The territory of Duke Yuwen, a border province of the Visci Empire.
This region was originally designated by Emperor Liut II as a special “trade zone” for foreign commerce.
Many trade restrictions here were relaxed, and combined with Duke Yuwen turning a blind eye to some forbidden goods trafficked by certain churches, this place became one of the empire’s busiest commercial hubs.
“This city really changes fast.”
In the commercial center, Vitrey, an ancient yet open city, the blonde girl sighed at everything before her in the bustling square.
“You’d better not say things that reveal you’ve been here before so easily, Cecily,” the silver-haired girl standing beside her smiled.
“It might be just an offhand remark to you, but to some with ulterior motives, it could expose your detailed information.”
“I know, but no one here cares about us. The population here moves so much—most are just passing through. People don’t pay attention to every visitor’s identity.”
The blonde girl gently took the other’s arm and whispered so only the two of them could hear.
And indeed, the passersby paid no mind to their conversation.
This city was never short of visitors, and even noble ladies were just ordinary passersby here.
Of course, the main reason these two girls went unnoticed was because they hadn’t revealed their true identities and had prepared thorough disguises.
“The people who are picking us up said they’ll wait at the local Chamber of Commerce’s gate. Let’s go,” the silver-haired girl said as she found a public carriage parked by the roadside. After a brief price inquiry, she threw her luggage onto the carriage, then jumped in with her companion. “We don’t have much time.”
Given that most visitors to this commercial city were here for business, the public carriages were designed with exceptional soundproofing.
Although they looked like ordinary carriages on the outside, inside the cabins were highly insulated to prevent conversations from being overheard.
At this moment, inside the soundproof carriage, Via finally relaxed. Her succubus horns appeared, and her slender tail swung gently inside the compartment.
“Phew, keeping up the disguise all the time is really uncomfortable.”
“I’m even more uncomfortable, senior. You practically had me disguised from head to toe—it’s too uncomfortable,” Cecily complained, weighing her chest that was suppressed by fabric and kicking off the thick-heeled shoes.
“Can’t be helped. You don’t know disguise magic at my level. No matter how good disguise magic is, it’s still magic. In front of a powerful mage, even if they can’t see through it, they can tell you’re using a disguise spell. My disguise leaves almost no magical traces; you just can’t do that.”
Via said with a hint of schadenfreude.
Cecily had insisted on accompanying Via to Duke Yuwen’s place, under the pretense of needing to gather intelligence on how the church currently exerts secular power.
Via didn’t refuse. In fact, this border commercial city was directly governed by Duke Yuwen.
Under his administration, as long as Via and Cecily could fool the locals with their disguises, their identities wouldn’t be exposed.
The problem was that Cecily’s disguise magic was simply not up to par.
As a Saintess, she had never needed disguise spells.
Though she had learned them, her practical experience was minimal.
Via’s disguise magic, on the other hand, had been honed since birth as a succubus and was nearly flawless.
Therefore, Via decisively gave up on having Cecily use disguise magic and chose to disguise her physically instead.
First, she concealed the Saintess’s well-proportioned figure and used makeup to hide her striking face.
They even specially chose thick-heeled shoes to make her appear taller.
Every aspect—body shape, posture, and face—was altered as much as possible to distance her from her true appearance. It took quite some effort to transform the Saintess.
Of course, the entire process was troublesome, especially binding her chest.
The Saintess was shy and hesitant about letting Via tighten the bindings.
But her figure was too good, and she couldn’t suppress it by herself.
In the end, Via threatened, “If you keep hesitating, I’ll make you twist and squirm all you want in bed,” which finally made Cecily accept her help.
“Lord, I hope this negotiation ends soon. I’m starting to have trouble breathing.”
Cecily whispered a prayer.
“…What you’re doing right now doesn’t seem like something that earns the Lord’s favor.”
Via glanced at her with exasperation.
“When we meet them, remember, don’t reveal your identity. I’ll introduce you as my servant.”
“I understand.”
“Also, you have to cooperate with one more thing.”
“What is it?”
“After all, I’m the Succubus Queen. I still have to cater a bit to human stereotypes. Otherwise, if you’re by my side but don’t look like a servant, they’ll suspect your identity.”
Via didn’t want Cecily’s Saintess status to attract the Duke’s attention—a former church Saintess was a valuable trump card for the church.
If the Duke planned to use that card against the church, both of them would face unnecessary trouble.
“You… you want to do what?”
“Don’t be nervous. I’m not hungry right now, so I won’t do anything untoward,” Via waved her hand when she noticed Cecily’s visible tension.
“But you need to at least look like a servant. Come here, closer.”
Cecily hesitated a moment before slowly approaching Via.
Via’s fingers glowed faintly with magical energy.
“Lift your skirt.”
“Didn’t hear me?”
“Wait, senior, this doesn’t feel right…”
“I’ll draw a temporary magic mark to fool them. What, are you going to defy my orders?”
Hearing the half-commanding tone, Cecily was sure at least thirty percent of this was intentional mischief on Via’s part.
Still, she reluctantly nodded, turned her head aside, closed her eyes, and lifted her skirt.
At least she thought this was a humiliating scene.
“…No wonder you’re a Saintess. The color underneath is pure.”
“Where did you get the idea of looking at people’s colors, you rogue?”
Cecily nervously retorted, constantly glancing toward the front of the carriage, afraid the driver might turn around and barge in—though that was impossible.
“I’m a succubus. For us, doing this is completely normal,” Via said, her finger swiftly tracing Cecily’s smooth, fair belly, leaving a pink heart-shaped mark.
“Done.”
“Uh…?”
Cecily blushed deeper as she stared at the glowing pink mark.
“Don’t worry. It’s just a temporary mark made with magic. It has no actual effect—at least nothing like the real one. It’ll fade away in a day or two.”
Via knew exactly what the Saintess was thinking and added the explanation.
“Now, let’s prepare to meet our enthusiastic Duke.”