Chapter 13: In Which I Stand In The Hallway With A Woman Whose Name I Don’t Know For A Very Awkward Five Minutes

It took me a moment to process that offer with a very hot and extremely naked Princess pressed up against my own naked body, but then:

“No.”

She blinked, tilted her head to one side, raising an eyebrow as she tapped my nose with her finger.

“I mean, no, sorry, your highness… anything that involves the death of Master is not something I’ll ever agree to.”

“Okay, I can respect that. What if your Master agreed to it?”

I blinked. It wasn’t impossible. “...In that case, I will follow Master’s will. But I don’t think I’m as useful as you think I am, your highness.”

“Oh? Isn’t a slave with Mind Magic super useful?”

I studiously avoided her gaze, and she pulled back from me a little. “...you don’t have it, do you? Then how…?”

“I… Master is the one with Mind Magic.”

“An otherworlder with mind magic… most impressive, to learn so quickly, and be so self-controlled.” She tilted her head a bit to one side, and petted my head. “So this little bitch has been enchanted to have overwhelming loyalty to her Master, is that it?”

“I… I don’t know, your highness. I don’t know where my will ends and the magic begins.” I started sniffling, trying not to cry in front of royalty, or, at the very least, trying not to cry so much it looked ugly. “But you see how you can’t kill her, right?” She looked a little pained.

“Sasha… you’re just as–” a slight pause “...just as straightforward as they say… had you considered that it might be the case that I already knew your Master probably had mind magic, and was just checking to make sure before I got rid of her if she did?” I stiffened and looked at her in horror and started crying more. The Princess Asperia sighed and petted me.

“Mmm, there there…” Her voice was like comforting a particularly stupid pet, but there was affection in it, at least. “I’m going to throw a Null spell in your head and wipe all your current Mind Magic enchantments, and once you recover, you’re going to tell me how loyal you’re feeling towards your master.”

I looked at her warily. “Um… I have no issue with that, your majesty. Thank you.”

She stared at me for a long moment, and then giggled. “I’m sorry, but you’re hilarious. Such a natural fool. I can see why your Master keeps you around.” She put her hand on my forehead. “That wasn’t an offer, by the way. I was just stating what was going to happen, so you’d have some idea what was going on when you woke up.”

The world erupted into unbearable pain and confusion, and I blacked out.

When I awoke, I was covered in sweat, and my body felt unwieldy… I was lying on the floor next to a chair in a bedroom… not one I was familiar with. I staggered to my feet, and… hmm. A smaller room than I was used to… no… something felt weird between my legs… and my breasts felt less heavy… I reached down, touched myself all over, more in confusion than anything, and realized I had smaller breasts, a stronger frame, and something between my legs, apparently Sasha’s transmutation hadn’t reached that far.

...All the mind magic had been wiped, and apparently, that included the body swap. I was free.

Sasha, on the other hand, was in Princess Asperia’s clutches. Exactly what the Princess wanted.

I could guess – but not be sure – that I had woken up first. Maybe experience with mind magic made you wake up first, but otherwise, this body from another world was way tougher in any number of ways than a local one.

I realized I could probably think of my name of the past, but also that I didn’t really want to, that I was deliberately avoiding it so far. Had I become that used to being Sasha? Or maybe that name was attached to all the foolish things I had done in this world when I was in charge.

Maybe I was worried that if I reached for that name, it just… wouldn’t be there anymore. That Sasha hadn’t so much enchanted that, as wiped it from my mind entirely.

Was Mind Magic able to do that? I had no idea.

I lay down on the bed, and stared up at the ceiling, in my body that now felt so unfamiliar, and not just because it had been changed.

I had three basic paths.

First, I could go to Princess Asperia and try to serve her, and accept she had Sasha. She seemed very willing to kill me, but as long as I was a loyal chess piece, I don’t think she’d go out of her way to kill me… if I handed over Sasha.

Second, I could demand Sasha back from her. I didn’t know if that would go well.

Third, I could go to Princess Adeline… but if Sasha joined Princess Asperia’s side, that’d mean we were enemies.

Well, it wasn’t like I could decide this alone. Sasha’s choices also mattered. She could probably negotiate for whatever she wanted, really. Maybe even mind-control Princess Asperia, depending on how having our minds switched and the control spells on the collar worked.

...where had Sasha left our body anyway?

I stood up, and walked over to look out the window. A… courtyard? Judging from the tower layout… yes, this was the royal castle. It had a name, but heck if I could remember what that name was at the moment.

My head still hurt, but the pain was already beginning to recede.

I strode out into the hall, and the guard standing there – a woman, I remember all of Princess Asperia’s staff I’ve seen being women, now that I thought about it – bowed to me.

“Good evening, Hero From Another World. Do you wish to wait somewhere else for Princess Asperia’s summons? Perhaps in the gardens, or the library?” She smiled a relaxed smile at me.

“Um…” Okay, she was making it really hard to threaten her. “I really need to speak to Princess Asperia right now.”

Her smile vanished. “I’m afraid that’s impossible. I thought you understood that. You must wait for her highness’s summons.”

“Well, I guess I’m going to have to look around, then.”

She moved to put her hand on her longsword, and I stepped forward and drew it from her scabbard before she did, took hold of it by the blade and offered it to her.

She hesitantly took the hilt, and I let go, leaving the blade in her hand.

“Look… I’d rather not fight. I’m sure you can call up an alarm, but if things actually start to get difficult, that just means I’ll have to be less gentle with the people who get in my way.”

“We’re all willing to fight to the death for her,” the Princess’s guard stated bravely.

“Look, I’m not even sure we’re enemies, just, I’ve gotten some information that she was talking about having me killed… let’s go find someone else to send as a messenger, and I’ll give her five minutes to arrive before I start doing things. Even if you’re all fanatically loyal, for some reason, I don’t see why you should throw away your lives when it might not have value.”

She furrowed her brow and stared at me for a moment, then nodded. “Carla!”

Another guardswoman came out of a nearby hall.

The guardswoman I had been chilling with didn't look away from me, but hearing her footsteps, said “Our guest is making threats if her highness doesn’t come talk to her in five minutes. Go tell her that.”

Carla glared at me, said “be safe” quietly to the first guardswoman, and rushed off.

We stood there for a bit. It was really awkward, actually. She had a dash of freckles across her cheeks, and green eyes… I couldn’t make out what her hair looked like with her helmet on. I finally broke the silence.

“So, um… what’s your name?”

“Does it really matter, Hero from Another World?”

“...well, if you don’t want to tell it to me… why are you all so loyal to Princess Asperia?”

“Why are your limbs so loyal to your body?”

I stared at her uncomprehendingly. She stared back. I cleared my throat. “...I don’t get it, sorry.”

“Look. If your head dies, the rest of your body dies too, right?”

“...I mean, yeah?”

“So guarding your head with your arm makes sense, even if you lose the arm.”

“Sure.”

“Now in this metaphor,” the guardswoman explained patiently, “Princess Asperia is the head.”

“...Ah.”

“...what happens in a succession dispute when the loser loses?” I shrugged helplessly.

The guardswoman stared. “...obviously, a lot of loser’s followers are executed, enslaved, exiled, or otherwise marginalized. The body comes to it’s end, as do most of it’s constituent parts.”

“Ah. That sort of succession dispute. So you have no choice but to be loyal.”

She stared at me. “I could in theory, maybe betray Princess Asperia, and maybe, just maybe, get a good deal for myself… but we’re like a family. I’d be selling out all of my sisters, as well as the Princess, who has done a lot for me. So if you threaten the Princess, you’re threatening all of us. Please remember that.”

I nodded, and shrugged a little. “I... don’t even want to fight her, I just don’t want her to kill me or Sasha. We came here to try to enter an alliance with her, and she’s gone all backstabby.”

“I see.”

Another short time passed, with her steadily keeping her gaze on me as I looked around the hall as if it would reveal some miracle.

I looked back over to her. “...do you have a watch?”

“As if I could afford such a thing. You don’t?”

“Mmm, never came up. I have no idea if it’s been five minutes.”

“It hasn’t.”

“Okay.”

Another short pause.

“Should I tell you when it has?”

“No, then I might feel I need to do something. I more meant ‘about five minutes’ rather than ‘exactly five minutes’, you know. Give it a sense of urgency.”

“Ah.”

Fuck this was awkward.

In what felt like eons, but was probably less then ten minutes, total, we heard footsteps. Princess Asperia arrived, wearing a much more formal-looking white dress with intricate little patterns of gems inlaid along it, as well as several women from both directions of the hall, all dressed differently, guards and mages and such I gathered, but my attention was focused on her.

Princess Asperia looked at me. “I had heard you were threatening my people.”

I smiled. “Funny, I had heard you were threatening my person.”

She blinked a few times. “What sort of magic…?”

“Why would I explain that to you? Now, do you want to talk this out like reasonable people, your highness? Your people seem cute, and I’d hate to harm them because a little mistake you made.”

Princess Asperia stared at me for a long moment, then waved her hand, and everyone else, including the guardswoman who had been guarding me, retreated down the hall a little ways. She walked closer to me and stared up into my eyes, but we both knew the situation of power had changed. She had literally placed herself in the palm of my hand, but despite this, a smile played around her lips. Maybe I wasn’t right about that.

“I’m sorry you heard that. If you were coming here to end slavery, and your slave said you deserved to die, you wouldn’t be worthy of keeping alive, would you? But she spoke fairly highly of you, considering what you did to her mind. Or because of what you did to her mind, perhaps? Worried her opinion of you will change without all your mind magic on her?” Fuck.

“I’m sure her opinion of me won’t have changed at all.”

“Why do you want to end slavery?”

“It’s wrong.”

“...wrong?”

“Evil?”

She shrugged. “All power has the potential to be abused. I’m quite kind to my slaves and other followers… and there isn’t as much difference in freedom between them as you might think.”

“Slaves who their masters don’t want are sold to the arena as fodder.”

“Yes, well, I do hate the arena, so we’re agreed in that area. If I had the power, I’d close it down… I’m sure there would be rioting.” She laughed at the idea, as if rioting was a delightful amusement, then shook her head and looked back in my eyes again.

“Still, the animalfolk do need to be kept down in some way. I’m not sure stuffing them all in some sort of… I don’t know, late-life orphanage where they wait for death would be much kinder.”

“...why do they need to be kept down? Why can’t they just be people like anyone else?”

She blinked. “Well, they’ll constantly try to get more and more power, become equals and all that, won’t they? Despite their inadequacies. The humans are used to them being inferior, and will try to grind them under the feet to keep their own status.” I tried to ignore her implicit support of their inferior status based in part on unstated "inadequacies", and instead focused on trying to convince her.

“...I thought you enjoyed chaos.”

She giggled. “Oh, yeah, that’s true, actually. I don’t do it for the fun of it, but if you’re going to do something, be good at it, and enjoy it, you know?”

“How about we go wait for Sasha to wake up together.”

“Mmm… sure, but you’re going without a weapon, and in chains.”

“...That hardly seems fair.”

She reached up and stroked my cheek. “We both know you can break chains regardless. I just need to have it look like I won in front of my followers, since you made such a big deal of it. Oh, while you’re at it, kneel in front of me.” I could feel my face getting hot, but… there wasn’t really a reason I needed to look like the winner here, while I had her at my mercy physically just by being within range of my attacks.

“...sure, fine.” I unbuckled my greatsword from my back, and let it drop to the ground, then kneeled in front of her, and Princess Asperia laughed delightedly, and gestured to the freckled guardswoman forwards to set manacles on my wrists and ankles, and chain them together.

Princess Asperia smiled down at me, and beckoned me to rise to my feet, which I did.

Her smile remained as she looked up into my eyes. “This little game is proving more amusing than I originally planned.”

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