Meeting (Princess Aurelia)

"Your Highness, the beastkin you were looking for has arrived."

The female elf standing before me had been the one to find the pink-haired cat beastkin that I had been looking for.

"Bring her here. I would like to talk with her," I said.

"Of course, Your Highness. But we have a small problem. The guards did an appraisal at the gates, like we do for everyone entering palace."

"What? Is something wrong with the girl?" I asked.

"No, but the girl brought her companion along. And well…here are their appraisal papers." The elf handed over two sheets of paper.

On the two papers were the appraisals done for the two visitors. The guards of course only did a lesser appraisal, which showed only basic identification information of a person. After all, it was enough to know a persons class and rank, there was no need to pry into their other stats. Greater appraisals, which showed everything, were illegal in most cases. Unless you had the express permission of the person or it was needed for a criminal case.

The first was quite normal.

STATUS

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Name: Kitty

Race: Beastkin

Gender: Female

Class: Sex Slave

Rank: D

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Well, maybe not normal. In fact, the only normal things about the status were the race and the gender of the person. What kind of name was Kitty? And [Sex Slave] was an abnormal class, especially in Revilon where slaves were illegal.

The weirdest bit was the rank though. Most adults were either rank D or C. Few rose up to B and even fewer made it to A. Only the true elite made it past that. I myself was still stuck at rank A. If this had been a normal person, it wouldn't be odd that they were only at rank D.

But why were two demon lords searching for a rank D [Sex Slave]? And how were they not able to catch her? No, how did she even escape? Demon lords would have been able to kill her without even raising a finger.

But this wasn't what I was looking for. I flipped to the next paper.

STATUS

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Name: Elaina

Race: High Elf

Gender: Female

Class: Mage

Rank: D+

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"A-are you sure this is correct?" I asked, a hint of shock in my voice.

"She would need to be at least S-rank to disguise her status from our mages. And there would be no reason for her to change her race to high elf of all things."

"A high elf hasn't been spotted in centuries though…"

"Just because they haven't been spotted doesn't mean they don't exist. Much of the Great Woodlands to the south still have yet to be explored. Besides, it is said that high elves do not die from ageing, one of the few races of the world that do not. It's not unlikely that their would be more hiding somewhere," the elf explained.

"How much trouble will she be?"

"I'm not sure. If the Southern Dominion were to find out that a high elf still lived, half of the Southern Dominion council would probably try to elect her as their empress. And the rest would try to have her assassinated. Not to mention all the people who would try to court or kidnap her. After all, any child born from a female high elf will also be a high elf…"

I sighed. "Prepare a room for this elf. And make sure her status is kept a secret."

"Anything else, Your Highness?"

"Yes, bring the beastkin girl here," I ordered as I slid on my truth ring. Hopefully, the effort of finding this girl would prove fruitful. At the very least, it would solve one of my many problems.

*******

The girl standing before me looked almost exactly like my younger sister Adriel. Her face, eyes, hair colour and even her body were all the same. Not to mention she also had that innocent, frail look like my sister. The resemblance between the two was uncanny. When she had first opened the door, I had thought it had been my little sister before I got a better look.

There were a few noticeable differences. This girl's hair was longer than Adriel's and she kept it loose. The white dress the girl was wearing was also something my sister would never wear. Not since she was twelve, at least.

The girl was also shaking like a leaf as she stared intently at the ground. So cute and innocent. She reminded me of when the twins were younger, when they would still let me tease and cuddle them. Although this girl was quite a bit bigger. A quick glance at her bust told me in more ways than one.

I smiled at the girl and gestured for her to have a seat at the table. "Would you like some tea?"

""Umm, sure…Y-your Highness," she stammered.

"No need for titles. You can just call me Aurelia," I said as I poured her a cup of tea. "What would you like me to call you?"

"M-my name is Kitty…"

"Did you have a name before you were a slave?" I really didn't want to call her that…

The girl shook her head, her loose pink hair flying back and forth. "I can't remember anything before I was a slave."

My truth ring shone green before returning to normal. So she had lost her memories?

"How did you lose them?"

The girl fidgeted in her seat. "I'm not quite sure. The Demon Lord of Lust— she was the one who captured me— she cast a spell on me. I think she called it the Blessing of the Nymphs. It made me lose my memories and also…umm…turned me into a girl. That was a month ago…"

I almost dropped my tea cup when the gem glowed green for a second time. Turned into a girl? A month ago? Is it just a coincidence?

I studied the lady in front of me. This girl in front of me had once been a boy. I almost couldn't believe it. She was even more feminine than any of the noble ladies I have met.

"So you were actually turned into a girl? How do you know if you lost your memories?"

"T-the change wasn't instant. When I first woke up without any memories, I didn't have a name and my rank had been reset to F. But my gender hadn't been female yet. It took almost two weeks for the full transition."

So she had been a guy at one point? Could that mean…was this girl actually my brother? Was she Prince Adrian? It was hardly a question at this point.

So my brother was now my sister…It was a good thing he—she lost her memories. Prince Adrian would not have reacted well to the change had the memories been kept.

"I understand. You were turned into a girl for the Demon Lord's amusement. But how did you escape?" I asked.

"Umm..it all started when I was captured by the Demon Lord of Envy. She threw me into prison along with Elaina. She came here with me…" The girl looked like she wanted to ask another question.

"Yes, your elf companion. Don't worry, you'll be able to see her after this."

"After I met with her, we decided to escape together. Well, it was mostly her who lead me along. But our escape failed, at least until the Demon Lord of Wrath helped us."

"The Demon Lord of Wrath? Why would she help you?"

"Umm… I don't know. But she teleported us out of the prison and since then we've been making our way south. At least until you found us."

So this girl before had caught the attention of not just two demon lords, but three. Why were the Demon Lord of Lust and Envy searching so hard for her? And why did the Demon Lord of Wrath help her escape? She obviously doesn't know herself. Perhaps only the three demon lords knew the answer.

"Kitty, I brought you here for a reason. Do you know why?"

"Umm, maybe. Is it because of my hair?" One of her hands started playing with her pink hair, rubbing it between her fingers.

"Indeed. If my suspicion is correct, than you are my brother, Prince Adrian, who was kidnapped by the Demon Lord of Lust." I smiled. "Well, I suppose you're actually my sister now."

The girl bit her lip. "But I don't know anything at all about being a prince. I lost my memories."

"That's fine. In fact, it is probably better that way. But now that you know, I would like to propose you an offer Kitty. Would you like to become a princess?"

The girl looked up at me with confusion. "A princess?"

"Since you are my sister and the daughter of the empress, it is only natural that you should be a princess. Not only will you be able to get rid of your slave class, you will also be given a new name and the full backing of the royal family."

"A-and what do I have to do in return?"

"In return? Nothing. Your presence alone should be enough to have my mo— our mother return to the throne. Of course, the position isn't without a few drawbacks. Your freedom would be limited by quite a bit as I doubt my mother would want to risk your life again. And there are the dangers of being royalty such as assassination and kidnapping. But it would be much safer here than outside with your class and rank."

The girl nodded her head. "Ok, I understand. I can try to be a princess."

"Thank you, sister. Do you have any other questions?"

The girl thought for a moment. "Couldn't I pretend to be a prince instead?"

"It would be much harder and you would eventually be found out if you did. You're shorter than Adrian was and your personality is completely different so it would be impossible to impersonate him. Besides the fact that your face and body are very feminine, it is also required that any one who enters the palace must undergo a lesser appraisal. Not only would your gender be female, your class would also be [Princess] as women can't pick up the [Prince] class. Although we might be able to keep it hidden, it would be quite a bit too much work." I didn't mention that I wanted to keep her as a girl for my own fun. Adriel hadn't let me play dress-up with her since she was twelve.

Kitty pouted in disappointment. So adorable. I resisted the urge to give the cute girl a hug.

"For now, we'll claim you were a princess raised away from the palace for security reasons and were only recently brought back."

"Will everyone really believe that?"

I shrugged. "Probably not, but what can they do? As long as the empress says you are her daughter, no one will dare say anything."

It was true. The number of people as strong as the empress in the southern continent could be counted on one hand.

"Alright, you can go get some rest. I'm sure you're tired from your travels. The servants have already prepared a room, and if you need anything, just ask." I dismissed the girl with a wave of my hand.

Kitty quickly got up from her seat, did a small curtsy and scampered away in terror. I stared at her receding back, lost in thought. Was I really that scary?

The girl would need some training before she could be revealed to the public. She had absolutely no backbone. Although it made her cute, it wouldn't do to have her be a complete pushover.

We would also have to do a blood test. It wouldn't be hard to make most people believe that she was the empress' daughter considering she looked almost identical to her twin sister, but a blood test would only make the fact indisputable.

Congratulations!

You are now Rank A+

New Skill: [Intimidation]

Trait Advancement: [Elegant Demeanour] → [Regal Demeanour]

An advancement? I hadn't advanced in over a year, even when I started taking over my mother's duties when Adrian was kidnapped. So why did I advance now? And why did I gain [Intimidation]? I already had the [Persuasion] skill!

I would figure it out later. First, I needed to have a chat with my mother.