Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Chapter 296 : Betrayal And Backshots - Part 1

"Tia wait!" With the secret spilt into the open, the princess felt betrayed and rushed right back to the castle. However, even there she was being followed by the girl who'd disguised herself as a boy for as long as Tia could remember. "My parents forced me to lie! I didn't wanna do this but!"

"Shut up, Robin!" Stopping in her tracks, Tia turned around, frowning. Moving closer to the girl, she pushed her with her hand, shoving Robin by the chest. "You've been lying to me all this time! I thought you were a boy, and I–"

Looking frantically around in worry, Robin heaved a sigh as she realized that nobody had heard Tia. But as her eyes turned back to her fiance, and the pained expression in her teary eyes, she felt like scum for caring more about her secret being out than the feeling of a friend.

Clutching her fist against her chest, Tia was hunched over forward. Her knees bent from weakness, she felt moments away from breaking down then and there. She loved Robin–at least a version of her. A version that was playful, fickle, and always smiling with a mischievous grin.

But that version was no more than an illusion, a lie that had carried for years and would've only ever come out after the week was over and they'd gotten married.

"I-I'm sorry…" Said Robin, her hand gently resting on Tia's shoulders. But shrugging them off, she let out a cry, neither too loud for she still cared deep down for her friend nor forgiving as she wanted her to see the damage she'd done. "My parent they–"
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"Shut up about your parents!" Lifting her head with a jerking motion, Tia glared at Robin, her eyes red with contempt. "You did this! Don't act like you couldn't have told me like you had nothing to do in breaking my heart!"

Attempting to comfort Tia once again, Robin tried to reach for her arms, but before her hand could even get close, Tia stepped away with a disgruntled grunt. Curling her fingers at the rejection, Robin grabbed her own wrist and pulled it away from her fiance.

"I–" Her lips parted to downplay her part in the deception once more, but realizing how it would end, she sealed them without another word.

Now as they stood in silence, both to their own, fighting a different battle, a thought similar thought eventually appeared into their minds. 'Now what?', ideally Robin's parents had hoped to keep their daughter's sex a secret until the marriage was done in the most ostentatious of manners.

Past then if the news broke, knowing Maria's arrogance and obsessive pride, they were sure the queen wouldn't wanna embarrass herself by revealing the lie to the council much less to the entirety of Athenia.

As for the girls getting wedded to each other, they did not care in the least. For the control of the princess and the estate and influence she brought was all they were looking for, and since the lower church was massacred and the upper had its preacher slain by an angel, not even the churches could do anything even if the secret got out of the bag.

"Tia…" Breaking the silence, Robin looked at her fiance, her own eyes getting numb with tears. Even she didn't want their friendship to end, for she'd always been fond of her.

"What?!" Tia retorted, her words still tinged with anger.

Robin tried moving closer, but Tia stepped away even before her feet lifted off the ground. Pressing her lips in hurt, Robin took a deep breath and told the princess what she had in mind.

"My parents…they killed my brother and sister because they refused to lie or let them be controlled like puppets," it was the truth but also a lie, as Athenia was the one who's doomed her family, but that didn't stop the parents from claiming otherwise as it gave them control of their only living child.

"They wanted a boy, a boy who could marry the princess but for some reason, they couldn't bore another kid, so they dressed me up as a boy and had me lie every moment of my existence about who I was."

The goddess of fertility had taken the parents' fertility away from them, and since they couldn't birth another son, and since Robin was abandoned long before she was introduced to the public–that responsibility fell on the blessed girl.

"But," noticing a window of opportunity to draw on Tia's heart, Robin moved closer and this time the princess didn't have time to brush her off. A bit surprised by the cold touch of her sweaty palms, Tia looked up at her with a jolt. "I never faked my love for you, but only as a friend of course, nothing more. Otherwise, how could the goddess bless us with such beautiful memories?"

'A friend?'  The word pricked Tia like a thorn, but as much as she loved the male Robin, she had no romantic interest in a female version of him.

"I'm a priestess you know, and I would've been wedded to a girl, my magic would've been stripped along with the rest of my blessing," though childish at times, Tia was an astute priestess of Aphrodite. Her dogma was her life and blood, and tying the knot with another girl would've burned that bridge between her and her goddess.

While the priestess was lost in her worries, Robin wrapped her hands around her and pulled her into a hug. Pressing her head against her heart, she allowed her to calm to the melody it sang.

"Tweety…?" Hearing the bird-turned coin singing in Robin's breast pocket, a weak smile appeared on Tia's lips, although it didn't last long. "That's enough, I should really go tell Mother."

Pulling herself away from Robin, Tia squeezed a fist against her heart. Closing her eyes with a deep breath, she tried getting herself ready to have the difficult conversation. Although Robin wasn't looking forward to it, she decided to tag along and face the consequences of her actions head-on.

However, as they closed on Maria's room, the queen's squealing voice stopped them in their tracks. Their goosebump stood on end as the voices became clear and turned out to be sultry moans. A mix of pleasure and pain was leaking through her room, and the guards were also nowhere to be seen.

"Wh-what's that?" Tia muttered, hesitant about moving closer.

"Um…you sure your mom didn't get a new lover?" Robin asked, smiling awkwardly.

But as their curiosity got the better of them, the two decided to move in with heavy hearts and uncover the mystery of this alleged lover of the queen.