32 A Princess' Desire

Jake got up and looked around, wondering if anyone had noticed him getting into a fight with a fellow contestant. To his relief, he saw nobody else around, which was a good thing because he couldn't let the guards see him fighting with someone from the same contest.

He checked Josiah's body for signs of life, but he was too far gone for any normal person to revive him. He sighed and turned around, looking at the wall. "Should I head back to Alea? Or maybe head back to the castle. The guards should be back to normal now. Yeah, I'll take my chances with the guards."

He made his way to the wall, hopping over it before rushing back to the castle.

"That was crazy...," he muttered as he walked.

After reaching the castle, he ran back up to the contest area to see what was going on. The judges were already taking their seats at the front table, and Gilbert was nowhere to be seen. He went straight to Alea and asked her, "Have you seen Gilbert?"

"Gilbert?" She tilted her head slightly to one side. "Nevermind that, you need to get the hell out of here! People think you're the one who attacked the red-haired dude."

"What? Why?"

"Who knows? But if you don't go, it'll be bad."

He looked around; the guests looked at him in fear. "Why are they looking at me like that?"

"The red-haired guy is somewhat famous. He's a master at cooking, and I heard he's really hot."

"You know him?"

"Not until today, but they believe him over you. I don't know why, perhaps it was the weird aura?"

Jake nodded, then asked, "You saw it too? I knew he had some sort of control over people. Where did he even get that power?"

"No idea. But whatever; run away!"

Suddenly the port opened again, and Gilbert stepped out. The princess was nowhere to be seen, though.

"Contestant Jake," he called. "Although the princess has deemed your dish as the victor, you have attacked a fellow contestant, Josiah. Therefore you're disqualified, and Josiah is the victor. Besides, you will temporarily be under arrest until we figure out what exactly was going on. We'll try to clear your name once we have a trial in a few days."

"I... What?" Jake had been hit by this news completely unprepared; he barely had time to comprehend what was happening.

"Shit, Jake. It's too late. If you defy him now, you'll be seen as a villain in all of Ludron since this is the royal castle. Just do what he says, and I'll try to get you out."

Jake looked back up at Gilbert. "Fine."

He followed him as he was led into the prison cell, where he was thrown inside and locked up for his crime. He looked around to find himself in an empty cell; there was nothing but a single straw bed, a bucket to use as a toilet, and a few broken pieces of furniture. The quality wasn't the worst, but he could tell it was nowhere near being up to standards. At least there were no other prisoners nearby.

"I've never been to jail," he muttered, walking over to the bed and sitting down. "Well, if I don't think of a way to prove my innocence, I might be stuck here for life... If anything, this wall looks brittle enough to break through. For now, I'll probably wait a few days or weeks for Alea to help me."

***

Time passed slowly, but Jake didn't bother thinking much about the situation; he tried to rest as best as he could, but without any windows or sunlight, it was incredibly difficult to tell time. A few hours had passed since, but there has been nothing but silence since then. He wasn't even sure if the day had gone by yet.

He laid down, resting his head on the bed. "How boring..."

The next time he woke up, he found himself staring into a pair of blue eyes, a woman's eyes. "Woah, woah! Wait, you're the princess?!"

She sat crouched down in front of the cell, directly before Jake, who had fallen asleep against the rails. She wore literally nothing but a pink pair of pastel socks and some panties that didn't even cover her private parts.

"Good morning. You're Jake, right?"

He blushed slightly. "Oh, uh... Y-yeah. What are you doing here? Are you trying to see me or something? I'm kinda locked in, though."

"Hehehe. I liked your dish. But you're behind bars. Could you make it again? I'll try and bring some things if you need any."

"Uhm...? The dish is umm... Could you wear some clothes?"

"Clothes? I am wearing clothes." She stood up and lifted her feet, exposing her body even further. "Look, I'm wearing these cute socks. One of my maids brought it for me."

"What...?"

She sat down again. "Sorry, a lot of people say that to be. I just like to be dressed this way; it's comfortable. I hate wearing anything more than this, and the only time I do is in public. That's why I barely leave the castle."

"Just because of that? Haha, that's pretty funny."

"Hey, don't laugh," she pouted. "I just like it this way."

"That's fair; I like you like that, too," he smirked.

She smiled at him before tilting her head slightly. "You're a strange one. Most men would be turned on by me, but you seem different."

"When did I say I wasn't turned on?"

"Ah... Okay."

Jake didn't know how to react; he just stared at her as she sat there with her legs spread open and her hands resting on the floor on both sides of her. Her pale, silky ivory skin was exposed in its entirety, with only her soft, lewd nipples covering any trace of her chest.

"Anyway, then, I know a place just for you. Anslenora. Have you heard of that place?"

"Anslenora? Isn't that an elven forest? Why should I go there?"

"I've heard from an elf friend that everyone walks around buck-naked. It's as normal as wearing clothes over there. Everyone is so loyal to each other, so there is no fear of people cheating. That's why they can be naked, plus it's warm, probably."

"Sounds great, but I've never even left the country."

She leaned in closer, bending over to place her head in between the rails. Her luscious breasts were firm enough to bounce without jiggling as she squeezed her head through. "I've been meaning to tell you something."

"Yes?"

"The royal family has no intentions of letting you go. I want you to escape with me."

Jake raised an eyebrow. "Escape? But you're the princess!"

"I've always been the black sheep, causing problems for my family by being myself. If I run away with you, it'll cause some trouble, but it'll be worth it in the end. My father would hate me, but it's fine. I can't keep causing them trouble."

"What? That's a bit much..."

"Please, I'll do anything!" Her eyes began to tear up slightly, and she clenched her fists tightly. "Right, my body. You can do anything to me... Just promise to help me escape."