Ch.32Fragile Men, Please Stay Still!

# Princess and the First Meeting

Four days had already passed since my first meeting with the princess.

During that time, I had been invited by Princess Kurumi every single day without fail.

“Let’s meet again tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow… again?”

“?! Is tomorrow not possible…?”

“Ah, no! Of course it’s possible.”

As expected, my unique constitution seemed to apply to all Beast Hunters.

Perhaps finding it fascinating to meet someone who didn’t trigger her disgust, Princess Kurumi had been happily conversing with me for several days.

On the first day, she sent me away quickly because I needed to eat lunch, but the next day we had lunch together, the day after that we had dinner together, and today she even packed me snacks as I was leaving.

“This is mochi, a representative Japanese dessert. It’s like sweet rice cake, so please enjoy it when you’re feeling peckish.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you…”

The curtain-like fabric that used to hang in the center of the guest room I first entered when visiting the mansion had long been removed.

Of course, Princess Kurumi herself always wore a blindfold, so this was a consideration made solely for my benefit.

Something about wanting me to see her better.

‘Well… since I’m in a position to protect her, I guess it’s better if I can see her appearance.’

It seemed I had become quite close with the princess, beyond my expectations.

My parents seemed very satisfied with our relationship too. Around the second day, Rolling and Mr. Lee Seokgyu gave me a thumbs up.

“Shinwoo. This is from the Hunter Association branch director as a token of gratitude.”

“The Hunter Association branch director…?”

Never in my life did I expect to receive a wreath of appreciation from Branch Director Lee Jin-ah.

Of course, among everyone…

“Her conduct is so vulgar!”

There was exactly one person who viewed my relationship with the princess negatively…

“Talking at nose-touching distance and even eating meals together… for a princess! Her conduct is so vulgar!”

“Sophia. It’s a bit much to judge the princess like that just because…”

“Brother, can I eat this mochi thing?”

“Sure. Let’s all eat it together in a bit.”

“Awesome!”

“Anyway, it’s vulgar! Her conduct is so vulgar!!”

As one day, two days, three days, and four days passed, I could see anger and worry alternately building up in Sophia’s expression.

She kept grumbling about Princess Kurumi.

I was worried she might cause a big incident later at this rate.

“By the way, Sophia. Have you seen Yoo Sihyeon since then?”

“Yoo Sihyeon?”

“You know, that pink-haired girl from the first day.”

“Ah~. That crazy bitch who acts pretty?”

Crazy bitch who acts pretty.

In a way, that was the most fitting nickname for Yoo Sihyeon.

I was heading back from Princess Kurumi’s mansion with Sophia when I suddenly remembered the main heroine who had disappeared after the first day.

Then…

“I don’t know? She hasn’t shown her face at all since then.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I was planning to rip her arm off if I saw her one more time. But she must have gotten scared and hasn’t appeared at all.”

Sophia shrugged with those brutal words.

Still, she was the original heroine, so I hoped she wouldn’t suffer too badly.

‘Hmm… did she just back off like this?’

At first I was surprised when she appeared earlier than in the original story, but if she just disappeared from this part, I wouldn’t need to worry about her.

“Why are you asking about that girl?”

“Huh? No, just…”

“……”

Maybe she was worried about me meeting a bad woman because we’re family.

Under Sophia’s piercing gaze, I safely returned to the Shilla Hotel once again today.

***

It had already been a week since I became Princess Kurumi’s playmate.

Now that I had run out of stories to tell her, Princess Kurumi was giving me the opportunity to ask her questions.

“You may ask me anything you’re curious about.”

“Can I… really?”

“Of course.”

I never expected to get such an easy opportunity to ask questions to a princess of a Hunter family… moreover, one of the World’s 10 Great Families.

In the original story, asking questions was something you could only do after painstakingly building trust with characters from Hunter families, let alone the World’s 10 Great Families.

That made sense because even though the class system had been abolished in the 21st century, there was still an invisible wall between ordinary bloodlines and superior bloodlines in this world.

‘What question should I ask…?’

It’s been almost a week since I started meeting Princess Kurumi.

And in the original story, Princess Kurumi’s mansion was seriously targeted after about a week.

That’s because security is usually tightest during the first week.

Even though everyone is still working hard, tension naturally eases as people become familiar with the situation.

So the question I needed to ask here should be directly related to Princess Kurumi’s life or death.

After careful consideration, my first question was:

“About that cloth you always wear over your eyes. Is it impossible to remove it?”

“What?! You mean my eyes…?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Personally, I was curious why she deliberately limited her own vision, but also because attacks would soon come just like in the original story.

Visual awareness was obviously an essential element in combat.

If she ever needed to protect herself, that eye covering would only be a disadvantage.

So out of concern, I asked.

“…The Kitsune Family, being the strongest Beast Hunter family in human history, also suffers the most from the ‘human-hating’ constitution that Beast Hunters experience.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. If the human-hatred that an ordinary Beast Hunter feels is rated as 1, ours increases from 2 to 5 depending on how strong our family blood is.”

“…!!”

Even as an adult, Sophia still suffered panic attacks in crowded places just like when she was young.

And Princess Kurumi suffered from human-hatred much more severe than Sophia’s?

“For reference, as a daughter of the main family, I suffer from the worst human-hatred in the family.”

“Then that blindfold is…”

“Yes. I, Kitsune Kurumi, experience such extreme hatred toward humans that I find the very world created by humans unbearable to look at, so I’ve sealed my own vision.”

When you open your eyes in human society, what you see most easily is the ‘world’ created by humans.

Therefore, Princess Kurumi, who only saw ‘hell’ whenever she opened her eyes, told me she had blocked her own eyesight.

“I see…”

“Yes.”

“Doesn’t that inconvenience you in daily life?”

“Hehe. You needn’t worry about that. I’ve trained my other four senses to the extreme since childhood so I can perceive my surroundings without using my eyes.”

“That’s… amazing!”

“I graciously accept your compliment.”

So she could see her surroundings without opening her eyes.

If that was the case, I felt reassured that it wouldn’t be a problem in combat.

But on the other hand, I couldn’t help but feel sympathy.

She had given up her eyesight due to human-hatred worse than Sophia’s.

Having grown up with Sophia, a Beast Hunter, I knew very well how much she had suffered from her human-hating constitution.

But to think there was even greater suffering…

Perhaps someone like me, half monster and half human.

Someone like me might perhaps.

“Would it be okay if I looked at you?”

“…Pardon?”

“……Ah!”

What should have been an internal thought accidentally came out of my mouth.

“I-I’m sorry! Princess.”

Princess Kurumi had only given me permission to ask questions.

She hadn’t yet given me permission to make suggestions to her.

In other words, what I just said was an extremely presumptuous remark.

‘Even in the game, if you suggested solutions to Hunter families before getting permission, you’d be kicked out immediately…!’

Though the class system was abolished, talent, symbolism, and family connections passed down through generations still mattered.

Moreover, my current remark was, by Hunter family standards, an extremely arrogant suggestion that basically meant “let me look at you.”

Therefore.

‘Am I going to be kicked out…!’

As I squeezed my eyes shut, wondering if I should just guard with Sophia outside…

“Look, you say…”

While I was preparing to be expelled.

“Would that… be okay?”

“…Pardon?”

The princess was asking for my permission?

Could it be that my single comment really made her consider removing the blindfold she had worn since childhood?

Indeed, Princess Kurumi’s hands were slowly rising toward the back of her head.

“Shinwoo, you know…”

“Y-yes…”

“Do you want to see my eyes?”

“Your eyes?”

Just before she was about to remove her blindfold.

Princess Kurumi asked me with her face unusually flushed red.

And my answer was, of course:

“Absolutely!”

“…!”

“What man in the world would refuse to see a beautiful woman’s face?!”

“B-beautiful…!”

Even with her eyes covered, Princess Kurumi honestly possessed beauty that could outshine most actresses or models.

And now she was going to show her eyes, one of the key features of her face?

I was beyond honored.

So I tried my best to compliment her appearance to ease any burden she might feel.

“Ha, haaaaah…!”

Suddenly the princess started fidgeting with her lips and trembling.

It seemed she had gained courage!

“Princess, please show me your bare face!”

“Ah! …Y-yes!!”

And so, like on a masked singing show where the reveal happens after 60 seconds, just as Princess Kurumi’s hidden appearance was about to be revealed…

BOOM!

“Wh-what?!”

The ground suddenly started shaking.

At the same time, the person who until just moments ago had been facing me while maintaining a certain distance.

“Shinwoo. I’ll protect you. Please stay still.”

She was suddenly standing beside me, extending one arm toward me in a perfect combat stance.

…Wait a minute though.

“Um, Princess? Shouldn’t I be the one protecting you…?”

“No! The daughter of the Kitsune Family is not so weak as to need protection in front of a ‘fragile man’!”

Hmm…

I guess my thinking was correct—in this world, being a man offers absolutely zero merit in combat.