I put up quite the fight yesterday in the arena. I’m sure lots of people questioned whether my blindfold was for show.
“Can’t you answer me?”
“Well…what can I say that will make you guys believe me?”
“Drop that provocative attitude if you don’t want to get hurt.”
“What, you’ll punch me? Kick me? Stab me? Are you saying the prince of Laval loses his temper over some dumb kid’s words?”
We’re opening with a challenge.
What a perfect opportunity to find out what the prince of Laval is made of.
“Ha! What a plucky little brat you are.” He smirks. “I’m Victor Harrist, secondborn prince of Laval.”
Which means the long-haired prince must be the firstborn. I figured the short-haired one was younger. Guess I was right.
“My name’s Lia.”
“That all?”
“As far as you’re concerned.”
“You really are an impudent little shit.”
Victor rises from his chair and zips over to me.
Wow, he practically teleported to me. Just how long are those legs? Is he a model?
I already knew by his aura, but he’s quite tall.
His sharp gaze appraises me as if I’m a piece of merchandise.
Enough of that staring. I’ve overcome all sorts of pressure in the past, but this pressure…is a type I’m ill-equipped to fight.
After a long, unreserved stare, he grabs my hand roughly. “You’re thin, but nicely muscled.”
“Don’t touch me.”
Victor squeezes my hand harder, yanking me close. Even though he shouldn’t be able to see my eye behind the blindfold, I feel like he and I are staring right at each other.
This feels kind of bad. I can hear my heart thump in my ears.
“……Are you a woman?” His deep voice echoes through the room.
Well, dang, Alicia. Blew your cover on day one.
Here I thought I was a pretty decent cross-dresser.
“Your Highness, what are you saying? He’s absolutely a boy. I have never seen a girl like this—”
“Shut your mouth.”
The guard falls silent.
This prince is crass, but he’s got grit. Guess he didn’t grow up having everything handed to him.
“Now I’m starting to doubt you’re blind even more.”
Nobody ever said I was blind, but I know it’s best to keep my mouth shut. I can sense the extreme wave of intimidation flowing from Victor, but I’m determined to stay quiet. After a very long silence, Victor sighs quietly.
“Leave.”
I know he directed that at the guard, but I take a step backward to follow him out the door.
This prince is dangerous. I have to get out of here, and fast.
“You stay.” Victor grabs my arm and squeezes.
The guard looks a bit displeased, but he obeys and leaves Victor’s room.
……I don’t like this.
Certain the guard is gone, Victor releases me. He sits on the desk and gives me another penetrating stare.
I hate his gaze. Why must I be so good at finding the exact people I don’t want snooping into my affairs?
“Getting my father’s approval was part of your plan, wasn’t it?”
Victor’s voice is even deeper than before. Of course I want the king to like me, but whether he does is his choice.
I’m not even sure my plan will work… It’s something of a Hail Mary.
“……Who the hell are you?”
“Lia the street urchin.”
“You think you’re so damn funny.” He clicks his tongue loudly.
Well, how am I supposed to respond to that?
“You stink.”
First, you call me a girl, then you call me stinky. Have you no tact?!
Everyone will hate you. Well…you’ll have no lady problems, at least, with that face.
“Strip.”
Victor’s strong voice echoes through the room.
……What did he say?
Did I mishear that? Did he say trip?
“You’ve got the balls to fight a lion. Getting naked in front of me should be easy, right?” Victor smirks at me provocatively.
Whoa, whoa, wait a minute. Who even wants to see me naked…? Wait, wrong takeaway. There’s no way I can let some guy I don’t know see me naked!
“Disobey, and I’ll toss you straight into a men’s bathhouse.”
“What are you saying?”
“Don’t tell me… You weren’t ever going to bathe while you were here?! You were just going to stay all filthy and smelly?”
Oh, I wanna kick his ass.
“Soldiers always bathe together in a big bathhouse.”
“Well, I’m not a soldier.”
“Yeah, you’re more like a slave. A soldier is like a dream career to you. But for some crazy reason, my father brought you here to make you a soldier.”
Wait a minute…that’s news to me!
Shouldn’t I at least get to hear that proposal from the king?
“Well, no matter. You’ll just have to bathe when they’re gone. Argh…why am I covering for a brat like you?” Victor whines, vigorously rubbing his hair.
For everything I’ve said about him, he’s actually kind of nice. I assumed he was going to treat me horribly—brand me with a slave mark or put heavy shackles on my feet…
“Be careful. Everyone is going to be cautious of a Divergent like you.”
Well, I don’t blame them. The king may have picked me up from a gladiatorial arena, but there’s plenty of reason to suspect I’m a spy. As it turns out, I actually am one.
“Understood.”
“……You can go now.”
“Where’s the bath?”
“Huh? Oh…ugh, you really are annoying. Follow me.”
With a disgusted scowl, Victor starts to escort me to the bath.
I notice he doesn’t ask his guard to do this.
I run after him before he can leave me behind.
“This is the bath. I’ll stand guard, so make it quick. I’ll wait five minutes, no longer.”
Victor throws me a new change of clothes that don’t have a speck of dirt on them.
Ooh, they smell so nice. Clothes laundered at a palace are always so clean.
“Why do I have to break my back for a brat like you?”
He’s actually super nice for all that grumbling!
“Thanks.” With a short line of gratitude, I head for the bath.
…Aren’t these a little too big?
I can see a corner of the bath from the dressing room, and it’s huge. Just how many people can fit in here? Meanwhile, I get to hog it all to myself—isn’t that a little too luxurious?
I wash all the ash and dirt off my hair and skin. My hair is already healthy, so a rinse makes it silky-smooth. I send all the dirty, blackened water down the drain.
I know I did this to myself, but I sure was filthy… The audacity, mouthing off in front of the king like that. I’d love to give myself a medal.
I step out of the bath and change into my fresh clothes.
“Huh? It’s gone…”
The cloth I used to cover my eyes is missing.
No, not just the cloth. All the tattered rags I was wearing are gone.
Victor must have taken them away either because they were filthy or because he’s scheming…
I have a feeling it’s the latter. Is he really so obsessed with my true identity he would take me all the way to a bathhouse?
He said I only had five minutes, but I let myself soak for a while in the warm water, so quite a lot of time passed.
…Well, anybody would want a nice long soak in a huge bath like that. You can’t blame me. I’m a baddie, you know.
I don’t sense Victor’s aura outside. I can just go out there, and nothing bad will happen, right?
I cover my face with both hands as I step out of the dressing room.
“You’re late.”
The moment I emerge, I hear Victor’s angry voice. I steal a sideways glance and see him leaning against the wall.
So he is here. Of course he is… Further proof I can’t let somebody I haven’t deemed safe run rampant just yet.
“I couldn’t find my blindfold, so I was—”
“Oh, you mean this?” Victor asks before I can finish, waving the dirty piece of cloth in his right hand.
And we’ve found our culprit.
“Why don’t you take your hands off your face?”
That smug confidence is really getting on my nerves. I know a villainess should never get flustered, but I’m in quite a pinch here.
“If your eyes are hurt, I’ll get you a doctor. Let me see.”
“N-no.”
“Huh? You defy me?” Victor’s eyes narrow to slits.
……Okay, Alicia. Think calmly.
The reason I covered my eye in the first place was to hide its gold color. Gold is a rare eye color in Durkis, but it might not be so unusual in Laval. There’s a possibility I have a lot of fellow golden-eyed people out there.
“You clean up nice.”
Well, yeah… I’m sort of a noblewoman.
“You’ve got a delicate frame, your skin is pale, and your hair is shiny…”
Victor leans in close, giving me a good look.
“Let me see your face.” Without a word more, Victor grabs my hands, trying to remove them from my face. I instinctively kick his arm, then fall backward and push off the floor into a backflip.
““Ah!”” Victor and I gasp at once. I uncovered my face by accident.
I let my reflexes expose me. What an epic fail.
“Wow…you’re sickeningly beautiful.”
“That’s your first impression?”
He could’ve gone with, “So you’re really a girl” or “Why’s your left eye missing?”
“I suppose a prince like you doesn’t let something like this disconcert him,” I say primly, dropping the act.
“Of course I’m disconcerted. A stinky boy turned out to be a beautiful girl.”
“Well, pardon my stench.”
“Don’t worry, you don’t smell anymore.”
Victor slowly approaches me. I want to run, but there’s nowhere to run.
He reaches for my face, then yanks my chin upward.
“A golden eye… Surprised you could move so nimbly with only one. And with a blindfold on, too,” he adds, his eyes flitting to the tattered cloth in his other hand.
“What are you going to do to me?”
“Well, I don’t know whether you’re a threat. You are amusing, though. Keep me entertained, and I’ll keep your gender under wraps.”
“Why won’t you expose my true identity?”
“I have nothing to gain from doing so. This cloth stinks, so get a new one. Also, make your hair nice and messy like a boy’s.”