Following the steps of Captain Damien de la Tour, they walked into a hall surrounded by knights and guards. It was easy to distinguish the two groups, because the knights' attire was as colorful as birds of paradise.
And beneath the crystal lamp in the center of the hall stood two women. Around them, maids gathered like stars surrounding the moon, making them appear graceful and magnificent.
The first woman had a pert, pointed nose, and her deep eyes were clear blue. Her dark golden hair was held in curled locks with ribbons, combed into an artfully beautiful, fluffy style. A beauty mark like a tear on her left cheekbone added even more charm.
The neckline of her gown was cut very low. Its pure white base was outlined with golden stripes, and the ruffles were embroidered with dense, even checkered patterns. Around her neck was a necklace made of pearls and emeralds, while the pendant was a huge sapphire that happened to fall between the peaks bound by her tight corset.
The authority of the corset was displayed here in full. Judging by appearance, the woman's delicate shoulders seemed barely enough to support her magnificent bosom. Her breasts looked as if they might leap out of the bodice at any moment.
Yet with the tailor's superb craftsmanship and the buffering effect of the puffed sleeves, they could only remain helplessly inside the garment, unable to come out and meet guests.
As for the other lady beside her, who was of similar height, she had short black hair and pale, almost translucent skin. She looked spirited and heroic, and her eyes, painted with green eyeshadow, were bright. Her fitted long dress, black with cloud patterns, had a quite proper neckline. The round ornament at her waist was painted with a five-pointed golden star and inlaid with small cut aquamarines and crystals.
"This is the enlightened Duchess Anna Henrietta. Kneel, Your Excellency," someone said behind Victor. Only later did he learn that it was the master of ceremonies.
After briefly identifying the two ladies before him, Victor thought, "Ah! Look at that slightly upturned pointed nose. It's obvious at a glance who the dear little weasel is!" Then he performed a knightly salute to the first lady.
Although the second woman also looked like a noble, the violently trembling medallion had already revealed her identity. She was a very powerful sorceress. With a vibration frequency between the third and fourth gears, he could not say who would win in a real battle, but the natural magical waves she gave off were slightly stronger than Keira Metz's.
"Rise, Sir Victor." The dark-golden-haired lady with the slightly upturned nose replied politely. "Welcome to Beauclair Castle in the Duchy of Toussaint. I am pleased to receive a foreign guest who has come from afar. All the more so because you are also a friend of our dear Miss Reckless."
Hearing herself mentioned, Angoulême beamed and gave a rough, careless deep bow.
"Victor of Kaer Trolde. Queen Cerys's ennoblement has left a deep impression of your name upon me!" the duchess continued. "Baron Milton has explained to me the reason for your arrival in Toussaint. I very much welcome a witcher like you, one who practices morality and abides by his principles, to travel through Toussaint…
"And you too, Angoulême, you naughty little thing. We meet again. Perhaps now I should call you Angoulême of Temeria."
"I'm very happy to see you too! Pretty lady," Angoulême replied with a grin.
"Ahem, it is 'Her Enlightened Ladyship.'" With a soft cough, a nobleman nearby, who looked somewhat like a pastry chef, spoke up. "Forgive me for correcting you, but this is my duty. We Toussaintois insist upon traditions and rules. I am the palace majordomo and master of ceremonies, Sebastian Le Goff."
Although the master of ceremonies said this, anyone with eyes could see that Duchess Anna very much liked the title "pretty lady."
Next, according to normal social etiquette, Victor should have exchanged a short round of mutual flattery with Her Enlightened Ladyship. Victor had to focus on mentioning the duchess's love for her people, the fine wine and scenery along the road, Beauclair's magnificence, and most importantly, the lady's astonishing beauty.
And the duchess, depending on the situation and her mood, would respond by praising Victor's heroic deeds.
But today, Lady Anna clearly did not want to waste time on that, so she paused slightly, as if finding something difficult to say.
Standing beside the duchess, the short-haired, heroic-looking woman turned sideways and quickly whispered something. Anna Henrietta frowned slightly, pouted, and lightly patted the other woman. Then the sorceress looked at the witcher and smiled with relaxed pleasure.
"Knight Victor, I am Anna's cousin, Fringilla Vigo." Her self-introduction was gentle and full of feeling. A difficult-to-describe emotion rose in Victor's heart, but not because her voice was pleasant. It was because the name was familiar.
Heaven have mercy. As the duchess's cousin, and someone who could even claim kinship with Emperor Emhyr, Lady Fringilla had pale, translucent skin and dazzling beauty. She had not mutated into a Zerrikanian.
"Knight Victor, please forgive me for omitting the pleasantries. I am truly rather curious whether Viscount Julian is traveling with you, or what situation he currently finds himself in."
Seeing that this was not a question Fringilla wanted to ask, but one she was asking on behalf of the duchess, the witcher could understand Her Enlightened Ladyship's feelings. Anyone who had been in love would understand wanting to know how a former lover was doing.
He thought that when Dandelion came over, he would definitely artistically embellish his personal experiences anyway, so there was no need for Victor to overstep. He only had to tell the truth.
So Victor nodded. "No problem. Upon my honor, please allow me to tell you in detail, my lady."
Next, the witcher used the most straightforward language to explain what he knew of the poet's experiences. How they had met in Vizima and he had funded him, how their friendship had grown deep through sung poetry, how they had missed each other in Novigrad, how they had unexpectedly reunited in Skellige, and how he had recently escaped safely from the Vizima uprising.
Without a doubt, Victor's description was plain and unadorned, as dull as the life of a rich man. Yet the duchess listened with great interest.
Look at that shining gaze of hers. One could only say that love made intelligence suffer terribly.
Judging only from Anarietta's expression, one might have thought that Mr. Dandelion had actually been generously giving away his wealth in Vizima, defeating gangs in Novigrad, then going to Skellige to slay monsters, and finally turning the tide during the Vizima riots.
After some time passed, when Victor finally finished his account, Lady Anna smiled in satisfaction, glanced at Vigo, and said, "Just now, in your description, you mentioned Geralt of Rivia. I once met that interesting witcher. Could you tell me about what happened to him during the Vizima uprising?"
Victor easily judged that this question was the one Fringilla wanted to ask. But none of this counted as any real secret. Nilfgaard's intelligence agencies had certainly obtained the information long ago. Only a fairy-tale world like the Duchy of Toussaint would be so isolated from information.
After the uprising ended, Victor had more than once drunk and chatted with Geralt at the Hairy Bear, so he could very clearly describe what had happened during that period, the entire process by which the White Wolf opposed the Salamandra, the instigators of the riot.
This even included how he and Triss Merigold joined forces in the end, defeated Jacques de Aldersberg, and after the battle, considered matters and accepted King Foltest's employment.
Without exaggeration, Victor truly admired the White Wolf. He had actually managed to defeat the Grand Master. As expected of one edge of the Sword of Destiny!
He did not mean to look down on Geralt and Triss, but to be honest, that man had been ridiculously strong! Victor could not imagine how they had won, nor how Jacques had lost.
Originally, he had thought the process of defeating him would probably involve using cannon fodder tactics to wear him down until he was exhausted, then having everyone rush him at once.
But no one had expected that before Jacques's stamina had even been drained much, he would be defeated by Geralt and Triss working together. When Victor heard this result, he privately classified it as a miraculous event, unscientific, but a reality that had to be accepted.
As he spoke, Victor also noticed that when he mentioned Triss's name and her romantic relationship with Geralt, Lady Fringilla's brow tightened slightly. If not for the witcher's extraordinary eyesight, he would not have noticed any change at all.
After he finished telling Geralt's story, the scene went slightly cold, because the two noble ladies were each thinking their own thoughts.
Meanwhile, the witcher stood solemnly in place, outwardly respectful, inwardly unrestrained.
Anna Henrietta's attributes were undoubtedly those of a blonde, blue-eyed, fair-skinned, beautiful, voluptuous widow. With a beauty mark beneath her left eye, she looked both playful and seductive. Victor secretly praised Dandelion's good fortune.
As for the black-haired, green-eyed Fringilla Vigo beside her, she was the elegant and noble type. Her attributes could be judged and certified as a cool, alluring, mature beauty with an impressive figure. Victor likewise secretly praised Geralt's good fortune. Truly, truly excellent luck with women.
According to what Angoulême said while they were camping, mm… the White Wolf had spent almost half that entire winter in this sorceress's bed. It was said he had even told her "I love you!" several times. As expected of a leading figure among scoundrels, an expert in being heartless once he was done, the Stud of Rivia!
As for Dandelion's performance in practice, Victor was not too clear. Though he was handsome, he did not seem strong enough. Perhaps he relied on resonance of the spirit to make up for a lack of stamina. Maybe Victor could prepare some tonics for him.
Just like that saying, how much water a wooden barrel can hold does not depend on the longest plank in its wall, but precisely on the shortest one!
Although his mind was full of very discourteous thoughts, Victor was not worried that the Fringilla before him would detect them. After sparring and testing with Keira, the witcher was quite certain that he was the sort of person utterly unrelated to the words "upright gentleman."
As his mental strength continued to rise, a sorceress's mind-reading would sooner or later mean nothing to him. The fact that Keira could currently judge the truth or falsehood of his words was still because Victor had relatively low psychological defenses against her. If it were this lady he had only just met, never mind reading his thoughts, she probably could not even tell whether he was lying.
"Ahem!" Fortunately, the palace majordomo Sebastian's timely cough soon brought Anna Henrietta back to her senses, interrupting Victor's increasingly drifting thoughts as they were floating toward a lecherous paradise.
"Knight Victor, thank you for the news you have brought. To learn that friends far away are well greatly comforts our hearts." The duchess said gently, her pert nose twitching. "And regarding your travel itinerary, fortunately, the grape harvest is about to end. We sincerely invite you both to stay in the palace for a few days and attend the banquet for our sacred traditional Barrel Festival."
Victor bowed deeply. "Thank you for your generous invitation, Her Enlightened Ladyship. Angoulême and I will certainly attend the Barrel Festival banquet on time. However, for ease of coming and going, and in order to experience the local atmosphere, I still hope to stay at an inn in the city."
Gazing at Victor's blue Samsara Eyes, Anarietta tapped her knee and nodded in agreement. "…I understand. Then I shall ask Baron Milton to introduce you to the most delicious restaurant in the city for your meals, and the best inn for your lodging. Do not refuse to let me pay for you. I look forward to seeing you again at the Barrel Festival!"
The duchess behaved with great reasonableness, and the witcher bowed again in thanks.
"In addition, I have a commission, Mr. Victor." Anarietta suddenly seemed to think of something, and added with a serious expression, "After all, you are also a witcher."
"Please give your command, Your Grace."
She clenched her fist. "Listen carefully! This is the shared request of countless chaste women of Toussaint. Several years ago, Geralt of Rivia once made her disappear, but after the witcher left, the nightmare returned, and has continued to harass their sweet families.
"A certain fallen monster, a beast in female form, an indescribably shameless succubus, is tormenting their loyal and chaste spouses. She enters their bedrooms at night and performs all manner of vile, detestable, filthy deeds that make one ashamed to describe them. As an expert in fighting monsters, you surely understand the specific situation."
Blinking in disbelief, Victor's mouth opened slightly. "Uh… yes, Your Grace. I understand very clearly what is happening!"
"The ladies of Toussaint jointly request that you put an end to this vulgar behavior. Cut off her head! I assure you, we will be extremely grateful and offer generous payment."
Feeling deeply pressured by this request, Victor rubbed his nose. "Thank you for your trust, Your Grace. I will do my utmost to fulfill your request."
…
"More!? Gods, I truly can't go on…"
, Lester of Smoton, who swore a lifelong vow of abstinence several days later
…
The succubus is an otherworldly creature brought by the Conjunction of the Spheres. Because of their highly humanoid appearance, they are often mistaken for higher vampires.
But succubi are different from other monsters. They neither wish to kill people nor drink blood, but appear in small towns or large cities, focusing on finding "any" humanoid creature for sexual activity, in order to satisfy their insatiable desire.
As the name suggests, succubi have the appearance of beautiful women. The more obvious identifying features are horns on the head, and reverse-jointed hooves instead of feet. They usually act at night, but if they truly cannot restrain themselves, they may also appear during the day.
Their targets can be either men or women! Old or young! Regardless of appearance! Regardless of body type!
Some succubi are especially fond of seducing priests or other clergy, treating sexual behavior as a kind of game.
One must take note that although they usually bear no malice and do not deliberately cause harm, if the "victim" lacks self-control, overestimates their physical condition, or bites off more than they can chew, the chance of dying on the battlefield cannot be underestimated.
After all, they almost never refuse a challenge.
, excerpt from Journey to the End of the World
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