Delayed Gratification, More Like Delayed Regret

As the wedding drew closer, Abagail kept flipping through the spell book, making her own notes on the side. Her adoptive mother had developed her own shorthand that was nearly indecipherable. That wasn’t a problem for most of the book, but there was an entire section of the book almost covered in the emerald ink that she’d known her mother to write with.

From what Abagail could interpret, there was a ritual her mother had cast years and years ago. The notes seemed to imply she’d cast it on Prince Demerius, but what was odd was the list of ingredients. It resembled the reagents she’d been using when customers requested a blessing from the gods. One that she’d done for years – and might’ve accidentally done on Kyle.

The part that Abagail didn’t understand was the shorthand she’d used to name the ritual.

“The hell is an ‘Isekai Ritual’?”

----

Kyle’s frustration grew as idea after idea ran into problem after problem.

He could not find any way for a peasant to counter the range Demerius could bring to bear. If it was just bowmen, he could rely on the shields and try to close the distance. But mages offered too many options to counter. Would they set the shields on fire? What about opening a sinkhole beneath them? How about calling down the heavens on top of them?

The only solution Kyle kept coming back to was to have someone race towards them on a horse. Which the knights would intercept – and unlike the peasants, they knew how to fight on horseback.

If he couldn’t find a way to reach the mages, they were all doomed.

Kyle tossed the bag he’d kept everything from the journey to Castle Zoroman onto the bed, trying to work out his frustration.

He stopped when he heard something metal clang against his bed’s reinforced frame and drop to the ground.

Lying there was the “sniper wand” he’d built to fight the mountain trolls.

-----

Two days before the wedding, Kari tried to comfort herself with her book. Her chambers were modest, normally reserved for a messenger from another land than a royal.

“I can’t do this anymore,” bemoaned the peasant.

The Princess rolled over in her bed to embrace her lover. “Do what?”

“All of this,” he exclaimed. “I know I promised that what happened between us would remain a secret. But I’m tired of lying. To everyone, to your fiancé, to you, to myself!” The peasant rolled onto her, pinning the Princess to the bed. "I want you, and only you. And I’m not going to sit by and be forced to watch you marry the Prince.”

Kari closed the book, biting her lower lip. She dabbed at her eye with a purple handkerchief, sniffling. As much of a pain as Abagail had been, this book was truly a trashy masterpiece and she couldn’t stop reading it. She wanted more!

And yet she knew that as a respectable noblewoman, she would not be allowed to freely peruse such… steamy… materials. Another restraint imposed by living in a royal court. All that power and no freedom. But the romantic lead’s words seemed perfect for what she’d experienced.

Dared she to hope that was why Kyle was upset? Kari was still an emotional wreck, but she needed to know that all of this was worth it. She got up from her bed and finally left her chambers.

“Princess!” One of the servants that had been attending to her bowed his head low when he realized she was walking the castle halls. “I-I’m sorry, if I had known! Do you require anything?”

“It is quite alright,” Kari smiled. “Thank you for bringing me food. I would request to speak with the Prince.”

The servant immediately straightened up. “I will inform the Prince’s advisors immediately. Is there anything else I can do for you, Princess?”

“No. That will be all for now, thank you.”

----

Kari soon found herself in the Prince’s private quarters. Her heart raced as she waited for him to arrive. While this would not be the first time they’d met and talked, it was the first time she’d be in private with him.

She found herself grasping at straws to justify going through with this. This whole thing was already being done out of an obligation, one forced upon the youngest daughter to act as a negotiating piece.

And even now, as the Prince walked in wearing what Kari could only describe as a too-short bathrobe, she wondered if any part of the choice she’d made was worth it.

“Hey.” Demerius sat down in a chair, spreading his legs. “Nice to see you again.”

Kari gently moved a vase on the table between them to block her view of what the robe was failing to conceal.

“Everything alright? Your chambers adequate?”

“They’re fine.” Kari tried to smile.

Demerius nodded. “Great. I know we’ve been hush-hush about things, but I wanted to give you something to look forward to.” He snapped his fingers, summoning a servant who handed him a scroll of parchment before returning from whence he came. “My scribes just finished this,” said Demerius, unrolling the parchment to reveal a map of his domain.

Kari tried to make small talk as Demerius pointed a ring on his right hand at the map. “It is a very lovely map.”

“I wanted to tell you about where we were going to go for our honeymoon,” he explained. Demerius’s ring shone a small light in the upper left corner where there was a large forest. “We’re going to establish a royal forest here. I thought we could go on a hunting trip there and spend some time together.”

While the map was not too detailed, there were some towns on it. One of those towns was Trunsit. And that was right next to the very large depiction of the royal forest.

“Excuse me.” She pointed at Trunsit. “I believe there was a village where the forest should be.”

Demerius blinked. “No, it’s not on the map.”

“I distinctly recall being brought there by Sir Kyle.”

“Sir Kyle? Oh,” he realized. “The peasant. Well, it won’t be there by the time we arrive. I’ve already sent people to clear it out.”

Kari’s face went white. “But that was what he was hoping to ask you for. To spare his village. He would not have left without a guarantee from you.”

“Well, I had to give him a runaround. I promise some merchants I’d do it and I’m a man of my word.” He chuckled, only stopping when he saw Kari wasn’t laughing. “Why would you care? He’s just a peasant. He’s not a real person, and in a few days he’ll be long gone. Not like us.”

It was for nothing. All of it was for nothing. She’d walked into an arranged marriage and couldn’t even secure the safety of a few measly peasants.

“I see,” Kari nodded. “If you will excuse me.”

The second the door to Demerius’s private chambers closed, Kari started running as fast as she could. She’d made a terrible mistake and she needed to find some way to stop this before it was too late.

Rounding a corner, Kari blindly ran into someone and sent them both scrambling to the ground. “Ooof. I’m so sorry, I’m sorry, I – Abagail?”

Abagail groaned, still holding the spellbook she’d been reading. “Kari? Kari, I never thought I’d ask this, but you doing ok?”

“No,” she gasped. “Abagail, I’ve made a terrible mistake. We have to go back. He’s going to kill Kyle!”

“What?!” Abagail grit her teeth, looking around, then holding out her hand. “Truce?”

Kari took it without hesitation. “Truce.”