6 - The Sixth Day

— This is the first prince, His Highness, Lord Erik. Go on, Ulysses, introduce yourself.

The one my father was introducing me to was a boy about the same age as me, very attractive, with golden hair.

“Nice to meet you, Prince Erik. My name is Ulysses Addinson.”

“An angel.”

“What?”

The first prince stared at me, a dumbfounded look in his eyes. The king smiled wryly and gently pressed him forward.

“Alright, you introduce yourself too, Erik.”

“Yes Father.”

So prompted, he stepped towards me, his cheeks flushing. It was an awkward movement, he seemed nervous.

“I’m Erik. Won’t you become my wife?”

“What?”

He proposed the moment we met, I was quite surprised at the time. Thinking back on it now, my father and the king likely introduced us with that in mind. Even if the first prince hadn’t liked me, no doubt the result wouldn’t have changed.

But I didn’t think it was so bad to have someone’s eyes light up with affection for me.

Especially a charming pair of eyes belonging to a prince.

He’d always been quite fond of me, from the moment we met.

If you want to talk about getting attached, he was like a small affectionate dog, and if he spotted me, he’d come running as fast as he could, no matter the distance.

“Ulie!”

“Your Highness, if you run like that, you’re going to take a tumble.”

“Aw, Ulie’s worried about me. I’m the older one though, you know.”

“Age has nothing to do with it, it’s still dangerous, Your Highness. You are the one who tried to grab a poisonous insect with your bare hands before.”

The first prince puffed out one cheek, which still had a trace of that youthful roundness, and got sulky. His behavior was the picture of childishness, but he was still young, so I don’t think he realized it.

“Oh yeah, I had something I wanted to show you today, Ulie.”

“Yeah? It’s not something weird again, is it?”

I pulled a wry face at him, and he denied it vigorously.

Before, he’d shown me a flower that let out a nasty smell when it was touched, and before that was a small animal who spit phlegm out of its mouth.

He must have found something somewhere, he was always looking for peculiar things to shove in my face.

And it wasn’t just showing me, either, he would hand them over to me, saying they were gifts, so I had to accept them every time, and I couldn’t throw any of them away.

Plants and insects, and all these animals, had to be taken care of, they caused me real problems.

I had a servant who took care of them, and that was the end of it, but I couldn’t completely ignore a present from the first prince.

If he was going to give me a living thing as a present, a clever dog, obedient to my command, would have been nice.

Speaking of dogs, I couldn’t say it because it’d be rude, but the first prince made for a pretty crappy dog himself.

All these gifts I didn’t need were only taking up space and causing me trouble, although the way he only wanted me to praise him did please me.

“It’s not a thing today. Come on, come with me!”

“It’s not a thing?”

I had a bit of a bad feeling, but he was pulling me along kind of hard, so I obediently came along. Come with me.

My premonition was right on the mark, too, we were strolling into the forest. Unmaintained ground can be harsh on children’s feet. Just when the pain in my legs became unbearable, we finally seemed to have arrived at our destination, and the first prince stopped.

“Here, Your Highness?”

Erik laughed. “It’s a secret tower! Aren’t you surprised there’s such a tall building in a place like this?”

Certainly, the tower was tall enough that I had to admire it.

It was wrapped in ivy, and looked from the outside like a witch had sealed it shut or something. The prince opened the door to what seemed to be the entrance, and an unpleasant metallic scraping sound echoed loudly. There was no way a place like this had been unlocked, the prince must have tampered with it somehow. Although he usually hated studying, this kind of cunning wisdom he could put to use.

“Look, Ulie, hurry up!”

I really wanted to go home, but he beckoned, and so I came. Come with me . He would do it alone if he had to, so it would at least be less bad if I was there.

But I saw the spiral staircase just beyond the door, and my determination quickly wavered.

I have to climb this?

“You’re pretty strong, aren’t you, Your Highness.”

My cheeks twitched, but the first prince just tilted his head in confusion and immediately started climbing the stairs.

I scolded my legs, which were already sore, and started climbing too.

Halfway up, the first prince started pulling me by the hand, but eventually we got to the top.

A strong breeze ruffled my hair. When I looked beside me, the prince was happily holding down his hair, which was going every which way too. Considering how many stairs we’d just climbed, he wasn’t that tired at all.

I was definitely exhausted, but he had such stamina you wouldn’t think he was a child like me.

“It’s even windier today.”

“Today? How many times have you come here?”

For a second, the prince’s face said he hadn’t meant to reveal that, but then he put on an attitude like he was covering up some prank.

“Jeez, you can’t make your guards worry too much, Your Highness.”

“Well– I know. I’ll stop coming here by myself. I just wanted to show you today, Ulie, no matter what.”

“Me?”

“Yeah. There, look.”

I followed the prince’s finger, and the scenery stretched out forever beneath us.

It was so beautiful, I couldn’t help but suck in a breath.

This was the royal capital? This was where we lived?

The cityscape was beautiful, dazzling. People flowed in lively streams, the city itself seemed like a living thing.

I finally exhaled the breath I’d been holding, and calmed my excited heart.

Erik was the first prince. When I became his queen, this country would belong to us. A country, its people, and social status would all settle into these hands.

It felt like I was going to win everything the world had to offer, and it was so wonderful.

“Ulie.”

The prince called my name, and I looked back at him.

The setting sun dyed his cheeks red.

His long eyelashes cast a shadow on his beautiful, feminine cheeks. He shut his eyes tight, trying to cover up how nervous he was, and suddenly drew his face close.

Child-like, heated lips fell on my cheek. The prince, his cheeks dyed not by the setting sun, but from embarrassment, put both hands on my shoulders and stared hard at me, his eyes wet with a film of tears.

“Happy birthday.”

My mouth dropped open. The prince had brought me here, intending it as a birthday present. My legs hurt, and I was exhausted, but I was also incredibly happy.

I didn’t know what to do with that itchy feeling, and smiled bashfully.

“Thank you very much, Your Highness.”

I put my palm on the prince’s right cheek, and returned his kiss on the other one.

“This is the happiest gift you’ve ever given me.”

The sight of the prince pressing his hand to his cheek and blinking repeatedly was so strange, I let out a laugh.

“We’re leaving.”

My father said to me, the day after I’d climbed the tower with the first prince. He put me in the carriage with no explanation, and took me to The Fifth District, the slums.

When I wondered aloud whether we were going to visit the slave market there, which was more or less outlawed in our country, my father replied, “Pick one you like.”

My father, who loved women, work, power, and money, did not normally celebrate my birthday with me.

He was overwhelmingly short on words, but presumably, he intended it as a birthday present. It’s an incredibly inappropriate gift for a child, no matter how you look at it, but he was a person with off-kilter ideas to begin with.

His way of thinking was becoming exhausting.

I turned my gaze towards what was inside the cages, thinking all the while that the merchant following behind us, wringing his hands, was just in the way. Every single slave was emaciated and haggard.

I didn’t think any of them would be able to live properly if I bought them, any of them. Every last one had lost the will to live, their eyes were dead.

How boring.

Being dragged along behind Erik might have been slightly better than wasting my time in a place like this. If I didn’t see any notable-looking slaves in any of these cages, I was going to start pestering my father to look at something else.

I was just starting to really think about that, when my eyes suddenly caught on a certain slave. The expression “grimey” doesn’t begin to cover it. This slave was crumbling, on the brink of death. But his eyes weren’t dead, he was still clinging to life. They were gleaming exactly like an injured beast.

— I want this one.

As I approached the cage, fascinated, he glared back at me.

“Father, I’ve decided. Give me that one, please.”

It was the slave merchant who responded to me.

“Ah, that one’s on the brink of death, he’s really not fit for sale. He injured a customer a few days ago and was beaten for it. Even if you do buy him, I’m not sure he’ll last that long.”

“I don’t care. Father, is that a no?”

I was confident my father wouldn’t say no, but I got confirmation, just in case.

Sure enough, my father threw a fair amount of money at the merchant to buy the slave, and ordered that the slave should come with us immediately. The merchant wouldn’t likely complain, as long as he could get paid. Now in a good mood, he gave orders to a man who seemed to be a guard, who grabbed the slave by the shoulder and brought him over to us.

“You really alright with it?” My father asked, in the carriage on the way home.

I nodded, gently touching my slave’s eyes. He was so exhausted he’d passed out asleep.

“Don’t you think it would be interesting if I could make this into the very image of a valet?”

“Well, not sure I understand that idea, but it’s yours. Do whatever you’d like.”

“Yes, father.”

I healed his wounds, gave him food, taught him. He would be my dog, mine alone.

A clever dog would be nice.

If he didn’t turn out right, then I could just throw him away.

And if he grew up the way I hoped– I’d never let go of him.

So first, I had to give him a name. Mm, yeah, what about Tristan?

A few days after I got my dog, the first prince turned a gloomy eye on me. He’d always enjoyed those strange gifts so much, but they suddenly stopped, and he no longer rushed over to me when he saw me.

I wondered what was going on, and managed to approach him, but his attitude was stubborn.

Eventually, I gave up too, and from then on, I thought I should just enjoy my position as his fiancé. Maybe it was the whim of a child, or maybe he just got tired of me.

The way he’d always come running over like a puppy had been fun, so I did regret it a little, but I turned my interest to training my new puppy.

Suddenly, I came to.

It was like I’d had a long dream. Bearing up under the dull ache, I opened my eyes, and the sunset streamed over a familiar ceiling. Turning to look towards my bedside, my valet– Tristan was standing there.

“Hey, Tristan. Is it possible Prince Erik was jealous of you? It complicated everything, and now this is how it ended up?”

“Is that the first thing you have to say? How about you worry about your injuries?”

Tristan didn’t even try to conceal his bad mood. Yeah, there was that too. He wasn’t eager for me to go to The Fifth District to begin with, and the result of me pushing ahead with the plan anyway was that I got injured, and not lightly, either.

No wonder he was angry.

I sighed a bit, and still not lifting my head from the pillow, beckoned to Tristan, who drew near.

Once he was knelt down and in range, I wrapped my arms around his head and yanked his face close.

He let out a muffled grunt.

I’d say he was surprised, but he was plenty strong enough to have resisted. Even so, he didn’t refuse me, maybe because he was anxious about my injuries. He hadn’t opened his mouth very much, so I knocked with my tongue.

Tristan narrowed his eyes like I was a selfish child, but slowly opened his mouth.

I played around inside his mouth for a while, but he didn’t seem to be interested, and he didn’t wrap himself around my tongue. With nothing else to do, I released him, and turned my heated gaze on him.

“What’s wrong? You don’t seem happy about that.”

“Of course I’m not. I know the doctor said it wasn’t life-threatening, but you do have a head injury. I’m begging you, will you please rest!”

“What, were you worried about me?”

Expecting him to get angry, I grinning, trying to fan the flames. But Tristan suddenly scowled, his forehead going all wrinkly. His eyes got a little teary.

Seeing him like that, it was my turn to be startled.

“When I saw you pinned down like that, and bleeding, I was afraid you were going to die before we could get any help.”

He must not have wanted me to see his expression, because he slid his face down to meet my chest.

I’d thought the most effective way to influence Ambrose would be to get myself kidnapped alongside him. Which was why I’d left Tristan behind, I didn’t want him getting in the way, but I hadn’t thought it would affect him this much.

The head wounds, even comparing myself to Ambrose, who was about to be raped, was all to take advantage of Ambrose’s guilt and his goodness.

But still, seeing Tristan so frightened of losing me did make me regret it, just a little.

This was how I was going to make it out of this alive, but how was I supposed to tell him that?

“Ah.”

I tapped my valet on the shoulder, and when he’d gotten off me, I immediately removed my clothes. My abrupt actions caused a vacant expression to flash onto Tristan’s face.

“Lord Ulysses? Would you like to change your clothes?”

“Tristan, let’s do it.”

“Do it, do what?”

Tristan really didn’t get it, so I reached my hand out to his belt, but he immediately grabbed my hand.

“Wait, what do you think you’re doing?!”

“Hold me.”

“What!? Why would you– Didn’t I just tell you to rest!”

“If you could feel how warm I am, wouldn’t that make you feel better?”

He stopped moving, and I took advantage of the gap to shake off his arm.

By the time he started resisting again, I’d finished undoing his belt and had slipped my hand down his underpants. I grabbed “it,” which was already getting hot, and when I gently stimulated him, it got stiff right away.

“Wow, surprisingly enthusiastic, huh?”

“You– Because you’re touching me…!”

“Yeah I know.”

Putting my hair behind my ear with one hand, I lowered my head.

Tristan must have guessed my intention, and stood stock still, but I didn’t ask, only parted my lips.

I held the tip of him in my mouth, and then drank it in towards the back of my throat, being careful not to nip him with my teeth. Smothering him with the saliva that flooded my mouth, I kept my tongue still, and a small moan spilled down on me from above.

That reaction made me feel good, and I gently brushed his tip with the tip of my tongue. I heard a sound through clenched teeth, and something warm spread into my mouth.

I kissed him with the liquid still in my mouth. Tristan scowled, a disgusted look on his face, but he didn’t go against my wishes, and obediently parted his lips.

I heard a little gulping noise, and our lips parted.

“Didn’t think the day would come when you’d drink your own semen.”

“It was a valuable experience, I’m glad it happened.”

“Yeah, you look happy.”

I laughed, feeling great, and started taking off his shirt next. Perhaps realizing I was not going to quit, Tristan stopped my hands and took off his shirt himself. Turned out, he was the type to look slender in his clothing, because the act revealed the supple muscles of his upper body.

“This is what you’ve been hiding under your clothes all this time?”

“I trained thoroughly, under your guidance,” he joked, and lowered me gently onto the bed. Supporting my shoulders by wrapping his arm around behind me so the back of my head wouldn’t touch the sheets, he slowly opened my legs.

“Aren’t your arms going to get tired like this?”

“Fear not, I’m used to swinging a heavy sword around all day.”

“Really? Tell me if you get tired, riding on top might be fun t–”

He dropped a kiss on me, and I obediently fell silent.

His eyes turned from gentle, loyal dog to starving carnivorous beast. The same dazzling vitality that had charmed me all those years ago.

Gazing into those eyes, I suddenly smiled and wrapped my arms around his sturdy back.

I was penetrated by something with a hard core, and stopped breathing.

He kissed me on the corner of the eye, to soothe me, and I let out a little puff of air. Judging for himself when my body relaxed, he shoved his way deep inside, and I felt an indescribable pain.

My entire body was filled with Tristan.

When I got used to the heat, however, he pulled out again with a slow, slow motion. He was putting all his effort into it, trying to be kind with me, and a laugh that was more like a sigh slipped out of me.

“Haa– ugh.”

“Yeah–”

The gentle in and out was probably because he was thinking of my injuries.

Suddenly, he stimulated some shallow place, and without thinking I let out loud noise.

Feeling good about my reaction, Tristan relentlessly poked at it. A series of unbearably sexy noises spilled out of me. Ashamed at such an unfamiliar pleasure, I clung to Tristan’s chest, which was right in front of me.

“Ah, —-ugh!”

With an orgasm assaulting me, I clung tight to the arms wrapped around me.

Tristan must have been excited at the contractions inside me too, because a certain heat spilled from him. Feeling somehow proud, I accepted again those lips that had been laid on mine so many times during the congress.

He groaned again, the sound muffled against my lips.

“Lord Ulysses… What exactly are you thinking this time?”

His voice still had a trace of allure that gave off vibrations. But something in those words felt like trying to swallow a sword.

“What do you mean, what?”

“Please don’t dodge the question, sir. I said the other day that you’d changed, but then I retreated. You’ve been strange these last few days, it’s because something’s about to happen, isn’t it?”

I tried a vague smile. For a clever dog who’s regained his composure, that alone would convey my answer.

Combing his sticky hair back from his sweaty forehead, I smiled like a saint.

“If I ordered you to do something brutal, would you disdain me?”

“No, how many years do you think I’ve been your dog?”

“That is true, yes. Our time together isn’t so superficial as to ‘misunderstand’ my entire life after only a few days.”

That dying rag of a slave from that day had grown up to be just the dog I’d hoped for.

That loyalty only to me that I saw in Tristan’s eyes, without any hesitation or suspicion, filled me with satisfaction. Originally, he was the last seme .

But I would never hand him over to anyone, not Tristan.

“Good boy, Tristan. Here, lend me your ear. I’ll tell you a secret.”

I drew my lips close to Tristan’s ears, and whispered.