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… - 21

Chapter 21: A Summons from the King

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(Lilianna’s POV)

Several hours earlier, at the academy’s detached palace. As the after-school bell rang out, I was carefully fixing my hair in front of the mirror. Clutched to my chest was the forbidden book History of Ancient Magical Civilization that I had discussed with Alto yesterday.

Today, I thought I would ask him for his opinion on this difficult chapter. Surely, he would give me an answer that far exceeded my imagination once again…My heart had already flown ahead to that dim yet comforting underground archive.

Just as I was about to leave the room with a light step.. The head maid, who was usually so proper and composed, flung the door open forcefully after only the briefest of knocks.

“……Head Maid? What is the matter—”

The words I was about to use to reproach her died in my throat when I saw how pale her face was. This was no ordinary matter.

“Your Highness! Please prepare at once! You must return to the royal capital immediately!”

“To the royal capital? Why so suddenly…… I was just about to—”

“This is an emergency summons from His Majesty!”

The head maid shouted, cutting off my words.

“Permission has been granted to use the ‘Ancient Transfer Gate.’ ……There is not a moment to spare. This is a royal order and has to be carried immediately.”

“……!”

I gasped. Spatial transfer through ancient magic. Because it consumed an enormous amount of magical power, it was a royal emergency means of transportation rarely used. For them to summon me back even using that meant something truly serious must have occurred.

“……Understood.”

Reluctantly, I set the forbidden book I had been holding onto the desk.

Alto. I’m sorry. It looks like I won’t be able to go today.

I gave the head maid brief instructions and ran toward the transfer chamber.

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And now, the present. I was in the royal capital, deep within the royal palace, in the “Audience Chamber.” Still feeling a slight dizziness from spatial transfer, I knelt before my father, His Majesty the King.

However, my tightly wound expectations were betrayed. The words that came from my father’s mouth as he sat upon the throne were neither news of a national crisis nor a report of disaster.

“Lilianna. ……We have received a formal proposal of marriage from the House of Duke Falkenberg.”

I looked up sharply.

“……Your Majesty. Was that not already under discussion before?”

“They have lost their patience. They wish to proceed with the engagement ceremony immediately, without waiting for your graduation.”

My father’s voice was stern, yet there seemed to be a hint of weariness seeping through it.

“You need a ‘stable’ life as soon as possible. Leonardo is excellent. His magical capacity is more than sufficient. He would be able to support you and handle the royal family’s political affairs without issue.”

Handling politics. In this country, that was the norm. Women possessed overwhelming magical power and became the ‘symbol’ responsible for protecting the nation and maintaining its barriers. Men who possessed no magic—or only weak magic—handled the practical political administration.

My mother had been the same. And even now, my father was the one conducting the affairs of state.

“……But I still have things I must learn at the academy—”

“Choosing this is more important than learning.”

My father spoke quietly, yet heavily, as though admonishing me.

“Lilianna. Your body does not belong to you alone. ……Among the princesses of history, you were born with particularly immense magical power. Such excessive power can, at times, become a burden that shortens its owner’s life.”

I remembered my mother. I had been told that she passed away several years after graduating from the academy. The queens of this nation were all short-lived. My father feared my death. For the survival of the kingdom, I needed to find a trustworthy partner as soon as possible and stabilize my control over my magic—that was his belief.

“Leonardo is the one. There is no other man of ducal rank who matches you.”

At my father’s words, I clenched the hem of my dress tightly. Leonardo. That empty man, filled with nothing but vanity. Was I to marry him, bear his children, and then die young like my mother!? Was that my predetermined fate?

……No.

The image of that dim underground archive vividly surfaced in my mind.

Alto.

The man who spoke of knowledge I had never known, who looked me in the eyes not as a princess but as a fellow human being, and debated with me as an equal. I had thought that, with him, even fate itself might be changed.

“……Please wait, Your Majesty.”

I raised my face and looked straight into my father’s eyes.

“I acknowledge that Leonardo-sama is capable. However…… He lacks the caliber to stand beside me as prince consort.”

My father frowned in suspicion.

“Caliber, you say? He is the legitimate heir of a ducal house.”

“I am not speaking of lineage, but of wisdom and heart. ……Your Majesty. Please grant me just a little more time.”

My father looked down at me in silence for a while, then let out a deep sigh.

“……Do you have someone in mind?”

My heart began to race. Alto’s face floated before my eyes. But I could not speak his name here. If I said the name of a “fallen noble” like him, my plea would be rejected instantly. He did not yet have the achievements needed to convince my father.

“……I cannot say at this moment. But I will find someone whom even Your Majesty will acknowledge.”

I put on the greatest bluff of my life. My father tapped the armrest of the throne with his fingers and said nothing. A heavy silence dominated the hall. Then—

“……Very well.”

His heavy mouth finally opened.

“But I will not permit such leisurely talk as waiting until graduation. Time is of the essence, and you are nearing your limit. …The maximum I will allow is one year.”

“One year……?”

“That’s right. Until the academy’s ‘Advancement Commemoration Ball’ held around this time next year.”

My father’s eyes shone sharply.

“If, by that day, you bring me a partner who possesses greater caliber than Leonardo, I will nullify the engagement proposal. ……However, if you fail to do so—”

He fixed his gaze firmly on me. He truly was worried about the royal family’s survival. Then he continued.

“Then quietly take Leonardo’s hand. Fulfill your duty as a daughter of the royal family.”

“……Yes. I understand.”

I bowed my head deeply. I had survived by a hair’s breadth. But the conditions were harsh. In just one year, I had to make Alto be acknowledged as “a man worthy of being prince consort.” As things stood now, his record amounted to nothing more than “a fallen noble admitted by recommendation.”

I have to hurry……!

With feelings of relief and impatience intermingled, I left the grand hall of the royal palace.

I wonder if Alto is waiting for me in the underground archive right now.

I gazed out the window toward the distant direction of the academy. I was sure he would be waiting. Someone as sincere as him surely would.

I’m sorry, Alto. ……But I won’t give up.

I called his name within my heart. This was a battle… For my future, and for yours.

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