"You are... from the Greatknight Kingdom..."
The last rays of the setting sun cast a warm golden glow on the meticulously crafted silver heavy armor. The prominently convex breastplate perfectly outlined her astonishing curves. This voluptuousness, so contrary to the prevailing "flat-chested loli" aesthetic of the Valoran Kingdom, now exuded a reassuringly wild beauty. A few stray strands of hair, wet with sweat, clung to her forehead. The few spots of un-dried blood on her handsome face did not detract from her charm; instead, they added the formidable presence of a Valkyrie on the battlefield.
However, when the warrior princess's gaze met Wendy's shocked, peach-blossom eyes, a flash of awkwardness quickly flickered in her green, starlike pupils. She instinctively straightened her back, as if trying to hide something with a more imposing posture. Her voice, too, recovered from its breathless state to the calm and capable tone of a battlefield commander.
"...Prince Wendy Black?"
"Uh..." Wendy's head was still buzzing.
He involuntarily looked up at the woman before him, Astraea, the First Princess of the Valoran Kingdom. She was the woman in the Witch's Conquest storyline who pulls out the demon sword and eventually turns into a witch, and... his "fiancée" in a certain sense. She was also a childhood playmate he had met at a noble banquet years ago.
"It's me... It's been a long time, Your Highness Astraea." Wendy blinked, his eyelashes still holding a few drops of blood, giving him a fragile, shattered beauty.
Astraea's gaze swept over the scattered orc corpses before returning to Wendy. She asked urgently:
"I heard that the Greatknight Kingdom has a legendary sacred sword—the 'Sword of Glory and Demise, Balmurlock'?"
"Only a royal bloodline of the Greatknight Kingdom with a covenant with the sacred sword can awaken its power, is that right?"
Here it comes!
She's here for that very thing!
An alarm blared in Wendy's mind.
Sacred sword?
Sacred sword, my ass!
That's the prison of the Demon King Seraphina; it's the source of all corruption! If Astraea pulls out the demon sword...
The CG images flashed uncontrollably in Wendy's mind again, along with even more... dramatic scenes.
"Cough!"
He coughed violently, forcing himself to stop his wild thoughts.
No!
He absolutely cannot let Astraea pull the sword! Otherwise, he will truly go from being the "sacrificial prince" to the "doll consort"!
The instinct for survival made Wendy's brain work at lightning speed. He had studied the personality of this First Princess countless times in the game. She was devoted to the knight's code, loyal and brave, with an overwhelming sense of responsibility to her people. But precisely because of this, Astraea could sometimes be... single-minded. Once she set her mind on something, it was difficult to change it.
Especially now, with the orc invasion, the fall of the GreatKnight Kingdom, and the threat to the Valoran Kingdom, she wouldn't let go of any glimmer of hope that could save her country and repel the powerful enemy. For her, the legend of the sacred sword was undoubtedly a ray of light in the darkness.
Just telling her the sacred sword is a demon sword?
Would she believe it?
Who would believe the crazy talk of a useless prince from a fallen kingdom? He'd probably be seen as a coward shaking morale and be cut down on the spot...
He had to find another way.
Wendy quickly glanced at Astraea. The princess, though trying her best to remain calm, had a very subtle... unnaturalness in her gaze whenever it landed on his face. The game's lore didn't lie: this "Lioness of the North" had faced a lot of criticism since childhood for her figure, which was in stark contrast to the Valoran Kingdom's mainstream "flat" aesthetic. Deep down, she was quite insecure and became especially nervous around attractive people of the opposite sex.
Good, the breakthrough is found.
He had to completely change her first impression of him! He could no longer be that "handsome but useless" pretty-boy prince. He had to show enough value to convince Astraea that relying on him was a more reliable path than relying on that illusory sacred sword!
In an instant, Wendy transformed from a terrified captive into an Oscar-winning actor. He took a deep breath, forcing a perfectly pitched look of grief and despair onto his face. A layer of mist quickly clouded his beautiful peach-blossom eyes.
"The sacred sword...?" Wendy sounded as if he'd heard a huge joke or was recalling an unbearable memory. His shoulders began to tremble slightly. "Your Highness Astraea... that's just... just a lie invented to stabilize the people's morale!"
"There's no such thing as an invincible sacred sword!"
"If there were, then how would the Kingdom have... how would it have fallen to this point!"
Wendy spoke more and more emotionally, eventually devolving into hysterical crying. Combined with his current disheveled and bloodstained appearance, it really conveyed the tragic despair of a prince from a fallen kingdom.
"A lie?" Astraea's brows furrowed slightly.
Her starlike eyes were fixed on Wendy, as if trying to discern the truth of his words from his face. The legend of the sacred sword had been passed down for centuries; it couldn't be dismissed by a single statement.
"Your Highness Astraea, relying on an illusory legend is too risky!" Wendy adjusted his breathing, his gaze burning.
"I know you want to pull out the sacred sword to protect your country... but you've seen how powerful the orcs are—cruel, bloodthirsty, and vast in number."
"What we need is not an unrealistic fantasy, but a truly effective strategy!"
This sudden shift in his demeanor and the desperate resolve that burst forth in his eyes caused Astraea to pause. "A strategy?"
"Yes, I have a way to cripple the main orc forces and even... reclaim our homeland!" Wendy's tone was decisive, a complete change from his earlier hysteria.
Although he knew nothing about military strategy, he had the game's plot guide! He knew the weaknesses of the orc camps, the terrain that could be exploited, and the character flaws of the orc leaders... he knew them all by heart!
"I know you don't believe me now," Wendy's demeanor calmed down, his peach-blossom eyes seeming to see into her soul. "But you risked coming here precisely to find a way to break the deadlock, didn't you?"
"Between an illusory legend and me... a former prince of the GreatKnight Kingdom who understands the orc's deployment and can offer you a winning strategy, which one do you think is a better opportunity?"
Astraea gazed at Wendy for a long time, the tip of her spear slowly lowering. The young prince before her, though ragged and covered in blood, had eyes that shone with an astonishing brightness. There was no longer the sadness of a fallen kingdom in them, only clear calculation and a powerful will to survive.
"What do you... want?"
She couldn't help but take a step forward, the gleaming silver armor creating a dazzling sense of pressure as she approached.
"Me?" Wendy smiled, but this time his smile held no despair; instead, it was filled with cunning.
"I just want shelter and to live in peace." He lifted his face to look directly at the warrior princess, who was half a head taller than him, and said, word for word:
"And you, Your Highness Astraea, need the orc intelligence in my head..."
"That's fair, isn't it?"