Princess Collection (text/english) (Pixiv Fanbox)

(Complete work: - ) (Illustrations: https://inaizumi.fanbox.cc/posts/2265533 https://inaizumi.fanbox.cc/posts/2269070 https://inaizumi.fanbox.cc/posts/2273658 https://inaizumi.fanbox.cc/posts/2281952) In a world that has been ravaged by two centuries of continuous war under the shadow of a great expansionist empire, which extends over 60% of the territory of the planet, and its eternal and immortal Emperor; the remaining 40% planet territory is divided into numerous fiefdoms and small kingdoms that, once together were great nations, today are only a lot of weak tributary territories to the great Emperor. However, the fact that the world is unified around a single leader, that does not prevent conflicts between these small fiefdoms and even some kingdoms that, with the Emperor's permission, expand annexing other weaker kingdoms. Due to this mechanic, some smaller kingdoms disappear or are abused by other larger kingdoms, as was the case of the small Adana Kingdom, which has been another kingdom annexed by the increasingly larger Numantia Kingdom. Usually the conqueror's treatment of the defeated is very brutal and, very often, the winners tend to subject entire neighboring towns to slavery, without making any distinction, but the case of the kingdoms annexed by Numantia are exceptional and come out of the rule, since usually the King of Numantia tends to respect the nobility noble titles and the population rights of the invaded kingdoms. Even the Numantia Feudal Lord usually invites the defeated kings daughters to visit his castle, on some paradisiacal island in the Mediterranean Sea, asking as a requirement for peace the visit of the newly annexed kingdoms princesses. On the other hand, no one ever sees the princesses leaving the Lord of Numantia castle again. The Feudal Lord, who goes by the nickname Scipio, argues that the princesses get lost on the way back to their homes, probably due to the lack of vigilance and the many sea and forest monsters that are usually on the loose. Whether or not this statement is true, it’s still, at least, suspicious, although the parents of the princesses, before kings and now nothing, can’t do much against their new lord, who has conquered their territories one by one. One and only a change of mind by King Scipio is enough to completely change the dynamic that they have used so far and crush the conquered kingdoms harder. It’s here that the Rachel of Adana story begins, the princess of the most recent kingdom to be invaded by Scipio. Rachel, a young woman at 18 years old, fond of the arts and the good life in the father courts, has seen her life radically changed after the invasion. Her peace, her life plans, all have been inevitably cut short after the invasion. On the other hand, shortly after the invasion, Rachel received an invitation to attend at the castle-palace of Scipio, the Numantia feudal lord, on his warm and paradisiacal island in the southern Mediterranean. Rachel knew well about the other princesses disappearances in said castle, but on the other hand, she sees it possible to recover her luxurious life and her life projects if she is offered as a wife to Scipio, so she is prepared to take the risk of accept said invitation. In the end, Rachel feels that she has lost all her life, what else could she lose after seeing her kingdom fall and disappear? After a few days at sea, Rachel finally reaches the island and is greeted directly by the feudal lord, something that surprises her greatly. Scipio, wasting no time, welcomes Rachel and proceeds to advance through the palace courtyard to show it to Rachel. After several minutes walking, they finally arrive at a much loved place in the Scipio garden: its a numerous collection of wax sculptures, all of them in the shape and clothing of beautiful women. These wax sculptures realism impresses Rachel, who admires the Scipio's dedication as a collector and his good artistic taste, while she admires the beautiful sculptures. [Image 1] After the walk in the garden, Scipio invites Rachel to eat and have a few glasses of wine, to which she accepts. Once at dinner, Scipio starts talking to Rachel about his wax sculptures. Rachel doesn’t stop talking about how much she admires the realism and beauty of these sculptures, to which Scipio decides to ask, with a smile, about whether she does want to be among those sculptures, being beautiful forever. "I'd love to," Rachel says as a compliment to Scipio, not knowing what was about to happen and the turn her life was about to take. Within minutes, after having a few glasses of wine, Rachel feels dizzy, until she is finally completely passed out on the dining room table. Hours later, Rachel wakes up in a place that feels quite warm... Rachel woke up only to look down and realize that she was descending into magic wax tank. Rachel struggles and tries to escape him at all costs, but she can't do much as she is chained by her arms to a mechanism that is what makes her descend more and more towards the wax tank. [Image 2] After Rachel's traumatic experience, she has begun to be groomed to join the feudal lord's collection. However, even if she was being drowned and covered in a magical wax that, because being magical, that didn’t kill or burn her, she was only immobilized and blinded, deep down she was still aware of her. She even she still trembled a little taking advantage of how fresh the wax was, although that small margin of movement will not last long, since it disappears as the wax hardens. Rachel, who is still conscious, tries to think about what she has done wrong to end up like this, has she been too interested? On the other hand, it was one of the conditions to restore peace that she visited said palace, so maybe, deep down, it's not entirely her fault and she never really had a choice. Rachel thinks about all of this while a maid does her makeup, putting the finishing touches on her. [Image 3] After the maid finished her makeup, she left her alone for several hours. Rachel only suffered more and more as she passed her time in that deathly silence, locked in the pessimism of her consciousness. After that time, another maid came and carried her as if she were a light object with both hands, as if she weighed nothing, something that impresses and scares Rachel, who can only become aware of her surroundings as she is moved around. Finally Rachel feels that she touches the ground with her feet, they have reached the place where Rachel will be installed and added to the collection. As Rachel's days go by as an elegant wax sculpture, perhaps one of the best in the collection, her mental health rapidly deteriorates, as she becomes more and more unaware of her own consciousness, while a bird pecks at her head with curiosity. “How long will Rachel last before completely forgetting her own existence?”, comment and bet on it the maids who see her being exhibited as the new Scipio acquisition. [Image 4]