I am Succubus!

Chapter 298

Princess Amira and I took a carriage through the city for the guardhouse. I thought I was the one going to be imprisoned, and that it was a trap like Shayle had warned. The princess noticed my unease and put my mind to rest, assuring me that I had nothing to worry about. I would have been a lot calmer if Mio or Shayle came with me. Too bad those two decided to hit the brothels uptown. It was up to me to 'entertain' the princess.

Soon, a break in the rows of townhouses gave way to large barracks. Guards marched in squads as part of their training. Those mounted on horseback galloped leisurely into the inner parts of the city for their patrols. Princess Amira didn't even need to poke her head out. Guards on the towers recognized her royal carriage right away and signalled to keep the gates open.

We paused as a uniformed officer with a blue tabard over his silver regalia hurried out from the guardhouse.

"Princess! What brings you here today?" the guard captain asked.

"Take us to your prisoners. The ones who are most resilient against torture will do nicely," Princess Amira said.

A couple of nearby guards who had overheard tugged on the collars of their gambeson and gulped. The captain and I locked eyes and showed a hint of pity. For me! He couldn't decline an order from the princess and so relented.

We descended from the carriage, and a squirrely servant hurried out from a separate section of the cabin. The young woman pulled out an umbrella to shield Princess Amira from the sun, but she made her dissatisfaction glaringly clear in the form of a deep frown.

"H-Have I displeased you, Princess?" the servant stammered.

"Two royalties stand before you. Fetch the other umbrella," Princess Amira demanded.

"It's okay! I like the sunlight. Besides, it's only a short walk to the dungeons, right?" I asked, shooting glances at the guard captain who nodded profusely.

"Nonsense, Queen Saeko. I'll not have a fellow royal scorched by the sun. You're tanned enough as it is," she said and hurried the servant.

The nervous servant brought out a second umbrella to provide me shade. Now, we just looked awkward standing to either side of her. It was also obvious that her arms were quickly growing tired just holding them up, but gritted through out of fear of angering the princess. I felt… so bad for her.

Princess Amira's cousins arrived soon after in another carriage, themselves also joined by a servant of their own. Together, we followed the guard captain into the dungeons beneath the guardhouse. The princess' servant sighed in relief finally getting to put her arms down. 

Unlike the dungeon back at the dark elven and succubi manor, this place had more dignity to it. There were no metal bars, and each cell was completely enclosed by thick stone blocks. Reinforced doors only had a small, eye-level opening to peer into. The corridors were wide and well-lit. Guards patrolled up and down stretches of the dungeons, occasionally checking in on the prisoners.

"So, uhm… Why exactly are we here?" I dared speak up.

"How dare you question the princess!" one cousin exclaimed.

"You should be grateful Princess Amira even permitted you to accompany her." The other got all up in my face, and I was about to charm her into doing something dumb.

"Vanessa, Leandra." The princess stopped cold and whirled around on them. "That's enough. Queen Saeko is here by my invitation. You two will not speak down to one of higher stature than yourself. Is that understood?"

Both of them gasped, hard enough that I thought they swallowed their tongues. They bowed apologetically to their princess cousin first, then again to me. Begrudgingly.

"I haven't introduced them to you yet, have I? Queen Saeko, these two are my cousins. Vanessa and Leandra. The twin daughters of my mother's youngest sister. They are also my ladies-in-waiting," Princess Amira explained.

That explained why they both looked exactly the same. Vanessa had long brunette hair down her back. She wore a pink gown with a white undershirt. Her twin, Leandra, had short curly hair. She wore a maroon dress with white floral prints on it. The two actually looked to be about my age, too. Amira, on the other hand, I could only guess was in her late 20s.

A heavy door groaned open. We entered a room that completely clashed with the dull and pale dungeon that preceded it. Beautiful potted plants lined the walls of the room, their verdant foliage hiding the stonework. The servants rushed over to the large table at the back and pulled chairs out for the royal ladies. Princess Amira's servant also pulled out one for me by her side. Where we sat was only half the room though. The other half looked like it could do with more furniture.

"What exactly are we doing here?" I asked, sitting down next to her.

"You will see soon enough. Servants, the usual drinks and snacks. Guard-Captain, bring us four unruly prisoners," Princess Amira demanded.

We didn't need to wait long. The servants only left the room for a few minutes and came back with piping hot tea, biscuits and candy, and even cake. It was as if they were ready for her arrival… which meant this was a frequent occurrence for her… but at a prison? Were high society ladies spending their day at prisons supposed to be normal in their culture?

The guardhouse captain took a little longer than the servants. He eventually came back with eight guards, because each of the four prisoners required two people restraining them despite being shackled and chained. Just like the captain, the guards' expressions were full of pity.

The prisoners were light elves, three men and a woman. They had gray jumpsuits to wear. One of them had the sleeves to his jumpsuit torn off. His entire arms, from the wrist up to the shoulders, were inked up. The others also had some tattoos peeking out from under the collar of their clothes. Suffice to say, all of them were tattooed up like gangsters.

"Hey, quit pushing!" A particularly nasty looking man with a cloudy left eye snapped at the guard leading him in.

However, the four of them choked on their spit after laying eyes on me.

"Is… Is this about spitting on your feet last week? I-I'm sorry! Please, anything but a succubus!" the woman of the group cried.

"Queen Saeko, before you are some of the most violent and ornery of our race. Murder, terrorism, kidnappings, and worse than one can imagine. Imprisoned with life terms, they deserve no mercy. Earlier today, I had you make a mockery of Shayle. Now, these foul refuse of society shall be our entertainment. Show us how a succubus deals with trash," Princess Amira said, taking a leisurely sip of wine.

All at once, they fell to their knees and started begging me for mercy, turning to the guards and asking them for mercy, and altogether just bawling their eyes out. Well, they were lowlives and criminals in Elza like Princess Amira explained. But to use them as entertainment…

I seized the four of them with my aura, and they stopped crying. For now, I made them stand up and face us. Amira and the twins waited while chatting each other up about the latest gossip in the city, but it was obvious the prisoners' humiliation was the main event.

"Um… Dance for us," I ordered.

The prisoners weren't exactly the best dancers. They must not have any experience, and charming them didn't suddenly give someone the ability to dance. All four kind of just swayed back and forth or shimmied in place like geriatric old men.

"I expected more degeneracy from the succubus queen. Surely, you can do better. I'm hardly entertained, as are my cousins," Princess Amira said.

"That's right!" Vanessa exclaimed.

"Show us something fun!" Leandra added.

Groupies…

"Ah, I know. Have them lick each other's rear ends. I hear that is a fetish for some people. We shall find out if it is so for these prisoners." The princess sneered.

Suddenly, the cousins weren't so on board anymore. Their faces twisted in disgust and tried to hide it behind teacups to avoid notice. Even though they didn't want to see the same thing, neither wanted to speak up against their elder cousin.

"C-Come on… We wouldn't want to ruin our appetite with a sight like that. I'd hate to barf out all the delicious snacks I just ate," I explained desperately.

"Do it," Princess Amira demanded.

"Oh, god. I'm so sorry… Eat… Eat each others' asses…" I compelled them.

Every single guard closed their eyes or looked away. The prisoners formed a ring, dropped their pants, and leaned down to start rimming and really going at it. I wanted to hurl. This wasn't my kink. I also wasn't exactly against ass play. But normally, a good cleaning was needed before going there. As prisoners, they probably didn't have good hygiene in this dungeon. 

To my side, Vanessa barfed first. Leandra pressed a handkerchief to her mouth and held it in. Meanwhile, Princess Amira watched on with sadistic pleasure. The sight didn't even ruin her appetite. In fact, she scarfed down some cake like it was popcorn, and we were in a movie theater or something.

"Ahaha! Serves them right. Filth should stay filthy! Oh, how exhilarating it must be for you to have the power of compulsion, Queen Saeko. If only I had it myself, but alas, I am not a succubus and nor do I want to become one. Now, what shall we have them do next?" Princess Amira wrung her hands together in a cartoonishly evil fashion.

After two hours of spending my sexual energy to control prisoners for her entertainment, she finally let me. We returned to the castle, where she and her cousins parted ways to fulfill duties around the palace. She ordered a servant to show me to my temporary quarters in a royal guest suite. It was normally reserved for close allies of the light elven crown, but since we were technically on friendlier terms, she had granted the room to me and my friends.

I couldn't believe my eyes entering the suite. A mansion within a palace, furnished with several bedchambers, an enormous common room, a kitchen staffed with cooks, and even a spacious balcony terrace that overlooked the courtyard below.

An unlikely pair were inside the tea parlor side by side on a massage cot, both of them soaking the midday rays let in through a glass sunroof. A group of servants tended to their needs and gave massages. Erma and Mio looked up from their blissful spa.

"Since when did you two get close?" I folded my arms.

"We didn't," Erma promptly corrected me. "I've been relieved of my duties for the next two days as a reward for rescuing the sailors on the merchant vessels."

"I offered to fuck her, but the bitch only has the hots for you." Mio groaned in displeasure.

"I'm surprised you didn't go to the brothels already, Mio… But only two days for all that, huh? Do your people have terrible employee benefits or something, Erma?" I asked.

"Not working breeds complacency. Service to our people is the truest reward. High ranking officers are afforded a few days break out of the year though. I've never once spent my vacation days," she explained.

Their spa session came to an end, and the massaging servants put their hands to work in brewing tea and serving snacks. I declined since I had my fill at the dungeons. We watched the landscapers shave as little as millimeters off foliages and shrubs, suitable to whatever Princess Amira deemed perfection.

This calming sight was calming my nerves after what she made me do. What a stark contrast.

"What'd the princess make you do anyway?" Mio asked while tossing pastries into her mouth and getting a foot rub.

"That bitch is crazy… Do her parents know she's doing all this to her own subjects? Actually, where the hell are they? I want to give them a piece of my mind for birthing her!" I exclaimed.

"His and Her Majesties are currently on a diplomatic mission in the dwarven kingdom. They won't be back for some years I'm afraid. I dread to ask but… What did Princess Amira request you to do?" Erma asked nervously.

"The last thing she made me do was have them kick each other in the balls. There was a female prisoner that lucked out at the end. Princess Amira is nuts! If I didn't know better, she has a sadistic succubus soul inside her…"

"Kahaha! That so?" Mio bursted into laughter. "Would've been some great blackmail material if we were still at war with each other. Now, it's just funny trivia!"

Erma shot Mio a dirty look.

"Where's Shayle? Any progress on the mirror artifact?" I asked.

"Shayle accompanied some of our best court magisters to the vault this morning. With any luck, the magical item will be fixed soon. I can show you the way to them," Erma offered.

Mio and I had nothing better to do, and Princess Amira seemed satisfied enough to let me be off on my own. We joined Erma in heading to their laboratories. She led us to a gigantic circular room with multiple floors and an open center. Mages levitated from shelf to shelf, putting books away or plucking some out. Those without the magic to fly pushed a sliding ladder that spanned several floors to reach the upper shelves.

What really caught our eyes were the enormous golden bands suspended in mid-air, tapering to a small ring over a round table, from which Shayle and several other robed individuals argued at. Their bickering was like a chorus to the low hum emitted by the weird apparatus.

We drew close enough to see that they were poking and prodding the mirror artifact with metal instruments, not unlike a mechanic at a car workshop.

"Saeko!" Shayle turned around, her brows knitted tightly together. "Charm these idiots to stop. If they keep overloading the mirror artifact with magic, it's going to break even more! We'll never get back to Earth!"

"We're not overloading it, you dark elven imbecile! Demonic influence must have rotted your brain. I have a gauge to test exactly how much we can channel in without destroying the artifact," an older, bespectacled light elf man explained.

"Just give them a chance, Shayle. I'm sure they know what they're doing. D-Do you…?" I asked nervously.

"Saeko, this is Professor Bernard Quiddic." Erma butted in to introduce him. "He is the crown's foremost expert on repairing magical and enchanted items. The professor has also been credited with repairing an ancient artifact weapon wielded by our greatest champion when it had broken during the war."

Professor Bernard stuck his chest out pridefully. He was a brooding old man with dappled wrinkled skin and sun spots on his balding head. Instead of the fine scholarly robes his colleagues wore, the man dressed in a simple tunic and vest. Two leather waistbands wrapped around his hips, containing similar tools to the sewing needle-like instrument that traced the cracks in the mirror artifact.

"The only good thing I can say to you idiots is that you knew when to stop using it. This was likely one portal away from shattering completely." Bernard glowered.

"Can you fix it though?" I asked.

"I can. Easily. But it is made from a rare alloy called illuminating quartz that we do not have at the moment," he said.

"Oh, no. I feel another quest coming…"

The professor continued, "You best change your tune if you want to return home. Otherwise, get used to living in a city of light elves. Illuminating quartz can be found in Emerald Dardaria, a jungle west of here. Surely, two succubi and a dark elf are more than capable of handling themselves."

"My, my. If my ears do not deceive me, I have heard something fun~"

Princess Amira strolled in with her usual entourage. Her cousins and servants flanked the royal lady as if in a parade.

"Your highness?" Erma cocked her head in confusion.

"I will partake in this journey alongside Queen Saeko. My parents aren't here to tell me no, and I am the absolute authority in their absence." Princess Amira preemptively glared down the legate's urge to protest.

"B-But it's dangerous. Are you sure?" I asked, voicing Erma's concerns in her place.

"I'm told Emerald Dardaria is full of dangers and wild beastkins. I wish to see them for myself. I can count on you to protect me, can I?" She smiled at me.

Afraid to say no, I merely gulped hard and nodded.