His motives were good(?).
In this faraway nd in a fantasy isekai universe, the trouble with good and evil was that virtually every society determined morality through the lens of their own culture. It was essentially a social construct; a vilge of pnt-like dryads might have a different moral structure than an underground city of man-eating orcs. One person might find the idea of burning wood to start a fire absolutely horrific, whereas another person might find the notion of cultivating domesticated humans in a farm to be no different than raising pigs for bacon.
Even in human society, morality has always evolved over time and space. A historian would be fraught to apply contemporary morals and cultural standards to a past civilization where people accepted different values en mass. Culture never stayed static, and popur morality was prone to slipping backwards just as often as it made small incremental steps of progress. Political institutions were fragile, and it was impossible to predict when a brilliant empire might colpse — triggering a new Dark Age where ancient practices such as stoning a harlot, burning a witch, or dismembering a thief might return to the epitome of "justice."
It was difficult to say if Prince Leopold's sense of moral "goodness" was truly analogous to my own.
+ + +
"You're trembling," the Crown Prince remarked softly.
He was touching me again.
Distressingly, he seemed to have completely ignored my request to serve as his pawn.
Did that mean it was a refusal? Did I fail to sway him?
"You're a very strange girl," he told me with a level voice. "You act like a virgin, but I've read your files. You shouldn't be inexperienced. Twenty year old Hanamarie Stiria — from Argesford. A fairly touching story about an older sister with six younger siblings and a disabled father who sold her body to local adventurers in order to take enough food home to eat. She then acquired the enthusiastic recommendation of the local baron who sent a letter to the Royal Pace requesting that she be formally trained as a professional maid."
He stared directly into my eyes.
"That's you, isn't it?"
"...Yes, that's me."
Prince Leopold sighed. His special artifact must have told him that I was telling the truth.
"You have surprised my expectations. That is all."
"..."
The Crown Prince was shockingly well-versed with my employment history. There were several hundred servants in the Royal Pace, and I found it extremely hard to believe that he had studied the profiles of every single one of us. It was already strange enough for noble to know their servants by name, so if anything, Prince Leopold was the weird one.
"I can't fathom how much you must hate me for you to have completely frozen up like this."
"...I don't hate you, Your Majesty."
"But you're deathly afraid. I don't even need specialized magic to see as much as that. You shake like a rabbit even when I touch your arms. I'm afraid you don't make a very convincing argument for how you'd be anything more than dead weight for me. I appreciate your eagerness, but I have no need for a sandbag."
I went silent.
Prince Leopold was essentially calling me useless.
And the worst part was that I couldn't think of any way to retort his words.
He patted my back as if he was trying to comfort a frightened cat.
"But don't worry. I'll make sure that you keep your job and your sary. I'm not a cruel master who takes pleasure in the misery of his subordinates. It'll only take a short while for me to finish inside you, so you needn't worry about being called an underperformer by the Majordomo. I'll take responsibility and grant you that favor at the very minimum."
+ + +
"Bend over the table," the Crown Prince instructed. "It will be easier for you to take it in that position if you're so tense."
He cleared away a bunch of papers, ink wells, and books on his desk in order to make space for me.
I bit my lip, quietly resisting Zhang Guiyu's urge to cry. After everything that had happened, it felt like the entire situation had reverted back to square one. Technically, it was an improvement, in the sense that at least Prince Leopold wasn't threatening to kill me anymore, but it felt like I traded a success in one axis for total defeat in another dimension.
The wooden surface of the desk was cold, unforgiving, and hard.
I was so close to breaking down in tears.
Regardless of what happened, it felt like I was going to lose something precious.
Prince Leopold's hands began to touch my hips and butt.
+ + +
I did not expect the Crown Prince to continue talking.
"The Holy Sword 「Excalibur」 was used twice today," Prince Leopold remarked randomly out-of-the-blue as he curved his fingers along the contour of my loins.
There were many yers to my skirt, so I mostly only felt pressure, but I was painfully self-aware of the fact that he was inches away from fingering me. My eyes were squeezed shut and my face was buried deep against my arms on the table.
"—Wha?" My voice was muffled.
"I don't know who used it, how it was used, or what it was used for — but it was absolutely certain after I checked the sword. The strange thing is that I was holding onto the sword the entire day, so somehow the heroes managed to activate it even though it was always in my possession. That fact alone is already incredibly concerning, because it means that my father has underestimated the capabilities of the sword this entire time."
It took me a little bit to realize that he was monologuing more at himself than specifically talking to me.
His voice was steady and neutral, almost calming and soothing in its tone.
Was he trying to distract me from his actions?
"I overreacted. I jumped on the first person who seemed slightly suspicious, thinking that they must have been responsible for the anomaly — but of course they were just an ordinary frightened maid. I got carried away with my emotions and acted before thinking. There is no way that a maid would ever remain an impoverished maid if it was possible for them to wish for their desires upon a sword. The original premise was entirely wrong, and it was silly of me to think that someone like you could have been the culprit."
I could hear a rustle as he undid his belt from behind me.
"I apologize for the error," he said softly.
+ + +
The telephone rang.
In the Kingdom of Galuterica, telephones were extremely primitive. It was mainly a two-way device, meaning that there was only one receiver on the opposite end and it couldn't be used to dial a different machine. In principle, it was honestly no different than pair of paper cups connected by a string, and it was mainly used by a secretary to reach a high-ranking official like a pager.
Prince Leopold had already lowered his pants.
The buzzer sounded twice, and then a third time, before it continued to vibrate and hum on the desk right next to my face.
The Crown Prince stared at it for a long moment, and then he reached over me to pick up the cylindrical receiver.
+ + +
Prince Leopold: "What is it?"
Prince Leopold: "No. Tell him I will not see him."
Prince Leopold: "No. I refuse. It is mine, and I am taking it with me."
His voice began to grow irritated as he barked into the telephone.
Prince Leopold: "He's coming up? No. Absolutely not."
Prince Leopold: "I will not allow it. I will go down myself."
+ + +
The Crown Prince smmed the receiver back into its stand, which caused my ears to reverberate.
His mood had soured, much like a cumulonimbus cloud that had shifted from a fluffy white sheep to towering bck thunderstorm in the matter of seconds. The tenderness in his movements had all but vanished, and it was almost as if he transformed an entirely different person.
I couldn't tell exactly how he felt to be interrupted.
"Stay right where you are," he snapped a sudden order at me.
Prince Leopold pulled up his pants up to his waist as he stepped away and turned towards the door.
"I have something else to take care of."
?