On the walls of Sunset Fortress, a sea of joy had already formed.
The soldiers cheered recklessly, embracing one another, hurling their heavy helmets high into the sky to celebrate this near-miraculous victory—one achieved with zero casualties.
Each and every face radiated pure, heartfelt elation and bright hopes for the future.
“We won! We really won!”
“Long live Lord Wendy! Prince Wendy is truly a god descended from the heavens!”
Countless gazes, filled with worship and awe, converged upon that blue-green figure standing proudly in the wind, as if in pilgrimage.
Wendy stood amidst the clamor, feeling as if he’d just defeated the first Boss in Newbie Village and was now watching a slightly overlong cutscene.
But the emotions of these young ladies were running far too high for comfort.
Arrogance leads to defeat—this truth holds everywhere.
It was time for a speech to cool their enthusiasm and, while he was at it, harvest another wave of admiration.
However, just as he was gathering his thoughts and preparing to speak.
A voluptuous yet powerfully built, fiery body suddenly grabbed him from behind, locking him in a fierce embrace.
“That’s wonderful! Truly wonderful!”
Burying her beautiful face in the crook of the young man’s neck, Astreia was so overwhelmed she could barely speak, her arms tightening uncontrollably.
Wendy was instantly smothered in a field of snowy white, assaulted by the intoxicating mix of sweat and earthy femininity—a heady scent that nearly suffocated him with pleasure.
And as she breathed in the sweet fragrance of the young man in her arms, Her Highness Princess Astreia, whose nerves had always been taut, for the first time in her life felt completely relaxed and at peace.
Before this, every time the Orcs attacked, it was she and General Sera who led from the front, holding the line with flesh and blood.
Even if they managed to repel the enemy by sheer luck, the fortress would be littered with corpses and the casualties would be severe.
Watching those who, just yesterday, had trained and laughed alongside her fall cold and lifeless before her eyes, her heart had long since been torn to shreds.
As the toll of death mounted, she grew numb, her spirit nearly driven to the brink of collapse.
But this time… this time, they’d wiped out the Orcs’ elite Vanguard with almost no casualties at all!
The immense sense of happiness and relief surged like a dam breaking, sweeping away all pretense of strength.
All of this was because of the person before her.
Astreia couldn’t help but gently rub her cheek against those smooth, deep blue locks, unable to restrain herself from planting a precious kiss atop his head.
“Wendy… thank you…” she murmured, half-dreaming, half-unburdening herself, “If it weren’t for you, I… I truly don’t know how I could have gone on…”
But the moment the words left her lips, she jolted awake!
What… what had she just done?!
In front of nearly ten thousand soldiers, she had embraced an unmarried, noble male—she had even… even kissed his hair!
This was practically the same as publicly molesting him—a scoundrel’s act!
It was a grave insult to the honor of Prince Wendy!
“S-sorry! Wendy! I… I got too excited! I didn’t mean to!”
Astreia sprang back as if electrocuted, hastily releasing him and taking two flustered steps backward.
She bowed at a perfect ninety-degree angle, so nervous she could barely get the words out.
But in the next instant, her face was gently cupped by a pair of seemingly delicate, yet irresistibly firm hands.
Wendy tilted his head up, those luminous, peach blossom eyes glimmering with a heart-stirring light beneath the cool moon.
“Astreia… you tease me and then try to run? That really puts me in a tough spot…”
His magnetic voice, rich as the finest wine, instantly bewitched the Princess.
What… what did he mean?
Before she could react, that exquisitely beautiful face—so lovely it seemed to outshine the world—slowly drew closer in her vision.
Seeing this, Astreia instinctively tried to retreat again, to avoid this overly intimate gesture.
But the hands holding her cheeks tightened ever so slightly, pinning her firmly in place.
Truthfully, with such a feeble grip, she could easily have broken free with the slightest effort.
Yet for some reason, a primal instinct rooted in her bloodline made her go stiff, surrendering all resistance.
Her Highness Princess Royal stood there, eyes fluttering shut in resignation, heart pounding wildly, silently preparing herself to receive the touch she’d yearned for over a decade—from a man.
And seeing the once-mighty “Northern Lioness” now gentle as a golden retriever awaiting her master’s affection, Wendy too found himself momentarily dazed.
A woman this powerful and beautiful—utterly impossible in the real world—was now waiting so obediently for him?
In that instant, Prince Wendy was completely swept away.
And so, under the stunned gaze of over ten thousand soldiers atop Sunset Fortress, Wendy rose on tiptoe and, unable to help himself, kissed her.
The moment their heated breaths mingled, it was as if lightning shot through their bodies.
Astreia shuddered violently, an indescribable tingling shooting from her soles to the crown of her head.
Her mind buzzed, instantly going blank.
Awkward, inexperienced.
The two of them were like fledgling beasts, exploring and learning by instinct alone.
The faint taste of salt and fresh strawberry blended into the deadliest poison, leaving them both utterly lost.
Somehow, the deafening cheers and celebrations around them had vanished completely.
Every female soldier who had been reveling in victory now seemed frozen in place, eyes wide, mouths agape, staring at the pair locked in a passionate embrace at the heart of the wall, Adam’s apples bobbing as they swallowed hard.
For a moment, the air was so silent you could hear a pin drop.
Only those blush-inducing, heart-pounding sounds echoed ambiguously along the battlements.
No one knew how long it lasted, but at last, the burning stares of tens of thousands snapped them back to reality.
Breathless, they finally parted, a single glistening thread stretching between them before snapping away.
“Uh, um…”
Astreia was the first to recover.
She snapped her eyes open, her emerald gaze now clouded with a dreamy mist.
She tried to straighten up, to gently push away the captivating Prince before her, but he instead wrapped his arms around the back of her head and pulled her right back into his embrace.
Wendy, in front of everyone, buried his face deep in her golden hair, closing his eyes as he greedily inhaled and kissed, looking every bit the lovesick beast about to claim its prey.
But he managed to restrain himself at the last moment.
Before Astreia could completely melt, he reluctantly stepped back, putting a bit of distance between them.
He licked the corner of his lips and, winking playfully at the Princess Royal whose cheeks were now crimson enough to drip blood, said,
“Now we’re even, Astreia~”
“Eh?”
As the words fell, the Princess Royal, who had just barely managed to stand upright, felt her knees go weak, nearly collapsing on the spot.
She could only stammer, unable to say a single word.
As the saying goes, “Three years as a soldier, and anyone looks like Diao Chan.” In this matriarchal world, it was just as true.
All the more so since what they’d just witnessed was the famed First Beauty of the Valoran Kingdom, taking the initiative to kiss the usually stoic, formidable, and—let’s be honest—rather unattractive Princess Royal!
After a brief silence, the walls erupted in a ruckus ten times louder than before!
“Lord Wendy is so dominant! I want to be treated like that too!”
“Look at Her Highness’s legs! She’s totally dazed from that kiss! Hehehe!”
“Prince Wendy! One more! One more! That wasn’t enough! Not nearly enough!”
“Get lost! Can’t you see Prince Wendy’s face is already scarlet? Don’t scare off our precious darling, you uncultured brutes!”
“Lord Wendy, if you think our Princess is too ugly, my body’s plenty soft! Come to my tent tonight, I guarantee you’ll be so comfortable you won’t even be able to call out!”
Hearing her soldiers’ increasingly outrageous and filthy jeers, Astreia was both mortified and furious.
Her pretty face turned purple with embarrassment, and she was just about to explode in anger.
But a hand caught hers.
“Astreia…”
Wendy once again rose on tiptoe, pressing his lips to the Princess Royal’s burning ear, and in a voice only the two of them could hear, softly blew a breath.
“Later… come to my room, okay?”
“Mm… ah?! Ah! I, I…”
The warm breath sent shivers through her whole body.
Astreia’s mind had already turned to mush; she nodded in a daze before suddenly realizing the earth-shattering implication in that invitation.
She froze, her heart nearly leaping out of her throat.
By the time she snapped out of it and tried to say something, all she saw was that blue-green figure, already skipping lightly into the castle.
Only a lingering, intoxicating fragrance remained, along with a thoroughly petrified Princess Royal…