Chapter 20: Monster Subjugation (XIII).
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Alarie Territory: Road to the Military Camp
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The rhythmic clatter of hooves filled the air, mingling with the rustle of leaves as they rode through the forest road. The scent of damp earth and pine clung to the wind, and rays of sunlight broke through the leaves.
Mariana sat close behind Olivia, her hands resting lightly around the countess's waist, careful yet firm enough not to slip. Every so often, her fingers brushed against cold steel or the soft edge of Olivia's cloak- each touch enough to send an unspoken current between them.
'...Things haven't progressed as I'd hoped they would be.' She glances at her back where there rests the head of the heroine, 'And she's getting clingier.'
Even surrounded by capable soldiers, the villainess couldn't bring herself to relax. Her body remained tense and rigid, every muscle ready to react at the slightest sign of danger.
As they reached the edge of the treeline, the dull thrum of activity grew louder- voices, clanking metal, and the crackle of campfires. The Alarie military encampment came into view, banners rippling crimson and black under the wind.
"We're here," (Olivia) announced, pulling lightly on the reins as the camp came fully into view.
"Already?" (Mariana) asked, leaning forward slightly, her voice lilting with a hint of disappointment.
Olivia glanced over her shoulder. "Were you hoping the ride was longer?"
Mariana smiled, the corners of her lips curving with mischief. "Well… if it were a different kind of ride, I wouldn't have minded."
Olivia's shoulders stiffened. "...Don't even start."
Mariana laughed softly behind her, the sound like a quiet bell. "I wasn't going to, milady. You just make it too easy."
"Mariana."
"Yes, Lady Alarie?"
Olivia twisted in the saddle just enough to glance back at her, eyes narrowing. The faintest trace of color had risen to her cheeks despite her best efforts to look composed.
"Shut up," she said flatly, tugging the reins a little harder than necessary.
The horse gave a small snort, and Mariana only laughed quietly, leaning forward until her chin nearly brushed Olivia's shoulder.
"As you wish, milady," she murmured, still smiling against the breeze.
Olivia straightened her back, jaw tightening as if posture alone could restore her dignity.
'This girl will be the death of me,' she thought grimly.
"Lady Alarie and Commander Lenof!" A soldier called out as the group rode through the camp's perimeter.
"You're back!" Another voice shouted, followed by the sharp clang of armor as several knights saluted.
Olivia slowed her horse and dismounted in one fluid motion, her cloak sweeping behind her like a trail of crimson. She landed lightly on her boots, then turned immediately gloved hand extended upward toward the girl still seated behind her.
"Careful, Mariana." The villainess said her name, her tone softer than usual.
Mariana blinked, startled for a moment, before placing her hand in Olivia's.
Only one thought crossed the heroine's mind.
'I want her now, I want her now, I want her now, I want her now… I'm so happy I can be with. Just touching her hand makes me want to…' The heroine bites her lips and imagines the things to do to this woman in front of her. '...bite her hand, trace my teeth across her beautiful and smooth skin- then to her lips… I'll do so much for her lips.'
The countess guided her down with steady ease, catching her by the arm just as her boots touched the ground. The scent of steel and roses clung to Olivia's clothes, dizzying and impossibly gentle. Mariana could only breathe evenly, trying to calm the rush of emotion rising inside her, but it only made her blush deepen.
For the briefest second, their eyes met purple and brown- and the noise of the camp seemed to fade into the background. Then Olivia released her hand, straightened her posture, and turned toward the approaching soldiers.
"Indeed we have returned," she said curtly. "What's the condition of the knights from yesterday?"
The knights in front of them were about to report in full detail when…
"Are they… alright?"
The sight of the heroine stunned the knights, they all could say nothing and just stared at her.
"Hah…"
"T-They are, milady! They are doing just fine, currently they're resting, they suffered a lot, the attack must've been harsh. We've bandaged them up and a few have already regained consciousness. I am um… glad to see you're doing fine."
"She's… beautiful," One murmured under his breath.
"Didn't get a clear look yesterday," another whispered. "Lady Alarie kept her close."
A few others exchanged low remarks- admiring, careless, and far too familiar for soldiers in uniform. "Took the words right out of my mouth, she's one of those exotic women from the south. Gosh… if only her skin color is different then she'll be a lot more pretty."
"Yeah… southern women are the best in bed so I've heard. Do you think she'll be good in bed too?"
Mariana blinked, uncertain whether to smile or shrink back. The sudden attention made her stomach twist and hearing someone mentioning her skills in bed… that just made her even more stiff.
For the villainess however…
The air around her seemed to tighten, charged and heavy.
"You-!" Olivia's expression darkened instantly. Her hand rested lightly on the hilt of her sword- not enough to draw it, but enough for every nearby man to notice.
"Is there something amusing to discuss, gentlemen?" Her voice was cool as steel.
Silence spread through the line. Boots shifted, eyes dropped. "Perhaps you'd want to tell me before I decide if I should cut all of your tongues."
Olivia's words dropped like ice. She fixed the nearest knight with a stare so cold and absolute the camp seemed to lean in on the sound of it. His face blanched; the color drained from his cheeks as if life itself recoiled.
He stumbled backward, boots scrabbling in the dirt, then dropped to his knees with a clatter, hands pressed to the ground in a clumsy, desperate gesture.
"M-My lady- please, I meant no harm! Forgive me! I beg your mercy!" He choked out, voice cracking.
Around them, other soldiers went rigid, the murmurs snuffed instantly. Even Commander Lenof's jaw tightened. He couldn't defend one of his subordinates because he heard all of it. The idiot was reckless enough to test the powerful noblewoman's patience.
Everyone knew how the Alarie family operated.
This one was full of ignorance.
"Está bien, señora," (Mariana) said softly, forcing a smile, her voice steady despite the hurt flickering behind her eyes.
The heroine was from the southern human kingdom, a land of warm coasts and sun-drenched fields where the people bore skin of deep brown and gold, kissed by the sun. There, beauty came in every shade black, bronze, and tan- and culture thrived in the rhythm of dance, color, and laughter.
To her, the difference had always been something celebrated, not scorned.
The people in the west… however… are different…
"My color is a little darker compared to the people of this kingdom- I understand. Perhaps that is their beauty standard and… I don't fit. They must've never seen someone like me after all."
'Mariana... Have people been doing this to you behind the scenes?' The thought sank into her like a stone. 'The bad things the original game won't show… because they're afraid of touching this part of your story.'
"It's okay, please let them go."
Something inside her twisted painfully. For a moment, she felt her composure falter- not from anger alone, but from the quiet grief of understanding.
She lowered her eyes, her voice calm but trembling beneath the surface. She understood now why Mariana wanted to let things go- why she smiled through cruelty, why she always tried to keep the peace.
But Olivia couldn't tolerate it.
If the heroine wouldn't get angry for herself, then she would.
Olivia lifted her chin, resolving hardening like steel. 'If I must be the villainess to make them regret their words, she thought coldly, then so be it.'
"No."
Her voice was quiet, but it cut through the air like a blade.
"I will not let them go."
A hush fell over the soldiers. The weight of her words pressed on the camp, sharp and unyielding.
Olivia didn't look at Mariana, though the urge to reassure her flickered behind her eyes. Her anger wasn't wild- it was measured, deliberate, the kind that made grown men flinch before she even moved.
"Sebastian," she said at last, her tone clipped and steady.
"Yes, milady?"
"Help Lady Borbon find her way to the medical camp. I'll need to speak with Commander Lenof and his subordinates for a moment. I'll meet with you in an hour, this will take a while."
Sebastian straightened, sensing the tension. "Understood, milady."
Sebastian stepped forward and offered a polite bow. "This way, Lady Borbon."
Mariana hesitated, her hands twisting at the edge of her borrowed cloak. The air around Olivia was heavy- like thunder waiting to break. She could feel it, the countess's restrained fury simmering beneath her calm expression.
"Milady…" Mariana's voice came out softer than she meant, almost pleading.
Olivia didn't turn, didn't speak. Her eyes were fixed on the knights ahead, cold and unreadable. Yet, Mariana could see the faint tension in her shoulders- the smallest sign that this anger wasn't only for pride.
It was for her.
As Sebastian gently guided her away, Mariana glanced back one last time. The campfire's light caught Olivia's armor, glinting red like tempered steel.
'You're angry for me,' she thought, her chest tightening. 'I love you even more when you're angry for me… you're so wonderful… No wonder my heart has chosen you to love. I love you, I love you, oh I want to kiss you.'
She smiled faintly, the warmth of that realization softening her fear.
"Please… don't get hurt, señora," She whispered under her breath, though Olivia was already too far to hear.
Olivia's jaw tightened. She slid a hand up to her gauntlet and unfastened the strap with a single, precise motion. The other soldiers were mid-breath, whatever noise the camp had held dissolved into a hush as they realized what was happening.
She tugged the glove off with practiced ease, the leather hissing softly as it left her hand. For a heartbeat she simply stood there, glove dangling between two fingers- an ordinary act that made every head turn like a struck bell.
"You two." Her voice was low, utterly controlled. It cut through the silence and made the men in the front row step back an inch.
"You still need this job, yes?" she asked, eyes locking on the pair who'd insulted Mariana.
"Milady-"
"If I am being honest… just firing you won't satisfy me, and if I ever harm one of my father's subordinates with no good reason they'll see me in a rather bad light." She let the implication hang a moment, then her mouth twitched with grim amusement. "So I'll give you a chance to redeem yourselves and earn respect around here. What is your ranking?"
Commander Lenof answered for them, "H-He is my eleventh best knight, Lady Alarie and the other one is behind his ranking."
"Even better." Olivia's hand tightened on the glove. For an instant she looked as if she might put it back on- then she pivoted, stepped forward, and threw it down at the feet of the two men who had spoken.
The glove landed squarely between them like a gauntlet from some older, sterner age.
Every eye in the camp snapped to the small leather shape on the ground. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath.
"I challenge both of you to a duel between swords- you can use magic if you want but I don't plan on using any. I suppose you may consider this your second chance," she said, voice cold now.
"If you beat me, you stay and I will apologize, kneel to the ground if I have to." She let a slow, dangerous smile ghost the corner of her mouth.
"But if I win-" she paused long enough for that threat to sink in, then finished, flat as iron, "I get to cut your tongues with no complaints from anyone in this settlement."
A collective intake of breath rippled through the ranks. The two knights' knees wobbled; one stumbled backward and dropped to his knees, the other went pale enough to be sick.
"Milady- please forgive us!" The first knight begged, hands scrabbling at the dirt.
Commander Lenof's hand hovered on a pommel as if to intervene, but his eyes were wide and cautious, he'd misjudged the depth of Olivia's temper.
But then one of the knights couldn't take it anymore, he was only freely saying what he thought! Hell, that woman should be happy that someone is thinking of her in that way!
He pushed himself up, face flush with a mixture of bravado and fear, and spat the words out like a challenge.
"Fuck you, Alarie bastard! Fine- we'll beat you! Just you wait; we'll have you down on your knees and apologizing. A woman can't beat a man, and everyone here only bows because they're afraid of your rotten father who couldn't be bothered to fix this town!"
"All of you nobles are the same!" A hush fell so suddenly even the wind seemed to stop. Some soldiers stared at the speaker with wide eyes, others shifted, unsure whether to laugh or intervene.
Olivia's jaw tightened. She did not move- not a step, not a twitch. Her voice, when it came, was quiet and flat as a blade: "Now they sent you? Hah. As if you're enough for something like this."
She turned her head just enough for Commander Lenof to feel the full weight of her cold stare. "Commander."
"Y-Yes?" He answered, throat thick.
"Is this how you train your knights?" (Olivia) asked slowly, each word measured and hard. It wasn't a question for the crowd. It was a judgment.
Commander Lenof bowed his head. "My apologies, Lady Alarie. I-! I did not train them to be this way."
She let the apology hang in the air for a beat before she delivered the lesson.
"Yet, they not only disrespected my guest but also tainted my family's honor. Make certain you do not raise an army of uneducated fools who cannot hold their tongues." Her eyes swept the line of soldiers, stopping at the two who'd insulted Mariana. "They must learn respect."
Her voice dropped an inch, colder than before. "They need to learn that my blade does not give mercy even to those who have the same skin color as I."
The camp shifted. Boots scuffed against the dirt as soldiers instinctively formed a wide ring around the open ground, their armor glinting under the noon light. The sound of steel and leather faded into stillness; even the wind seemed to hold its breath.
She stopped before the weapon rack. The polished blades caught the sun, scattering shards of light across her armor. Without a word, she reached out and drew two swords, one in each hand. The scrape of steel against wood rang like a warning bell.
"Here."
With a flick of her wrist, she tossed both swords at the feet of the two knights. They landed point-first in the dirt between them, quivering.
"We duel now."
No hesitation. No shouting. Just the simple, quiet certainty of a woman who knew she would win.
Around them, the circle tightened; the soldiers' murmurs died into reverent silence. Some exchanged nervous glances, others leaned forward, drawn by the gravity of the moment. The infamous Lady Alarie, unshaken by the stares, the gossip, the challenge- stood calm at the center of it all.
Even Commander Lenof didn't breathe too loudly.
Olivia adjusted her grip on her sword, raising her chin slightly. "Draw your blades," she said, voice low but sharp enough to slice through the air. "And let's end this quickly."
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