Will of a Prince

Enny slowly opened her eyes to find to herself in an unfamiliar place. Her body was dead tired and hardly refused to listen to her commands. Using all her strength, she moved her head around to study where she was at. It was some sort of bedroom with little to no decoration. The blankets covering her were made out of thick fur hides, which were heavy to lift.

She threw her torso up and panted heavily before pushing her hair behind her ears. She rubbed her cloudy blue eyes and coughed into her arm. Even though she still had a small cough, her fever seemed all but gone.

’I’m... not dead?’

Suddenly, she noticed a familiar woman slumped against the wall of the room. Her dark brown hair, lean muscles, and tan skin made her stand out among the things around her. Enny recognized her as the woman she had launched her most powerful attack at.

’Oh. It’s her. This will be interesting to see how they torture me.’

However, to Enny’s surprise, she wasn’t even chained in her bed. She was able to move freely wherever she pleased.

’What? Does she not realize I could kill her while she rests? We were just enemy’s moments ago. Wait... how long have I been out?’

Enny strained herself to stand up and balance on the edge of her bed. She tried to take a step forward, but she immediately tripped and fell on the ground.

"Damn this fever. I feel so weak."

Lidia happened to wake up to the small commotion and rubbed her eyes before standing up slowly. She yawned and let out a big stretch before walking over to Enny and bending over her.

"You’re awake! How did you sleep? And why are you on the floor? Is it more comfortable than the bed?"

Enny pouted and coughed slightly.

"I wanted to stretch my legs."

"You wanted to stretch your legs after three days of being out cold? You’re quite confident, I’ll give you that."

"T-Three days?!"

"Yah. You’ve been asleep for three days straight. To be honest, I was getting a bit worried I’d have to bury you."

Enny hit her fist on the ground.

’I’m stuck here. The emperor has probably already gotten word of my defeat. I’ll be hunted down like a dog if I don’t get back!’

Lidia noticed Enny’s angry expression and questioned her.

"Why are you so upset? Is there somewhere you need to be anytime soon? You lost the bet, remember?"

Enny choked on air remembering the crazy bet she took with this woman towering over her.

’It can’t be possible she didn’t get scratched by me! This has to be some trick!’

"I... that’s right. Can you help me back up?"

Lidia smiled brightly.

"Sure!"

Using no effort at all, Lidia picked Enny up and laid her back down on the bed. Enny coughed lightly into her arm after being let down. She stared at Lidia cautiously. Lidia noticed her defensive attitude and raised her hand.

"I’m not going to hurt you. I wouldn’t have kept you alive otherwise."

"Wrong. You kept me alive because you needed me. That’s all my life has ever been. People only keep me alive because I’m useful."

Lidia crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.

"Who says we need you? We can destroy your sorry Empire without your help! Besides, the war between our lands is only the second most worrying thing we are dealing with right now."

Enny’s heart dropped hearing Lidia’s response. She didn’t believe it for a single second.

"Lies! There’s no other reason to keep me alive when you slaughtered all my other comrades in the battle!"

Lidia sighed.

"Then consider yourself lucky instead of pouting and whining about surviving a battle most people didn’t."

Enny didn’t know what to say. It was ridiculous that she was the only survivor and the enemies that captured her didn’t expect a single thing in return.

"Y-You just want me to drop my guard and then you’ll torture information out of me! I’ve seen this game play out plenty of times!"

Lidia lightly smacked Enny over the head.

"Will you be quiet and be grateful? And here I was going to offer you those brownies I was talking about before out fight..."

Enny’s ears slightly perked up.

"B-Brownies? What are those again?"

Lidia turned away and crossed her arms.

"Oh, it’s nothing. Only the most delicious, mouthwatering treat to ever grace these lands. But you don’t want anything to do with us, so I guess I just won’t give you any."

Enny started to sweat. She never noticed, but the delectable aroma was travelling through the door and into her nostrils. Whatever was being baked smelled just as good as what Lidia was describing.

"I-... you’re just going to poison me, aren’t you?!"

Lidia suddenly walked out of the room for three moments before returning with a full plated of soft, warm brownies. She brought the plate over to Enny and place it on her lap. Lidia pulled up a chair next to her so she could indulge in the treat herself.

The smell was even more intoxicating up close. Enny’s mouth began to water without her even realizing it.

’I... won’t... give in!’

Lidia then grabbed a brownie from the plate and took a small bite of it before offering the other half to Enny.

"See? Not poisoned."

’... maybe just this once! A small bit of poison shouldn’t kill me, right?’

Enny grabbed the treat from Lidia and sniffed it cautiously before shoving the whole thing in her mouth.

Suddenly, Enny’s eyes grew as wide as plates. Her pupils began to sparkle, she froze sitting up, and she took small breaths through her nose as she chewed. This was the best tasting thing she had ever tried in her life. The texture, the smell, the taste, all of it was perfect down to every single detail. She looked back down at the plate resting in her lap.

As if something suddenly took control of her, she began shoveling the brownies in her mouth and eating vigorously. Crumbs flew all over the room and on to Lidia’s face. Lidia covered herself using her arm and chuckled a bit.

"Pretty good, right?"

Enny tried talking with her mouth full as tears rolled down her eyes.

"erhum shrow gurddd..."

"Chew your food before you talk, please."

Enny quickly chewed through the delectable dessert and panted heavily while staring at Lidia with wide eyes.

"Did you somehow bewitch the dessert? Am I cursed now?"

Lidia laughed and put an arm around Enny.

"Sometimes I think that too when Sarah cooks anything. She’s quite a natural!"

"Sarah..."

Enny stared wistfully at her empty plate. Lidia noticed her sorrowful expression and shook her slightly.

"What’s wrong? Do you need more brownies to feel better?"

"N-No... well, I wouldn’t be opposed to it, but it hurts to know that all this kindness is fake, and after this you are simply going to make do something for this war."

Lidia raised her eyebrow.

"Who said anything about you fighting in the war? Do you want to fight this war that badly?"

Enny looked up at Lidia anxiously.

"You mean, you aren’t going to order me to fight for this Empire?"

"Why would I do that? As I said before, we really don’t need your strength. Would it be nice? Sure, it would be. However, I’m not going to make you fight if that’s something you don’t want to do. I’m sure you’ve already been in plenty of fights already."

Enny shook her head.

"Then, why spare me out of everyone else on the battlefield? What was so special about me?"

Lidia crossed her arms and looked away.

"You were already defeated. There would have been no point adding an unnecessary causality. Well, that and you remind me of someone dear to me. Someone who I haven’t seen in a long time."

Enny didn’t know what to say. She sat in silence for a few seconds thinking to herself before responding.

"So... if you take me back to Paria Empire, I can do whatever I want?"

Lidia scratched her head.

"Well, that’s the only caveat. It may be a little bit before you can come back to the main kingdom. You know... since you are an enemy of the state and everything. I don’t want any officials recognizing you by accident or it’s my butt on the line!"

Enny lowered her head, slightly saddened by the news.

"Oh. I see."

"However..."

Enny raised her head back up hopefully.

"...There may be a way to get you in, but you need to put a on a small bit of performance for me. Do you think you can do that?"

Enny’s heart began to thump wildly.

"Anything. I’ll do anything but fight again."

Lidia smirked devilishly.

"Well, it just so happens that I have the perfect idea in mind! How are you with acting helpless, scared, and afraid?"

Enny mumbled to herself for a moment.

"Helpless, scared, and afraid. I think I can do that. Is that really all I need to do? What exactly am I imitating?"

"You’re going to imitate a helpless child of war! You must pretend that you were hardly able to survive out here in these war-torn lands. Emphasize you’re an orphan too! That will surely be a tear-jerker!"

"Uh, pardon me, but isn’t that... offensive and wrong?"

"Offensive and wrong? It will only be if you get caught lying! So, don’t slip up!"

Enny stared at Lidia dubiously.

’Who the hell is this woman? I can’t decide if she’s nice or not.’

"Why do I have to do this again?"

"Paria Empire has a refugee program. That’s going to be your ticket in, so start practicing now!"

"Isn’t the main kingdom hundreds of miles away from here? Why do I have to worry about practicing so soon?"

"Eh, we’ll get there relatively quickly thanks to one of my friends. You don’t get carriage-sick easily, do you?"