The Gloomy and Timid Princess Heads to the Academy

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Is this what it feels like to honestly try to untie the Gordian Knot?

“…So, um… friends shouldn’t just drop by without permission, right?”

“Yep.”

“…And there’s no need to give or receive money, right?”

“Depends on the situation a bit, but it’s better not to.”

“…And if I ask you to buy something, you don’t have to get it, and um… also… no showing your skirt… inside…?”

The more I talked with Ho-yeon, the more ridiculous it became. Her idea of ‘friends’ was closer to that of servitors or servants.

Considering Ho-yeon’s position, I could roughly guess how people approached her, but this was a bit much.

In a situation where a normal friendly relationship couldn’t be established, it seemed like she had a warped understanding of what it meant to be friends.

Moreover, combined with her ignorance, it inevitably led to disasters like earlier.

Byeolbi was probably still watching. I wondered if she’d really stand by and not intervene, despite saying otherwise.

Honestly, I felt scared.

“…Then what is a friend supposed to be…? The friends I knew… what happened to them?”

Where to even start in correcting this?

I wanted to say that respecting each other was enough, but if I did, she might misunderstand it again.

Teaching her, with her completely different upbringing, was not easy. Sometimes she said things that were completely nonsensical.

“So, like, friends don’t suddenly strip in front of each other or demand meals when they just drop by.”

“…Mm-hmm.”

“And they don’t just sleep over without a word. You don’t have to wake someone up every meal. If you want to do that, fine, but if it’s just because we’re friends, I’d prefer it if you didn’t.”

Trying to clarify everything made my head spin, but I somehow kept correcting her misconceptions one by one.

Fortunately, she wasn’t stubborn and was learning step by step.

I thought about telling her to stop tapping with her tail, but since I knew nothing about beastfolk culture, I felt that was not a point for me to comment on.

Honestly, it felt nice to touch.

After an hour of preaching her, I could see a bit of effect.

“Ho-yeon. What is a friend?”

“Respect each other…, um… so, like, not taking off clothes in front and not sleeping freely at home and not asking for errands without paying…”

“…Yeah. That seems sufficient.”

So my time wasn’t wasted. Was this how Ho-yeon felt while teaching us?

When I’d shown her my report card and there had been no change in her expression, I wasn’t sure, but she probably felt a sense of pride similar to now.

She could definitely manage at least a C grade.

“But… Dokan.”

“Yeah?”

With her face filled with pure curiosity and no foreign substance, she asked me a question.

“Then… if they’re friends, can I peek at someone bathing?”

Ah.

Honestly, I thought I’d gotten away with that a bit too smoothly and would pay the price someday, but it seems Ho-yeon wanted justice now.

“Well, you see…”

Since there were hardly any furnishings in the room and I was teaching her while sitting on the floor, it was just right.

I changed my position to kneel down.

“Dokan?”

“…Sorry!”

I pressed my forehead to the ground, pouring as much apology as I could towards her.

Honestly, seeing the two neatly placed garments by the riverside, I couldn’t suppress my curiosity and desire.

And because of that strange, sweet scent that’d been tickling my nose since the day before, I felt clouded in my head.

Of course, after the stones nearly cracked my head open, I was able to regain my clarity.

I should have held back, but I still don’t understand why I couldn’t at that moment.

“I couldn’t suppress my curiosity and desire. I’ll take any punishment…!”

—
Curiosity and… desire. I know those two can be really hard to resist.

Before being a man, as a human, I understand deeply how difficult it can be to hold back from those two.

There was a time in childhood when my humanity felt thin, and then, I’d regained it later on, allowing me to feel strongly.

Why that was, I had no idea back then, but I discovered the reason later.

It was tied to my mother.

The story that I later heard directly from her, suggested she was a being from outside the stars, and thus lacking original emotions or feelings.

Also, she chillingly mentioned that while she hadn’t planned to have children, she suddenly felt a desire to have one for some reason.

Maybe because of that, it seemed I was born with some of that as well.

Well, I managed to recover that around the age of seven, so maybe it was okay.

Let’s wrap up the family talk there. I stood up.

In front of me was Dokan, kneeling as if he were waiting for a punishment, stuck to the floor.

If he wanted a punishment, I’d give him one. I had no intention of leaving him with guilt or anything like that.

Lifting my foot, I gently stepped on Dokan’s head.

After applying a slight pressure, I took my foot off again.

“…Here. Your punishment.”

Stepping on a friend’s head is not exactly a pleasant sensation.

It was pretty fun when verbally punishing him, but physically doing something like this wasn’t so nice.

Even after delivering the punishment, Dokan remained glued to the floor without any sign of getting up, so I brushed off the dust from his head and helped him up.

“Get up. The punishment’s over.”

Not believing that I’d let it go this easily, Dokan asked back.

“…But you saw us… naked. Are you really just going to let it slide like this…?”

“I already gave Anya a good telling-off. Plus, I don’t think you did anything that terribly wrong.”

Amidst the complex look he was giving me, I felt a sense of relief and, for some reason, found myself adding one more thing.

“But if you peeked on another girl like that… well, you wouldn’t get off so easily.”

“…Got it. I’m sorry.”

He might say that, but I knew he’d still cause trouble later.

“If you’re sorry, answer me just one more question.”

“Uh…? Uh.”

As I quietly listened to Dokan’s talk, I started to feel like if he formed a harem, his friend like me would soon be forgotten.

Because from the way he spoke, I felt like I could be less of a presence than the noisy neighbors upstairs.

So I thought of a brilliant plan.

If being just friends wasn’t enough, then we’d become something deeper than friends.

With that in mind, I asked Dokan.

“I want to have a relationship a little deeper than just friends. Is that not okay…?”

“…What?”

I knew that the next step after ‘friends’ was ‘best friends,’ so I thought Dokan would catch on instantly.

I wanted to become best friends with Dokan.

I knew it wasn’t something that could happen just by saying it, but I wanted to lay that groundwork nonetheless.

Even if just in words, it would be enjoyable.

But Dokan’s reaction was a bit unusual.

He had that look from earlier, as if he was on top of the world.

What was that about now?

“Ho-yeon. You do know what your words meant, right?”

Where did that previous apology go? Can a person even change their demeanor so rapidly?

“…Of course I do!”

Does he think I’m an idiot? That shouldn’t have been such a sensitive issue.

“…Really.”

“Yeah!”

I felt a bit disappointed. Was I the only one who thought we could be called best friends at this level?

Dokan still seemed hesitant as he weighed his answer.

“…Ho-yeon. Right now, I understood your words as wanting to date. Am I right?”

…Want to date? With whom?

With Dokan? Me?

Why did it suddenly escalate to that…?

In that moment, a scene flashed through my mind. Dokan would call my name, and I would respond with a smile, and at night, we’d go to bed together—

Ah, my stomach is tightening again. Why… it’s not even rutting season!

“A-Ahnya… I didn’t mean it like that… I just wanted to be… best friends…!”

My stomach hurt and I was so flustered that I couldn’t speak properly.

Why was my simple invitation to be best friends being interpreted as wanting a girlfriend?

“Ho-yeon. Are you feeling kinda tired right now?”

No, I’m not tired; my eyes are just spinning. Is that considered tired? I don’t know.

I felt embarrassed and my stomach hurt so I didn’t know what was what. It even felt like I could hear Dokan whispering my name in my head.

I really might be exhausted.

“…Yeah. I guess I’m feeling pretty sleepy…”

“Seems like so. How about going to sleep now?”

“…I think that’s best.”

If I stayed awake longer, I didn’t know what foolish thing I might say.

I figured it was better to just go to sleep as Dokan suggested.

I was already tired from dealing with Anya, and having my common sense turned upside down by Dokan only added to the dizziness.

“Well, goodnight.”

“…Have sweet dreams.”

With that farewell, I dashed back to my room.

Was I acting insane? Upon reflection, I thought that based on my word choices, it wasn’t too surprising Dokan would misunderstand.

I really need to be careful next time.

The clothes Anya had bought me were left neatly hanging on the hanger instead of just being draped over the chair like a school uniform.

I wanted to grab my pajamas, but since more clothes were added than I anticipated, I couldn’t even see where they were and gave up.

So I just jumped into bed in just my underwear, closing my eyes to sleep, but suddenly thought about what it would be like if Dokan was in the same bed as me.

Why was I thinking that?

I have no idea. The idea of dating that kid sounds super strange, but it doesn’t seem like it would be entirely bad either.

…Now, I don’t even know what I am.

I don’t know if I’m a guy or a girl.

Even if I wanted to ask my mom for advice… I hesitated to bring this up.

If I asked my dad, he’d surely yell at me for being a weirdo.

I really wish Dokan was next to me.

I couldn’t shake that thought until I went to sleep.