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… - 14

Chapter 14: A Delivery of Forbidden Books, and Inescapable Intellectual Curiosity

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(Alto’s POV)

My dimly lit private room in the old dormitory. I brought the last remaining piece of meat on the plate to my mouth and chewed it slowly. It was frustrating, but it was delicious. Yesterday’s soup had already been exquisite, but today’s steak was on an entirely different level. The sweetness of the fat melting in my mouth, the rich, concentrated sauce. This wasn’t something even royalty or high nobility could eat every day. I stared at the now-empty plate and let out a deep sigh.

…I finished it. Again, I finished everything. My stomach had been far more honest—and far more primal—than my reason. Yet the more satisfied my hunger became, the colder something felt running down my spine. Yesterday’s lecture. My comment about “mass weapons.” This meal was the princess’s response to that.

So she had been watching after all. She had seen that “conjecture” I had desperately squeezed out, even as the entire class stared at me like a freak and the teacher sneered at me.

…Why?

If this was just a way to kill time, it was far too elaborate. Why was she so fixated on a fallen noble like me? Because my bizarre theory amused her? Or did she find me pitiful after realizing I was starving? I didn’t know. I couldn’t read the princess’s thoughts at all. The only thing I knew for certain was that every aspect of my life was resting in the palm of her hand. That fact alone felt deeply unsettling and terrifying.

The next day. The atmosphere within the academy had shifted slightly from yesterday. The looks directed at me now contained not only mockery, but unease.

“Hey, that’s him, right? The guy who said ‘mass weapons.’”

“Isn’t he insane? What the hell is ‘satellite orbit’ supposed to mean?”

“Better not get involved. He studied too much and lost his mind.”

…This was fine. I had drifted away from being a “harmless background character,” but being treated as a “weird guy nobody wants to deal with” was actually convenient for me.

I avoided making eye contact with anyone and, the moment the lecture ended, fled toward the library. My destination was the underground archive. A graveyard of mold, dust, and forgotten knowledge that ordinary students avoided. If anywhere, this place should be beyond even the princess’s watchful eye… Or so I thought.

I set my things down at my usual spot—a small writing desk tucked behind a half-collapsed bookshelf.

“…Alright. What should I look into today?”

The “Great Catastrophe” mentioned in yesterday’s lecture. If my conjecture was correct, then this world’s history might be fundamentally wrong. Investigating it was dangerous, but once the monster called intellectual curiosity began rampaging, it could not be stopped. I pulled several thick, dust-covered history books from a nearby shelf and returned to the desk.

That was when it happened.

“…Huh?”

I frowned at a sense of discomfort. There was a book on my desk that I did not recognize. It wasn’t part of the crumbling stack of old parchment manuscripts I had just brought over. It had a leather-bound cover with gold embossing. Its condition was immaculate. The book was beautiful, almost brand new. It didn’t belong in this moldy underground archive.

…Did someone forget it? No. No one should be coming down here in the first place. Keeping my guard up, I looked at the book’s spine.

『Tears of the Stars and the Wrath of Heaven — Prohibited — Royal Research Institute, Third Archive.』

My heart skipped violently. I could tell from the title alone. This wasn’t a book meant for public circulation. The word “Prohibited.” And “Royal Research Institute.” This was a top-level state secret—a forbidden book only accessible to the royal family or a tiny circle of privileged elites.

…Why was something like this here? Was it a trap? The kind where an alarm went off the moment I touched it and I’d be arrested for the crime of handling a forbidden book?

Cold sweat ran down my back as I scanned my surroundings. There was no one here. Only silence. Then I noticed the bookmark tucked into the cover, and I caught my breath. It was a deep-blue ribbon made of high-quality silk. And embroidered into it with gold thread was a small lily crest. It was the royal crest. 

…Don’t tell me… The princess?

Did she place this here? When? Before I arrived? Still, the message was unmistakable.

『Read it.』

After hearing my “mass weapons” theory yesterday, she hadn’t dismissed it. She had sent me the answer key. What was she thinking? Letting a fallen noble read a forbidden book like this was far too risky. If this was discovered, I’d be arrested immediately, but she wouldn’t escape unscathed either. Was she really willing to take that kind of risk just to give me knowledge?

Fear crept up my spine. She understood my thoughts—my motivations—completely. She knew that above all else, I was starving for knowledge. That was why she had prepared the ultimate bait.

…What was she planning to do with me? This was brainwashing. She had seized my stomach and now she was reaching for my mind. Was she trying to reshape me into something she wanted? That formless, nameless fear tried to stop my hand.

…Don’t read it. This is a trap.

Even touching something this dangerous would be horribly reckless. I should pretend I never saw it and leave. I tried to turn my eyes away. But…

My hand moved on its own. My trembling fingertips were drawn to the leather cover as if magnetized. Whether it was karma from a past life, my father’s teachings, or simply the desire to know etched into my soul, my curiosity overwhelmed my fear. Even knowing she was guiding my thoughts, I couldn’t resist. With shaking hands, I opened the book.

Inside was a staggering truth. An “iron castle” floating in the ancient sky. Beams of light that shattered stars. And detailed records of the devastation when they fell to the ground. My inference had been correct. No. The reality exceeded even my imagination.

…You’ve got to be kidding me…

I couldn’t stop turning the pages. I lost track of time, forgot my suspicion of the princess, and became completely absorbed in reading the forbidden book. The exhilaration of touching the truth of this world. And the fact that it was the princess who had given me that exhilaration only confused me further.

Before I realized it, the closing bell rang. I jolted and looked up. I wasn’t even halfway through the book.

…I want to read more!

But I couldn’t take it with me. All I could do was leave it here. There was no guarantee it would still be here tomorrow. Reluctantly, I closed the book and slid the blue ribbon bookmark back into place. That was when I noticed a small memo attached to the end of the ribbon. Elegant, refined handwriting.

『I’ll leave it here again tomorrow.』

…Just that. And yet, those few words wrapped heavy chains around me.

…She’s completely seen through me.

I looked up at the ceiling. Not just food, my hunger for knowledge as well. I was being turned into someone who could not live without the princess’s “charity,” both body and soul.

Tomorrow, I would come here again. To read the rest of this. And at night, I would once more devour the meal waiting in front of my door.

…This is terrifying!!!!

Pure fear surged up before anger ever could. That princess was trying to completely grasp me, control me and I had no way to resist. Leaving the forbidden book behind on the desk, trembling with helplessness as I was ensnared by an enormous, unknowable will, I departed the dark underground archive.

(Lilianna’s POV)

I was inside my private room in the detached palace. I stood by the window, quietly watching as the distant lights of the library went out. In my hands, I held another old document—the counterpart to the forbidden book I had placed there for him today.

“…So he really did lose himself in reading.”

At the head maid’s report behind me, I nodded slightly. A gentle warmth spread through my chest. Even among the royal family, few knew that book even existed. A dangerous truth capable of shaking the foundation of this world. And yet, he had opened it without fear.

And lost himself in it, forgetting time. It made me happy…

In this vast academy, there was no one else I could talk to about the “truth” of the world. I could only talk about dresses, jewels, or power struggles. Even my father, the king, merely laughed and said, “Such old legends matter less than today’s factional conflicts.”

But Alto was different. He possessed the same “thirst” that I did. A thirst for knowledge, for truth, for pure intellectual pursuit. With him, I might be able to share my loneliness… And the secrets of this world.

“…Head maid. What is tomorrow’s schedule?”

“All afternoon duties have been adjusted.”

“I see. Thank you.”

I held the document gently against my chest.

『I’ll leave it here again tomorrow.』

That note was not an order. It was my clumsy invitation to a date and an offer to share a secret. Tomorrow, I would go to that underground archive as well. And there, alone with him, we would discuss the rest of that book together. Surely he would speak with shining eyes, sharing new “conjectures” even I had never considered.

Wait for me, Alto!

My cheeks flushed with anticipation for the “connection of hearts” I was feeling for the first time since the day he saved me ten years ago.

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