Apparently, Her Highness Princess wants to keep her relationship with me a secret (what does she even mean by 'her relationship with me'?) - 2-7

2-7

The Clandestine Moves of Number Nine

A male student sat across the table, teaching Princess Emma study—but anyone could see that Princess Emma was far smarter. Her academic excellence was well-known at Westminster School, after all, she ranked first in her second year. That fact was posted on the bulletin board for everyone to see.

“Princess Emma! This number and this one are proportional… If you move this number to the top of the equation…”

“Watson! Given you’re almost the lowest-ranked student in the grade—just what kind of joke is this, teaching the princess? And just look how messy your notebook is, you’re just making things harder for her!”

On the long table they sat, there was an empty water jug.

Normally, when the jug was empty, the servants were supposed to refill it. However, since Princess Emma was at that table, with that group.

None of the servants dared approach, fearing a mistake in front of royalty. Westminster School had more high-ranking nobles than other schools, but well, royalty was in a different league entirely.

Now then, should I take advantage of that?

“I see… So that’s the way of thought for this problem right. Thank you, Watson sama.”

“See! I can help Princess Emma in her studies too! Stop interfering, you guys!”

While walking, I slowly extended thin threads of wind from my fingertips—that’s one of my unique magic quirk, invisible to anyone but me.

“Watson! If you’ve fed false information to Princess Emma, you’ll be in big trouble!”

“Ugh, shut up will ya! A man’s jealousy is pathetic!”

In this world, everyone is born with at least one magical quirk. My own quirk is not limited to just enhanced vision, as a rare occurrence—I was born with three magical quirks.

Aside from enhanced eyesight, my second ability entails to this. In terms of classification, it would be classified as wind magic.

“Hey, servant! What are you daydreaming about! The water jug is empty! Hurry up and bring more!”

“Y-Yes! Right away!”

“Tsk… So incompetent. Ah, Princess Emma, about that equation you see!”

As the servant girl approached with the refilled jug, The person leaned further forward to explain his point—a perfect opportunity.

I bundled my wind threads together and gave the person teaching Princess Emma, a little push from the back. And right then, I released the spell.

“Whoa! W-Whoa!”

The classmate teaching stumbled forward, knocking into the jug. Because of that, the water from the jug spilled across the table—just right onto Princess Emma’s lap.

“…”

Water pooled slowly dropping on the floor from Princess Emma’s skirt soaked skirt. The person responsible had his face paled.

“Watson! You’re always such a klutz!”

Almost immediately, the other students wasted no time piling on their scorn.

“I-I didn’t do it on purpose! If you could see it clearly, someone pushed me from the back! It was you, wasn’t it? The one who’s been bothering me this whole time!”

“That’s really unsightly, Watson. This time, it’s all your fault. All because you try teaching which is something you are absolutely not used to.”

Meanwhile, the stain on Princess Emma’s skirt grew wider.

“Oi Servant! Fetch something to wipe this up for the stain off Princess Emma’s skirt!”

The servants froze, unsure what to do—especially the girl who had brought the jug, given how the water she brought to that table, was the one that put stain on the princess, tears welled up in her eyes.

“It’s alright, I’ll handle this. You should go inside.”

“I-Itose-sama! I’m so sorry… Please, I leave it to you… For someone like me, to attend to the princess all by myself…”

“It’s ok, leave everything to me.”

Since I’ve been working as a servant since my first year to earn some pocket money, so I know the staff/servants all too well. Moreover, given I’ve also mediated plenty of disputes between the delinquent students and servants, they rely on me a lot—although, this time, I was the cause.

“…Orgot. So, it’s you?”

Several male students narrowed their eyes on witnessing me. Among them were also some I’d beaten in combat training.

“P-Princess Emma Haaa Haa… I’ll …wipe it up clean right now…”

“Watson! Your eyes are bloodshot! Don’t you dare touch the princess!”

Even now, I grabbed the classmate’s hand before he could reach Princess Emma’s skirt, and stop him.

“What are you doing?! Let go!”

He glared at me.

“What’s your deal here, Orgot.”

“If you wipe it, that’ll only spread the stain. Princess Emma, I suggest you to change your clothes immediately instead.”

“Y-Yes… I was thinking the same thing. You, could you bring me a change of clothes to my room?”

“Understood. I’ll have a spare cloth ready and delivered to your room shortly.”

Princess Emma also understood my intentions perfectly.

“Everyone… As I would want to change my clothes now, I’ll be back again later. Ah, the servant—I suppose you would want to put the clothes in for cleaning immediately, so can you follow me right away?”

Like a fish in water, Princess Emma briskly left the dining hall.

Following her footsteps,  I could hear the girls mock the boys as we walked away.

“Boys, seriously? Itose-kun is way smarter and more composed. Maybe you actually should learn something from him?”

And for me, on the way back to her room, I received a mild scolding.

‘Compared to yesterday, you were a little too direct —or so.’

Apparently, she didn’t want anyone to know or find out that she’d requested my help through that particular shop. Apparently she preferred a more subtle assistance from me.

…The Iron Princess is quite a hassle. Just how is her internal image of the perfect lover created inside her I wonder?

But everything is for the sake of climbing the ranks. I can’t afford to stop here.

I should have more patience, even more patience.

As a baron’s son with no powerful backers, graduating from Westminster Academy is nearly impossible with ordinary effort.

As per Her Excellency Westminster, she told me that I need to rank at least third at that shop before graduation—at minimum, Or else my graduation can be difficult.

But my goal not only limited to Graduation. It’s much higher than here.

I can’t afford to stop here.

That night, I reviewed the day’s lessons with Harold in my room.

“Itose! I can’t believe you let that loser get an easy win! Now even I’m stuck in this study hell!”

“You don’t actually have to join me in this, Harold.”

[TL: That’s a good friend.]

After losing in combat class, I needed to score top marks in the upcoming exams. It was not like Harold had to stay up and study with me, but claiming that he might lose someday too, he continued studying with me till late night.

What a good guy… Harold. But because of you being here with me, I can’t sneak out for my daily night patrol.

Late at night, after Harold finally left, there was a knock at the window.

“Itose-sama, Itose-sama are you still awake?”

The owner of the sound was the servant girl I saved earlier today. She’s the girl hired to gather secret information on Princess Emma as soon as I accepted the job of seducing the Princess from Her Excellency Westminster. Dressed like a ninja— was just her hobby apparently.

“Itose-sama, I’ve managed to purchase information on Princess Emma. As expected, as I we were dealing with the Royalty, it became a bit expensive…. The top-quality intel always tends to cost a lot more.”

A waiter girl with the face of an informant. But in her case, it seems that her personality changes according to the outfit she wore. The job I asked off her, was to purchase information that would not appear in the official terms, on Princess Emma. And since She’s a fan of me, I can get information at a cheaper price than usual.

“In conclusion: It seems that Princess Emma is currently targeted by kidnappers. They are likely to strike tomorrow or the day after that, they are planning to sell her abroad for an asking price.”

“…eh?”

That sudden revelation left me frozen.

“A, a kidnapping? Did I hear that wrong….?”

“You didn’t hear it wrong at all. And Itose-sama… It seems that the princess was born without any magical quirks which apparently everyone is born with as a given. Umm, Itose sama, do you want a detailed explanation? Well, obviously you do~, after all, no matter what it is, at the end of the day Itose sama is way too kind.”

That’s a direct request from Her Excellency Westminster. I had a feeling, this wouldn’t be a normal request at all, so that’s how it plays out.

To plan a kidnap of the Princess Emma, someone who’s close to the heavens. Just what and who are they.

“Tell me everything. I’ll pay extra fee properly.”

With that, I finally understood the reason why Princess Emma had requested me to become her fake boyfriend for a week.

“I’ve heard that the quality of requests changes dramatically once you reach single-digit ranks.”

“Nope, Itose-sama, as per rank, this isn’t a rank nine job. This is the kind of job only selected top agents handle… But, that also means just how much trust you garner from Westminster-sama after all.”

With those parting words, the informant vanished into the night.