Chapter 52

"I won't forgive this... such humiliation. I absolutely won't forgive it...!"

"Ha... don't get so angry."

Seiria, wearing a man's coat to cover her body, glared at the man in front of her with intense hatred. The princess's blue eyes still had tears at the corners, and the area around her eyes was red from crying.

Reidol, at a loss, scratched his head and looked down at the woman who had collapsed on the floor.

"I feel bad. No, I didn't mean to. I didn't think you'd hate it so much..."

"Of course I hate it! You, you... touched my chest..."

Whether from anger or shame, Seiria's face was flushed red, and her shoulders were trembling. Realizing that she wasn't being violated, Seiria regained some composure and lashed out at Reidol with harsh words.

"Disgusting! For a prince to do such things to a girl... you're a beast! An animal! A dog!"

"Is 'dog' an insult?"

Despite his exasperated response, Reidol calmly continued to endure Seiria's verbal abuse.

Incidentally, when Reidol had unbuttoned Seiria's blouse, he had no malicious intent. He genuinely hadn't thought that Seiria would hate being seen like that so much.

Reidol Zain, at the age of 12, was exiled from the capital and sent to a frontier city. In this frontier city, which was filled with immigrants with troubled pasts, there were no girls his age. Reidol spent his most sensitive teenage years with almost no contact with women. The women he interacted with were either female adventurers who didn't care about male gazes, elderly women he couldn't see as romantic interests, or eccentric prostitutes who had drifted into the frontier city. There was also an erotic maid who had been released from a centuries-long seal, but she didn't mind being seen naked by Reidol and was more of a pervert who tried to undress at every opportunity. Growing up in such an environment, Reidol couldn't understand why women would be upset about being seen naked.

"I'm done! I'm leaving this mansion!"

"Ah, that would be a problem."

Seiria was allowed to move freely within the mansion and could have escaped if she really wanted to. However, she didn't try to escape because she couldn't leave without breaking the curse, and for another reason.

"If you run away, I'll have to kill the old general. I don't want to take the life of an old man whose days are numbered, but..."

"Ugh..."

Seiria pouted her well-shaped lips in dissatisfaction at Reidol's words. During the battle at Brain Fortress, the surprise attack on the imperial camp had allowed Naimeria to kidnap the enemy general, Grakos Bazen. Bazen was being held in a secret location, and neither Granado nor Gurst knew that the old general was in Reidol's hands.

(I ordered Naimeria to increase our leverage with the empire... it's a pleasant surprise that it's also an effective card against the princess.)

Seiria later learned that she revered Bazen like a grandfather. Otherwise, she would have been bound and imprisoned.

"Is... is Grandpa okay?"

"We're giving him three meals a day and two blankets to sleep with. He's being treated better than any prisoner of war from the empire."

"Can... can I see him?"

Seiria asked with a look of hope. Reidol smiled wryly, knowing it was impossible.

"Don't worry, once the negotiations with the empire are over, I'll release you both. I promise."

"Why are you doing this? Capturing me and Grandpa should be enough of an achievement."

"The important thing isn't the kingdom negotiating with the empire. The key is that I have the leverage in the negotiations with the empire."

Reidol twisted his lips into a sneer. The one holding the reins in the negotiations with the empire was not his brother, King Granado, but Reidol himself. This was undoubtedly a trump card in his plan to overthrow his brother.

"For now, just rest in this mansion. If you want, you can even go sightseeing. The kingdom has beautiful lakes. I'll show you around sometime."

"..."

Seiria, gripping the holy sword she couldn't use, looked suspiciously at Reidol, who had a forced smile on his face.