This choice: It's not safe to leave Roy on his own, Guinivere takes him back to her own room. • Go Back... Doing her best to fight down the blush on her cheeks, Guinivere schooled her thoughts and tried to calm herself down. It was only then she realized that her heart had been pounding rather fiercely in her chest- despite all of the years she'd spent learning about magic, this was the first time she'd been in a situation where she'd ever had to actually use her magic to protect herself or someone else.
'I suppose it had to happen eventually... It's not like I've been studying all this time for nothing!' She thought to herself.
There were two main magic academies on Elibe, and numerous offshoots around the continent. But all of them followed the magical aptitude rating jointly established by the Etrurian Mages Academy and Bern School of Arcana. Guinivere, despite only being in her mid-twenties, held the title of 'sage,' and was recognized with a B-rank Anima aptitude (enough to qualify her as an advanced student of anima magic.
Not only that, her proficiency with staves and other assorted healing arts was a highly-valued 'A' rank, which certified her as an expert healer... a rare, valuable skill level that would have earned her the respect of her peers even had she not been the princess of the (arguably) most powerful nation on the continent.
Most valuable of all, Guinivere had a talent for light magic seldom seen, and her 'S' rating certified her as a true master of light magic.
Too bad she was terribly inexperienced in actual combat. Guinivere was certain that if it had been Zephiel standing here, the intruder would've been slain before she'd been able to cast this bizarre spell on Roy. All Guinivere had managed was driving the attacker off after the damage was done.
'No, I can't think like that. Roy is alive, that's what is important!' Guinivere reassured herself, trying not to let her feelings of inadequacy overshadow the fact that she'd driven off a powerful mage.
But what in the world had been the attacker's end goal? Morbid as it was to think about, Guinivere was certain the attacker had not intended on killing Roy. After all, a knife to the throat would've ended his life far more efficiently than shrinking him down to a tiny fraction of his normal size.
That was a question for later. Guinivere realized that Roy was shivering in her palm- the poor boy wore nothing but his pajamas, which were ill-suited for fending off the cold of the night without blankets to cover him.
"Oh! My apologies, Roy! I'll..." The princess trailed off. She'd... what?
What in the world was she supposed to do now?
Staring at the tiny boy in her hands, Guinivere's mind twisted and tangled as a turmoil formed.
She couldn't leave Roy here. Not in his own room, when he was so tiny that he could get lost in his own bed sheets! And goodness, wasn't that a silly thought? Well, it would've been silly had it not been an honest possibility now!
Not only that, but beyond Roy's tiny size inhibiting (or outright preventing) him from remaining safe in his own room...
What if that woman returned?
The thought sent a spike of fear through Guinivere's mind. Roy might have been well-trained despite his age, and had the advantage of having actual combat experience (albeit not much) but at his size he was as good as helpless!
If that buxom villain returned for him, he'd be finished!
No! She refused to allow that to happen!
"P-princess Guinivere?"
"Ah... hold on a moment, Roy. I... I have to decide on something." Guinivere knew it was the height of scandal, doing what she was considering, but what other choice did she have?
She just knew her actions would likely be the focus of court gossip in Bern and Etruria for months to come should they be discovered... but Guinivere was going to throw caution to the wind and take Roy back with her, to her own private chambers in castle Ostia!
For a young noblewoman to spend a night with an unrelated boy man, she faced shame and ridicule from her peers. For a young, unwed princess of an entire nation spending the night with another man... By the Saint, such a scandalous thing hadn't happened in Elibe in, well... ever!
But Guinivere couldn't just leave Roy on his own.
"W-well... Let us be off, Roy!"
"Your highness?!"
"I-I know it's a bit... unorthodox, but I can't just leave you on your own. Not when that blackguard might return!"
"A-ah... I suppose you're right. And... well, she did seem to be proficient at dark magic. I didn't recognize your spells either, but you were using light magic, weren't you?"
"Yes! You'll be safe with me, Roy. Light magic is the natural counter to dark magic, after all." Yes, that's why she was doing this! It was only logical- if Roy was being targeted by a skilled dark mage, then it was only logical that he be left in the care of an equally-skilled light mage!
Yes, that would... hopefully avert some of the scandal if word got out about the princess of Bern sneaking off with the heir of Pherae in the dead of night...
So flustered was Guinivere (and Roy as well) that she didn't even consider the thought that maybe she should've alerted General Cecilia to the fact that an unknown interloper had attacked Roy (her very precious last living student), regardless of whether or not it was the middle of the night!
-------------
"Well... here we are." Guinivere murmured, pushing open the door to her room. It was large but not empty, evidently having been guest quarters for foreign dignitaries. Elen, her handmaid had acquired extra clothing and toiletries for her by now (it helped that when you were a princess, in exile or not, your budget for clothing was more or less a non-factor.)
As it was, Guinivere couldn't help but notice the blush on Roy's face as he was brought into the princess's private room, still held protectively in her hands. While things may have varied for a boy of a lower social status, Guinivere was quite certain that a prominent heir like Roy had never set foot inside a girl's private bedroom- much less that of a princess.
Well, he was about to spend the night with one!
A sudden yawn escaped Guinivere's lips, and she brought one hand up to cover her mouth (fortunately not the one holding Roy.)
"My word, it's late. Roy, I think we'd best be getting to sleep now. First thing in the morning we'll set about finding a cure for your condition!"
"I appreciate it, your highness... but... where will I sleep?" Roy asked nervously, looking around.
The room might've been large, but there was only one bed. Guinivere blinked, not having anticipated that question, before a rosy blush spread across her face.
Her first instinct was to answer with 'her nightstand' but that would've been to cruel! To condemn Roy to sleeping on hard wood with no pillow or blankets...
Her next thought was equally terrible! Guinivere thought to lay him down in one of the drawers of her cabinet, but... Goodness! It was shameless enough that she was spiriting away a boy like him to sleep in her room, now she was entertaining the thought of hiding him away with her clothes?! Roy was the epitome of a young gentleman, and Guinivere had no intentions of 'testing his resolve' by hiding him among her clothes...
"W-well... I suppose you can sleep on my bed-"
"P-princess?!"
"Roy! It's a large bed! There's plenty of room for both of us, especially given your, erm... size. Now let's stop arguing! It's late and both of us need plenty of rest after the stress from earlier!" Guinivere did her best to sound stern, though she'd never been particularly good at sounding strict. Still, Roy didn't attempt to argue, and wordlessly allowed the blonde princess to place him on the soft bed. The large, plush bed was spacious enough that Guinivere and Roy had a good two feet or so between them, and Roy instantly felt relief at the warmth seeping into him as Guinivere pulled the covers up around them.
Guinivere sighed softly as warmth engulfed her, not realizing how cold she'd been walking through the halls of the castle in naught but her underwear and nightgown.
Thoughts of events to come quickly faded from her mind; the dire situation of Lycia (and Elibe as a whole), Roy being shrunken to such a tiny size, and the identity of the mysterious, buxom assailant who'd attacked him during the night.
Come morning, Guinivere and Roy would have a busy day ahead of them, and Cecilia would no doubt be quite irate at not being informed of Roy's plight sooner...
But that was an occurrence for the future.
For now, the odd couple- the young heir of Pherae and the beautiful princess of Bern- were bed-mates, though there were no salacious thoughts or desires between them.
--------------------
1) The next morning, Guinivere hears a worried Cecilia knocking on her door. The General is understandably worried that Roy apparently went missing during the night.
2) During the night, Roy is woken up as a sleeping Guinivere rolls over on top of him!
3) While Guinivere sleeps, the intruder from earlier returns!
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*Note: Guinivere's magic ranks reflect her actual, in-game weapon ranks.*  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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