The Gloomy and Timid Princess Heads to the Academy

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“…Still sleeping, huh?”

As I leaned in to listen beyond the wall, only Dokan’s steady breathing filled the air. Yoonho seemed to be sleeping soundly in the other room, following Dokan’s lead.

…Hm. Guess it’s about time to wake them up.

I hadn’t disturbed them during lunchtime because they were sleeping too soundly, but skipping dinner seemed unreasonable. Besides, if I left them alone, they might continue sleeping until tomorrow.

There’s no other choice. I have to go in. I slipped a bookmark into the novel I was reading and got dressed. I should also write in my diary soon… but that can wait.

However, dinner couldn’t be postponed, could it?

I politely knocked on Dokan’s door, but got no response, so I opened it and walked in.

What caught my eye first was Yoonho, who was still terrified of me, and Dokan, sleeping soundly in his school uniform.

Next was the faint scent of night flowers. I couldn’t remember what it smelled like until yesterday, but now it was a scent I didn’t need to ponder.

…It’s surprising, but he’s a guy. It stirred a strange mixture of disappointment and the recognition that he was human, leaving me with a perplexing feeling. No, it’s not that I have anything to say… did I just lose to my own hands?

I have to keep my chin up.

Resolutely, I started rummaging around the room. In the middle of it, Yoonho begged for food, so I poured some feed for him, but I also gently scolded him for his attitude.

The room was cluttered with all sorts of things. There were the textbooks I had given him, things I had prepared for other girls, and piles of crumpled papers. Hard, stiff tissues.

It was clear that Dokan had no knack for tidying up. His unfinished tasks and the important things strewn about made me think he must have misplaced an assignment in the mess at least once.

Should I help out? I decided to clean up his room, just a bit more.

I tossed the stiff tissues in the trash and carefully placed the textbooks I had given him on the bookshelf. Despite the noise, Dokan remained dead asleep.

How on earth would he survive without me? Glancing at his face, I forgot that half of this was my fault. The traces of anguish and exhaustion visible on him were much better than before.

I’m not sure what has been resolved, but I hope he can live comfortably without worries in the future.

With that thought in mind, I called out his name.

“Dokan, wake up. It’s already dinner time. You have to eat dinner. Hey, wake up…!”

I tried speaking right next to his ear, shook him a bit, and even rubbed his tail against his nose, but Dokan wouldn’t budge.

…Isn’t he sleeping too deeply? I even considered slapping his cheek, but that felt a bit too much.

What should I do now? I can’t just leave him be. Suddenly, a fairy tale popped into my mind.

Sleeping Beauty. I had forgotten most of the story, but one thing stood out. The princess woke up after receiving a kiss from the prince.

Or was it Snow White? It must be the same concept, anyway, and it hardly matters now. But I wanted to be sure.

Of course, I hesitated for a moment. I had been insisting he was a friend, yet here I was thinking about a waking kiss. But… would it be so bad? We’re more than friends now; we’re lovers. It shouldn’t be weird.

Yeah, it’s fine.

Steeling myself made it easy to act. I swept my hair aside so it wouldn’t get in the way and positioned myself by the bed.

If I climbed up, I might jiggle the bed. I wanted to avoid waking up right before contact and making things awkward between us. I had set a nice mood, so it would be the worst if it fell apart.

Up close, he looked so happy that I almost thought about letting him sleep longer, but no. He absolutely must eat. He was a growing guy, after all.

So skipping a meal is out of the question.

Yet, as my face got closer to his, I felt a bit shy. I’d done much more than this, so why was my heart racing still?

“…Wake up, Prince.”

Come on, time to wake up. I pressed my lips to Dokan’s.

– – – –

“Oh, Cecilia. And Ethan. It feels like it’s been a while. How have you been?”

Their meeting was purely coincidental. They all shared the commonality of being Yoonho’s students, but their bonds weren’t particularly deep.

Ethan was taken aback by the unexpected encounter, but soon responded to her greeting.

“It hasn’t been long, really… Yes, it’s nice to see you, Lady Anastasia. And you, Eric.”

“It’s been a while! Are you on your way somewhere to eat?”

Unlike Ethan, Cecilia cheerfully returned Anya’s greeting and asked if they were headed that way.

“Just finished eating, actually. Such a pity. If the timing had been better, we could have enjoyed a meal together.”

“Is that so… Well, we can meet later!”

Cecilia, with her characteristic positive outlook, tried to say goodbye, but Ethan had a question for them.

“Excuse me, Lady Anastasia. Have you heard any rumors about Yoonho?”

“…Ah, if you mean that… Are you referring to something that happened today?”

“Yes. Normally, Yoonho wouldn’t behave that way, so do you have any guesses as to why?”

Given that she was close to Yoonho, Ethan hoped she might know something he didn’t.

“…Well, I’m not sure…?”

While not as close as Dokan, Anya had some understanding of her true nature, so she could easily predict what might have happened between them.

Something happened after they both overslept, leading to this trouble. But Anya couldn’t bring herself to say it.

She didn’t want to tarnish her friend’s honor in that way. Sometimes, not revealing the truth is the better path.

Knowing how hard Yoonho worked to appear perfect, Anya decided to remain silent.

“I honestly don’t know. It’s the first time I’ve seen Yoonho like that…”

“I see. I’m sorry to keep you when you’re busy. Please, continue on.”

“Yes. You take care too, Ethan.”

After exchanging worrying glances with him, she hurried to Eric’s side.

“…So she really doesn’t know.”

“Don’t worry, Ethan. It’s not a big deal. More importantly, the mysterious World Tree in the Academy is our priority.”

They had been investigating the elusive World Tree, which seemed to reject all their efforts.

Though they felt as if they were forgetting something, they brushed it off as a trivial misconception, given how busy they had been.

However, the unknown World Tree that had somehow grown in an environment where self-propagation was impossible was an issue that could not be ignored.

Yet, similar to Yoonho’s progress, their investigation into the World Tree hadn’t yielded any results either.

“I’m going on a school trip to my hometown soon, so let’s look into it then. The elder might know something.”

“Right. Sigh, I expected it wouldn’t be easy… and it just keeps getting harder.”

As the number of problems to resolve increased compared to those resolved, Ethan couldn’t help but sigh.

“After hardship comes joy. The Goddess blesses those who work hard.”

I hope that’s true. Quietly murmuring, Ethan closed his eyes.

“Ethan, over there.”

At Cecilia’s sudden and quiet gesture, Ethan opened his eyes. There stood Yoonho and Dokan.

Without a moment to spare, they held their breath and observed Yoonho. They appeared to be walking side by side, but looking closely, Yoonho was leading Dokan.

“…You said you didn’t want to eat anything?”

“Yes. I just woke up and all I can think about is crawling back into bed.”

“Hm. I understand your feelings, but that’s not allowed. You must not skip meals. Here, I’ll serve you myself. Come on. Ugh.”

Yoonho tugged gently at the lethargic Dokan, and Ethan could only imagine how much he had suffered under her influence.

“Yoonho, that’s the seafood section…”

“I know. I’m not eating; you are, so don’t worry. Ugh, the smell.”

And with that, Yoonho began piling various things onto Dokan’s plate. Oysters, seaweed, eel.

Meat, chives, roasted garlic, eggs, and so on. Dokan grinned bitterly at the intentional selection of food.

“…Yoonho, I’m not really fond of chives… is there anything else?”

“You know that being picky isn’t good. If you only eat greens, how will you gain strength?”

“It’s not like you’re avoiding seafood, Yoonho.”

“…Fine. You’re such a pain.”

Yoonho huffily tossed a few seafood items onto Dokan’s plate. Seeing this, Dokan let out a chuckle and replied.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll try. Let’s do this.”

Ethan silently absorbed the scene. Their eyes met for a moment, but Yoonho ignored them.

After all, they weren’t even bothersome.