Joan’s Rewards

Joan stepped out of the carriage and observed the group of bandits.

There were six of them, and the one who seemed to be their leader was at the center, wearing an awful leering look as he eyed her up and down.

"Look at what we have here—a beautiful maid. Are you going to beg and plead for your life? It's a shame that your Master is cowering inside the carriage. Worry not. As long as you give us everything in the carriage and have some fun with me, maybe we can spare the life of your Master—" The bandit leader didn't get to finish his sentence.

Joan dashed toward him and took out a dagger, stealthily hidden underneath her skirt.

Before the bandit leader could even close his mouth, Joan had thrown the blade at him right.

The dagger embedded itself into his throat, and he instantly slumped over, dead.

Joan stepped at the bandit leader' corpse and retrieved her dagger.

The sight sent the others into a state of shock, and they quickly fled as soon as they regained their senses.

These people were no professional bandits who had fought with a lot of enemies. Their tactics were to only scare people into giving up their prized possessions at most, so the sight of a beautiful young maid killing their bandit leader in one strike was too frightening.

Joan chased after them, disposing of each one of them until she caught up to the last one. The bandit screamed in terror just before she brought her blade down, cutting straight through his neck in a single swing.

"Hah… hah..." Joan shook her head and wiped the dagger clean using the dead bandit’s clothes. She made her way back to the carriage, ignoring the frightened driver, and tried to keep a smile on her face.

She was initially afraid that Ryan would think that she was scary, but when she got inside the carriage, she was welcomed with a smile.

"Great job, Joan. I was about to join you, but you finished them off so quickly before I could even grab my sword." Ryan laughed.

While he didn’t actually like to sit down behind the sidelines, there was actually a benefit to it. Most royalty knew how to delegate, and it was clear that Joan finished them off without needing any of his help.

"A-ah, thank you." Joan blushed, feeling flustered as she put away her weapon and settled back into the carriage. “You won’t need to even lift a single finger with me here, Your Highness.”

“I know, but I also do not wish to let you everything by yourself. In fact, let me reward you for clearing off those bandits so quickly,” Ryan said.

Joan’s eyes lit up slightly at his words and her cheeks became slightly flushed.

“Reward? You would give me a reward…?”

“Why, of course. I’ll do my best to give you a good salary and improve our tiny kingdom immediately, but if there’s anything else that you desire, then let me know, okay?” Ryan said with a relaxed grin.

Joan didn’t hesitate to inch closer to him. Her cheeks were still rosy and there was a lump in her throat as she gazed at Ryan’s lips. She wanted to be so bold, but at the end, she gestured to Ryan’s lap.

“W-what?” Ryan’s eyes widened a little. ‘Is she pointing at my little brother right now?!’

“I would like to rest my head on your lap, Y-Your Highness.” Joan said shyly. “After dealing with all of those bandits, if you could lend me your lap while I rest, then it would be a fine reward already.”

“Oh, if that’s the case, then come here.” Ryan said, feeling himself calm down. He wanted to hit himself in the head for having such a thought, but it was easy to get the wrong idea when a beautiful woman like Joan was pointing at your crotch—er, lap.

Joan smiled and let out a contented sigh once her head made contact with Ryan’s lap.

‘I could close my eyes now and finally be at peace. This is the most incredible feeling ever.’

Ryan snuck a look at her peaceful face and smiled in return. She had always been serious before, but now, she looked calm and happy.

He decided to give her a little extra and ran his fingers through her scalp, giving it a quick massage to make her feel good.

Joan’s eyes nearly opened up in surprise, but she concentrated on keeping her eyes shut as she bit her lip and tried not to moan.

‘I was wrong the first time. This is absolutely the most incredible feeling ever. The Prince’s hand all over me is the best kind of reward I could ever ask for.’ Joan thought.

Unaware of Joan’s thoughts, Ryan only faintly smiled and massaged her head some more.

It was a peaceful moment, at least until the Grimoire started shouting into his ear.

"W-what's this? Your maid can fight as well?!" the Grimoire spluttered. Even though the Grimoire did not have any apparent eyes, it was at least capable of sensing its surroundings through magic.

‘Oh. Do you not know the history of the Luxem Family?’ Ryan asked, feeling less impressed with the Grimoire at the moment.

"I haven't been opened in such a long time that I thought I would accumulate dust in your mother’s drawer." the Grimoire glumly said. “You know, while on the next search for a kingdom to build, I ended up resting by accident because I haven’t found a worthy heir, so I mostly ended up dormant.”

‘Well, according to what my mother told me, the Luxem Family takes people in and trains them as butlers and maids with combat skills, so they could also serve as guards,’ Ryan explained through their shared telepathy link. ‘I have often wondered why I had only been assigned one maid, unlike my other siblings who had bodyguards. I thought it was because Father didn’t love Mother that much, but it was probably because Mother thought that Joan would be more than enough.’

“Oh, well. It will be great to turn her into a Subordinate! I have underestimated her capabilities.” The Grimoire admitted.

“Your Highness—er, Prince. Ah, we have arrived at Stonefall Village at last!” the driver called from outside.