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… - 9

Chapter 9: A Secret Meeting at the Detached Palace

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(Alto’s POV)

I followed behind the head maid with heavy steps, like a condemned criminal being led to the execution grounds. The place I was brought to was a completely independent “detached palace,” so secluded that it was hard to believe it even stood within the academy grounds. The meticulously maintained garden was bathed in moonlight, ruled by silence.

Each step along the polished marble corridor made the sound of my dusty uniform and worn shoes echo painfully out of place. My plan for a peaceful, uneventful background-character life had, today, completely and decisively collapsed. Thinking about who would do what to me in the room I was being taken to made me feel like I wasn’t even alive anymore.

Please… At least let it not hurt…

The fear of being turned into an experimental subject made my back teeth chatter. Eventually, the maid stopped in front of an especially large set of double doors and, without a word, pushed the heavy doors open.

“…Please, go inside.”

I steeled myself and stepped into the dark room. But the instant I entered, my expectations were betrayed. It wasn’t a blood-reeking laboratory, nor a cold stone interrogation chamber.

A high ceiling, a fine carpet, and tastefully selected furnishings. Beyond that, the back of the room opened onto a terrace, and the moonlight streaming in through the windows cast the silhouette of someone standing inside. There were no experimental tools, no researchers, no torturers either.

“…I have brought him.”

The maid’s stiff voice echoed. The figure standing on the terrace with the moonlight at her back slowly turned toward me.

“……Eh?”

I doubted my own eyes. Platinum hair reflected the moonlight, glowing like a faint halo. The bearing of one who stood at the pinnacle of this world, and overwhelming beauty. The very same figure who had looked down on us from the podium at the entrance ceremony.

“…I have been waiting for you, Alto von Kirschwasser-sama.”

A voice like the ringing of a bell, yet carrying unquestionable authority. Princess Lilianna It was her. The fear in my head flipped instantly into pure confusion, leaving my mind blank.

Huh? Why? The princess herself… Personally? Wasn’t I supposed to be made into an experiment? If she wanted to investigate my magic power, there was no reason for the princess herself to come out. She could have sent specialized researchers. The sheer incomprehensibility of the situation filled my thoughts completely, drowning out fear with one overwhelming question.

Why?

“…Why me?”

The question slipped out, startlingly honest even to myself.

“Why would Her Royal Highness have business with a man like me, a fallen noble from the old dormitory…?”

At my words, Princess Lilianna glanced toward the maid standing by her side.

“…You may withdraw. What happens here must not be spoken of to anyone.”

“Yes.”

The head maid bowed deeply and left the room without a sound. The heavy doors closed with a dull echo, leaving only Her Royal Highness and me alone in the room. As if to ease my guard, Princess Lilianna slowly gestured toward a sofa in the room.

“…Please, sit down first. I have no intention of harming you.”

I did not approach the offered sofa. Remaining near the door, I glared at her.

“Please state your business.”

Despite my rude attitude, the princess showed no sign of displeasure and simply fixed me with her clear blue eyes.

“…First, allow me to apologize for having no choice but to speak with you in this manner.”

“…”

“You are aware of my position. Normally, I am not permitted to have public contact with a specific male student at this academy. …That rule also exists to protect you from unnecessary danger brought from jealousy.”

“…So that’s why you dragged me here like this?”

“Your words go too far.”

The princess sharply admonished my sarcasm.

“And regarding tonight… What happens here must absolutely not be spoken of to anyone.”

“…”

“Even if you are questioned by the King, himself.”

She looked straight into my eyes as she said it. Not even to the King…? It made even less sense. What on earth was this? There couldn’t possibly be a “secret” between Her Royal Highness and me that even the King had to be kept in the dark about.

…No. There was one. That “malfunction” incident flashed through my mind.

So it really is about the fact that a male can use magic…!

“…Her Royal Highness, with all due respect, I don’t understand what you’re saying at all. Your business—”

Cutting me off, the princess spoke quietly, yet struck straight at the core.

“…The recent magic practical training. …The incident with the crystal orb.”

My throat tightened with an audible gulp. So it really was that! It seemed I didn’t get caught in the experimental subject route,  but a direct interrogation by the princess herself.

I resolved myself and opened my mouth.

“…As the teacher said, that was a malfunction caused by aging equipment. I don’t have any magic power—”

“‘A malfunction.’”

The princess repeated my words back to me and let out a small chuckle.

“…I see. That is how you choose to answer.”

That smile was unmistakably the smile of someone who saw straight through my lie. Yet she did not press me further. As if she had merely been testing my reaction, she ended the topic just as easily.

“Very well. You may withdraw for today.”

“…Huh?”

I blurted out a dumbfounded, utterly stunned sound.

…What? That’s it?

She had brought me here with threats bordering on coercion, warned me not to tell even the King—and that was all?

“…Her Royal Highness, what exactly are you—”

“I told you, did I not? That I cannot meet you publicly at present. …However, I needed to determine for myself exactly what kind of person you are… Directly.”

With that, the princess called the head maid back and turned her back to me.

“…Alto von Kirschwasser. You must not speak of tonight to anyone.”

“…”

“Head maid. Escort him back to the old dormitory, ensuring he is seen by no one.”

Still utterly confused, I was once again led out of the detached palace by the head maid. Back in my room in the old dormitory, I collapsed onto my bed and stared up at the ceiling. What was that all about? That princess…?

The fear of being turned into an experiment had, for now, faded. But instead, I had been caught by something even more unsettling—the princess’s gaze. She had noticed my magic power. Yet she had no intention of making it public? “Determine”…? What in the world did that mean?

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