In a Female-Dominant World with a 5:1 Gender Ratio, I Saved a Girl as a Kid, and She Said She Wanted to Be My Bride—Who Would’ve Thought She Was a Princess… - 11

Chapter 11: The Princess’s ‘Surveillance’ and Her Awkward Benevolence

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(Alto’s POV)

The day after the secret meeting at that detached palace, I had the worst awakening imaginable, on the creaking bed of the old dormitory. The morning sunlight streaming into the dusty room stung my eyes unnaturally badly.

…It wasn’t a dream, huh?

While vaguely staring at the stains on the ceiling, I chewed over the events of last night. Princess Lilianna. That woman who stood at the very pinnacle had summoned me personally. The reason was the incident with the crystal ball. She had clearly seen through my lie about it being a “malfunction.”

That small, sly smile she showed me then… Was it the smile of a predator facing its prey, or…? And then, after warning me “Don’t tell even the king,” she left me with the incomprehensible words “I will judge for myself,” and released me.

What on earth was that…!?

The physical fear of being turned into a test subject was gone. But hadn’t I fallen into something even more troublesome, something far worse than that? I had been “marked” by that princess. That woman held the secret of my “a male with magic power.” And yet, she neither made it public nor disposed of me. She was just going to “judge for herself”? That meant she was leaving my very existence in limbo while holding the power of life and death over me. At her whim, she could denounce me as an “irregular,” or she could let me slide.

This was the worst. Hadn’t I basically become that princess’s “toy”?

An absolute ruler with time on her hands. To her, just how rare and fascinating a plaything must a “man with magic power” like me have looked?

With such heavy steps, I headed for the lecture hall, and I felt more eyes on me than usual.

The students passing by in the corridor kept their distance, clearly regarding me with curiosity and contempt. 

Leonardo, the heir of that ducal house, was chatting amiably with the men in his entourage, but when I entered his field of view, he shot me a measuring glance and then snorted, glaring at me. The female students were also still clinging to the rumors from practical training, whispering things like, “That person is the one with the crystal ball…” and “How creepy.”

…They still didn’t know about last night’s “secret meeting.” But wasn’t it only a matter of time!? I had no choice but to trust the head maid’s words: “Make sure no one sees you.” But if the princess truly saw me as a “toy,” there was no telling when she might say she was “bored”  of me and make this secret public.

None of the lecture content entered my head at all. The princess was aware of my magic power. Yet she had no intention of making it public. …Why? She neither disposed of me as an “irregular,” nor let me go. She would “judge for herself”? It felt as though I was being rolled around in the palm of her hand.

Based on the knowledge from my previous life, it was unthinkable for someone in power to simply sit on a secret like this. There had to be something behind it. Could it be an internal power struggle within the royal family? Was she planning to use me as some kind of political card? No, that was hard to believe too. I couldn’t imagine that a single fallen nobleman like me had that kind of value. If that was the case, then there was only one possibility left.

I really was just a convenient toy for killing time.

The moment the lecture ended, I avoided the flow of people, erased my presence more than ever, and hurried to the library. If it had come to this, I had no choice but to avoid all attention as thoroughly as possible. I needed to escape that woman’s gaze.

Even in the library, I didn’t go to my usual stacks of ancient texts. Instead, I took up position near the entrance to the underground archive, even deeper inside, where materials classified as “forbidden books” slept, a place where no sunlight reached. It was moldy, cold air hung there, and it wasn’t somewhere living people tended to come. If I came this far, even that princess’s gaze shouldn’t reach me.

In the dark stacks, I opened a magic tome and plotted my future countermeasures. In any case, the top priority was to have no further involvement with the princess. I decided to think of what happened at that detached palace as a nightmare. Until she lost interest in me, I would keep playing the role of a “harmless mob character.” For that, I must never again show myself before that woman.

That day… Long after night had fallen, I continued hiding in the underground archive even past closing time, and in the end I was driven out by a patrolling guard and left the library. I returned to my room in the old dormitory using only back alleys so as not to pass anyone. As I reached out to open the door to my dusty room, I stopped in my tracks.

“…………Again?”

In front of the door, just like a few days ago, a package had been placed there. However, this time it wasn’t a wooden box, but something warm wrapped in a fine cloth. On the cloth was embroidered a modest lily crest that must have belonged to the royal family. I cautiously opened the wrapping.mInside was high-quality black bread, still warm enough for steam to rise from it, and a hearty soup sealed inside a magical heat-retaining container, like a thermos.

…This was clearly different from the “tea leaves and sweets” from a few days ago. Was it because I had told the head maid last night that I “had not accepted” them? This time, it was plainly “a meal” itself.

…What is this?

As I breathed in the scent of that warm soup, a chill ran down my spine. Did that princess even know that I wasn’t getting proper meals in the old dormitory?

“Judge for myself”…

The princess’s words resurfaced in my mind. This was surveillance. My actions had been completely exposed, even while I was hiding in the underground archive. Then I noticed a small note tucked into the knot of the wrapping. Elegant, beautifully written letters.

『The underground is cold. If you ruin your health, everything will be for naught.』

…What was this supposed to mean? It was as if she were genuinely concerned for my well-being. But this was a trap. A standard tactic to lower my guard and seize my heart.

…Was this a warning? Or else…? I hesitated for a moment about whether to eat, but the pleasant smell of the food in front of me made my hand tremble as I bit into the bread.

…It was delicious. In fact, it was better than anything I had eaten since coming here. I sipped the soup. The warm liquid soaked into my thoroughly chilled body. The sweetness of the vegetables seemed to melt even my heart.

…Too delicious. That “deliciousness” plunged my heart into even deeper despair. I ate it at last… This was the worst. Wasn’t I being “fed” by that princess!?

That was right. This was a capricious “charity” toward a pitiful rat in the old dormitory. Knowing about my magic power, knowing about my impoverished life, she gave me superior food and amused herself from on high by watching how I reacted, how miserably I clung to it.

I shuddered at the malice and desire for control packed into that single bowl of warm soup. Knowing my magic power, she was slowly filling in the outer moat so I couldn’t escape. This delicious soup was her “collar.”

Unaware of any clumsy affection or consideration on the princess’s part, I could only stand there before the warm soup. As I drained the humiliatingly delicious soup, sip by sip, I quietly burned with anger at this unreasonable world and at that princess who had chosen me as her “toy.”

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