The capital of the Gabriel Empire, Gabriels City, the Emperor’s harem within the imperial city. Bella and partner-in-crime Time Space Magic Demon Noesha entered the huge palace under the guise of the latter’s magic. This was the first time Bella had visited the Emperor’s harem ever since transmigrating to this Other World.
When Bella was previously in the Manasvir Empire, the Emperor’s harem had long been abandoned because the Emperor had been killed by Demonic Beings and had been replaced for more than ten years. Since Emperor Alfred the Third was still here, the rear palace system was complete. Bella had the chance to fulfill her desire to see the real side of the Emperor’s harem.
The rear palace covered a large area, almost half of the imperial city. Empress Deborah the Fifth, the imperial concubines, and the princesses lived there. The imperial customs of the Human Continent in this Other World dimension had no rule of building exclusive residences for the princesses. Only princes were eligible to enjoy such privileges.
If the princesses weren’t married, they would temporarily live in the rear palace and only live with their husbands after being married. Princess Kriss and the others lived here as well. The princesses lived in the outer courts of the palace, which was easier to find. Bella had planned to look for Kriss and the others first and then keep to her appointment. There was still time till midnight, which was the agreed-upon time for her appointment with Empress Deborah the Fifth.
Emperor Alfred the Third’s rear palace, also known as Stardust Palace, was said to be laid out in the same way as the stars in the sky. The authenticity of this rumor couldn’t be confirmed at present. But according to the map of the rear palace that Bella had obtained, the layout was indeed similar to the starry sky.
The guards stationed in the harem were all women. The male guards and imperial city guards were placed in the main defense areas, such as the treasury. The rear palace wasn’t as fortified. However, Bella soon discovered that the rear palace wasn’t undefended either. In fact, the defensive measures were more secretive.
Bella noticed a strange scent on the outer walls of the Stardust Palace. This scent permeated the entire palace. The Gabriel Empire was located in the southern part of the Human Continent and was rich in flower varieties. It had a long history of using flowers to make spices. Thus, using floral scents as decorations in the palace was reasonable.
However, Bella had smelled a similar scent in Poison Origin Betty’s lab. Hence, it was evident that this floral scent was poisonous. As a Demon King, Bella was immune to most of the poisons produced by the Human Race. She was a little curious as to what Emperor Alfred the Third was up to. Why did he envelop the rear palace with these poisonous fumes?
“This is the scent of the bird of paradise. I’ll never get tired of this smell.”
“Um, Noesha, you know this scent? Have you smelled this in Betty’s lab?”
“Big Sister Bella, I’ve known this fragrance for some time, but not from Betty.”
Noesha’s expression was a little weird, like a child who had done something naughty. After hesitating for a while, she finally explained the origins of the fragrance. The bird of paradise was a highly poisonous flower. When the flower was in full bloom, the shape of the flower resembled a bird spreading its wings, hence the name.
The highly poisonous bird of paradise was only effective on men, but not women. Its poisonous properties were mixed in the fragrance. By the time one would notice the poison, they would probably be on their way to heaven. This was the obscure meaning behind the name of the flower. Due to this characteristic, the emperors of various human empires throughout history used it to prevent men from sneaking into the rear palace and cuckolding them. They would plant a large number of birds of paradise, a poisonous flower that killed men, in their rear palace.
The antidote for the bird of paradise was usually owned by the Emperor alone. Only men with the antidote could move around in areas where the bird of paradise was planted. The formula for the antidote was unique and difficult to copy, and the Emperor was the only one who knew the formula. Such information wouldn’t be revealed even to the Emperor’s sons. If a prince wanted to see the Empress or the concubine who had given birth to him, he had to ask the Emperor and arrange to meet in another palace outside the Stardust Palace.
The Emperor would only pass on the antidote to the next heir to the throne when he was about to die. The flaws of the bird of paradise were very obvious. It was useless against female perverts like Bella and Noesha. Unfortunately, almost no female perverts had ever pillaged the harem throughout history, so emperors had never considered this issue.
Many human emperors never thought that women would sneak into their harems and sleep with their women. There wasn’t much they could do to guard against “unique girls” like Bella. Noesha knew about the bird of paradise because it wasn’t the first time she had sneaked into the Emperor’s harem. Back in other dimensions when Noesha had done this out of curiosity and fun, she had come across the bird of paradise very often.
“Big Sister Bella, when I sneaked into other Emperor’s harems, all I did was take a look. I didn’t do anything bad. You have to believe me!”
“Um, Noesha, you don’t have to explain anything. I won’t doubt you. Let’s go inside and see what’s so special about the Emperor’s harem.”
The gates of the Stardust Palace were closed at night by the palace maids. Due to the toxicity of the bird of paradise, even the gates of the palace were guarded by imperial bodyguards. All the palace maids had to do was close the gates when the time came. Relying on Noesha’s space-time veil, the two girls strolled through the gates and into the palace.
Upon entering Stardust Palace, Bella pondered over a problem. The bird of paradise’s toxin could only poison a person if they caught a whiff of its fragrance. Many assassins and thieves would hold their breath when they break in. Wouldn’t they be unaffected as long as they didn’t breathe? However, the answers to all her doubts were soon revealed.
Stardust Palace wasn’t as deep and cold as the usual rear palaces. It had sufficient lighting. The Emperor definitely spent a considerable amount building the place. A great number of Luminous Pearls used for lighting had been purchased from the Oceanic Race in the eastern seas via special channels. They resembled stars in the sky, almost covering the entire palace.
Aside from the Luminous Pearls, light energy crystals were specially purchased from the Aldridge Empire. New crystals were replaced every once in a while. The lack of light that Bella had been previously worried about seemed redundant now. Those light energy crystals were piled up in the shape of pillars. The illumination was far more powerful than that of Luminous Pearls.
The thing that almost saw Bella losing control was the female guards and palace maids walking back and forth throughout Stardust Palace. They were all youthful beauties; no older ladies were serving. Since Stardust Palace was part of the rear palace of the imperial city, the maids and guards here were carefully selected. Their ages were restricted to twenty and below. The older maids were assigned other jobs at other palaces. Thus, these maids and guards exclusively served at Stardust Palace.
The chosen maids and guards were all extremely voluptuous with all the right curves. Dressed beautifully, they were captivating. What was most astonishing was the fact they walked around the palace naked except for the sword they carried. This was clearly a crime of seduction.
Bella was so worked up that she almost had a nosebleed. Meanwhile, Noesha appeared calm. It seemed she had sneaked into the Emperor’s harem and witnessed such scenes many times. Sweeping their gazes across, all the eyes could see was fair, nubile girls. The maid and the guards didn’t even wear shoes, so they walked around barefoot.
The girls were probably used to these strange requests. They seemed to be doing the most ordinary things without the look of shame on their faces. In Stardust Palace, only women with status were eligible to wear clothes, such as the Empress, imperial concubines, and imperial princesses such as Kriss. The maids and guards weren’t allowed to wear any clothes to cover themselves unless they were leaving the palace on an errand. Most of the time, they were naked with their hair loose.
Except for the hair and eyebrows, all their other parts seemed to have been deliberately shaved off, so they looked like porcelain dolls. Their bodies were smeared with various spices, which gave their skin a glossy sheen. Their ample, bouncy bosoms were for the erotic show for the Emperor. Bella had to keep reminding herself that she was currently visiting the Emperor’s harem, not the red-light district.
Not only did the palace maids and the female guards live so shamefully to satisfy the Emperor’s desire to conquer, but also for a more significant reason. Since they were all naked, these girls were basically unable to carry weapons. Whatever they carried with them was clearly illuminated under the bright light. This could effectively prevent female assassins from sneaking into Stardust Palace with weapons. As for male assassins, Bella didn’t think any man could resist such temptations.
This erotic picture was a bonus for Bella but a fatal trap for male assassins who intended to sneak in to assassinate. Almost no one could hold their breath in front of such beauty. Once a male assassin would breathe, he would inhale the poison of the bird of paradise and would become the next victim. This was the first time Bella had come across such a vicious way to target assassins. The rear palaces of other emperors might have similar arrangements. It was clear from Noesha’s calmness in the face of such strange sights.
There were also many wind chimes throughout the palace. The beautiful guards and palace maids wore a string of bells around their necks, wrists, and ankles – altogether five strings of these bells on their bodies. As they moved, these bells made a crisp sound.
This measure had the same effect as keeping the staff naked. Not only was it wicked fun, but the intertwining chimes of the bells would also greatly interfere with assassins who relied on hearing to find their way. Even if one didn’t use sight but hearing instead, such an approach had been disrupted. With such strict precautions, Bella didn’t think any male assassins could sneak in, perhaps elders of the Assassins’ Union who had been practicing for hundreds of years or eunuchs who were nonexistent in this Other World. In fact, getting eunuchs to sneak in was the best idea.
Although the elders of the Assassins possessed the mettle, the Assassins’ Union didn’t receive tasks for members of the imperial family unless it was wartime. The Human Continent was now in a relatively peaceful period. During this time, the Assassin’s Union couldn’t send their people to assassinate members of the imperial family.
Studying the rear palace map in her hand, Bella decided to look for the princesses first. She had the keys to their rooms. Kriss was the first one to hand her key over to Bella. As for Princess Kliveny and the others, Bella had obtained their keys before entering Gabriels City.
However, the map in Bella’s hands had her at a loss. The map had no text, only some strange patterns that referred to the names of the locations. This wasn’t because Empress Deborah the Fifth, who had given her the map, wanted to trick Bella. The map of Stardust Palace had always been this way, so the Empress didn’t have one with text. Naturally, she couldn’t provide it.
Bella could only infer the status of the women living in the palace from the corresponding area on the map and whether or not it was a princess or an imperial concubine. There was only one symbol on the entire map. It marked a large area of the palace. Hence, Bella immediately located the Empress’ palace, Star Rain Palace. From the number, Bella quickly distinguished the symbols that differentiated the princess from the imperial concubines.
There were only a dozen imperial princesses. On the other hand, there were many more imperial concubines. By comparing the number of the two symbols, it was easy to see which one symbolized the princess and which represented the imperial concubines. From there on, it became more difficult to judge. The floor plan for the princess’ bedrooms was the same. It was hard to tell which one belonged to Kriss.
To distinguish between the identities and statuses of the princes, the crown prince occupied a larger space than the other princes. Unfortunately, this practice wasn’t used for the girls. Regardless of seniority, the size of the princesses’ bedrooms was the same. Bella wished she could beat up the stupid designer who designed the princesses’ palace. Since they were all the same size, wasn’t this increasing the difficulty of her crime?!
The princesses’ rooms were located in the front area of Stardust Palace, making them easy to find. The empresses and imperial concubines resided in the middle and the back area of Stardust Palace, and were very different from where the princesses lived. Bella and Noesha soon arrived at the princesses’ bedrooms. Fortunately, luck was on Bella’s side. The Rose Banquet at the Rose Palace was still ongoing and would last throughout the night.
Most of the imperial family’s princesses were still at the Rose Banquet and hadn’t yet returned. The lights in their bedroom were dim, proving that the princesses were away. The rooms, which were brightly lit, belonged to the princesses who had sneaked away from the Rose Banquet, a total of five princesses who were all Bella’s close friends.
All Bella had to do was choose one from the five, thus increasing her success rate from one-tenth to one-fifth. Since she had limited time, there was no way she could try all the rooms. However, she had enough time to search one or two out of the five rooms. Since the princesses had worn white dresses without purses, they couldn’t carry the magic communication artifact that Bella had previously given them. Hence, Bella took the initiative to find them.
Bella looked at the five palaces that were connected to each other and arranged side by side. After a moment’s contemplation, she pulled out the room keys the princesses had given her and found that they looked the same. Bella had originally wanted to compare them to the keyhole and search for Kriss’ room, but she never imagined that even the gates were designed in the same manner.
“Big Sister Bella, look over there. It must be Kriss. You go. I’ll be on the lookout here.”
“I’ll have to trouble you then. I’ll see Kriss for a while. When everything’s settled, you’ll be allowed to play as much as you want with this harem.”
“Big Sister Bella, you’re so kind. You’re my favorite. Go now, don’t make Kriss wait.”
While Bella was preoccupied, an equally sharp-eyed Noesha noticed something. Bella looked in Noesha’s direction, only to see a beautiful girl with long, silver hair on the balcony. Although she had her back towards them, Princess Kriss was the only one among the five princesses who had long, silver locks. The four other princesses didn’t have silver hair. Thus, she was certain it was Kriss.
Bella quickly made her way upstairs, leaving Noesha to keep watch. Bella failed to notice the devilish smile Noesha revealed as soon as the former left in a hurry. This wasn’t the first time Bella made a mistake, assuming it was Kriss. She had once mistaken the silver-haired Renegade and Mage Ariel for Kriss. Although only one of the princesses had silver hair, there were other beautiful silver-haired girls who weren’t princesses.
