Royal Princess of Blood

The keep had a bath of its own, and we used that one. It felt so good to finally be clean, the sticky, grimy stuff on my skin finally being washed off. To make things easier when grabbing water and basically save time, Miyako and I had to take a bath together. Yeah… we were here together. Taking a bath together.

As the water dripped from my body, I caught her staring at me, a faint sign of red on her cheeks. I acted all shy and gently wrapped my arms around my body.

"I-Is something wrong?"

Miyako flinched, as though snapping her out of her trance before looking away with an awkward smile. "N-No, nothing. It's just… You have a soft, fragile looking body. I didn't expect it from someone as powerful as you."

I smiled slightly and glanced at my perfect, flawless pale body. "Is that so? I do try to maintain a specific shape."

She shyly glanced at me for a moment before looking away again. "You really are not a warrior."

"Of course not. However, I have to rely more on magic." I also stared at her body. She also had a great, curvy body, pretty attractive. Unlike me, though, she had a more toned and slightly muscular body. She even had signs of abs. Still, those didn't take away her femininity. "You have a pretty body yourself, Miyako."

"R-Really?" She became a bit flustered, looking at the floor.

She looked so adorable that I was quite tempted to tease her for a bit. A little bit of playful seduction. But I resisted it. Wouldn't want another Mera incident here. No more playing with anyone's heart from now on… Maybe.

"Really. You appear to be physically stronger than me." That meant without any magic. I poured water on myself, and Miyako did the same. "You must have been training at a young age."

"Yes. But my father was surprisingly lenient with me."

"You expected rough training?" I started gently rubbing my skin with a cloth.

"I have seen how others train. So yes, I expected it." She also started rubbing her body with cloth.

"Despite the leniency, you still came out pretty well. Not every strict training is good. And it is certainly not for everyone."

I had seen plenty of my fellow children breakdown during our education. They were quite pitiful, and because some refused to push through it and improve, they typically just got discarded or died along the way. I was one of those that broke down, but… I pushed through.

"Still, special treatment doesn't feel good sometimes."

"You're your father's daughter. Be proud that he didn't put you through intense hardship."

She lowered her head. "If I got an intense training, you think I'd be stronger than I currently am? Could I have defeated those people that chased us?"

I sensed she was feeling regret. Resisting the urge to sigh, I walked up to her. Suddenly, I extended my index finger and caressed the back of her waist.

"Eeeeh!" She flinched and jumped away. "W-What are you d-doing?!" She almost looked like a shuddering cat.

"What's with the needless regret? You're already plenty strong in my opinion. You think putting you through hellish training would not trouble your father?"

Her brows furrowed. "... I… I guess it would."

"You should really appreciate the efforts of your parents. Especially if it's for your benefit. You'd never know when you start looking back on your memories, longing to feel them again."

"To feel them again…?"

I smiled slightly. "Value their efforts, Miyako. You'd never know when you'll get them last."

Miyako slightly tilted her head, narrowing her eyes. "Estelia… Could it be? How are your parents?"

I hardened myself, the pain resurfacing in my heart. "... My father is fine, last I heard."

"... And your mother?" Her gaze turned gentle while looking into my eyes.

"Uh… Well… She's gone. Just recently, in fact."

"... Estelia… I'm sorry. What happened?"

I shook my head. "There's no need to talk about that."

"But—"

I held out my fingers towards her. "Want me to tickle you again?"

"Eh? No, but—"

I lunged at her and started tickling her on the sides. Her body was a bit on a slightly stiff side. But it was still quite smooth and soft enough to tickle efficiently. "What about it now, huh?!"

She writhed around, laughing uncontrollably, and moist coming out of the corner of her eyes. She tried getting away, but I prevented her. "Hahaha! That t-tickles, Estelia! Stop!"

"Stop with the unnecessary regrets. Okay?"

She started slapping my hands as she continued on giggling. "Okay, okay! I will."

"And value your parents' efforts, understand?"

"I understand!"

"Good!" But I kept on tickling her.

"Mmm! Alright, you're asking for it!" She then suddenly started ticking me back. A damn counterattack!

"Hey now!"

"Hehe. You won't mind a little revenge, don't you?"

I started backing away as she tickled my sides. I muffled my laughs, it was embarrassing. I tried tickling back, but she was relentless.

Eventually, she slipped on the wet floor and dragged me down with her.

"Ah!"

"Oh!"

I landed on my back, and Miyako held out her hands to the ground. But she was right above me, our faces an inch off, and I could feel her warm breath. Ah, this was an unintended incident. She was slightly blushing before she quickly shifted her face slightly away. But she kept staring down at me with a gentle gaze.

We should really get off…

"Are you okay, Estelia?"

"... Y-Yeah, I'm fine." She had not yet moved. Our bodies were so close to each other that I felt our bare, soft legs touching.

"... Estelia… You keep a lot of secrets."

"Is that so…?" I maintained a straight face.

"But I just had a glimpse of your life. I wish you could tell me, even for just a bit, more about you. About what happened to you. To your family."

I looked away. "... My mother was killed during an assault on our palace. I couldn't save her. I failed to save her."

"... That's terrible… You must have loved her very much."

"... I did. She didn't deserve to die. She was the sweetest person I have ever known." I closed my eyes, resisting the tears coming out of my eyes.

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She loved me so much. She showed it to me many, many times… Such a thing was alien to me once.

"I sense you have been bottling all your feelings. But, it's okay to be open with me. As your friend, you can show weakness to me. Express your feelings."

"Friend…?"

She smiled tenderly, and she gently leaned forward, placing her warm forehead on mine. "I hope you can be more open, even just sometimes. Can you do that?" She whispered.

I pondered about it. It was never my intention to do that. Miyako was just someone I met recently. But… She was more sympathetic than I expected. To force me into this situation. I commend how daring she was.

"Okay," I said.

"Then, for now, can you tell me how wonderful she was?"

I smiled as the corner of my eyes moistened. "I'll… I'll be happy to."

***

It's cooking time!

We were currently outside, with a large table we brought out. Yeah, this was an outdoor cookout! My cloak and combat outfit were also hung under the sun, along with Miyako's clothes. They likely wouldn't dry up tomorrow when we were to leave, but we've just decided to use our magic to speed things up.

We were wearing the clothes we found in the keep, from the demon's room. My current clothes were a bit baggy, but it was fine.

Satomi and Nira also went to take a bath. I also gave them the sheets for them to clean. Those have been dirty for a while now, best to clean them up before continuing our adventure tomorrow.

I was slicing the meat, while Miyako was cutting up and crushing the fruits and vegetables — if you could even call those that. Miyako was the one to be the chef for today. Yeah, so much of Chef Estelia coming right up, but I just had no good idea on how to properly cook these ingredients. So I was following Miyako's lead.

From the way she moves in cutting all the stuff, she looked pretty proficient. Therefore, our prospect of finally eating some good food was bright. After some slicing, we placed the ingredients into the pot with boiling water. Yeah, we were making some sort of soup.

But soup was not the only thing we'd be making. As we let the soup into the flames, I poured some oil on a pan. Once the cooking oil was hot enough, Miyako placed small vegetables on it before putting some flatly sliced monster meat. She then sprinkled some spice powder on it. Like a pro, she started flipping the contents of the pan.

I checked up on the pot, opening it and smelled the aroma. The soup had the color of dark orange and was now a bit sticky. As instructed by our chef, I stirred the pot. Miyako removed her pan from the flames and carefully placed the dishes on the plates. She arranged the dishes to make them look presentable. Which was pretty nice, love me some presentation.

Amidst our cooking, Satomi and Nira returned carrying their wet clothes and the sheets, which they hung on some strings under the sun.

"Oh, I know these," Satomi said as she checked the fried meat on the table. "They're delicious."

Miyako nodded with a smile. "Reminds you of home, doesn't it?"

"It truly does."

Miyako checked the soup pot and used a spoon to taste it. She nodded. "It's okay now. Let's bring it out of the fire."

Miyako and I lifted the pot and placed it on the table. She removed the lid to let out the steaming heat. It actually smelled very good, really made the monster meat, and those nasty-looking fruits and vegetables, feel pretty edible. Seeing all the food only made me more hungry.

Miyako started scooping and pouring the soup into some bowls. Satomi and Nira brought some chairs and lined them up.

"You guys can go and sit down," Miyako said.

And so we did. Nira and I sat down next to each other. Satomi placed the plates with the fried food in our respective positions, followed by Miyako's bowls filled with steaming soup. We grabbed spoons and forks.

I glanced at Nira, she looked quite excited as she stared at the food. Miyako and Satomi sat opposite of us, the former nodding with a smile, seemingly pleased with the overall result.

"Let us eat!" she said with a clap.

And so we started eating. I started with the fried food, made sure it was dipped in the sauce before putting the slice of meat into my mouth. The sweetness spread all over my tongue, and the chewiness of it was just enough. I added some of the vegetables and it was very nice.

I savored every flavor, smiling in satisfaction. This was what I was looking for when taking over this place. It was incredibly worth it! It was miles away from the shit I've been eating out there in the deadly wilderness. I leaned back in my chair as I held back the tears of joy that threatened to come out, and I succeeded.

I also went on to taste the soup. The warmth, the flavor, it was all so heavenly. Was it because I just hadn't eaten something good in a long time? Or was Miyako just a good cook? Definitely both.

"It's very delicious, Miyako!" I said with visible enthusiasm. "Really made all our efforts here worth it."

She shyly chuckled. "T-Thank you." She then turned at Nira, who was continuously devouring the food in front of her. "Hehe, do you like it, Nira?" She said tenderly.

Nira paused and slowly backed away, avoiding everyone's eyes. "Y-Yes."

"I see, that is good. Keep on eating, they're better while still warm."

The little girl pointed a frowning look at Miyako before continuing to eat. The latter wryly smiled, I was sensing quite a bit of tension there.

"Nira's warming up to me." Miyako smiled widely.

"Is that so? I didn't know she was acting otherwise." Nira was interacting well with them before.

"Yeah, I said something she didn't like."

"Huh." That seemed like an issue between the two of them, so I decided not to probe and let themselves smooth it out. "By the way, Miyako, can you tell me about the thing you used against the demon?" I asked as I continued eating.

"Oh, the blood art… Yeah, it didn't work as intended."

"Really? It looked like it worked in a way."

"The demon just shrugged it off, so might as well be useless. I don't know why it didn't work well."

"What is it anyway?"

"It's an art passed down in my family line. It is said to be a technique that is used against demons, one that my family of old used to fight. However, somehow, the art has been losing its strength."

"Maybe you're doing it wrong?" I drank some water. It was already boiled beforehand, by the way. So we were safe.

"... Could be. The art has not been very important to us in a long time. It's only been a tradition within our family."

"I heard it was once used by many warriors in the far past," Satomi added.

"But likely because of the situation the island is in, it has not been passed down properly." Miyako scooped some of the soup. "The result was as you have seen."

Blood art… It definitely had some connection with the goddess of blood. She definitely taught them that magic to fight against the demons, the gods' enemies. But the losing effectiveness of it, could it be because the goddess was dead? No, the blood art seemed to be another variety of Holy Magic.

Thinking back on the demon, they probably had a role in why the art lost some popularity. It would be in their best interest. And they have won. Because even the elite warrior, Satomi, couldn't cast it.

"So you pray while casting it?"

"Yes. That's how it was taught to me. So I just said the words."

I smiled. "Just said the words, huh? I am under the impression that your blood art is not far from the holy magic my people use back home."

"Holy magic?"

"Are you sincere with the prayer, Miyako?"

"Sincere…? I guess…?"

"Do you even know who you are praying to?"

She remained silent, having no answer.

"Holy magic requires faith."

"Faith? To a god…?" She and Satomi looked at each other. "We actually don't worship any god."

I sipped some soup before continuing. "Of course." In this place, who would believe in a god? A place forsaken by them. "Faith to a god is pretty good. But there are other kinds of faith. Like faith in your weapons, having faith that they will grant you salvation." I was just echoing Taneva's words.

Intensity of holy magic may depend on your mana, but it also depends whether you cast it properly. If you didn't, it was like using a defective product. The amount of mana was pointless if it was failing in the first place. And in this case, it was to have proper faith. And if it is proper, then you can smoothly pour mana into it, and utilize it the way it should be.

"Salvation..."

"As you use your blood and imbue it on your weapon, my guess would be having faith in yourself and especially in the weapon that you would have salvation, and be saved from evil."

Miyako lowered her head, placing a hand on her chin. "... I never thought of it that way. How do you know this?"

"The friends whom I got separated from were practicing holy magic."

"Your friends… So you are preparing to fight demons?"

"Of course. This archipelago is close to their island, no?"

"... Well, not like demons are pretty prevalent here. It's rare to encounter them."

Or maybe they were already hiding amongst you.

"I see… But it's best to be prepared."

"... Faith and salvation… Should I try to have faith in the god I was praying to in the prayer?"

"Do you even know who that god is?"

"... No."

"Would it even be sincere?"

"... I don't know."

"Then it's best to try other ways first. That being said, depending on how this blood art was designed, it may or may not need faith in the god you pray to. Or just having faith in your weapon or your own blood would be enough."

She faintly nodded. "… I understand. But what about you, Estelia? You used the same blood art, didn't you?"

"... Yes."

"But yours is way more potent. You must have strong faith."

Well, I do have faith in my weapons.

"... In a way. But it's not exactly the source of its power. The concept may be somewhat the same, but the execution is way different."

"Can you teach me that?"

I shook my head. "I'm afraid it won't work. Mine is a special case. Think of it as an innate ability."

"Innate?" She seemed surprised. "So it's not just some spell or technique?"

"I guess, yeah. But you don't have to really focus on mine when you already have your own way of doing it."

"... I suppose so."

To think they even forgot about the existence of the goddess of blood. The demons did a lot of work, it would seem. Well, considering they have millennia to do just that, it wasn't that too surprising. What's more surprising was that their blood art still existed. How admirable. Even though crappy.

"Maybe you could try having faith in the goddess, it would easily work," Nira suddenly said. And everyone knew which goddess she was talking about.

I wryly laughed and placed a hand on top of Nira's head. "N-Nice joke, Nira. But f-focus on eating, okay?"

Although, she was kinda right. It would be easier if they just have genuine faith in a god. But as if they would think of me that way. I mean, even Velar and Hartwin found it weird and were absolutely hesitant to do it. In a way, would it even be true faith?

I could feel Satomi's deep gaze at me, like she was scrutinizing me or something. But I just disregarded it. Really no need to make these two people weirded out by my circumstance, which was quite a big deal. Wouldn't want to go like 'Oh hey, I'm kinda the daughter of the goddess that was deeply involved in why your island became like this. And oh yeah, I'm also kinda a goddess myself.' Yeah, going through that would be bothersome.

Better to keep things simple.