My Beloved Princess ~The Boy Called Incompetent Rises with Only a Sword and the Princess's Devotion~

Lunch break.

An empty classroom on the first floor on the west side of the school building. Stationed at a window seat, Kishō propped his cheek on his hand and gazed outside. A huge yawn escaped. He was sleep-deprived.

One factor in his sleep deprivation was bisecting the black dragon stone. The school was abuzz with that rumor. Even in the empty classroom where Kishō had stationed himself, upperclassmen female students were chatting cheerfully over their lunches, gossiping about exactly that rumor.

“Hey, did you hear? The black dragon stone was split clean in two.”

“I heard, I heard. Apparently an Upper School student did it.”

“No way, that’s a lie! I heard a mysterious person infiltrated the campus and bisected it.”

“Not a mysterious person. A ghost! I saw it—a black shadow drifting toward the research building.”

“That’s the lie.”

“Because there’s no way a student could do something like that. Unless they were Sword Saint Dragon Emperor Sendō.”

“But if it was a student, wouldn’t that make them Sendō’s reincarnation?”

“So you’re saying a future Dragon Emperor is among the academy students? Better mark him now while we can.”

“You’d have no chance. Way out of your league.”

“Speaking of which, there was that first-year boy who drew with the Upper School top rank.”

“Eh, so maybe that boy did it?”

“That’s why I’m saying a student couldn’t do it.”

Listening to the female students enjoying their rumor-mongering, a sigh escaped him involuntarily.

“The rumors have way too many embellishments.”

Setting aside the ridiculous claims about mysterious infiltrators and ghosts, he felt a bit apologetic that it had spread to involve the Princess. It was true that the student who bisected the black dragon stone was a student, but calling him the reincarnation of former Dragon Emperor Sendō was definitely overdoing it.

Sendō was a Dragon Emperor from three generations ago who left behind numerous legends and was called a Sword Saint.

He was said to be a swordsmanship master, a man who rose to the pinnacle of dragonkin with sword alone, still spoken of today.

Perhaps comparing just swordsmanship skill—or rather [Ki] refinement—he might stand alongside Sendō of that time. But unlike Kishō, burdened with the unreasonable limitation of no attribute affinity, Sendō as a pure-blood dragonkin should’ve been able to use magic and Breath in general too.

“So I’m different.”

Unable to use versus capable but choosing not to use. Looking only at results, they might appear the same. But having no options from the start versus deliberately not using despite abundant options available—that difference was as vast as heaven and earth.

He stood up.

Having waited a bit paid off—the school store wasn’t crowded.

Most remaining lunches were unpopular items, but Kishō wasn’t particularly picky. Rather than expend energy pushing through crowds of students, better to fill his stomach adequately with leftovers.

He casually selected a grilled fish lunch and purchased it.

His destination: the ramshackle shed quietly standing on the magic research building grounds.

Was she here today? Sickly Ōka sometimes missed school. She was a noisy one, but having her there meant less boredom.

When he reached for the doorknob, he heard chatting voices from inside the shed.

Thinking this was unusual, he opened the door—

An absolute beauty sat there.

And he was struck by dizzying, intense dissonance.

“Ah, it’s Shō-kun. Hiya!”

Of course, the absolute beauty—though it felt terribly rude—wasn’t Ōka. That beautiful woman sat friendly beside Ōka and sent a reserved nod his way. After their intense night together, he now knew well she was a clumsy, inarticulate woman. That woman he’d just parted with last night seemed to be smiling faintly.

“Princess… why are you here…”

The Princess, who should be an Upper School student, was on Lower School grounds. Moreover, in completely natural fashion, she was in the secret base just for him and Ōka, so of course he was surprised.

And the source of that dizzyingly intense dissonance Kishō first felt wasn’t caused by the Princess being present, but rather lay with her clothing.

“And that uniform… don’t tell me—”

She wasn’t wearing the gorgeous red and black dragon robes. It was unmistakably the Lower School uniform. The red and white dragon robes that looked somewhat inferior compared to the Upper School version. That created the intense dissonance.

The Princess bowed deeply.

“I was rude yesterday. From today, I’m your classmate and friend. I look forward to working with you.”

“‘Classmate and friend,’ seriously…”

There was a system for promotion from Lower to Upper School.

There was also a system for demotion from Upper to Lower School.

But there was no way the Princess with her top-rank title would be demoted. That’s what should be, but. Since she was actually sitting there wearing the Lower School uniform, he had no choice but to forcibly accept it as fact.

Kishō sat awkwardly in the seat nearest the entrance—directly across from Ōka—and began silently eating the grilled fish lunch spread on the long table. Looking, it seemed they were also mid-lunch, each with their lunches spread out.

“So, why are you with the Princess?”

“Well, we were together in a special academic lecture. Yō-chan… you know, because of yesterday, she was isolated. So I called out to her.”

Ōka answered while chomping on fried serpent.

Yesterday’s events probably referred to knocking down all the top-ranked students one after another.

As someone who’d been challenged to a duel, he deeply understood.

But that seemed less about being shunned and more about not knowing how to interact with the high-status Princess. That nuance felt stronger.

Being able to call out to such a Princess without hesitation came from Ōka’s shameless personality and kindness. Shortly after enrollment, when Kishō was alone and depressed, she’d called out to him too. That’s why they were together like this now.

“That’s so like you, Ōka. Hey, you’ve got rice grains flying.”

He dodged rice grains flying like bean bullets.

What a contrast to the Princess quietly moving her chopsticks like a lady.

Dignified, composed bearing. Spine straight, bringing small portions of food on chopsticks to her mouth. Each movement gracefully executed.

“But more than that, Ōka. Calling the Princess by a nickname is problematic. That’s beyond shameless.”

“Eh! That’s not true. Yō-chan said I could call her whatever I want.”

The Princess stopped her chopsticks precisely and nodded.

“I’ve decided to join your pack. So from now on, feel free to call me Kuroyo.”

He choked badly. Ōka pulled back with an incredibly disgusted look.

“Ew. Shō-kun, you’re gross.”

“Same to you… and what are you saying… Princess?”

Casual speech nearly slipped out from momentum. Last night, battle excitement had made him speak rudely, but now he was perfectly calm. He needed to maintain proper decorum.

The Princess slowly shook her head with an expression that said “how disappointing.”

“I’d like you to stop the special treatment too. Couldn’t you treat me the same as Ōka?”

Kishō couldn’t follow this sudden dramatic development. Last night’s fever was returning.

“Just to be clear: I have no intention of forming a pack.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll build you a proper pack.”

“We’re talking past each other?!”

“Leave it to me. I have connections among Upper School students too. I’ll carefully select six excellent concubines for you.”

“No no no, why are you trying to select them?! Besides, there’s no way excellent Upper School students would want anything to do with someone like me.”

“True. Rather than just excellence, I should choose from a multifaceted perspective considering personality and loyalty. Of course, I intend to reflect your preferences too.”

“My opinion isn’t being reflected at all though?!”

“As pack leader, just sit back confidently. Leave the chores to me.”

“No good, this person. She won’t listen…”

The conversation proceeded without him. Heat entered the Princess’s arguments.

“I have fifty personal maids. When I marry in, they’ll join too. That’s a decent starting force. No wait. If we add the other concubines’ attendants, we’ll have nearly a hundred pack members. Good, Father should be satisfied with this.”

The Princess spoke passionately about her vision. Since she spoke with sparkling eyes, he hesitated to interrupt. From there she expounded on the pack’s ideal form, explained the mindset of those standing above, and after constructing an imaginary empire, Kishō finally timidly cut in.

“By the way, Princess? Could you stop trying to build a pack without permission?”

―――― End of Arc One ――――

[Arc Two Preview]

For the Princess to advance her harem plan, she first needed to join Kishō’s pack.

However, though Kishō once resolved to elope, he had reasons he couldn’t straightforwardly accept the Princess. Namely, inferiority from restricted abilities, and heart wounds from being despised.

Against Kishō trying to push her away, the Princess aggressively closed the distance. But her way of closing distance was somewhat unique…?

She devoted herself with full power to the man she recognized as master. The Princess possessed that dragonkin female virtue more strongly than anyone. That was the rebound from never knowing love until now.

When he learned her seriousness through a certain incident, what decision would Kishō make?