With one final, decisive blow from my blade, the witch I have been fighting for the last fifteen minutes lets out a blood-curdling screech as her entire form turns to dust, the magic forces keeping her alive far beyond her expiration date giving out and causing her to breathe her last. In turn, I breathe a sigh of relief. While it is my third time locked in deadly combat with an evil spellcaster seeking to exploit the kingdom's prince for some sort of nefarious purpose, one never really gets used to this. At least I pray to the gods that I don't have to go through this so many times that I actually start getting used to it.

This is now the third time this year this sort of thing happened, and each time I've been sent out to rescue the prince. Me getting chosen the first time was just happenstance, but then the other two times, they just said "well, you've done it before, you've got experience now". I don't even really understand why this keeps happening—I remember a royal mage explaining to me that apparently virginity in royalty is a special combination and so Anders is a particularly interesting combination for some reason or another, but there's no reason why it seems like it's only him getting kidnapped like this—but in the end, all I can do is rescue him.

So once more, I beat down the one locked door in this now-deceased witch's hut, and once more, I am face to face with Anders. The accommodations here are incredibly squalid, with the prince in irons and chained to the wall, presumably to keep him there until the witch finished whatever ritual she was preparing. His normally so well-kept hair is a mess, his eyes, usually so full of life, give the impression of someone who is tired and worn down, and he looks hungry. Looking up at me, he forces a smile onto his face. "We... we have to stop meeting like this..." he mutters before letting out a long, heavy breath, that simple sentence seemingly exhausting him. But he's safe now. After removing—or to be more precise, using brute force to break—the chains, I attempt to help Anders to his feet, but it's clear he's out of energy and probably hasn't slept ever since he was kidnapped a few days ago, so instead I lift him onto my back and have him hold on to my neck. And as we begin heading back to my horse outside and make the trip back, he says one more thing before exhaustion catches up with him. "I... have to reward you..."

***

Now, when Anders said that he was going to reward me, I thought that nothing much would come from it. I honestly didn't even figure he'd remember it. Boy, egg on my face in that regard, because just a few days later, I was promoted from a simple knight of the realm to the prince's protector. So while I would previously be required to do menial tasks in surveying the realm, dealing with the peasantry and whatnot, I am now to exclusively serve the prince himself and never leave his side. In the span of a few days, I've become one of the most important people in the entire kingdom, with full blessing of the king himself—though I've heard that it was only after a great amount of urging on the prince's side that this blessing was given—but that's not the only thing that happened. In fact, right now, I am standing at the gates of the royal castle, viewing a massive parade float—with the prince at my side, of course—in awe at the sheer size of it. "And you're saying this is all for me?" I ask Anders.

When he turns to look at me, there's a bright smile on his face. "Why, of course! It's not every day the royal family inaugurates a new protector, and the citizens have to be introduced to you properly, so a parade is the perfect way to do just that! Besides, with you all dressed up in your finest clothes, it'd be a shame to not show off such a dapper hero of the realm," he explains, causing me to blush ever so slightly. I'm still not used to getting compliments regarding things other than my ability to hit things with a sword. The float certainly is an impressive sight, and this is just the leading one, with me being told that dozens of them are ready to follow it. Dozens of servants are scurrying to and fro, still getting it ready for the parade, but there is one thing that I cannot quite understand. Now, I would understand it if two thrones or similar seats were placed on top of the float for us to sit on. But instead, there is a large bed set up in the center, almost like we're supposed to be laying on that.

"...what's with the bed?" I finally ask, unable to keep my curiosity to myself.

In return, Anders stammers a bit before answering, "Well... uh... oh, wait, I think they're done! Come on, let's let the parade get going!" Having successfully avoided the question, he begins climbing the float, motioning for me to follow him. And I don't really have a way to press the issue, so I indeed follow him, which leads to the two of us leaning against a pile of pillows on the bed high up on the float. Wow, this is quite high up. We've barely gotten into position when I can suddenly feel a bit of shaking beneath us, and the float begins to move. Slowly, it rolls along the main road to the castle and across the drawbridge before beginning to make its way into the streets of the capital. What greets us there is quite astonishing—there's a huge crowd of people assembled along the sides of the street, cheering wildly for their prince and his new protector as our parade float rolls by. It's such a strange experience to feel... appreciated like this. Adored, even. The two of us wave to the crowd, which cheers even louder in response. But then, Anders surprises me. "So, uh... you wanted to know what this bed is for?" he asks, his other hand running along the mattress.

"Well, yes. It is quite the odd seating arrangement, you have to admit," I answer, turning to look at him.

Then it's his turn to blush, and I can tell he needs a moment to figure out how he wants to phrase this. "Er, what if I told you I had a plan to stop those kidnappings?" he asks me.

Where is this coming from? "I guess I'd be interested, but what does that have to do with this bed and this parade?" I respond, now quite intrigued.

He takes a deep breath, seemingly summoning up every bit of his mental strength. "I'm still a virgin, as you might have gathered. There's this rule for royal family members that men may not lay with women until marriage, but... I... I don't like women. That is why I haven't managed to lose my virginity yet. But I recently realized... the rule says nothing about men laying with other men! And so I thought... if you could just take my virginity, and do it in a very public space, so news of it would spread like wildfire, then it would become clear that I'm no longer interesting to those wizards and witches, right?" he explains.

That is quite the plan. In fact, it takes me several moments to even process what this means for us, that this explains what the bed is for, and so on. "Wait, so you want me to..." I trail off, unable to even put it into words.

And he just nods, like it's nothing. "Yes. I would like you, my savior, my dear protector... to take my virginity. Right here, right now, in full view of the whole capital," he tells me. Still taking in the whole situation, I look around at the crowd, which has gotten remarkably quiet, but it's not like they've gotten bored or anything. No, it seems like they've noticed us talking up here on this bed on top of this float, and while they can't hear what we're saying, it's clear to them that something is about to happen. There is a palpable atmosphere of anticipation. But can I really do this? Can I really... take... my prince right here, in the most public space I could have ever imagined, with thousands of onlookers? "Pleeeease?" he then adds, looking at me with an adorable, needy expression.