Chapter Eighteen: Princess Lucilia
Ren was in awe, seeing the sight in front of him. After the flying vehicle landed, both he and Lucilia got out of it and started to walk to the enormous mansion she lived in.
"So...how rich are you exactly?" Ren asked, still in awe.
"Very; after all, buying a floating island isn't cheap." Lucilia said.
"Wait...there's more?" Ren asked.
"Of course, except that none of them are natural, we artificially created several of these floating islands. So the wealthy can live a life of true luxury." Lucilia explained.
"How did you "create" a floating island?" Ren asked.
"Advanced technology and a mineral you can only find on this planet, or we believe anyways it's a big galaxy who knows what else is out there." Lucilia explained.
"So...a rock makes islands float?" Ren said. This whole experience on this planet has been overwhelming. There were so many things Ren never thought could exist back on Earth, but now they're in front of him.
"In a simple explanation, yes. I forgot you were not used to seeing things like this on your home planet...Earth was it?" Lucilia asked.
Ren got his senses together and asked Lucilia a question "Speaking of, never did I ask what this planet is called?"
Lucilia smiled and answered him, "Volaria."
"Better name, then we gave it honestly." Ren said.
"I'm curious, what did you name this planet?" Lucilia asked.
"Too boring to say honestly; I like Volaria better." Ren answered.
"Hm, have it your way, but anyway, we need to head into the house; there's something we need to discuss." Lucilia said.
"Alright?" Ren answered.
Ren followed Lucilia into the house and was greeted by an insane view. A giant room with a staircase made of what looked like marble, not to mention the beautiful chandelier above the room—not to mention...
"WELCOME HOME, MISTRESS!"
Dozens of maids all welcomed their mistress back in unison, which made Ren jump back a little in surprise.
"Thank all of you; it's good to be home." Lucilia answered, which brought smiles to all of the maids.
Then an older man dressed like a butler approached Lucilia.
"It's good to see you again, madam." He said bowing to Lucilia.
"It's good to see you too, Cilan; how is everything?" Lucilia responded.
"Good, madam, everything is running at peak efficiency." Cilan said it with a proud smile on his face. "Although if I may ask, madam, who is this young man?"
Cilan looked at Ren with curiosity, as did the other maids in the room.
Ren felt weird being the center of attention for dozens of people, all curious as to who he was.
"This is Ren; he's my prisoner." Lucilia explained in a way that confused everyone, even Ren.
"Prisoner? Sorry, Madam, I seem not to understand what you mean by that." Cilan said pondering.
"He's my prisoner. Ren, introduce yourself." Lucilia said almost as if she were demanding it.
"Uhm, I'm Ren." Ren nervously introduced himself.
"If I may ask, madam, what planet is he from? His eyes aren't quite like ours." Cilan asked Lucilia.
Lucilia took a deep breath and said "Ren is from Earth."
This reveal shocked the entire room, as they had never seen someone from Earth in person before. The captured people from that planet were always held captive in military facilities, but now someone from Earth was walking among them.
"Madam...are you sure about bringing someone like him here? What if he attacks you?" Cilan warned Lucilia, but she was hearing none of it.
"That's not a concern; Ren wouldn't attack me. He knows that while I am his enemy, I'm also the only one keeping him from being held by the military. So I want all of you to treat him like you treat me. After all, he's mine." Lucilia proclaimed, which shocked everyone in the room again.
"I...I understand, madam. If that's your wish, I shall deem it so." Cilan responded before turning around and looking at the other servants in the house. "All of you are to follow her orders. Understood?"
The servants spoke in unison "We understand, head butler.
Ren took a good look around at the maids and noticed that while some looked like Lucilia with their brightly colored eyes, not all of them were the same species. However, all of them were humanoids in look; one of the first ones he noticed had cat-like features with cat ears on their heads and a tail, and another one he noticed looked like a human but had long and pointed ears, not to mention blue skin and black eyes.
"So they have other species serving them? That means we're not the first...if we lose this war, will we be made into servants?" Is this our future?" Ren thought to himself.
Ren had also pondered a question he had since he saw all the servants in one place "Why does she have all female servants except for one? And does she want me to live here in a house that's 98% female? That spells disaster."
Ren had seen more than enough anime and TV shows to know the common tropes he would be in for.
"Now that our introductions are over, Cilan, will you join me and Ren on the tour of the house?" Lucilia asked.
"I will always join you if you should ask, madam." Cilan responded.
"Good, but follow six feet behind us; Ren, you will walk next to me." Lucilia said.
This made both Cilan and Ren uncomfortable. Cilan would rather be right next to them in case Ren tried to harm Lucilia. Ren didn't know why she didn't seem to want to let him out of her sight.
"Maybe she doesn't trust me? But if that were the case, why would she be so kind to me? This is going against everything I learned at the academy..." Ren thought to himself.
At the academy, Ren was taught about how evil and cruel the Centauri Empire was, but he always took it with a grain of salt. After all, nothing written in the history books is without bias, so he shouldn't expect anything different when it came to political propaganda.
Lucilia locked her arms with Ren like she did once they got off the ship and started to walk with Cilan trailing behind. This action of hers left some conflicted emotions among the maids around the mansion. Ranging from anger and disgust to curiosity After all, none of them had seen Lucilia act like this with any man before, especially someone from the planet they were at war with.
Ren noticed the reactions he was getting from the maids, but it was to be expected, so it didn't bug him.
Lucilia led him and Cilan to her private part of the house, where Lucilia explained that every maid and Cilan all live in the house, but Lucilia has her own private part of the house, which is where Ren would be living, much to Cilan's dismay. Only him and a select few maids were allowed in the private part of the house, and his being there would change that dynamic.
"Pri-Madam, I wish you would reconsider this." Cilan tries to advise against her idea, but is quickly denied by Lucilia.
"It's fine, Cilan. Now, Ren, would you like some tea? We have much to discuss." Lucilia asked.
"You have tea?" Ren asked.
"Well, this is our version, so it may not be the same as what you have on Earth." Lucilia said.
Ren was curious but said "Sure, I'll try some."
Ren was now living on a foreign planet; he would have to learn how to enjoy the food on this planet.
After a few minutes, Cilan came back with two cups of tea, and Ren took a deep breath before trying some.
"This is...black tea?" Ren said.
"Does it have a familiar taste to something on your planet?" Lucilia asked with curiosity.
"It tastes like black tea." Ren said after tasting the tea again.
"Black tea? Interesting. We call it Malia Tea.
Ren and Lucilia continued sipping their tea before Lucilia put her cup down and took a deep breath. Ren knew she was going to say something important.
Lucilia began to speak. "Ren, you know how I have been saying that I'm wealthy? Well, I never said how wealthy I truly was.
Ren looked at her with curiosity before saying "You don't have to share it; you are not comfortable with it."
Ren was maybe talking to an enemy, but he still noticed the worry in her expression, and that made him want to calm her down as best he could.
"It's fine; this is just taking me a lot since I'm worried about how you will react, but..." Lucilia took another deep breath before saying "Ren, my real name is Princess Lucilia Aria Caelum.
Ren's facial expression went from calm to surprised as he considered what she said.
"Your...a princess?" Ren asked.
"Yes, I am one of seven royal children. I have four sisters and two brothers. My father is the current emperor, and with that right, he also has several wives. All of the children of the Emperor compete for who will become the new Emperor or Empress when my father eventually dies, and so far it's a very tight competition. My brothers and two of my sisters are working hard to become the next leaders, and right now I'm losing against them. So that's one of the reasons I wanted to bring you here."
Ren looked at Lucilia and asked "You want me to help you win the throne?"
Lucilia looked at him and said "More than that, I want you to become my sword and shield, someone who will fight who I need them to fight and always protect me, my personal knight if you would.
"You want me to protect you? You do realize that I'm your enemy, right?" Ren was surprised at her proclamation.
"That's the second thing; I don't want you to be my enemy anymore instead." Lucilia took a deep breath before finally saying.
"You see, my father no doubt has some of my maids telling him updates about me; this ruins any intention of me hiding you that I had."
"Sorry, Madam, but I didn't know you were bringing...a guest" Cilan said from the kitchen.
"It's fine, Cilan; it's my fault for not reaching out to you, but it's made me have to change plans a little bit." Lucilia said.
She did plan on telling him about Ren, but she got too excited talking to Ren on the ship.
Lucilia took a deep breath and said "As well as my personal knight, you will never leave my side, so... I will ask, would you be interested in marrying me?"
Both Ren and Cilan, who overheard what she said, yelled out.
"What!?
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