The Gloomy and Timid Princess Heads to the Academy

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While I petted Ho-yeon and cooled my head, I was able to focus on the imminent problem at hand. It wasn’t about abstract issues like being disliked by her once she regained her senses.

It was a very realistic issue, perhaps even one that was pressing right in front of me.

Heuk-rang and Jeong-ho. I wasn’t sure exactly when it began, but Heuk-rang had been following me incessantly. I had no idea how I managed to find him, hidden so well that even Anya couldn’t detect him.

Now that I knew he was there, I could see him if I concentrated my mind. Even now, he was perched up in that tree, watching me.

He wasn’t showing any emotion, leaving me unsure whether I was safe or not, but I thought I probably was. At least as long as I was next to Ho-yeon.

“Hey… uh… over there…”

Fortunately, there were no eyes watching in some corner of the Academy. Ho-yeon was making pleasant sounds like a purring cat and persistently urging me to keep petting her.

I couldn’t stop, but continuing felt awkward.

“…Do you like it that much?”

I was petting her since she asked me to, but Heuk-rang’s gaze was becoming increasingly burdensome. Even though he was nominally under Byeolbi, Jeong-ho was still his superior, and I feared future consequences.

He’d never allow anything to happen to his daughter, especially if he was much stronger than her.

As anticipated at the beginning of the semester, a real war might break out, not because the continent is unreasonable, but because of me.

…Well, war would break out anyhow since I had given up, but I wanted to delay it as much as possible.

“Wow… this is… my first time… purring…”

So it was a purring song… it seemed the beasts had stronger animalistic traits than I thought. When I saw them resembling their original animals in such ways, it confirmed my suspicion.

Heuk-rang’s gaze had become a bit scarier, but… I thought it would be fine. I hoped it would be. However, recollecting Jeong-ho made me unable to suppress another sigh.

After surpassing the heroines, there was Heuk-rang, and then there was Jeong-ho. Just considering this was suffocating, and if I surpassed Jeong-ho…

Byeolbi. Right, she surprisingly showed me goodwill. More accurately, she wasn’t expressing any hostile intent. Yet, that curiosity was even stronger.

In the original story, she was a machine-like being. A machine moving only towards an unspecified goal, devoid of goodwill or malice.

The reason I started feeling something akin to affection for her must be due to Ho-yeon.

“…Wow… that feels good…”

Actually, I wondered if it had already been out of shape before I even entered the novel. Since the moment Ho-yeon was born, I felt like I had drifted further away from the original.

…Well, that’s no longer important. If we think positively, perhaps a war might not happen. But that’s just hope.

“…Hey, Ho-yeon. Would you mind moving a little?”

After petting her for twenty minutes, my wrist began to ache. Balancing my strength left my arm feeling strained, and I wondered how long I had to keep this up.

“Ugh… yeah, I’m a bit sad…”

She seemed overtly opposed to the interruption of her enjoyment, but she reluctantly got up slowly. Thank goodness, if I had continued like this, I might have lost my hand.

—

I was pulled into the dining hall by Dokan’s hand. It was surprising that it was only lunchtime, but since the original schedule had been filled with academy classes, it felt awkward now that the test had ended early.

…More than that, it felt much better than when my dad scratched my back before bed. Why did it feel so nice even if it was just on the tail’s root?

When I touched it while showering, it didn’t tickle. Oddly, Dokan’s touch had a knack for making places that shouldn’t be ticklish, ticklish.

…Well, it’s said that people are more sensitive to touches from others than from themselves. This probably relates to that. It wouldn’t be strange for my body to feel a bit off since I was in heat.

More importantly, since my big brother Heuk-rang didn’t need to keep an eye on Dokan anymore, I thought it was time to let him relax a bit.

I made eye contact with my big brother, who was stealthily tailing us without anyone noticing, signaling him that he could stop now.

For some reason, my big brother, who usually enjoyed resting, insistently wanted to keep watching, but I conveyed a firm message to stop. Watching a friend was a bit odd, besides it was unnecessary to monitor Dokan anymore.

I had made it that way.

Given the many prying eyes, I couldn’t interact openly, but I maintained a subtle distance where our shoulders nearly touched.

Seeing me being resolute, my brother seemed to back off as if he had no choice. Fortunately, I no longer needed to raise suspicions in front of Dokan while still exchanging glances.

Now that there were no prying eyes, or rather, no one I needed to worry about, I didn’t need to care about anyone. People wouldn’t come near me anyway, so I could ignore them.

I loosely wrapped my tail around Dokan’s leg. If I had it my way, I would wrap it tightly, but that would be impossible unless I were a snake beast.

“…Hey, Ho-yeon. I’m a bit uncomfortable walking like this, can you loosen it a bit?”

“No. I wrapped it specifically so you wouldn’t fall. Walk in time with me.”

Dokan usually took care of his needs first, then grabbed the table. One might say that was considerate, but I didn’t need such sensibility today.

What I needed was… only you.

“…Alright. But just don’t take too long to choose.”

Were you really forcing me to hurry up to take my spot because you disliked that? I couldn’t just let that slide.

So, I took Dokan around the menu, stalling time by even checking out the seafood and dessert corner, which I usually never glanced at.

Dokan seemed a bit tired. But still, being with someone I liked should make him happy too.

In the end, I filled my plate with the usual menu items. Dokan looked like he was wondering why I held him back if I was going to choose just what I normally did. Well, I guess that wasn’t very favorable.

While we were dining in that awkward atmosphere, Dokan suddenly looked at me. If you have something to say, just say it; why stare at me and exert pressure?

“What’s on your face?”

He said that and brought his hand to the corner of my mouth. Wait a second. Before I could protest, Dokan quickly brushed my mouth with his hand. Why do that with bare hands? And don’t you think it would’ve been easier to just tell me?

Yet, oddly, my heart raced a little.

“…Thank you. I was wondering if you needed to do that, but…”

I didn’t dislike it. I felt too embarrassed to voice that and swallowed my words. Because of that, my words came out a bit strange, but Dokan seemed to understand perfectly.

Seeing him grin like that was undeniable. I shot him a glare, but I couldn’t deny that because of him, the mood had become a bit lighter.

“…Sigh. Thanks, so is there something you want to ask me?”

The more I try to win, the more I end up losing. Accepting defeat, I asked Dokan if he had any questions.

After all, I had been acting like a curious child asking all sorts of things whenever I had the chance. So I figured he surely had something he was pondering now.

“Well, hearing your story, it seems something essential is missing. Is there no currency?”

I was wondering when he would ask that, and he finally did. To be fair, I was curious enough to ask my parents about it at first, so it wasn’t odd that he’d wonder.

“Yeah. We have distribution rights and such, but food and medical supplies are abundant enough that you can just take what you need whenever.”

“Then, is there no one greedy for more?”

“Why would anyone be greedy? Everything is already plentiful, and there’s no shortage expected in the future. Well, some people do take a lot of ‘happiness pills’ or ‘mind-expanding pills’…”

Mainly artists or scholars. Anyway, nothing more to report on that. After giving him a rough explanation, Dokan seemed stunned, unable to respond for a while.

“…So, there’s no need for money. But isn’t there someone who has more, like, um… you, for example…?”

Ah, that. Naturally, landlords have a little more than ordinary folks. But that’s all redistributed or used for offerings.

In the end, what I had left was merely a bit more than others.

“Not really? Sure, landlords or nobles might take a bit more, but most of it is kept for offerings or festivities.”

Then, when I was asked about what I had, I mentioned some money used by foreign merchants and a few wagons of gold bars my parents gave me, leaving Dokan speechless.

Since he kept asking like this, I figured he must have some feelings for me, right? I felt like being with him would make even my boring hometown enjoyable.

“…There’s no money, but that’s just saved up, huh?”

“Well, in our country it’s not needed, but it is when trading with island nations.”

Before long, he was asking so many questions that he completely forgot about eating. I pointed that out to him.

When he lost focus and neglected his increasingly cold food, I scolded him to focus on eating when it’s mealtime.

Once Dokan swiftly finished his food, he asked me something with a serious expression.

“…Um. So finally, what exactly is ‘God’?”