My Beloved Princess ~The Boy Called Incompetent Rises with Only a Sword and the Princess's Devotion~ - Chapter 074: The Stage Moved to the Upper School

The Princess’s beautiful face was right in front of his eyes.

High-quality black fabric. The Princess ran her fingers over the collar embroidered with silver thread, as if smoothing out wrinkles. He was positioned a head lower than her. A pleasant scent drifted from the Princess’s glossy black hair. She nodded, “Mmm,” and raised her face. Their eyes met.

“It suits you. Very brave and manly.”

“You think so? This fabric is high-class, isn’t it? It feels soft to the touch despite being sturdy. Or rather… it feels a bit unsuitable for a commoner like me.”

Raising his arm and gazing intently at the cuff’s movement, Kishō said in embarrassment.

The morning sun was shining in from the window of the dilapidated hut.

At this early hour, there was no one else in the room. He was alone with the Princess. A quiet moment was flowing.

“You will get used to it soon.”

Saying so, the Princess thrust her head forward. It seemed she was asking for the reward for helping him dress. Kishō placed his right hand on her glossy black hair.

“However, promoting me to the Upper School… I wonder what kind of change of heart they had exactly. Especially, did Instructor Meika hit her head or something?”

“Fufu, because you neutralized the armed me, after all. As an achievement, it is sufficient.”

“Neutralized, you say… You were shrewdly awake, weren’t you?”

“I am not lying. Though I cannot say I am telling the truth either.”

“Don’t tell me, to promote me to the Upper School, you intentionally armed yourself just to create an achievement?”

“Achieving one result with one plan makes one a third-rate strategist. A truly excellent strategist achieves several results with one plan.”

Having her head patted, the Princess smiled with a softened face. Relaxed and unreserved—such a face was also beautiful.

“To be able to receive such an excellent wife, I am a lucky fellow.”

“In the future, I intend to command a flock of one million as your strategist.”

“Hold on. Even His Majesty the Dragon Emperor has one hundred thousand; are you intending to command ten times that?”

“Naturally. If my resourcefulness and your power combine, nothing is impossible.”

It seemed the Princess’s delusion had advanced to the point of building a great empire. At that unwavering trust, Kishō scratched his cheek, feeling ticklish.

“Anyway, this is a chance. I absolutely won’t waste the stage you prepared for me. I feel bad for the Upper School students, but I will go regardless of appearances.”

“Fufu, their surprised faces are floating in my eyes. You should demonstrate that ability that made me fall in love at first sight to your heart’s content.”

He took the practice sword placed on the long desk and wore it at his waist.

Kishō, who finished preparations, put his hand on the door of the dilapidated hut. Turning around suddenly,

“Are you really not coming?”

Like a wife sending off her husband, the Princess, who was waiting one step behind, nodded.

“I cannot leave Ōka alone. I will wait at the Lower School.”

“Well, that’s also true. I think babysitting Ōka is tough, but I leave it to you.”

“Rely on Kōran for guidance in the Upper School. If you mention my name, it should go smoothly.”

“Got it. Well then, I’m off.”

“I pray for your good fortune in war.”

The Princess stood on tiptoes.

Kishō looked around quickly, and confirming there were no people, he softly joined his lips with hers.

◇◇◇◇◇

Upper School students had a habit of enjoying morning tea time.

There was a space for tea parties in the Upper School Main School Building, and tea sets were lined up on tables at the entrance. It was the custom for students to put tea utensils on their respective trays, choose their favorite tea leaf, and serve themselves.

There was also an outdoor terrace, and the floor was a wooden deck entirely covered with boards. Round tables extending on a slender leg were placed at equal intervals. Students gathered in groups, or with close classmates, and spent the morning moment elegantly.

Cylindrical white porcelain tea utensils were popular among Upper School students, but recently, due to the influence of Western culture, teacups with handles were becoming mainstream. It was said that they looked more elegant, but doing something like drinking sip by sip did not suit Kōran’s nature. Therefore, what she used was a cylindrical white porcelain tea utensil.

Steam with flavor rose fluffily. She drank the yellow tea with a unique scent drifting in one go. At that rough behavior without a fragment of elegance, however, there was no one to scold her anymore now.

“As expected of Kōran-san. You are daring.”

Instead, a voice like flattery struck Kōran’s earlobes.

Furrowing her brows inwardly, but without showing even a bit of it, she said with a composed face.

“If I were seen by Kuroyō-sama, I would be getting scolded right now.”

Kōran originally had a lone wolf temperament, so she did not like gathering in groups. But admonished by her dear sister that that won’t do, she continued the socializing that did not suit her nature.

“Kuroyō-sama is strict only with Kōran-san, isn’t she? But, that means Kuroyō-sama’s expectations are that high.”

Another female student said while carrying black tea to her mouth elegantly.

At that flattery, Kōran kept a sour face so her cheeks would not loosen. If she relaxed even a little, her cheeks would likely melt and fall at the sweet sound of “expectations from Kuroyō-sama.”

“Hey, Kōran-san. Is the story that Kuroyō-sama got engaged true?”

Kōran, who poured additional tea and was about to drink this also in one go, almost sprayed out the tea with a “Gobu!” Having swallowed the muddy stream of hot water that returned with just spirit, she endured coughing too, and answered while becoming teary-eyed.

“It’s true.”

At that short but powerful affirmation, the female students sitting together erupted.

“Oh my! That is amazing. I wonder what kind of gentleman he is on earth.”

“Kuroyō-sama, who never yielded to men until now… has finally found a partner.”

“However, that he is in the Lower School… is incomprehensible, isn’t it.”

“Oh my, is that so? I hear there are rare ones even among commoners. Gentlemen who become vessels of a Dragon King.”

“Eeh—! A future His Majesty the Dragon King!?”

“It is a story of possibility to the end. But, that Kuroyō-sama recognized him, doesn’t it mean it is that kind of thing?”

The female students made merry as they pleased. It seemed that girls liking rumors did not question high or low rank. Although the tone was elegant, the content was not much different from aunties at a neighborhood gossip meeting. Perhaps because their status was high and one cannot thunder at them casually, the quality might be worse.

Kōran closed her eyelids and sighed in her heart.

(Suffocating. Even trivial, boring conversations were nothing but pain if Kuroyō-sama was not here. This and that too, because that man stole Kuroyō-sama…)

“By the way, what kind of person is the partner gentleman?”

When she opened her eyes, the female student sitting in front was looking at her with her head tilted.

It seemed she was asking her. The gazes of the place were concentrating here. Kōran recalled the man in her memory.

His face was at the level of an average Dragonkin boy. There were no features worth mentioning, but he was definitely not ugly. Rather, since he was average as a Dragonkin full of beautiful forms, generally speaking, his features would be on the well-ordered side. After all, not bad, Kōran thought.

How about his ability?

He had power. Even from the sensation of exchanging blows, there was no doubt he was higher rank than Kōran. He parried the turbulent attacks of the Fire Ring Spear with a cool face, and even added consideration not to hurt her. As a warrior it was humiliating, but she had to admit the extent of his ability.

Above all. It was him who neutralized Elesia Ignoosis, against whom Kōran could not even stand a chance. Moreover, the body used at that time was, awesomely enough, her dear sister’s.

(In the report to the academy by Kuroyō-sama, she engaged that man in an armed state. By having love shouted at her, her soul was shaken and she regained her sanity—was the story, right. I think it was too well-done. But, I also don’t think Kuroyō-sama was stating falsehoods.)

Therefore, the comprehensive evaluation is—

“He is a boring man.”

After thinking for a long time, she answered shortly in a whisper.

The female student sitting on her right put her hands together and made her eyes sparkle as if deeply interested.

“Oh my! Boring—in other words, is he a silent gentleman?”

“If you ask if he is silent… rather, he is noisy.”

“If he is not silent, I wonder if his stories are purely boring.”

“That’s right. He picks a fight with my words one by one, and wrestles by himself.”

Closing her eyes to her own violent arguments which became the cause of being picked a fight with, Kōran sipped tea with a cool face.

“Basically, he’s a man who refuses my kiss, after all.”

“Eeeeeeh!? Kōran-san proposed engagement!?”

The female students buzzed greatly.

Just as she picked up a piece of yōkan served with tea with a bamboo skewer and was about to pop it into her mouth, Kōran stopped that movement dubiously.

“What. Is it that strange?”

Saying so, she ate the block-shaped black yōkan with a munch. To that appearance of not caring, the female students threw objections one after another.

“Because, Kōran-san is famous for hating men, aren’t you.”

“That is right. Even the other day, although you were called out to by Sōgetsu-sama, the top student of the second years, we saw you giving him the cold shoulder without a trace of mercy.”

“Such a Kōran-san showed interest in a gentleman, right. Not only a partner Kuroyō-sama fell in love with at first sight, but to captivate even Kōran-san… I am very interested.”

At the air of the place heating up, Kōran felt a sense of alienation at that desperate temperature difference. Placing a hand on her own completely cooled heart and confirming the beat that did not pulse, she washed away the sweetness inside her mouth with tea.

“I have decided to follow Kuroyō-sama. It is just that story.”

“Oh my, wonderful! Cool, isn’t it!”

To Kōran’s cold tone that seemed to dampen the excitement of the place, a sweet, flattering voice sympathized. Kōran furrowed her brows unpleasantly.

A twin-tailed girl dressed in the Upper School uniform. What was her name again?

She was from the transfer group from the Lower School. Moreover, not promotion by ability, but promotion by the influence of her father who was a Dragon King—in other words, by the seven lights of parents (nepotism), she was stepping on the land of the Upper School undeservedly. Furthermore, wearing the influence of her father, she seemed to have placed Upper School students, who should be higher rank, as her followers.

Power was justice. The strong led the weak, and the weak followed the strong.

That was the pride of the Dragonkin, and common sense.

Kōran hated this woman who boldly broke that common sense.

“It’s not something worth praising.”

Saying so curtly, Kōran directed her gaze outside the terrace, looking bored.

The red brick road leading to the Upper School Main School Building extended straight as if crossing the terrace. She saw a single male student walking on that road planted with roadside trees.

“Oh my. Why is that guy here…?”

◇◇◇◇◇

The Magic Research Building at the northernmost end of the Lower School was adjacent to the grounds of the Upper School.

Kishō, who left the dilapidated hut, decided to visit the grounds of the Upper School immediately.

He remembered the route somehow. Because he had the experience of stepping into the grounds of the Upper School when conducting the aptitude attribute inspection.

However, with the Main School Building of the Upper School before his eyes, Kishō was stopped by Upper School students.

“Oh my? You are a face I don’t see, aren’t you.”

The tree-lined road leading to the Upper School Main School Building. One of the trio of female students who were chatting discovered the intruder sharply and called out. The other girls following behind her looked interested.

“But this is unmistakably the uniform of the Upper School, isn’t it.”

“What does it mean, I wonder? I think I had checked all the male students though.”

The greedy action power trying to get an excellent man was glimpsed casually. As expected, even if it was said that only nobles were gathered, was the basic way of thinking the same? While slightly fed up, Kishō informed them that he was a promotion candidate from the Lower School.

“Oh my, from the Lower School?”

“In other words, you are of commoner origin, aren’t you.”

The Upper School students looked Kishō up and down as if appraising him. One among them tilted her head suspiciously and said.

“No wonder I don’t see you. Isn’t it that the air of the Upper School is too noble and doesn’t suit your skin?”

The other girls also put their hands to their mouths and laughed elegantly.

“If you don’t seem to know the proper etiquette of noble society, you will probably struggle, won’t you.”

“Yes. You should keep in mind that fundamentally everything is different from the Lower School where those with a commoner atmosphere live.”

“However, looking at you, a dull and mediocre appearance. Even if you keep it in mind, I think it is a waste of time. Before you are put to shame, isn’t it better for you to return?”

That was a nostalgic sensation. Scornful gazes and malicious words he had not felt for a long time since engaging with the Princess.

Kishō slowly closed his eyelids and shut out the noise.

“Nobles and commoners. The difference in origin is larger than you think, you know.”

“Exactly so. If you think you can stand shoulder to shoulder with us, it is a disappointment.”

If it were Kishō at the beginning of enrollment, he would have flinched at that malice.

Or if it were Kishō half a year ago, he would have rebelled against that malice.

But, now was different. The encounter with the Princess changed Kishō.

Because the Princess’s true heart without lies or falsehoods, her brave figure trying to serve without seeking reward, that single-minded and pure feeling filled the gap in his heart. Because he could harbor such a sense of security—that no matter what happens, she will be his ally until the end.

That was why the inferiority complex that nested in Kishō’s heart vanished.

“Oh my? Are you silent?”

“Did you wither from fear, poor thing.”

Because the Princess found him, Kishō was standing in this place now. Because she maneuvered using schemes and arranged sufficient preparations for him, he was stepping on the land of the Upper School like this. Responding to that expectation—just that was everything of him now.

He opened his closed eyelids slowly. Kishō opened his mouth quietly.

“Is it okay? If you look down on me as a commoner, you might regret it later.”

Stepping through the gravel of the street, he took a step forward.

The Upper School students furrowed their brows unpleasantly. Kishō continued without caring.

“Do you know? My wife is outrageously excellent. That excellent wife says this: that you are a vessel of a Dragon King.”

The Upper School students leaked sneers.

But Kishō did not stop. He just advanced his steps quietly.

“Do you think it is a delusion? No, that is wrong. My wife is surprisingly excellent. There has never been even a single time until now that Kuroyō was wrong.”

Before one knew it, Kishō’s face had changed into a resolute one filled with a sense of mission. What he wore on his whole body was the aura of a strong person named composure.

Unstopping steps. The thick chest closed in on their nose tips, and the Upper School students took a step back as if overwhelmed.

“W-What is it… that strange intensity.”

“The atmosphere changed completely…”

“Isn’t he like a completely different person from a while ago.”

One step, two steps. The Upper School students backed away as if pushed by an invisible membrane.

“What is important is not the title, but the contents. I decided to believe in Kuroyō who believed in a me like this. If you want to make a fool of me, make a fool as much as you like. But, the ones laughing at the end are me and Kuroyō. Even if you regret it when that time comes, it will be too late.”

“Regret, you say? You, who do you think you are?”

Clenching her teeth, one female student raised her voice. That Upper School student who stood in the way as if to block Kishō’s advance raised the outer ends of her eyebrows that looked strong-willed, and glared at him with upturned eyes. However, Kishō ignored this. Without caring, he took a step forward.

“Move. Fighting with a woman is a waste of time.”

“Do you think this me will lose to the likes of a Lower School boy?”

“If you want to be hugged, stay as you are. I will hold you politely and move you aside.”

“W-What did you say. You—”

Aiming at the right cheek of Kishō who went to close the distance, a powerful slap was released by twisting the upper body greatly. Kishō caught that which closed in, cutting the wind, without difficulty.

“Compared to Kuroyō’s slap, it’s slow enough to make me yawn.”

“Ouch! It hurts, doesn’t it. Let go!”

The wrist was locked like a vise. When the female student leaked a voice of agony, Kishō released that hand easily. The female student jumped back and took distance. At that time, a familiar voice cut in from the side.

“I am not impressed with bullying the weak.”