The Gloomy and Timid Princess Heads to the Academy

---

I thought it was a brawl. Only fists weren’t flying; we kept hitting and striking each other until we were both bruised and battered.

…Actually, maybe I could omit the “brawl” part since I was the one getting hit unilaterally.

Was it my karma that made Hoyeon so serious? She was overwhelming me without any mercy.

“Dokan. Dokan? Who’s the prettiest person in this academy?”

“Of course, it’s you.”

“Right? Then why do you keep trying to charm other girls? Hmm… I wonder? I guess I have to find out? If you don’t, you lose…”

Maybe it was her heat, or perhaps she was finally letting out everything she had bottled up—she was coming for me like a completely different person.

Her eyes didn’t reflect anger; it was as if something had been unleashed. I had no idea how to stop it, and I was genuinely scared of where this would end.

“Rock-paper-scissors!”

Now, it seemed like she had seen through any shallow tricks. After losing a few rounds at the start, she never let me win again.

Initially, I only planned to play a few rounds and then leave to avoid this mess, but thanks to my foolish mistake, here we were.

I should just consider it all my karma. Maybe it’s better to think of today as the day to settle everything that had built up until now.

She goes with scissors, I go with rock. I don’t know what she’s doing, but this match was going nowhere. She seemed to be using all her extraordinary senses while glaring at my hand as if she planned to tear it apart.

“So then… what exactly is lacking about me? Strength? Height? Or my body? Influence? Huh? Hmm?”

Even though I told her several times it wasn’t her fault, it didn’t seem to reach her at all. Or maybe she got it but was just using this as a venting tool.

If she had been acting quietly as usual, I might have read the slightest differences, but right now, she was thrashing about like a wild beast, and I couldn’t catch a clue.

“As I said earlier, it’s not you who’s lacking. I’m sorry for just repeating myself.”

“Then why do you keep flirting with those other girls? I have no friends but you!”

We just had the same conversation again. It was a curse to be stuck in a situation where I could only repeat the same words. If I revealed the truth, I’d surely be seen as 100% insane, and she might leave me.

I decided to pretend I hadn’t heard the frank feelings that just spilled out. She seemed to be trying too, but surely every time she referred to those girls, she was cursing them inwardly.

“I’m sorry. But truly, you are the most precious and closest to me. Just believe that much.”

“Ugh…!”

This time, she seemed to stop right in front of me as if blocked by an invisible wall while trying to claw me with her Iron Claw, making a strange noise I couldn’t quite place.

I thought, “Just hit me already!” but at the same time, considering that I was the cause of her obvious inner turmoil, I wasn’t completely at ease.

I thought I could balance on the tightrope of her obsession well enough. Instead, it seemed like I was about to split in half as soon as I got on.

Knowing that cutting her off would be utterly ridiculous, I had to keep walking the tightrope… Even factoring in her current state, her interest felt overwhelmingly heavy.

…I know that ignoring the possibility of a happy ending and just letting Hoyeon live happily would be much easier.

I also understood that the characters here were practically strangers to me.

Yet still… there must be a way for everyone to be happy, and I was the only one who could lead them down that path. How could I ignore that?

I couldn’t let that happen.

At least, I wanted to try as far as I could.

“…Alright. It’s about time for lunch, so let’s stop for now.”

Although, this was how it turned out. I ended up making even Hoyeon, whom I thought would be the easiest to deal with, hate me.

A happy conclusion was unlikely to be easily achieved. Still, if it must be that way, I hoped for such an ending.

Hoyeon seemed to be sulking, not trying to gesture for me to follow at all, and she left the room, slamming the door hard enough to make Yoonho—who was sleeping soundly—jump up.

Speaking of which, it was time for this guy to be fed. I hurriedly grabbed a handful from the feed container and rushed to catch up with Hoyeon.

—–

Anastasia had been troubled by one thing lately.

“What’s bothering you, my love?”

“I told you not to call me that… Eric. There’s no need to act until it’s just the two of us. Just call me by my name.”

The cause of her concern was none other than her fiancé. He was her childhood friend, and after a ten-year separation due to circumstances, they met again at the academy, but he had turned into a hulking mass of muscles, Eric.

Having seen each other through various things since childhood, she hadn’t perceived him as a romantic interest for a long time, and his appearance was somewhat contrary to her taste.

His cute boyish looks were long gone, replaced by his burly frame and a bald head, which only emphasized his meticulously groomed mustache, shocking her considerably upon their reunion.

“Well then, Anastasia. Even if you honor me, how could I treat you disrespectfully, even when it’s just the two of us?”

But despite his rugged appearance, his gallantry and excessively polite demeanor weren’t what caused her the greatest concern.

Her biggest dilemma was that he had begun to seem attractive to her as a man.

“That’s exactly the problem…”

“…? I don’t quite understand what the issue is.”

In matters of this kind, he was completely unaware, leaving Anya in turmoil with no way to express herself.

As soon as she learned that her father had designated him as her fiancé, she thought it was best to play along for the time being and figure it out later since they had seen each other in not-so-pleasant ways. She felt that the idea of confessing was out of the question.

“…People often say you lack awareness, don’t they?”

“My mother always said, ‘You’re always clueless when it matters.’ But lately, I’m confident I’ve been quite perceptive.”

How could I possibly see this musclebound clueless guy as a man?

Anya’s worries only deepened. But eventually, they had to head to the dining hall, as one must when the stomach demands.

“Is there a reason you didn’t bring your followers?”

“Because of you.” Holding back the words that had risen to her lips, she said one thing to him.

“Sometimes I want that too. Some alone time, shall we say? Although you interrupted it by showing up!”

“Um, I apologize. And thank you for taking the time to meet me during such valuable moments.”

Did this man even know what he was saying? Anya assumed he was completely oblivious.

“…Forget it, Eric.”

Realizing she was the only one getting flustered by speaking, Anastasia gave up and began picking food onto her plate.

“Eating vegetables is good for your health. I can’t believe you still have those picky eating habits from childhood… picky eating is really not good.”

“You—you’re the one being too noisy! Aren’t you the one loading up your plate too much?”

“For this build, this much is just right. And I did take some veggies, didn’t I?”

Anya had felt a brief anger towards Eric for digging up her childhood bad habits, but that wrath didn’t last long.

“…Oh? Those two…”

What caught her eye was Dokan and Hoyeon. However, they were significantly different from what she knew.

The mysterious atmosphere that usually flowed between them was entirely replaced by cold air, resembling a northern snowstorm, as only coldness lingered between them.

“Do you know them? I have no clue who they are, but they look like they’ve been fighting.”

“Be quiet; are you really that clueless?”

“…Um. I shall be cautious from now on.”

While blaming her fiancé, who couldn’t read the room, Anya cautiously observed them.

The frigid air emanated from Hoyeon, while Dokan seemed to be silently accepting it with something weighing on him.

Dokan had definitely done something terrible to her. Anya could instantly sense that. She guessed that coming to meet her without any explanation would have caused the problem.

Though she was mildly annoyed by the suspicious duo tracking them, Anastasia decided to let it slide.

If there were people tailing even her—given her status as a grand duchess—how much more so for her, a princess?

As Anya resumed her observation, she detected another odd thing.

Neither of them said a single word. They merely ate from their plates in silence.

Contrasting sharply with the way they used to chat animatedly every time she saw them in the dining hall, Anya surmised how gravely Dokan had messed up.

Yet, she couldn’t fathom what Hoyeon needed to do to go silent on Dokan like that.

She just resolved inwardly to go find her later and lend her some empathy.