge on it. It could’ve been from anything, dust, her entourage, even the staff itself could’ve had some dirt fall on her.
“Augh, of course! Of course, someone got me dirty!” she wailed, no one really paying her mind as it was a normal occurrence for her to be overdramatic. “Utterly disgusting and useless, all of them! Now I need a new outfit!”
Her doors slammed shut, her closet slammed open, and her clothing was flung with reckless abandon over her bed and her treasure. Thus, distracting her from doing literally any research or investigating what she had acquired. Just leaving it alone as something in its ancient magic started to stir.
The staff glowed, obscured from all prying eyes. Despite her intellect and magical prowess, Freja’s ego eclipsed that. All she knew was the staff’s beneficial powers, so she was completely unprepared for the ramifications of it. No detect curses, no warding’s, just pure unfiltered ego to protect her from anything.
But, for now, she wouldn’t notice. She was too busy fixing her new outfit. A black silk dress with gold trim and inlaid fabric. Tights that showed off her curves and a few adjustments to the top allowed it to show off her body in a way that screamed ‘I own you’ to passersby who didn’t know better. Elegant, eye catching and entrancing. All to be mocked and denied when someone approached her.
The princess flipped her hair, letting the red locks cascade down to her shoulders, free of all bindings she needed for travel. After all, she couldn’t risk her hair getting things like dirt and debris in it. Then were her gloves, full length and connected to her dress as she adjusted things with each hand.
A simple, elegant dress for whatever the mage wanted. Tea, dinner, anyone she could command? Frankly if she didn’t feel this was her norm, one could assume she thought the entire world belonged to her.
Some makeup, jewelry, and she was ready for the evening, and naturally she needed to take her new staff. While pink was not her ideal color, the contrast would be eye catching and entrancing. The benefits of the staff being just the slightest bit taller than her. And that was the first chance it had to work on its new master.
She didn’t notice anything, not at first, as she carefully looked at her staff and grimaced.
“it’s so tacky... but it should make me totally unstoppable if I want it too.” she grumbled, pleasantly surprised that it was very light despite its length. “Well, it’s famous, so it’ll just make me look better!”
There was a tug at the back of her mind, that maybe she should investigate her new equipment more. Ensure she didn’t forget something important about it. But of course, she didn’t feel the need too, after all she was a fantastic magic user in her own right.
So now she went out, purely on the town to show off. Herself, the staff, her own prowess of how she definitely earned this artifact with her own skill and not from forcing others to do the work for her.
Her door swung open as she walked out, the clack of her heels echoing through the building as she strode towards the entrance. Servants took quick glimpses at her, after all, she wanted all eyes on her and her new toy.
At least, she wanted them on her for her looks and her status, not for why she found herself with a maid on the floor in front of her. Or a sudden pain in her chest.
To onlookers, she had just confidently plowed into one of the maids due to her ego. So, they all knew to expect the princess to explode and drag the maid verbally across the entire castle. They waited, with bated breath, knowing just how ruthless she would be.
And nothing, not a single spoiled scream came from the noble. A few people looked up, and with an uncharacteristic gentleness, Freja was extending her hand.
“Well? Get up!” she said, not sure why she was doing this. But something was making this small act of kindness feel phenomenal. “Just be more careful next time.” The maid was stunned and slowly stood up, mumbled some sort of apology that Freja didn’t care enough to hear as she walked off.
“Wait... she got dirt on me, didn’t she?” the mage said, looking down at her dress. Thankfully there wasn’t a smudge on her. Nothing was out of place or dirtied by the collision. Not even the fit of her dress needed adjustment. “Well... good!”
Again, something was nagging at her in the back of her mind. She did yell at the maid who so rudely walked in her vicinity. She should be livid, furious, dragged her for her insolence of thinking she could even exist in her presence. But there was no anger, not even a hint of irritation at the lower-class servant being near her.
“Hmph!” Freja said with a smirk to no one in particular. “Clearly my adventures have just made me tolerate the low class’s mistakes!” She continued to stride off, not quite sure what the feeling in the back of her mind was, knowing it couldn’t be anything that would affect her on a significant level. Or more accurately, her ego was telling her that.
However, as she walked, the incidents continued. From someone wanting to compliment her dress, to smaller collisions that should’ve by all rights let her fly off the handle. But she didn’t, in fact, she felt better every time she didn’t explode at someone.
Clearly the adventure had tired her out. She couldn’t possibly be turning... nice, could she?
“Nice? To those cretins?” She mumbled as she shook her head, catching her hair frizzing out now that she could tell something was wrong. “Never. Not in a million years!” She was above them all of course, she was smarter, more powerful than most of the rabble in this region. Her parents were both skilled mages and her father was a prince elect. She was factually above everyone in her mind.
Her staff was just the icing on the cake. The symbol that proved she was in fact a skilled mage, even if she couldn’t care less about the history behind it. All she needed to know about it was that it was hers now, and it would increase her power.
Though, the longer she was holding it, having it near her, it was correlating with the sudden change in demeanor. She stopped and dipped into a side street free of anyone who could see her. Freja needed to get control of whatever was going on.
“...Wait... what do I do here?” she mumbled, trying to rack her brain for what could even be going on. There was a level of fogginess to her brain that wasn’t there before. “Maybe I'm tired...” she sighed, not wanting to risk running into anyone else now. “Being nice to these... people, shouldn’t feel good.”
The words left her mouth as the feeling of something strange tickled the back of her mind. She needed to think but was finding it significantly harder at the moment. The staff moved from hand to hand as she tried to think of what could be going on.
But it was getting so hard to think, her mind was unfocused, and she was finding herself dealing with some... feelings. In her body. Specifically, her lower body. Every little thing, little nice thing she found herself doing made that fogginess and feeling grow.
What’s worse is she didn’t think she hated it. But for now, she needed to try and get control of the situation. Her, her staff, and her dignity needed to make it back home intact. She just needed to figure out how to cover the short distance back home and to her room without being seen or interacting with anyone.
And then the people she hired to get the darned staff in the first place saw her. In all her elegance and glory, hiding in a back alley. Both the group and Freja paused, let an awkward silence fall between them and stand awkwardly.
“You,” one of them sighed, very visibly not pleased at seeing the noble.
“Me!” Freja said, trying to force her composure to work with her. Her posture going from awkwardly slumped over to trying to stand over the group. “You. All of you. Did. Uhm...”
“Our jobs?” one of them said, looking at her with confusion. The party was clearly not in the adventuring mood since they had changed more or less to casual clothing. “You mean the ones you barely paid us for?”
“Y-Yes!” Freja stammered, feeling that fogginess fill her head as she spoke. “Those jobs you did, uhm... what’s the word...? Tres Magnifique!” Using another language would certainly help her regain control of whatever was going on. Or at least that’s what she was hoping would happen.
“Yeah,” one of the adventurers said, a woman who frankly was a full head taller than the princess said. “Glad you got that part right.” The group murmured similar dissatisfaction with their client as their boss, who Freja was desperately trying to remember the name of, walked over to the princess. “And the other part you didn’t.”
“w-well, that.” she said, trying to muster up the primal energy of her magic to make this ruffian, who now just happened to be looking very attractive to her; remember her place. “Yes. Well. You did, Do... good work.”
“Great work.”
“Great work!” The princess stammered, her head getting foggier as she fought the urge to reward these adventurers more than she planned. “a-and you really, uhm...” the words stopped coming to her, whatever was causing this mental block was winning.
“Compensation.” the lead adventurer said with a blunt tone and expression. “You were all up there on your little chair you demanded we carry and didn’t put any risk on. So. Com. Pen. Sation. Miss Princess.”
Freja literally couldn’t find the words, her body felt like it was burning as she tried, desperately to maintain her ego due to her skill and position. But something was screaming at her to give in to their demands.
“y-yes, you... you were very good at carrying me, an-and keeping me safe so I got this, fabulous, staff.” she managed to fumble out. “I-I suppose that.” her mind screamed at her not to do what she was thinking of. “You, should. Get uhm, more... money?”
“And that we’re agreed on.” the leader said, backing away as Freja felt her knees buckle. Not enough to fall, but enough that the adventurers noticed. “You can’t pretend we hurt you, so don’t try anything.” the larger woman sighed, knowing that if they even moved a hair out of place the noble would unleash the fury of a thousand suns on them.
“I, I would never! I have my dignity!” Freja blurted out, feeling the warmth dissipate from her lower body as she regained her balance. “j-just do one job for me, and I’ll pay you double.”
“Triple.”
“Two and a half!”
“Quadruple.”
“Uhm... fine. That’s less than triple!” Freja said, trying, and failing, to shove the leader out of the way. “Just, get me back home! Please.” The party looked at her, then each other before stepping away and grouping up.
“She’s acting weird, right?” a smaller woman in the group whispered.
“Yeah, she is.” several others agreed. “What do we do, boss?”
“Get her home, last thing we need is her dad thinking we hurt her.” the large woman sighed. The huddle broke and they looked at the princess, her cheeks purple on her blue hued skin with a blush. “All right, we’ll get you home. But we’re getting our pay.”
“V-very good!” Freja stammered, taking a step in the completely wrong direction before the boss of the adventurers stopped her. “I, just needed to go around you! I know where I live!” she said, feeling odd as she wasn’t demanding to be carried by them.
“Right...” the boss said, looking at her team with a skeptically raised eyebrow. They followed her in mostly silence, each member looking more and more confused as they had to direct the princess back towards where she, presumably, had just left.
“Take a left,” the boss said, seeing Freja stumble on where to go again. “Seriously, you might need a doctor.”
“T-thank you for your concern!” Freja stammered back, “It is very, nice, of you!” Every little positive word that came out of her mouth made the head fog come back, and the warm sensation between her legs escalate.
What’s worse is that she was starting to think she liked this feeling. Every little word of thanks or polite sentence she uttered made it harder to not succumb to this feeling. Of course, she was arguing with herself the whole time about it, she was above people who worked and earned things the hard way. She was a skilled mage and practically halfway to royalty. Lowering herself to have things like respect and kindness for those less fortunate was beneath her!
At least, that’s what she wanted to think. But with every little nudge, begrudged sigh and word of thanks she gave to this adventuring party, she found it both harder to think and harder to disagree with the new thoughts filling her head.
Not to mention, every time she looked at the adventurers, something else started to build. They worked so hard and put up with her when she was so rude. Maybe, just maybe, they deserved more than money.
The thought was pushed down as they finally reached her home. The guards looked at the group with confusion as the leader of the adventurers just shrugged.
“Prinzessin?” one of them said as she hurried past them.
“Just, pay them! What they want!” she shouted, vanishing into the building to try and cope with the bizarre feelings. She rushed past everyone, blurting out apologies she wished she didn’t mean to them as they all looked at her with confusion.
“Okay, fuck.” she sighed, not even mentally chiding herself for the curse word. “What is going on,” she fell unceremoniously on her bed and let the staff fall to the floor. Her head was pounding, the fog was still in her mind, she didn’t even dare try to heal the headache she was now suffering from.
She sat in silence for a while, the headache growing worse as she thought about apologizing to everyone she ran past without so much as a hello. It sickened her and left her with more questions than answers.
“Okay, screw this,” she mumbled, grabbing her staff once again and staring at it. “You, you boost magic, time to get rid of this headache!” It was a simple healing spell, even if she couldn’t focus it’d be simple enough to cast.
The spell was case and Freja blinked for a minute. Just waiting to feel the relief of a clear head and no more strange thoughts. She hummed, feeling the pressure dissipate from her mind,
“Oh... that’s so much better,” she sighed, turning over and looking at the ceiling. “...what was I doing again?” The thoughts escaped her, but at least she didn’t have a headache. “Can’t have been important in that case then.”
She waited in her room, just in case her head started hurting again. Some people were moving back and forth outside of her room, had she really made such a scene? With a shrug, Freja stood up from her bed and walked to the door. Opening it to see the maid she had collided with earlier.
“Oh! You!” she said, feeling a soft smile form on her face. The maid looked nervous, and probably was expecting a verbal beatdown. “Oh my gosh, I am, so sorry for running into you!” the noble said, getting the Maid to visibly relax.
And then an idea, a horrible, status destroying idea came to Freja.
And she couldn’t care less about the implications of it.
If verbally making someone feel good was making her feel fantastic, then what if she took it a step further?
“Come into my room! I need to make it up to you!” she said, the maid turning beet red as she nodded. A careful step inside, the turn of the lock on the door, and a dirty look at the maid were all Freja needed to make sure this maid knew how good she could feel as an apology.
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