SHK CH 714/Prologue B8 (1) (Patreon)

[Wratharis; Patientia Temple]

Wratharis Kingdom. One of the Seven Great Kingdoms in the Mortal Realm, representing the Sin of Wrath and the Virtue of Patience. It was the kingdom of Beastkin that fell under the control of a Mad Tyrant for more than a decade. 

Now, that Kingdom was seeing a new day as a new ruler took the helm after a brutal war that ended with the death and disgrace of the tyrant. 

That ruler was called Setsuna Ira. Daughter of the previous King who was murdered by the Tyrant. A woman who fled to Lustburg as a child and came back in triumph after years of training and suffering in Lustburg. 

“Hum….I didn’t really suffer in Lustburg, though.” 

In the office, an Oni and a Wolf were working together. 

The Oni had a short stature, with purple black hair and two horns on her forehead. She was wearing rather risky clothes with a certain grace. Grace was destroyed when people looked at the gourd filled with alcohol on her side. 

She was Shuten Doji. One of the Four Great Leaders of Wratharis. 

Facing her was a golden-haired, golden-furred Wolf Woman. The wolf woman was wearing a traditional kimono with foral patterns and had a sword at her hip. Her long gçlden hair was tied in a ponytail, giving her a valiant appearance. 

Currently, the two of them were writing the memoir of Setsuna. Something they planned to share with the population to help them better understand their new Queen. This was an idea proposed by Setsuna, and Shuten accepted it without much opposition. This was her specialty, after all. 

Shuten Doji stopped writing and adjusted her glasses as she looked up from the paper she was holding. 

“Princess…” She began, but Setsuna stopped her, exasperated. 

“I know, I know. This is propaganda, and we need a compelling story.”

Shuten nodded. “I will be honest. Your actual story sounds even more unrealistic and propaganda-like than the lie we are fabricating.”

“What do you mean?”

“Think about it.” Shuten took another stack of paper and started reading. “Your story when you were a kid was quite compelling but after that, it’s nothing but some sort of romance fantasy. Like, you reached Lustburg and managed to meet the Supreme Daughter directly?”

“Miss Camelia is very kind.”

“Then, just as you finished discussing with the Supreme Daughter, the Crown Prince of Lustburg appeared?”

“....Sol visited the church regularly as a kid.”

“Hum, then after meeting you the prince immediately took him under his guard and named you as apprentice Knight?”

“Miss Camelia decided that this was best protection.”

“You faced no discrimination, no harassment, no racism. Sol and you fell in love. he never abused you, never used you, and somehow you became not only the Personal Knight of the Prince, you also became his fiancee?”

This time, Setsuna clamped her mouth shut. 

“I don’t know for you. But no matter how I read this, it looks like some kind of propaganda to make Lustburg look better and whitewash the prince.”

“But it’s the truth.” Setsuna gritted her teeth. Feeling wronged. 

“The truth doesn’t matter in this situation. What matters is the perception. Your story shows no struggle. Blessed you might be, but this level of luck is simply out of this world. I can promise you, show this to a hundred people, and 90 will think you are lying.”

Setsuna growled a little, but she hated that there was nothing she could say against those words. Even she had to admit that her life was basically a fairytale compared to what it could have truly been.

“Yet. I do not wish to lie. Much less tarnish Sol’s reputation.” Setsuna was resolute. She knew that this was not the moment to act willfully. They needed to establish her authority and increase her rating approval among the peasants.

But she refused to lie. Not on this. 

Setsuna and Shuten Doji gazed at each other for a short moment, a contest of will going on. One was an experienced politician. Someone who managed to cement her position as the leading force of a country despite being a foreigner. One could say that she was a miracle maker.

The other was a young girl with little to no experience in governing and who only knew how to swing her sword and follow orders. 

In the end, though, the one to relent was none other than Shuten. 

“You are stubborn. I wonder if it’s characteristic of all blessed.” She sighed and put down the paperwork she was holding. Flames erupted, consuming them until nothing was left. “Very well. Let’s start from the beginning again, and this time, we will tell the true story.”

Setsuna smiled, her golden tail wagging behind her as she nodded, “Let’s do. We should start with how Sol tried to touch my ears on our first meeting.”

Shuten gave a bitter smile and started working. Today was going to be a long day.

***

A few hours later, a happy Setsuna walked out of Shuten’s office, leaving the tired Oni alone. 

The moment the door closed behind Setsuna, all expression of tiredness vanished from her face as a cold and calculating light flashed in her eyes. 

She took the story she had written and started rereading everything again. This was valuable information. Setsuna might have concealed the most important part, but people always underestimate how important mundane information can be.

Still, the more she read, the less she understood the princess. Sometimes utterly naive, and other times extremely cold. A battle maniac yet someone who would rather discuss than fight if possible. A pervert who could lay down with any woman throwing themselves at him, but still treated the few he cared for as if they were his entire world.

A walking contradiction, a worrying situation, a doomed fixation. He was a storm in formation, and she knew that soon that storm would sweep through everything. 

Be it for good or bad, she could not say, nor did she care. All that mattered was for her to be on the right side of the storm that was incoming. 

“Shuten, you seem to be deep in thought.” Shuten adjusted her slouched body and looked up, not surprised to see Kiku entering through the window.

“Old fox, I guess you finally decided to move.” 

Kiku shrugged, her kimono struggling to contain her chest. “I was wondering if you were planning on brainwashing the princess, but for now, it seems like you are keeping to yourself. This is very unlike you.”

“Unlike me, huh…” Shuten looked down at the new story and smiled, “My friend you do know me the best. It would be a lie to say I wasn’t tempted to make use of her. After all, this is a chance to become the shadow ruler of Wratharis. I briefly contemplated slowly manipulating her and having her on our side.”

“But you gave up. Why?” Kiku had only asked this in jest but looking at Shuten’s face, it seemed like there was more to it than she first thought. 

“Why?” Shuten shook her head and gave her a bitter laugh. “Why would I risk my neck trying to manipulate a fanatic like her?”

She shuddered a little. She didn’t know what kind of drug Sol gave to Setsuna. But she knew one thing.

Had she insisted on tarnishing Sol’s reputation, her neck would have been sent flying. 

Of that, she had no doubt.