69 Ch-69: Kingdom of Prona (1)

You can read fully translated chapters, including the last chapter, for $20.

p(a)treon.com/Daoist02

Lorraine screamed out in despair and anger on losing her treasured first kiss to a mere commoner. She wiped her lips and rushed in with a sword after Cloud with bloodlust in her eyes.

The sword, engulfed in passion, lost its sharpness.

As Cloud lightly dodged the flying sword attacks, Lorraine gnawed her teeth and glared at him.

"Y, You… do you think you will be safe after you did this to me?"

"What?"

"Don't pretend like it's nothing! You think I won't tell anyone what you did to me!? Y, You are done! Can you understand what situation you are inside now? Do you understand what you just did?! Of course, getting on your knees and begging will not bag you forgiveness!"

As she continued speaking, Lorraine lost her anger and regained her triumphant spirit. As if she was the one now holding the hilt of control.

"But if you told someone else, you would end up marrying a commoner, right? Are you okay with that?"

"Huh?"

Lorraine's eyebrows curled up as if she didn't understand what he was saying. But soon realizing that the 'commoner' he was referring to was himself, a scowl appeared on her face.

"What kind of bullshit is that!"

"It's a dog bark, if you must. So listen carefully. Oh, do you have a fiance?"

"What does that have to do with you?!"

"Answer with yes or no."

Lorraine licked her lips, then she replied in an annoyed tone.

"No."

"Then the first kiss you had was with me, right?"

"Bastard!"

Lorraine swung her sword in wild abandon as her anger erupted again. Cloud leisurely avoided her swings and continued with his explanation.

"As a member of a royal family without a fiance, if you talk about what happened today, it will only become a scandal.There will be nothing good about it."

"At least I can kill you!"

Politically and physically!

Lorraine shouted and pushed more power in to her sword.

"I understand your feelings, but will it work out the way you think? I assure you, your parents will only want to marry you with me, wanting to crush the scandal before it ruins their royal honor."

"It's not funny…"

Lorraine, who was about to refute, bit her lip.

She wanted to refute, but the reality didn't seem different.

"Brother… he will support me."

"Lorian?"

"Yes! That's how much my brother loves me! If he find out that I've been harassed, he will come to kill you right now!"

"I don't think so… Lorian isn't even coming out of his room right now, is he?"

Lorraine's eyes fluttered slightly.

'What a surprise!' That surprised Cloud too.

But it wasn't a very difficult guess.

He recently showed off his acquaintance with Frillite, when they were in front of Lorian.

At that time, Lorian was quite desperate.

Afterwards Lorraine called him to the grounds and she asked what he had done to her brother. The guess wasn't hard to make.

"Shall I make a prediction? As soon as your brother hears about it, he will be the one most hurried about your marriage with me."

"Shut up! My brother won't do anything such!"

"Are you sure? If you are, go ahead and tell him. That is, if you want to wear your wedding dress within a month."

"…!"

Lorraine chewed her lips.

She believed in her brother, but the present was an uncertainty, shaking her confidance.

Cloud laughed mercilessly.

"If you want, I'll accept as many battles as possible today. Instead, prepare yourself for being kissed again when you lose."

She inserted her sword back into her sheath and turned her back.

""

Having said that, she wasn't going to fool around anymore. Because she didn't want to marry a lowly commoner, let alone kiss him again.

She will go back to the room and sleep.

The next day, Cloud again found a challenge letter stuck in the gap between the door.

* * *

Kang!

With a clear metallic sound, Lorraine's sword was thrown in the air.

Lorraine—defeated.

She bowed her head.

'Why? Why can't I win?'

She couldn't quite understand.

Lorraine recalled the past Cloud.

He was a nerd, an incompetent hero defeated too many times by her brother for her to count. He was a weak commoner with too clear ideals.

""

He was a lower bloodline's commoner.

But what about now?

No matter how much they fought, a win didn't seem under her grasp.

It didn't match the scene that enfolded when he fought Lorian previously.

What the hell happened that day, after the Imperial Social Banquet? What happened to make him so strong?

'If it's not that… maybe he had been hiding his skills?'

That also didn't seem right.

Cloud of the past was too weak to be even called a hero.

What was the reason for him to hide his skills to this level?

Just when she found herself circling in a sphere of doubt.

"I don't understand."

Cloud murmured.

"You don't like low blood commoners like me, do you? That's why you hated me as a commoner. Why do you keep on challenging me to a duel even though you know you will lose?"

Since the first day, Lorraine sent a challenge letter every day, and Cloud accepted it.

"There's no way you want to kiss me…"

This was already the 12th time.

At this point, Cloud had no choice but to admit that Laurenne's pride was greater than he had expected.

"Shut up and just do it quickly."

Lorraine said, frown marring her face.

Cloud looked down at Lorraine on eye level, then leaned down to face her.

His lips met hers, and they kissed.

That's how the kiss started.

It was something that could be called a real kiss, unlike the first lipbutt.

– Chup! Churp! Tsu-eup!

Their tongues mingled together.

To the extent that people who didn't know would have mistaken them for lovers.

They had met for twelve consecutive nights, and the number of times they had fought was far more than that. Of course, every time she lost, Lorraine gave her lips.

The second kiss was still unpleasant. Enough to make her almost swing her sword.

The third was similar.

Fourth too.

Fifth too.

The matches continued, and the kisses too.

Lorraine no longer counted the numbers.

At some point, her discomfort diminished and she couldn't even feel it at all.

Lorraine was having trouble at understanding.

No matter how many kisses she has experienced, the fact that Cloud is of low blood and that he was a commoner didn't change…

She didn't like it.

Cloud gently stroked the back of her head, making Lorraine's body quiver. She regained her bearing and quickly slapped his hand away.

"Don't… don't do it… all I've allowed is… a kiss… only on lips…"

'Alright, Madam.' Cloud shrugged his shoulders with that expression on his face.

Lorraine narrowed her eyes and looked at Cloud.

'…I mean, he is kinda handsome and good-looking.'

White and clean skin with no spots, like spotless jade.

Big eyes, a tall nose, and lips beautifully harmonized.

Ruby-red eyes with a strange charm that made people fall in love with them.

'Wh, Why is he a commoner?'

Lorraine had seen several personable men among the commoners who rose up to become famous.

They were all people who she didn't understood for why they were called handsome. They were good looking, yes. But not actually handsome.

The same went for nobles.

Among the aristocrats who were reputed to be handsome, there was no one she really found handsome.

Lorraine had been seeing Lorian since childhood, so her standards were set quite high.

But even Lorraine had no choice but to acknowledge Cloud's natural appearance.

'…Yes, no matter if he is a commoner, he is a hero, right? A being chosen by the Goddess. That's no ordinary commoner.'

He was a human being chosen by the Goddess herself.

So of course, he was fundamentally higher than a knight, and his status should be higher than that of any nobleman. So, wasn't it the same as him being an honorary nobleman?

Self-rationalization.

It was Lorraine's self-rationalization to defend her pride from the fact that she didn't feel offended by being kissed by a commoner whom she thought as vulgar.

– Chueup… Chueup…!

The kiss felt long but ended shortly.

Even after the short kiss ended, Lorraine sat there blankly. Because the heat left on her lips hadn't gone away yet.

Then she felt Cloud staring at her without leaving yet.

"What? Why aren't you going away?"

Normally, he would have left as soon as the kiss was over, why was he still with her?

"Are you going to send a challenge letter tomorrow morning?"

"That's upto me! Why? Losing your confidence to defeat me the next day?"

"No… that… well, anyways."

Cloud took a deep breath and left the grounds.

Lorraine looked at his back in dissatisfaction.

"What? I thought he had something to say."

She grunted and stood up from her seat.

She went back to her room, and she wrote a new challenge letter, placed it inside the crevice of Cloud's room door, and then she went to bed. And the next night, she waited for Cloud at the grounds.

It had become a normal routine from some moment on, but Lorraine always pretended she didn't care.

But it was weird.

No matter how much she waited today, Cloud did not come. Lorraine, tired of waiting for him, scrunched her brows, and stormed into Cloud's room.

"Hey! You sleeping or what? Are you sure about ignoring me?!"

Lorraine spurred the door and entered the room.

The inside of the room was clean and empty.

"..?"

What? Did something happened?

It can't be, right?

Lorraine, who was bewildered, didn't get the answer until the next morning.

"Are you talking about Hero Cloud and his team? They left yesterday, early morning."

She couldn't half-believe what the butler told her.

Lorraine went to bed late and woke up late because of waiting for him at the grounds, and Cloud had left while she was sleeping?

"This… y-you motherfucker…!"

'You left without saying a word to me..!'

Lorraine was furious.

No, he had left but why should she get angry?

Why should she get angry…

Oh yes, the duel.

She hadn't won a duel. She even lost her first kiss, and more kisses every time after, she hadn't been kissed so many times by her parents on the cheeks, alright?

That bastard made fun of her lips.

Yes, this was rāpe.

He's a rāpist who rāped her lips and left!

When she came to the conclusion, she felt even more angry.

Promising to catch him by the hair the next time she saw him, Lorraine headed to Lorian's room.

She intended to improve her skills by asking Lorian to teach her. She was no longer allowing Lorian to bury himself in the corner and wallow in self-pity.

But…

"Huh… Where did my brother go now? What is actually happening?! Are they making fun of me as a group?!"

Lorian was not in his room.

* * *

While Lorraine was yelling out her frustrations at Lorian's room wall, Lorian was facing Gis.

Gis blew out white smoke from his mouth and rubbed the cigar he was smoking on the table.

"So, you mean you want to hire our assassination squad?"

"That's right."

"Why did you come to me? Our handsome prince will surely be able to hire an assassination squad himself, even without me in this whole thing, eh?"

"It is a fact that no one can deny, the Zarakh Society's assassination squad is the best on the continent. And so I thought I should hire the assassination squad for a commission through you than going directly myself."

Gis was sponsored by the Kingdom of Alitia's criminal organization, the Zarakh Society. It was a secret to outsiders, but what every insider knew.

"Well, that's right. So, the target? Cloud, right?"

Lorian nodded his head.

"There is no need to kill. If you do, you may incite her wrath. But… you see. I wish you can instill despair in him. Despair deep enough to break his heart."

"It is not difficult. Torture is one of the specialties of our assassination squad. You don't have to worry about other issues. The Assassination Squad of the Zarakh Society is not that cumbersome."

Gis giggled and leaned back on to the chair.

"The number of accomplices have increased. That's good."

Lorian narrowed his eyes.

"Accomplices?"

"Yes, accomplices. You didn't think I'd stay still even after being humiliated, did you?"

Gis said with a creepy smile.

"I have already sent them a letter."

"…"

Among the women in the room, Adreana was the only one deeply troubled.

* * *

After refusing the solicitation of the Duke of Oler, we were going to the capital of the Kingdom of Prona.

Because the royal family had called us there.

The king himself had, actually.

If we didn't go, we would have had another troublesome problem on our laps, so we followed the call and arrived at the capital…

And, saw.

"Put the heretics to the guillotine!"

"Put the prince to the guillotine!"

"Down with the heresy! Overthrow the prince!"

The citizens who filled the front of the royal castle.

"Come out, Prince! If you're not a heretic, you have to prove your innocence!!!"

Clergymen shouting at the forefront of citizens.

"…do you guys want to turn back?"

The group nodded their heads in a heartbeat without saying a word.

You can read fully translated chapters, including the last chapter, for $20.

p(a)treon.com/Daoist02