Honouring An Agreement(2)
Richard had been to the imperial palace more than once, and everyone there recognised him. Even so, he was rather surprised at the complete lack of obstacles on his way to Nyris’s residence.
The door opened the moment he knocked on it, Nyris himself popping out and bellowing, “I ALREADY SAID I DON’T WANT TO EAT… Oh, Richard.”
Richard immediately noticed the bloodshot eyes of the Fourth Prince, ringed by swollen circles and a pale face that seemed to be devoid of blood. He also noticed the extreme stiffness and bewilderment. It took a moment for his own surprise to fade away, but then he acted as though nothing had happened and asked, “I’m not allowed in?”
Nyris gritted his teeth, but he made way. The two of them entered the lobby and sat opposite each other, but the prince quickly turned to look out the window and remained silent. He absolutely refused to make eye contact.
“What happened?” Richard asked directly, but Nyris continued looking out the window as though he hadn’t heard anything. He knitted his brows and asked, “I sent someone to give you a letter a while ago, did you get it?”
This time, Nyris finally responded, “I already tore it up.”
“The hell? Why?”
“It… isn’t worth it to embroil you and your family in this.”
“Nyris,” Richard turned solemn, “That letter didn’t represent my support for you, it just made my position clear. I’m protecting you, no matter who the opponent is.”
“I said I’m not worth it!” Nyris stood up, “You know that means war! You might even make enemies of legends!”
“Heh. We Archerons have been fighting since we first came up; this won’t be the first time we’ve fought legends. No matter who the enemy is, I’m protecting you. That’s the end of it.”
Nyris’s breathing grew more rapid and he suddenly tore off his clothes, yelling loudly, “I’M REALLY NOT WORTH IT! I’M NOT WORTH YOU DOING ALL THAT! DON’T YOU SEE WHAT I’VE BECOME?”
“What…” At this point, Richard jumped up from his seat as well, face full of shock. Nyris had gone completely nude, and the first thing one noticed were two lumps at his chest. His gaze then travelled down to the bottom half, noticing a distinct lack of penis. Nyris had transformed completely into the woman.
However, he couldn’t understand how. He, Nyris, and Agamemnon had basically lived together during their time in the Forest Plane, and he knew for a fact that he— no, she— had been a man. This had to be after that.
And yet, that wasn’t the worst of it. Once he managed to shake off the astonishment, he saw a number of bruises and scars all over Nyris’s snow-white skin. There was even a dark blue scar on her navel heading down! A frosty expression quickly climbed up his face; he wasn’t an inexperienced young boy who would need to ask why this had happened.
Taking off his own outer robes, he wrapped Nyris up and asked calmly, “Who did this?”
Nyris seemed to lose all strength, wrapping herself tightly before burying her head into his chest and crying uncontrollably. This was perhaps the first time in many days that she could cry with such reckless abandon.
“Who did this?” he asked again as he stroked her hair.
Nyris’s body was trembling gently, the fear almost radiating from her. However, Richard didn’t give up and continued questioning her until she finally answered softly, “The… Empress.”
“Apeiron?” he was taken aback, “Why?”
“She’s a pervert, a demon! That woman can do anything when she goes insane!” she cried out as something broke within.
Richard lowered his voice and hugged her a little tighter, feeling the tears soaking into his shirt, “Tell me, just what happened?”
In between her sobs, Nyris quickly tried to hold back her emotions and even managed to force a smile, “Nothing, I was just the victim of some bullying. It’s no big deal, what can a woman do to another woman anyway? I just… just can’t accept it, so I felt a little upset. Let’s talk about something else.”
He pulled up her hand, seeing a long scratch on her inner arm, “Was this why you rejected Macy’s engagement?”
“What do you think I can do? Those people want my bloodline, not me. How am I going to give her a child when I’m like this?” Nyris said helplessly.
“And why did Apeiron look for you? Did she come before or after you broke the engagement?”
“Sigh. Before. She’s been choosing pets for her harem, but she didn’t find anything that she was satisfied with. It’s rumoured that none of them could make her happy, even for a moment. On the other hand, I and two other people were on a special list. I knew this day would come eventually, but I thought she would wait until I broke the engagement. Well, people are whispering that I was the only one to excite her enough to keep alive. Should I feel proud?”
Nyris raised her head, looking Richard in the eye for the first time, “Apeiron isn’t a bad choice. Macy or whoever else, I’m not going to be a breeding tool! I don’t care what price I have to pay!”
Richard didn’t say a word, listening intently as she lifted her robes up to reveal her crotch, pointing at it, “Once we go through the second awakening of our bloodline, we get a chance to change our bodies from head to toe. Muscles, skeletal structure, internal organs, we can change anything we want. It’s meant to be a chance to upgrade ourselves, but I used it to make myself a woman inside and out. You should be thinking I’m crazy right now!”
Richard didn’t know just what to say, only able to sigh for what felt like the billionth time in a few minutes, “There was no need to go this far just for Apeiron and Macy.”
“That… yes, it’s not worth it just for them,” she said softly, but her spirits seemed to lift a little, “But you don’t understand, the Empress wouldn’t let me go so easily. My mother was the reason she fought Ferlyn and Philip, having to go to the Outlands. Ferlyn was impacted greatly as well; it’s said that she had to confine herself to the Church just so she could save Father. Mother then became one of his concubines, and they had me. Nobody expected Apeiron to come back and become Empress, and she won’t let my mother go. She didn’t strike earlier because she wanted us to live scared everyday.”
“I understand,” Richard nodded.
Nyris laughed in distress, “No, not fully. But I don’t plan to let her live comfortably; breaking up my engagement is part of that. I’ve embarrassed Macy and her family, now the Millennial Empire wants vengeance. Some people are even talking about war. Since the Empress wants to torment me, she’ll have to suffer my wrath too! I know it won’t be much use, that crazy bitch isn’t scared of anyone… But… But…”
“But I am, damn it. Imagine both the Sword Saint and Empress Gelan being on my back. You really know how to give me trouble.”
“What?” Nyris was taken aback, her heart starting to beat faster.
However, he held her hand and pulled her up, “Go change into something else, and pack some stuff too. We’re getting out of here.”
“Getting… out?” she suddenly felt a little dizzy.
“I. Will. Protect you. No matter what,” he dragged her towards the dressing room, completely ignoring her struggles.
“What’s a fight with the Empress!” Nyris screamed, “Do you know what you’re getting yourself into?”
“Of course I do!” Richard tossed her in, closing the door, “You have three minutes!”
“How can I get changed in three minutes?” Nyris cried in shock.
“How long can it take, stop acting like a girl!”
“But… I am a girl…”
“Uhh…”
……
It took Nyris a good amount of time to get dressed, but once she was back in front of Richard she was wearing a unisex dress that exuded charm. She had a strange allure about her, so much so that Richard had to force himself to look away.
“Come with me, don’t come too close or go too far. No matter what happens, you’re going to stand aside and watch, there will be no intervening,” he instructed. Nyris suddenly felt like there was an imposing air around him that was bearing down on her, forcing her to nod subconsciously.
Richard nodded as well, heading to the exit of the residence after picking up a sword from a suit of armour in the hallway. The blade was ordinary and paid much more attention to its beautiful patterns than the material, but he still placed it by his waist.
It didn’t take much walking from the residence before Julian’s unique voice rang out, “Your Grace Richard, Your Highness Nyris, are the two of you going out on an expedition?”
Richard turned around calmly, “Just going for a walk.”
Julian smiled, “You’re free to walk where you want. Unfortunately, I have some things to discuss with His Highness; he will be unable to join you on your walk.”
Seeing Julian, Nyris immediately started to tremble. However, Richard stretched out a hand to pull her behind him and looked the man in the eye, “She will be taking a walk with me.”
“That… will put me in a spot.”
“Sorry to hear that, have fun in the spot.”
“Such tyranny,” Julian smiled, even giving him a thumb up. But then, his gaze landed on the sword by Richard’s waist and his eyes narrowed, “That’s a pretty decoration.”
Richard grabbed the hilt firmly, “It can kill people too.”
“Oh? I would really like to see that!” Julian’s eyes lit up.
“No!” Nyris’s cry was cut short as he was enveloped in a chill, unable to say a word. Both Richard and Julian remained immobile as they stared at each other, just like two statues.
