Vol 2 Chapter 17 – The Handsome Crown Prince of a Great Empire【Vol 2 – The Succubus Knight Order】

The days of intensive training passed in a flash, and finally the day before the Imperial Tournament arrived.

The tournament roster consisted of five members—the top fighters in the order aside from the captain.

Of course, I wasn’t participating.

Apparently I was eligible to compete, but the whole point was to prove the excellence of the Succubus Knight Order members.

Having me—a man—jump in would completely defeat the purpose.

So that day, I was conducting final training drills with the participating members, but—

“I want to go over tomorrow’s strategy, but Shion hasn’t shown up.”

When I tilted my head in confusion, Akari—who’d been rapidly improving lately—raised her hand.

“Instructor, I believe Shion-sama can’t make it today due to entertaining guests.”

“Oh, we have guests?”

“Every Imperial Tournament, they invite royalty and such from neighboring countries.”

“I see.”

The Succubish Kingdom, led by Demonbane Princess Knight Shion, was a small nation that made武力 its selling point despite its size.

It also had abundant resources, so there was probably an element of not wanting to be looked down upon by other countries.

It made perfect sense that such a nation would invite foreign dignitaries to the Imperial Tournament as a way to show off to neighboring countries.

“But still, she could’ve mentioned it yesterday.”

“Instructor, I’m sure Shion-sama intended to slip away from the reception and come here.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely. Before you arrived, Instructor, I saw Shion-sama being dragged off by her personal maid, Rikka-san.”

“That idiot student… honestly…”

Even though her body had grown into something completely different, apparently her fundamental nature hadn’t changed a bit.

Though that was part of what made Shion who she was.

“I just hope Shion hasn’t offended the visiting dignitary…”

“I think that’ll be fine. After all, the rumor is that Shion-sama is escorting the handsome crown prince of the Sebas Empire.”

Incidentally, the Sebas Empire was the largest nation in the region.

“Huh, really?”

“Yes! Not only is his face handsome, but his personality is too—he’s kind to everyone regardless of status, a martial arts master, and his governance is perfect. He’s basically the perfect crown prince!”

“That’s impressive.”

“The most important dignitaries that Shion-sama escorts always tour the training of all the knight orders, so I’m sure that handsome crown prince will come today too!”

“I see. Then we’d better train extra hard so we’re not embarrassed if he’s watching.”

‘Yes!!’

So we were training when eventually the training hall doors opened.

Shion, dressed in a princess-worthy gown for the occasion, entered accompanied by a dignified young man who radiated crown prince energy.

Indeed, just as I’d heard—even as a guy, I could see he was a perfectly refreshing and handsome man.

More dazzling than any white knight from a picture book, truly worthy of being called “Handsome of the World.”

But there was one thing that felt incredibly off.

Why was the crown prince’s chest bulging so tightly it looked ready to burst—?

Royal Inspection

“All hands, training suspended!”

At Shion’s command, we stopped training immediately and saluted Shion and the crown prince.

The crown prince responded with a handsome smile and applause.

Then we received words of praise—how impressive our training was, how formidable we seemed.

Shion, having her knight order praised, looked quite pleased.

But setting that aside.

(…No one’s noticed, including Shion…)

The buttons at the chest of what must have been the finest tailored princely attire were undone, and from there protruded two masses easily surpassing ripe watermelons in size, straining against the sarashi binding them so tightly it looked ready to burst at any moment.

I observed the surroundings carefully, but no one seemed to notice, including Shion.

(An application of breathing techniques…? Still, that’s incredible.)

The breathing technique that allowed Shion to erase her presence and blend into her surroundings without anyone on the capital streets noticing her.

The scene before me must be an advanced application of that, applied to just one part of the body.

Even so, the skill level was so extraordinary I could hardly believe my eyes.

Just erasing your own presence was difficult enough, but erasing the presence of just one body part without anyone noticing was practically divine skill.

As I was internally impressed, the crown prince’s eyes sharpened for an instant when they looked at me.

But immediately returned to a gentle, handsome smile.

I thought I’d been caught noticing, but apparently not.

“Shion-sama, who is that gentleman?”

“Ah, this is my martial arts master and currently serves as an advisor to the Succubus Knight Order—”

“My name is Hiromaru. It’s an honor to meet you, Your Highness.”

“Likewise. Please, call me Nagisa.”

Nagisa, huh? Could be coincidence, but that’s a name that could go either way gender-wise.

Well, given those impressive assets that rivaled even Shion—the very pinnacle of succubus perfection—this probably wasn’t actually a guy. I mean, those assets.

Anyway, that didn’t really matter.

I glanced at Shion, who seemed to pick up on my intent and nodded slightly before excusing herself from the crown prince.

I followed inconspicuously.

“Master, what is it? A secret conversation?”

“Well, not something to discuss loudly. —Shion, you haven’t noticed, have you?”

“Noticed what?”

“That crown prince—look carefully. That’s a girl.”

“Master, what are you talking about?”

“The skill to completely avoid detection even standing right next to you is quite impressive. —Think of that crown prince as a breathing technique master and take another careful look at the chest area. Make absolutely sure you’re not noticed, okay?”

At my urging, Shion secretly stared hard at the crown prince for several seconds.

Shion gasped sharply and her eyes flew wide open.

Apparently she’d seen the crown prince’s true form. Of course Shion would be shocked.

Thinking he was just a handsome crown prince, only to discover he was actually an incredible breathing technique master—

“A-Aren’t those breasts just slightly bigger than mine!?”

“THAT’S what you’re shocked about!?”

And because Shion shouted that out loud…

The handsome crown prince immediately realized we’d figured out the truth.