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Princess Hoshimachi Suisei rules the Xaverian Kingdom. She has a partner called Sakura Miko. One day, Miko had a mission to gather herbs to make a potion for the Xaverian Kingdom. But, in the middle of her journey, she is caught by other kingdoms who are envious of the rich gold mine owned by the Xaverian Kingdom.
It's been a week since Suisei asked her army to do research, but they didn't find any information leading to any clues. Suisei then got support from her companions: Calli, Izuru, and Astel. Finally, thanks to the help from her companions, they knew who kidnapped Miko. Together, they came up with a strategy to save Miko and bring her back home.
“So, they want to negotiate with me?”
Suisei asked with a frown on her face.
“Yes, I was surprised. They want to talk with Suisei-san directly.”
“Is it okay to handle it in this way?”
Upon hearing the question from Astel, Suisei considered for a while, then she finally nodded and replied.
“It’s fine I think. I have a plan and I’m sure it will work out best. I’ve also got a few traps set up elsewhere. If this one doesn’t work out, we will go with plan B.”
Suisei explained while laughing easily.
“Ah, Suisei-sama. Right on time.”
Upon entering the castle, Suisei was shown into not the audience hall but one of several parlors.
“With the topic being what it is, I thought we’d talk in here where there won’t be any prying ears.”
“I have no objections. However…”
Suisei trailed off, sitting down on the sofa and looking straight ahead, behind the king—at what seemed to look like a prime minister, who was standing there.
“Why is he here?”
“Ah, he’s a new prime minister, but he’s got a real knack for it. He’s been assisting me in various matters lately.”
“Oh I see.”
Suisei responded in a socially acceptable way. In fact, she felt bored and wanted this to end quickly.
Elcatra had a long history even though it had nothing on Xaverian. Without doubt, this meant many of the vassals had inherited their positions. Which meant there was something off about the king to keep a new prime minister like that guy by his side.
When the new prime minister had visited Xaverian, Suisei had been impressed that he had managed to butter up the king enough to become an envoy. In truth, his cunning couldn’t be denied. But even Suisei had not imagined that someone with almost nothing in the way had managed to get this close to the seat of power.
Meanwhile, Calli was standing in the back. There was some concern she might run wild due to the fact the prime minister and the king of Elcatra, Alphonse, are written on her death note—but surprisingly, she was acting very calm, looking down, her breath steady, holding herself together.
I guess we should be fine.
Suisei thought while looking at her surroundings. There were only four people in the room. Led by Astel, Izuru and the guards were waiting outside. If there were signs of any trouble, Suisei planned to call them, but from the look of things, she could manage this by herself.
“Well then, Suisei-sama. Let’s start things off. How did your kingdom respond to our offer?”
“I was given a number of conditions, but overall, the responses were favorable. With yourself included, I will have the majority vote.”
“Splendid.” king Alphonse gave a look of admiration.
“The reason you’ve gotten this far. There is no doubt you carry on an outstanding lineage, Suisei-sama. I want to introduce you to my son.”
“Anyway, I haven’t seen the queen and I also haven’t heard a thing about your children too.”
Suisei didn’t want to hear him compliment her because she wanted to get access to the secret room in the kingdom as soon as possible, so she tried to shift the topic.
“Ah, those aren’t my children.”
“...Not your children?”
“In spite of the excellent mentors I hired, none of them produced excellent results. There was no way they could be mine…”
Alphonse got that far then stopped.
“I apologize for going off track.”
He sounded troubled.
“My unfaithful ex-wife and children were executed, so you won’t have to suffer the presence of such vile beings, Suisei-sama. Please don’t worry about it.”
“Say, Alphonse-sama. Did you have a definite proof?”
“Proof?”
Alphonse’s lips turned into an odd frown.
“What a thing to say. They didn’t produce results worthy of the blood. That was enough to prove they couldn’t possibly share the grand blood of a disciple.”
“...”
Tsk… Guess I can’t negotiate well with this kind of person, what a pain in the ass.
Suisei mentally thumbed through her options again, because none of them were decent people.
Alphonse must have taken Suisei’s rumination as disapproval of his own claim. He appeared sorely displeased.
“Suisei-sama, it seems you don’t understand the importance of blood.”
“No, I’m not.”
“You don't need to feel ashamed. After all, you're still young, and you still have a lot to learn.”
“I see.”
Suisei nodded.
HEH… WHAT A DUMBASS.
He was expecting his child to be a genius, he’s deifying his bloodline too much! No wonder his retainers left him…
She cut down the king’s claim in a single stroke.
The king’s policy was if it’s a pain, I’m not doing it. I’ll decide everything by blood.
Suisei couldn’t stand the idea of a king engaging in this behavior.
I AM GONNA LAY YOU OUT!!
She thought in a rush. Suisei felt nothing but disgust.
“Hmph… seems I got heated. My apologies, Suisei-sama.”
“Please, I thought nothing of it.”
Suisei wasn’t lying. She really didn’t think anything of it. In fact, she couldn’t care less.
“I’ve always been quick to lose my cool. And these days, I haven’t even been distracted by…”
The king trailed off.
“Come to think of it, I forgot something. I actually have a favor I wanted to ask of you, Suisei-sama.”
“A favor? What might that be?
Suisei gave a hollow response. She believed it had to do with the gold mine.
But since she was already considering cutting ties with king Alphonse, she was hesitant to blow more money on him.
Heh if it is about the gold mine. Well, depending on the conditions he put in, I can just cut off our relations and destroy this castle.
“Can you lend me those lava-covered minions you keep as a pet in Xaverian?”
“—Huh?”
It took Suisei a few seconds to process the request. That was a slur of choice of words for her companions whose status is lower than her right now.
“What do you need them for?”
“I am thinking of using them as prey in my hunt. Chasing around beasts can get boring, and hunting people is an unforgivable sin. I’m nothing but grateful to our great and merciful God for providing humanoid prey for us.”
“….”
Suisei fell into silence.
“I hunted those lava-covered minions as a hobby. You’re keeping them in Xaverian so they won’t go extinct, right?”
“And you probably keep a high quality one as well, right?”
“….”
From the back of the room, Calli noticed something. Suisei sat in front of her, and something inside Suisei had changed.
King Alphonse must have sensed it too, because he tilted his head in puzzlement.
“Is there something wrong, Suisei-sama?”
“Ah, no, I’m just doing some calculations.”
Suisei replied in a troubled tone.
“Calculations?”
“Yeah. But it’s already over, so please be at ease.”
“By the way, Alphonse-sama, do I have to decide now or later?”
“Which one do you prefer?”
“Hmm? For something this small, you don’t need to worry too much, Suisei-sama.”
“Let's decide now.”
“I see. Well, then…”
Suisei smiled, she bent forward over the desk----or that was what it had looked like
“Goodbye Alphonse!”
She drove a kick right into king Alphonse’s face.
“Your highness, that sounds just now---”
The weapons pierced the forehead of the guard who had opened the door, corpse ready to pitch out into the hallway.
Another guard was about to enter the room but Astel came from behind and kicked them all out of the way.
“Suisei-san, what hap—? Oh, okay I get it.”
Surveying the inside of the room, Astel understood in an instant.
“I’ll keep guard outside, but please make your next move quickly.”
Izuru came in too and tossed the golden axe to Suisei.
“Yeah I won’t be long.”
Axe in hand, Suisei walked toward the collapsed Alphonse, who was still writhing in agony.
“(cough) Wh- what is the meaning of this? Who are you?”
Every inch of Alphonse’s face said he didn’t understand the situation. Suisei looked down on him coldly.
“Well, you did say we should decide now. So let’s get to it.”
Suisei prodded king Alphonse’s throat with her axe.
“W- wait! I am the elite descendant, you know!”
“Do you have no respect for it?!”
“What a trash.”
Without a shred of mercy or hesitation, Suisei was swinging the axe, cleaving it into his head.
King Alphonse gave a soundless cry before growing still. The metallic scent of blood filled the room.
“Calli.”
Drawing the golden axe back, Suisei turned around.
When she called out to her, Calli jolted, shocked by the chain of events she’d just witnessed.
“U- Um, Suisei-senpai, what are you going to do?”
“Relax. More importantly, can you do something to him?”
Suisei pointed out her finger toward the prime minister, who was still cowering in fear on the floor.
“Feel free if you want to settle it by your own scythe.”
“Wa- Wait! Wait! Wait!! Please wait!! Please forgive me, I’ll never speak about this to anyone!”
“Hell no. That won’t bring me any benefit.”
Suisei was leaving the prime minister at a loss for words.
"Please, I can lead you to Sakura Miko’s whereabouts. I swear to God that I won’t betray you!"
Upon hearing that, Suisei smiled in amusement.
“Good thing you mentioned about her, Calli, you can rack his brain first to gain some information before you take his soul.”
“Ah, I’m glad! Finally, it’s my time to shine!”
Calli faced the prime minister and swung down her scythe. His face paled, he tried to dodge the scythe, scrambling to escape. Though how unfortunate, it’s a dead end, he was quickly driven toward the wall.
“Eek…! Ple- Please wait! Please don’t kill me!”
“Enough of your bullshit! I am relieved I had locked your magic power previously. You can’t escape this time.”
He looked at Calli right in front of him—shuddering with a gasp.
“No wonder, you seem familiar. That face… You’re…!”
“Alright. Information acquired. I’ll send you to the afterlife.”
The scythe was thrust right before his neck, then it ran through him.
“---so in the end, Calli and I handled things with assassination again.”
Suisei finished speaking as she swayed along on her horse. Riding next to her, Astel covered his eyes.
“Ah I see.”
Astel was shocked a bit while maintaining to keep calm.
“Impressive Suisei-san.”
Izuru turned to speak.
"All of you, enough with the compliments. We still have other things to settle quickly."
After that, all of them just smiled and nodded.
They finally arrived back at Xaverian castle.
“Okay now I am going to tell you what I’ve observed from the enemy’s movement.”
Suisei spread the map, placed the pawns, and spoke in detail. She had designated soldiers for this attack, their route to take advance, and possible escape routes.
Calli, Izuru, and Astel had been unable to hide their admiration.
It was information anyone could have gathered if they had taken more time to investigate the Elcatra army.
They wondered how many people could actually pull off such a thing?
On top of this plan, Suisei had made the Xaverian guards practice travelling down the mountain on horseback before.
As expected, She had been drawing this plan in her head ever since.
“Alright that’s it, we can save Miko-chi and bring her home after that. Any questions?”
There hadn’t been any. Because they have confidence this plan would work.
—And here they were.
The group of cavalrymen galloped past the confusion and chaos spreading among the Elcatra tactician and advisors as the flames started to engulf them.
“What the heck?!”
“Wake our magicians up to help put out the flames! It’s spreading!”
“It’s the Xaverian cavalry! They came back! I saw them start the fire!”
Frantic roars and screams leaped out of their mouths. But nothing more happened.
By the time the Elcatra forces recovered from their state of shock and were about to cast their magic, the enemy was already long gone, kicking up dust in their wake.
“How foolish of them. They really fell for it, I can’t stop laughing!”
Astel listened to the excited voices clamoring behind him. There was no doubt it’d been a success. The unit had rushed down the mountain before the snoozing magicians had a chance to respond.
“Thanks to that, we were able to pass through.”
They’ve done a good job, Izuru and the other soldiers’ faces relaxed. However, unlike the others, Astel was tense. Because to a sea of one thousand, a group of twenty soldiers was nothing more than a pebble. If they misread the direction of the current, the small Xaverian detachment faced the possibility of being crushed to dust in an instant. Though that was the reason Suisei had chosen Astel as a commander.
“Go to the right!”
Astel yelled, and the soldiers simultaneously made a quick turn.
As they shifted their gaze to the hill in front of them, they realised that the initial chaos had subsided and about a hundred of Elcatra soldiers were pulling themselves together and gathering into formation.
If the men on horseback had just plunged left on in, their movements would’ve been halted.
“That’s our captain Astel for you. That’s one sharp nose.”
Izuru just praised his friend in a proud voice.
“Nah, I’m just doing things according to the plan, I don’t wanna ruin Suisei-san’s perfect plan after all.”
Astel replied while looking at the map once again. He breathed out as a strange rumbling reached the ground beneath them.
“Alright! All units, escape formation!”
The horses had their physical limits. After exerting all their energy to wreak havoc on the Elcatra, the soldiers had to get out of there before it became impossible for the horses to move altogether. This thundering noise was their cue.
Well, to be exact, it was more than just a signal. It was another plan being carried out, not at all related to Astel’s group.
“Don’t get out of formation! We’ve got to make it to the foot of the mountain in one go!”
“Roger sir!”
Astel, Izuru and their men synchronously turned their reins toward the mine.
Sensing a commotion, general Cassius sprang up from his nap, hastily grabbed his wand and dashed out of the tent. Before his eyes were a number of fires flaring up around the foot of the mountain.
“General! It’s an enemy attack!”
The adjutant ran up to Cassius, who was standing there wide-eyed.
“Just now we’ve gotten reports that their soldiers came down from the mountain and ran around setting fire to our encampment!”
“What?! How many?”
“I’m not sure! It’s complicated. Some are saying less than a hundred, while others are saying hundreds!”
Wait, the Xaverian, huh? They couldn’t have possibly hidden hundreds of horses in the mine. Perhaps one hundred at most.
Cassius came to this conclusion swiftly on his own and moved on to the next question.
“Where are they now?!”
“That’s unknown as well! It seems with all these fires and ensuing chaos, some of our men have not only helped out our enemy but also taken their side!”
“God damn it, Hoshimachi Suisei, not only you killed our king, you want to kill me too?! I’ll eliminate you first!!”
The enemy was clever—much too clever. Cassius had to put a stop to the madness first, but where to begin? Hesitation flitted inside Cassius’ mind. As if to mock him, another situation suddenly cropped up.
A loud noise. The strange noise reached his men’s ears. It sounded like the rumble of a large mass coming down from the mine.
It couldn’t be… their entire army is coming down the mountain all at once?!
Cassius told himself. Shaking his head furiously, he saw the situation to come.
What an idiot! We may be confused, but there’s a thousand of us! We can’t be beaten easily!
“How about our magicians?”
“They’ve been losing consciousness, it seems they had been put into sleep by a certain reaper, sir!”
“Don’t tell me, this reaper was from three months ago who broke our castle. For now, gather all the surrounding troops here and take the defensive!"
“Y- yes, sir!”
As the adjutant quickly relayed this to the messengers, they scattered in every which way.
Cassius continued to order the nearby men, he sharply glared at the mine.
“Don’t you dare underestimate me. You won’t take my head so easily…!”
However the tension among the soldiers only continued to rise. The skies finally began to clear, a new development smacked Cassius right in the face.
“No way! This can’t be…!”
The Xaverian army had not come down from the mountain.
What had come down from the mountain were huge boulders and logs. By dragging them up the summit beforehand and pushing them back down, Xaverian had created the illusion of a large army moving through the cliffs toward them.
The reason they did such a thing was to secure the defensive base on the mountain path by the first station. The Elcatra had gone to such great pains to get it, but now Xaverian held it once again.
Damn it! To get ready for the enemy’s attack, I fortified our headquarters and ordered any place that wouldn’t reach here in time to defend themselves independently. However, as a result, they each became isolated and couldn’t collaborate with nearby groups!
That’d been the opponent’s strategy all along. Isolate the soldiers stationed by the mountain paths as individual positions that only fought on their own. While headquarters was frantically upping its defences, Xaverian slipped in to steal back these areas, which was their ultimate goal.
On top of that, the fire was going to cost them in damages moving forward. The situation caused so much bewilderment that the Elcatra started to attack their own kind. If he added up the dead and injured during the course of this battle, it’d easily reach into the thousands. A significant amount of resources and supplies were incinerated into ashes.
It was the worst. They’d fallen for a trap.
As her army rejoiced, Suisei was in a tent locked in a staring contest with her paperwork. From every direction, the reports flew in, and they were in better condition than Suisei had expected.
“Ah what a difficult thing to be right all the time. It’s so freakin’ nice when things work out exactly as planned!”
Suisei boasted sarcastically.
Near her, Calli nodded in total agreement.
“It’s wonderful everything is going well. Do you think they’re going to withdraw, Senpai?”
“Absolutely not. There’s no way. But they can’t back out either.”
Suisei shook her head and then gave an evil smirk.
Well, it’s all thanks to me.
As they talked, they sensed someone entering the tent.
“Pardon me, Suisei-san.”
It was Izuru. Suisei and Calli faced him right away.
“We have a messenger from Elcatra.”
Sending a messenger here meant Elcatra was hoping to negotiate a deal. But the timing was slightly off. Elcatra was conserving their power for a full assault. For them, the idea of reconciling was a mere afterthought.
I see… Maybe we drove them into a corner earlier than I thought… but no, it could be they’re here to throw us off before they attack.
Suisei erred on the side of caution and gave her orders.
“I understand. At any rate, let’s agree to meet. Calli, please set up the location about halfway up the mine.”
“Izuru, have the guards in the area heighten the security. Elcatra might move out while I’m still getting everything ready.”
“Understood,”
Calli replied.
“Please leave it to me!”
Izuru and Calli swiftly exited the tent. Suisei used this time to continue her thoughts.
“Out of the frying pan and into the fire, huh, Cassius?”
She purred, picturing her opponent’s dour expression in her mind.
Long story short, Suisei’s guess was right on the mark.
“We’ll send a messenger to Xaverian.”
The general finally spoke after some thoughts.
“Levine, you go as a messenger.”
The man Cassius pointed out was his adjutant.
“Don’t screw up and piss them off so much, they will kill you.”
“Understood, sir.”
After reviewing the conditions of this idea for a few hours, their messenger was sent off to the mine.
When Calli saw the messenger arrive at the meeting, she could clearly tell this guy had no intention of negotiating anything.
Levine spoke with arrogance, even though the woman sitting on the other side of the table was a princess.
“For these discussions, consider my words carefully, princess Suisei. Your minions here are quite well trained. General Cassius has high regard for them.”
At this, a jolt ran through the guards, surging in their bodies. If Suisei had not held them back, Levine would’ve been skewered on the spot.
“Well, Levine-san, surely you would not climb a mountain simply to provoke us?”
“Of course not.”
Levine snorted.
“I have come here with one purpose: to seek a compromise.”
But the conditions he tossed out were absolutely absurd. They asked Xaverian to withdraw immediately from the mine, confiscation of all weapons, and compensation for suddenly seizing Elcatra territory. Of course, Suisei would not want to go forward with this negotiation.
“What do you think, Princess Suisei?”
“We can’t accept them under those conditions.”
"I see, so that means you’re okay if we do something to Sakura Miko. To think you would want to get a special partner is unfitting for a noble like you. "
“…”
After Levine spat, the atmosphere in the room froze over.
Calli tried to talk to Suisei, but any words she wanted to say held fast in her throat.
From behind, she felt an unfamiliar, bloodcurdling energy ooze out of Suisei’s body.
“Levine-san, you said before that your words were those of General Cassius, right?”
Suisei’s flat voice echoed in the room.
“They certainly are. Why though?”
“Nothing. Please tell the general to take care of his health.”
With a questioning look, Levine left without another word.
At the gold mine, the battle raged on, mostly one-sided.
Despite their superior skills, the Xaverian cavalry were clearly outnumbered. They’d fortified the upper half of the mountain and did their best to keep the enemy back, but even from the foot of the gold mine, it was evident they were slowly being picked off.
“General, our army is overpowering them in all directions!”
Anyone could tell the tides had shifted in Elcatra’s favor at long last.
“Then it’s only a matter of time before they surrender.”
Just as Cassius was gloating in his grandstanding, he could see a few cavalrymen of Elcatra rush into their tent.
“General Cassius! There's emergency news from Captain Levine!”
The voice travelled far for all to hear. The commander looked at one another, anxious to hear the news. Since any emergency news had never been good for them.
“I’ll hear about it. Get the messenger.”
“Hey you over there! The general is this way!”
Called over by the commanders, the messenger dismounted his horse and ran to Cassius and knelt in front of him.
“Give me the report. What did Levine say?”
“Well… He said…”
A messenger said falteringly, placing down a knapsack and flinging it open to reveal its contents.
Levine’s head rolled in front of Cassius.
EH — ?
Everyone’s mind went blank for a few seconds.
The messenger stomped on the ground to fill the silence and unsheathed an axe in one fluid movement.
“He said he’d meet you in the afterlife!”
The axe slashed through Cassius with a sudden burst of light, and he fell backward into a heap, his eyes wide with fear. Time eventually started to move once more when his armor struck the ground and made a piercing shrill.
“You bastard! Could it be…?!”
The commanders had all drawn their weapons, but the other messengers were faster, carving their swords through the gathered men and cutting them down. With that, spears rained down from outside the tent and dispatched the rest of the guards in the blink of an eye.
“Huh, so you’re still alive?”
Fresh blood seeped out of the crevices in his shredded armor onto the ground, but Cassius drew a ragged breath as he glared at his attacker.
“This is the first time we meet face to face, huh, General Cassius.”
"This voice… You... you’re Hoshimachi Suisei!"
“Bingo! I came here to take your head!”
Tossing aside her helmet, Suisei blew her cover and gave a wide smile.
“So you were joining the war in the frontline! Don’t underestimate me! I won’t let you take my head that easily!”
As Cassius glared up at her with malice, he noticed the sword lying beside Suisei’s feet. His wounds burned, scorching hot against his skin. The taste of iron filled his mouth. He just needed to grab the sword. If he could buy time, someone would realise there was a problem at the headquarters.
“No one will hear you scream. Since the heads of each and every soldier are preoccupied with the mountain.”
Suisei said. Bullseye. Cassius’ shoulders trembled.
“But they must have noticed you guys coming down the mountain.”
Cassius’ eyes swam. His consciousness was fading away
“We didn’t go down the mountain, but the cave tunnel, you remember it, right?”
“N- no way, that’s a dead end, it’d take a month to move the boulders.”
“We asked the miners to dig a tunnel right next to it for us to pass beforehand.”
Suisei smiled merrily.
“A tunnel that extends from the inner mine, to right before the cave.”
“…”
“Impossible.”
His entire body shook.
“That cave-in was done to completely erase the existence of the cave from your mind. After that, we just need to dig the rest, and open the route. If we rode out wearing your equipment, no one would doubt us anyway.”
Everything Cassius had mounted and piled together, all his achievements as a proud army, came crashing down upon him. Whether he liked it or not, Cassius knew this woman outsmarted him as a leader in every way.
“So you’re saying you had me dancing on the palm of your hand from the start.”
Cassius coughed out.
“Heh… Hahahahahaha.”
Cassius laughed as he continued to gush blood.
Then, collecting the last of his strength, he dived with all his might for the sword by Suisei’s foot.
“The truth is, I didn’t plan this in the beginning, but…”
Suisei plunged her axe through the general’s torso as it writhed on the ground.
"Miko-chi is mine, and those who dare to steal her from me, even to the point of insulting and hurting her—I've decided to get rid of them all."
Suisei made a turnaround move and slashed Cassius’ head.
No Elcatra soldiers had forgotten the fire from the night time raid. They carried the PTSD of those flames, and for this reason, their composers began to crumble as chaos spread among them. Especially when the messengers reported the death of Cassius and the other commanders, their hesitation grew fatal.
Without any guidance, the remaining Elcatra soldiers had lost the power to fight. As the number of casualties grew, the Elcatra forces practically tumbled down to the foot of the mountain in retreat.
Hoshimachi Suisei won, and they managed to infiltrate the prison cells. The Elcatra army gave up and released Sakura Miko. Suisei finally entered the cells, and her companions were on guard outside the prison cell's room.
"Am I dreaming? Is that you, Sui-chan?"
Miko couldn't believe it. She was, of course, since the Elcatra soldiers had previously lied to her. Miko was told that Suisei had died unexpectedly and that she would be imprisoned there indefinitely.
“Yeah, you are. Now, go back to sleep, Miko-chi.”
Suisei replied in a playful way, followed by her evil grin.
“Hey, stop messing up with me!”
Miko got back at her with a pout. Then, she reached out to stroke Suisei's cheek and pinch it.
"Okay, now that I believe you. I almost thought you to be a clone or perhaps a shadow created by my imagination at first glance."
“You were learning too much about magic, Miko-chi.”
"Hey, you should take me seriously! Anyway, Sui-chan, you were risking yourself to come here. Did you get hurt anywhere? "
Leaning forward to check on Suisei for any evidence of wounds, Miko was really worried about her.
“I’m perfectly fine. Though you seem unwell, Miko-chi. I guess I’ll recover you with my magic.”
"You’re right. Ever since I was locked in these cells, I couldn’t rest. Maybe that’s why my mana level is pretty low to the point I have a hard time standing up right now.”
“Alright, then please wait a little, Miko-chi.”
Suisei took a leaf that she had previously gathered, mixed it in with other liquids, and dissolved it completely. Then, she added a powder of cherry blossom and stirred it further, then dripped diamond essence into the liquid as it started to bubble. At the same time, it turned pink. After that, to make it easier to digest, she added a spoon of honey.
Suisei continued on mixing in a few other ingredients, and finally, a puff of white smoke appeared, and the liquid in the beaker started to glow. After all, the medicine would be completed after adding Suisei's mana and blood into it.
Suisei bit her lip, blood followed by a sharp pain. She turned her head.
“Okay, it’s done.”
Miko, who was sitting, waited while taking a look curiously. Then, Suisei pulled Miko into her and lifted Miko’s chin with her hands.
“Hey, is this really magic? Why do you have to pull me this close, Sui-chan?"
Miko tilted her head inquiringly in Suisei's direction, her cheeks displaying a hint of blush.
"Because the target should be in closer range. Let’s begin."
Miko nodded seriously. Suisei nodded in return and placed the beaker to her lips, Miko gasped, she stopped her.
“Hold on, Sui-chan that’s weird, why do you have to ingest the medicine?”
“Ah! Forgive me, I haven’t given a proper explanation about it.”
Suisei forgot to tell Miko about the most important part. She walked to the table, placed the beaker on its original spot and continued.
"Well, the medicine's last ingredient is my mana, so the medicine has to go through my body. This medicine must not come into contact with the air. It would produce some changes, so you have to ingest the medicine straight from my mouth."
“Wait, that would mean… kiss?”
"Sui-chan, I’m nothing more than a partner who only assisted you with the kingdom's administrative matters. Are you out of your mind to share your important first kiss with someone like me?"
Indeed, correctly speaking, it would be a kiss. Suisei just smiled and replied while patting Miko’s head softly.
“So, you know it will be my first kiss. Honestly, I don’t mind doing it with the person I like.”
“But, first things first, you should remember that this is for the sake of healing your body, you know.”
"Also, while I’m at this, I’d like to admit, Miko-chi has been a great support to me. Even in my toughest times, you have always been there. Miko-chi, you are my best partner, forever my partner, my unchanging partner."
“So even if everything else in this world is a nightmare, I'll always protect you. So, stay by my side, okay?”
Upon hearing that, Miko nodded, and began to hide her flushed face. She realised afterwards, the most important part was the mood. Suisei gave ten seconds to Miko to prepare herself, then drank the medicine in one go.
Time’s up. Suisei grabbed Miko’s shoulders and pressed her lips onto Miko without gaining approval.
Suisei forced open Miko’s cherry lips. CHU
“Mmph…!”
After a few seconds passed, the medicine started to turn. It wasn't an easily digestible taste, it stimulates a numbing sensation on the tongue.
Miko thought it wasn't a time to be embarrassed anymore. So, she wrapped her arms around Suisei's neck. Miko let both of their lips stick together, tongue intertwined with each other, and swallowed medicine. The liquid flowed through her throat.
Both of them sweated, and the transfer of the medicine was complete. As Miko pulled away reluctantly, her cute voice resonated.
Unknown to Miko, both of them were hugging tightly, Miko suddenly felt sleepy and closed her eyes.
“Have a good sleep, partner.”
Suisei smiled, then she proceeded to carry Miko up in bridal style. Getting out of the prison cells and heading back to where their companions were waiting.
The sun was beginning to set as Suisei and the others were finally able to bring Miko back to their castle.
-THE END-