Unlike Emilia, who is dirt-poor and has to rely on everything being provided by Roswaal, Priscilla is in a completely different league.
After marrying Duke Barielle, she only had to "adjust" a few things before the entire Barielle family fortune became hers.
And this wasn't even her first marriage.
Every time she gets married, her husband "accidentally" dies not long after, and Priscilla takes over the entirety of his household, becoming the biggest beneficiary every single time.
Because of that, in the Kingdom of Lugnica, Priscilla is also known as the "Bloody Bride."
She didn't just inherit everything that decrepit old "bag of bones" the duke had; she also took command of a large private army—the "Crimson Frontline."
With high noble status, money, and soldiers in hand, plus that absurd daytime luck buff that makes everything tilt in her favor, she really is a woman loved by the heavens.
And that's exactly the foundation of Priscilla's arrogance.
In the royal capital, Priscilla owns a lavish mansion—part of the Barielle family's assets.
Right now, the entire place has been redecorated to her taste—red highlights everywhere, just as she ordered.
No matter what occasion she appears at, she's always wearing a gorgeous, eye-catching red dress.
Naturally, her bedroom is also dominated by red decorations.
She might have lost the succession war against her brother and been forced to fake her death to escape, but as a true-born imperial princess, Priscilla's noble, pampered aura hasn't faded one bit.
Her indulgent lifestyle hasn't diminished either.
She got these things; of course she's going to use them to enjoy herself and keep herself entertained.
At the moment, Priscilla was sitting angrily in a red armchair, her ample chest rising and falling with her irritation, her beautiful face clearly displeased.
"Al, tell them to slice up all these ringo."
"Y-yes, Princess. But you have calmed down now, right?"
The one-armed, helmeted man nodded subserviently, sneaking glances at the crimson-clad woman on the throne.
"Silence. Just follow orders. How this lady feels is none of your business. And… this lady is not angry!"
Al muttered under his breath, "You totally are. You try to recruit him, then find out he's working for your rival. I'd be pissed too…"
Once Aldebaran had left, Priscilla gave a cold little laugh and unconsciously brushed her fingers across her lips.
"No wonder it felt so familiar. That boldness… so it was you. Hmph. I'll remember you, Hayashi Maki, was it? Just you wait."
By all rights, being suddenly kissed and having her lips stolen, Priscilla should have thrown everything she had at him to defend her dignity and face.
But Hayashi Maki gave her a very familiar sense of déjà vu.
That familiar feeling goes back about two years.
Back then, Priscilla had only just married Duke Barielle.
The old fossil needed her status as a royal candidate to seize power, wanting to control Lugnica outright or at least carve off a fat chunk for himself.
So he made a deal with a disgusting worm-like creature, using a lake in one of his territories to hollow out the men's bodies and turn them into walking corpses, while the women, thanks to their higher resistance, ended up as breeding pods for the parasite.
The goal was to use the broodmother's ability to parasitize Priscilla's perfect, noble body, then spread those parasites across the world and take control.
The old duke wanted to use that same method to control Priscilla to achieve his own ends.
At the time, Priscilla had taken Aldebaran—who she'd just bought from the arena—and a maid to investigate the place.
The incident was reported by a villager who'd gone away, then returned home to find the village overrun by the living dead.
That time, Priscilla managed to locate the parasite's proxy, but because it was nearly nightfall, she ended up in serious danger.
Possessed by the parasite, a grotesquely obese noblewoman tried to force her, while she couldn't use the Yang Sword, to drink wine laced with larvae.
At the crucial moment, a mysterious man appeared and wiped out the parasite and all the undead in one move, then—without a word—pulled Priscilla into his arms and stole her first kiss before she could even react.
And today, the kiss felt exactly the same. That familiar sensation made Priscilla angry, but it also piqued her interest.
Priscilla likes cute things, but she also likes interesting people and events.
So Hayashi Maki's weirdness actually caught her attention.
"Hmph. So what if you're Emilia's knight? If this lady steals you away, that woman's tear-streaked face should be quite a sight."
Thinking of how fun that might be, Priscilla stopped being mad.
She was confident in herself.
With how shamelessly Hayashi Maki had been staring at her chest like his eyes were glued there, that was proof enough.
"A shallow man, thinking a few ringo are enough to pay off this lady? I'll show you the price for provoking me."
…
"Achoo!"
Back at the inn with Beatrice and Aqua, Hayashi Maki suddenly sneezed.
Rubbing his nose, he frowned.
"Who's talking about me now?"
"Probably Priscilla," Aqua said, half amused. "After how you treated her—stealing a kiss and messing with her—of course she'd be thinking of you."
This goddess was really strange.
Most of the time, she came off like an airheaded idiot, but every so often she'd suddenly sound wise and sharp, flipping things around to lecture him.
Hayashi Maki was increasingly convinced that Aqua's "lack of IQ" was probably caused by the sheer number of unhinged believers she'd taken on—their brainwaves had to have contaminated her by now.
Which meant, going forward, only he, Hayashi Maki, could carry the banner of the reformed Axis Church.
Feeling smug at the thought, he suddenly pulled Aqua into his arms.
Stroking her blue hair with one hand, he chuckled. "I don't recall messing with Priscilla at all. And when she tried to recruit me, she didn't bother asking if I already supported someone else."
Aqua rolled her eyes at him.
"You're awful, you know that? That kiss you pulled was way too deliberate. Anyone could tell you did it on purpose."
"Let them," Hayashi Maki said, unconcerned, lying back with the soft goddess in his arms and a tiny spirit curled up at his side. Life really was good.
Now that he'd clearly staked his claim in Emilia's camp as her knight, there was no way he'd jump ship to be Priscilla's.
That would be the same as becoming her dog.
And while Hayashi Maki had no particular complaints about bedroom positions, he had zero interest in being some queen's literal mount, letting Priscilla ride on top and boss him around.
Not just Priscilla—he intended to win over, tempt, or outright snatch every capable royal candidate with his own power.
With the cheats he had, there was no need to play at being humble.
This world had serious issues. The world's authority had been seized by the Witch Cult, and if things continued like this, total collapse was inevitable.
Even if the Witch of Envy could rewind time, doing so would only drain the world's core further.
That's why Aqua and the Axis faith were so crucial here.
He needed to remake the system of belief, bring this dying world under Axis control, and spread the water goddess's light across it.
To do that, he needed a kingdom under his own hand.
And the Dragon Kingdom of Lugnica was the center of this entire world.