☀️ Arselia and Akonia

"What's this? Did she get a scolding from the Empress? Or did she have a fight with her boyfriend and is now looking for comfort in the company of anyone, as long as they're of the opposite sex? Or maybe she's been impressed by my high charisma stat combined with my radiant Baldr-like charm? I've improved a lot since our last meeting. Ninety-one charisma points – that's no joke, you don't find that in many people. Besides, in addition to my charm, I also have the technique of celestial light – maybe now I attract all sorts of fallen women, and not only? Strange, teacher Lua didn't mention anything like that. She says that she could tell me a lot of things, but only in the past, and then she still launches into a long monologue. Does she have the memory of a chicken, or doesn't she even realize what she's saying with her mouth that has seen so much? And what didn't she like about the gift? I'm letting whoever can read my thoughts know – it was a survival kit for the wilderness. I repeat – a clothesline rope, soap for washing. But if, for a second, we assume the fantastic possibility that the message was more straightforward and exactly what she suspects, then it's very simple – down with the monarchy. Well, what? We, the common people, work, pay taxes, and all just so that Princess Aiyano can ride around in a brand-new car, live in a luxurious estate, build her little temples, wear clothes that a commoner could never afford, and generally not deny herself anything. She received an unusual message from a subject – let her be grateful that it was just a message. And something tells me that it's more likely that Sonata will decide that I'm a lost cause, and you will mislead her and try to make her think that about me. And what can I personally think about you? My opinion of you corresponds to the current reality – a mercenary, hypocritical, fallen priestess with the facade of an innocent thirty-year-old virgin who supposedly cares about everyone. What did I get wrong? A mirror exists for a reason – you need to look in it sometimes, just don't forget to take off your rose-colored glasses. And what about that girl, is she a minister or something? Yeah... A person works hard, tries, goes out of their way to accept, sort, and send hundreds, if not thousands, of gifts, and you call her "girl" – is it possible to treat your own subordinates and subjects with such contempt? It's not far to a revolution – people will get tired of such treatment and all of Margel will be engulfed in the fire of righteous and furious anger of all the oppressed of the empire. Well, as for the consequences for me... What's the worst that could happen – they'd execute me? Well, maybe that would be a good thing – then Sonata and everyone else would finally be able to see what your imperial family and the empire's laws are really like – they supposedly have freedom of speech and expression here, but as soon as you say something bad about the princess, they'll drag you to the scaffold or the gallows, that's freedom for you! Only mice in a mousetrap and cattle in a slaughterhouse feel freer. Of course, I don't want Sonata or my friends to be responsible for my actions, but I'm not going to bow down to your cannibalistic rules of the game either, you've picked the wrong person. I am a free man of the mountains, you can destroy my homeland – as you already have, but you will not break my will. That's it, Your Highness. Compared to you, I am truly great – even though you are a tall woman, one hundred and seventy meters tall, your soul and conscience stopped somewhere at ankle level. And in general, if you wanted to do good, you would lock yourself in your temple and not come out, or even better, in your room in the villa. And how old are you, by the way? It's hard to tell through the layers of makeup, but you're probably already thirty? I remember my father saying that childless and unmarried women over thirty all quickly become embittered, become angry with the whole world, envy happy people, and try in every way to spoil the life of everyone they can reach with their envious hands, and all that comes out of their mouths is poison. Fortunately, we didn't have much of that in our homeland, because both men and women strove to marry early – how else could they cope in everyday life? So it is quite possible that the princess's nasty character grows precisely from these roots. You should have stayed in your room, read books, or, at worst, gone to the village, found a normal man, and maybe you would have been cured of the crap in your head and become calmer in general. And I wasn't trying to upset you – you upset yourself because you have a screw loose, or maybe the opposite – you upset yourself because you don't have one. But what about the second person? The Empress, I guess. You can't really get away with much with her – her word is law. Ah-ha! That's it! She can't be angry because of Kridear! Hmm... Now they want to lump us all together and think that we Kridearans are all the same! I don't need your pity, but I'm curious, if I ask her for something outrageously scandalous, will she do it? For example, show me her underwear, and then I'll forgive her for what happened to my homeland. Ugh... Even thinking about it is disgusting, but I would watch her reaction. And what if she agreed?... Well, in some ways, a kind of justice might be achieved – a member of the imperial family humbles herself before a simple mountaineer for centuries of oppression. Then we can tell everyone about it in the newspapers and attach a photo to the story as proof so that the people of the empire know who they are dealing with. Maybe this would even call into question the unshakable power in the empire. After all, can you take a state seriously if its princess shows her underwear to anyone? A perversion worthy of an empire. Open your soul? What does that mean? Come to the temple, pay money, and confess – is that it? No thanks. No, I don't remember – I didn't step on anything, and my boots aren't dirty. And what is that gesture? She can't even bring herself to bow her head in apology, but she claps her hands together. I think another person in my place would be simply shocked by such a display of arrogance and impudence, but not me – I have a rich life experience and psychological skills to counter that. Now she's even making faces... A simple woman can make a caricature of a princess, but when you really wear such a title, it's nothing more than self-admiration! And of course, I don't deserve hatred – from a normal person – because I am also normal, I am honest, modest, hardworking, and capable of empathy like no other. Turn the page, what does that mean? On one page, we have a dragon destroying Kridear, and on the next, she gives me a chocolate cat? Funny." Having paused this expected internal monologue, Apnan looked around, assessing whether Aiyano was still nearby or had already gone somewhere. "In something, she is probably right after all – I am a good guy, I do everything from the heart, I accept people as they are, and even if it may not be obvious, I am Sonata's most devoted student, so maybe I can give her friend another chance. After all, regardless of many purely objective factors, I still don't hate her – such an emotion would be beneath me, so who knows... Maybe in the process of our communication, I will be able to correct her? Then I will help Sonata and the whole country." - Okay... Fine... - He accepts the cat. - You know, I gave your drawing the highest score in the competition, and I also liked the photos in "Ideal," so... If you try to make your inner world match your outer appearance, I think... That not all is lost yet..."