When I read the heart of the never-smiling princess, for some reason she had already fallen head over heels in love for me.

Chapter 1: Invitation from the Princess

This might be all of a sudden, but I can read people’s minds.

It began all the way back when I was ten years old. After a severe, unexplained fever that left me in critical condition and unconscious, I suddenly found myself able to read minds.

Through various secret experiments without telling my parents, I discovered the following things:

1. 1. 1. I could automatically read someone’s mind when within 30 centimeters of them.

1. 1. 1. I could read their mind as long as I stayed close.

1. 1. 1. Even if I moved away, I could still hear their thoughts for about a minute.

These three points.

Initially, it was frightening, but as I continued to test it, I grew accustomed to the ability, and my resistance towards it disappeared.

Reading the minds of my parents, friends, and teachers proved to be extremely convenient. It allowed me to maintain good relationships and never lose at games.

I thought I could navigate life quite smoothly with the help of this mind-reading ability.

One day, I decided to read the mind of a girl I had a crush on. We were quite close, but I had a faint hope that she might like me too.

Result, it turned out that the person she likes was not me at all.

Moreover, I discovered that the person she liked was someone else. In fact, she liked my best friend, and was using me to get closer to him. She had chosen to use me as her buffer because I seemed approachable and in fact thought of me as a rather boring person.

Shocked by that revelation, I distanced myself from her immediately.

Because of this experience, a deep sense of distrust made it’s way in me.

What does everyone really think of me? Were their friendly interactions just a facade, while hiding a much colder feeling underneath?

I became terrified of knowing people’s true inner feelings.

Yet, my ability was both active and passive. Even if someone merely approached me, I couldn’t help but read their mind. No matter how careful I was, I couldn’t avoid hearing the thoughts of those who came close.

And because of that, one day, when I discovered that my best friend actually looked down on me, I arrived at my breaking point.

I began to physically distance myself from others. I avoided conversations, stayed away from people, and even ran away if someone approached.

When asked why, I lied, claiming to have ‘contact phobia’ to fit my behavior.

Thanks to this, I started being treated as an outcast and was always alone, but at least, I was able to maintain my mind in peace.

Time passed, and I grew accustomed to being alone, eventually reaching high school.

As usual, I still live, without conversing with anyone.

But that life as well changed one day.

The trigger being, I unintentionally read the true feelings of a certain girl.

***

(What on earth is happening?)

I pondered this as I looked at the student standing before me.

The usually noisy classroom had fallen silent, and all eyes were on the student sitting in the corner—me—and the student standing in front of me.

“I’ll say it again. Please become a member of the student council, Saiga Takagi-kun.”

Her voice, a blend of sweetness and sternness, caressed my eardrums.

She had a sharp nose, beautiful willow-like eyebrows, and voluminous eyelashes. Her eyes were large, and her small face made them appear even more prominent. Her long, well-kept hair reached her waist and looked fluffy, and her petite frame boasted delicate limbs, yet had a well-developed and defined figure.

In a word, she is a stunning beauty. This exceptionally beautiful student was speaking to me.

“What do you think, Saiga-kun? Or are you still unable to follow my words of invitation?”

Feeling a hint of reproach in her tone, I hastily shook my head. I could completely understand what she was speaking to me, or so I believe, even the fact who was speaking to me as well.

Her name was Katsuragi Minami. She is my classmate, the current student council president, and the most famous and beautiful person in school.

With stunning looks and excellent grades, she had even won the student council president election by a landslide.

But her fame was not solely due to these attributes. There has one unique attribute which can never be overlooked.

Katsuragi Minami had never smiled.

To the degree that, it was said no one had ever seen her smile, as she always wore a stoic emotionless poker-face like expression.

And so came her nickname “The unsmiling Princess.” There was even a rumor that, like in a fairy tale, the one who made her smile would be recognized as her boyfriend.

This extraordinary unique being, having a completely different character than that of the normal people had now come to me, a loner who is pretending to be ill, to recruit me into the student council.

There was no way it’s believable.

“Excuse me, but are you sure you have the right person?”

“Aren’t you Saiga Takagi?”

“Yes, I am Saiga Takagi, but…”

“Then it’s alright.”

This is in no way ‘alright’.

Depp inside my heart, I felt fuzzy. I had never spoken to her before, and it was surprising enough that she would even know someone like me.

“Why, am I selected?”

“I think you are suitable for the position of secretary. As you know, the student council president has the authority to appoint their committee members. That’s why I would really want you to take on that role.”

That’s not working as a possible explanation. Please clarify better.

The tense atmosphere in the classroom indicated that everyone shared the same confusion I had.

“Please give me your answer.”

Katsuragi Minami wouldn’t even give me time to think. Just wait for minute, I can’t just say yes this fast.

In fact, the more I thought about this situation, the more I start to suspect that this all was probably a joke.

(But she doesn’t seem like the type of girl to do that, still…)

I gauged the distance between me and the student council president. This body is instinctively designed to keep itself at a distance of at least 30 centimeters away from others, and my eyes were trained to estimate distances accurately to the notch. I guess the distance between us is just about 50 centimeters apart.

If I moved even slightly closer, I could peak into the inner thoughts of her heart. I would immediately know if her invitation for me to the student council was a lie or her true feelings.

Despite vowing never to do so ever again, yet my resolve wavered at this moment.

“…I’m sorry, I guess this was too sudden.”

Katsuragi Minami sighed *fuu just as I was about to stand up, which made my shoulders twitch in surprise.

“But I really want you to join. So please come to the student council room after school. We can discuss it further over there.”

“Nope, I—”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s a tough job, but I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.”

She casually, just really casually, took a step closer and gently patted my shoulder.

“Ah.”

“Well then, see you later.”

Katsuragi Minami turned on her heel. Her hair swayed, releasing a pleasant shampoo scent which hit my nostrile. She quickly left the classroom, leaving me with a flushed face.

As I swallowed in my dry throat, a voice echoed in my mind.

‘That was close, that was close. I almost got him to answer in a hurry. But now that I’ve set the stage, so it turned out well I guess.’

A voice resonated in my head.

It was Katsuragi Minami’s inner voice. As I thought, because she got close, my ability had activated on it’s own. Since my abilities would continue to work even if the distance between us increased —I could hear her thoughts for about a minute even if she left.

But, call this a fortunate accident, with this I might know her real intentions beacuse of this.

Suppressing my guilt and discomfort, I embraced my heart, preparing it for whatever I might hear.

‘Or rather, meeting Ko-kun alone in the student council room after school… I can’t stop fantasizing at all fufufufufu. Ah, he looks so adorable, soooo cute. I love you.’

My complete preparations shattered.

“HAAA–AH!?”

I stood up with such force that I nearly knocked over the chair I was sitting on. My classmates looked at me in shock, but I just couldn’t compose myself together.

(Ri, right now, what was that…!?)

If I’m not mistaken in what I heard, did she told that –she liked me in her thoughts?

Snapping out of my daze, I tried to hear her thoughts again. But a minute had already passed, and I couldn’t hear anything more.

Unsure of what to do about it anymore, I remain standing there until homeroom began.