Ch.6059. The Imperial Princess (3)

# 59. The Imperial Princess (3)

I asked her as she wiped away her tears.

“Are you crying?”

“A little… I’m touched. I’ve never heard words like that in my life.”

“I’ve… never said such things before either.”

Thinking about it again, those were really cringe-worthy words.

‘How did I even say such things?’

That was the level of doubt I was feeling.

However, those doubts and embarrassment completely vanished with just one sentence from her.

“If it’s not too burdensome, please say such things… often. I’m not very good at expressing myself.”

“Understood, my girlfriend.”

“…What!?”

She was quite flustered by my addressing her as “my girlfriend.”

“You seem very surprised, even though it’s no different from what Your Highness said earlier.”

“You’re coming on… too strong.”

“Do you dislike that sort of thing?”

She looked directly into my eyes while blushing and said:

“No, I like it…”

“That’s a relief then.”

As we were enjoying this sweet atmosphere—

-Ding!-

Both our phones rang simultaneously.

For a moment, we looked at each other before taking out our phones.

On our phones was a message along with a chart:

-Team assignments for the Survival practical exam tomorrow, Friday, May 7th.-

The Survival exam typically divides approximately 9,000 students into 45 teams, balancing them based on objective evaluations of students’ abilities at the Academy.

‘9,000 people…’

It’s certainly an event of enormous scale, with all middle and high school students at the Academy participating.

In the Survival set, 45 teams engage in fierce battles against each other, and students are evaluated based on their performance in these bloody confrontations.

Since the process rather than the result is evaluated, even if you’re eliminated quickly, you can still receive a high score if you performed well during your participation.

Of course, to get a perfect score, you need to both perform well and survive until the end.

The Survival exam accounts for 40 percent of the total grade, making it extremely important.

‘So which team am I on?’

I quickly scanned through the long list.

My name didn’t appear until the very end, where I was assigned to team 46, and only her name and mine were listed on that team.

‘Team 46?’

I asked someone who would have much more experience with the Survival exam than me.

“Aren’t teams supposed to end at 45?”

“That’s right… Team 46? Let me check.”

She called someone, and the person on the other end answered immediately.

She put the call on speaker mode and asked:

“Hello? Professor.”

-Yes, Elizabeth.-

“I called because I have a question about the Survival teams.”

The professor was the homeroom teacher for the 3rd year A class in high school and the person in charge of the Survival exam.

He seemed to already know why she had called.

-Is this about Team 46?-

“Yes.”

-I was actually about to contact both of you regarding that matter.-

As expected, he knew and explained why the teams were divided that way.

-From our perspective, we determined that both student Elizabeth and student Albert possess overwhelmingly superior skills compared to other students.-

We listened attentively to his explanation.

-It goes without saying for Elizabeth, and as for Albert, he also demonstrated overwhelming skill in today’s close combat with the second-year students.-

She looked at me as if asking if it was true, and I nodded.

-We also believe that neither of you has shown your true abilities yet. Therefore, we thought it would be unwise to hastily place you in other teams, so all professors gathered to discuss this issue.-

This time, she asked him a question.

“And as a result, the opinion to form a team with just us to evaluate our true abilities was adopted?”

-That’s correct. What do you think about this, Elizabeth? If either of you has any objections to our decision, we can look for another solution even now.-

“I’m fine with it.”

After hearing her opinion, he immediately said:

-Then I’ll call Albert to—-

I spoke before he could finish.

“That’s fine, I’m right here beside her.”

I immediately shared my thoughts on the method.

“I don’t mind either. It’s a good approach.”

-Thank you…-

He sighed with relief in a trembling voice, and she bid farewell to the professor.

“Then I’ll see you tomorrow, Professor.”

-Yes, understood.-

After the call ended, she put her phone back in her pocket.

“By the way, which second-years were they?”

“I don’t remember the others well, but I fought with a senior named Drens, who looked very athletic.”

“Ah~ But you won against all of them?”

“Of course.”

“Rachel told me you’ve gotten incredibly strong… I wonder how strong exactly.”

“You’ll find out tomorrow, won’t you?”

She smiled and said:

“I guess so. I’ll look forward to it.”

“But…”

When I paused mid-sentence, she looked puzzled.

“What is it?”

“Well… we’re dating now, right?”

When I mentioned this fact, she blushed and answered:

“Yes… that’s right. So?”

“Are we going to tell other people about it? Or keep it a secret?”

“Come to think of it, I hadn’t thought about that…”

It was a more important matter than I’d realized.

She was the first to speak up about it.

“To be honest, I want to tell others.”

“May I ask why?”

“You already know…”

“What? Me?”

I had some ideas.

Still, I wanted to hear it from her, so I was going to wait until she explained.

That was my intention.

However…

“Don’t pretend you don’t know…”

I gave in to her coy expression and aegyo-laced tone.

“You mean the advances from other men are burdensome, right?”

“Yes… honestly, it’s exhausting…”

My guess was correct.

Certainly, a woman like her wouldn’t be left alone by men.

“I’ve been rejecting them all, but it’s getting worse.”

“I don’t mind either way. Actually, I prefer making it public.”

To be honest, I wanted to show off a little.

How many people wouldn’t want to brag about dating the Imperial Princess?

“Really? That’s a relief. But how should we make it public?”

There are many ways to make it public.

But directly announcing it isn’t really the best method.

“There are many ways, but officially announcing it directly is premature.”

“That’s true, so how…”

“Your Highness uses social media, right?”

Of course, all she posted on Instagram were books she’d read, poems she liked, and cute animal photos.

“We’ll post it there.”

“Post what?”

“Your selfies, of course.”

“How will that let people know we’re a couple?”

“That alone won’t be enough.”

She tilted her head and asked:

“Then what?”

“I’ll post selfies on my social media, and you’ll post selfies on yours, but there’s one important thing.”

I continued speaking to her, who still hadn’t caught on.

“We create a common element in those photos. For example, wearing matching rings or taking photos at the same location.”

“I didn’t know about that method. But for that…”

“Yes, we need to get couple rings and go on dates.”

Actually, just posting a photo of us together on one of our social media accounts would be enough to let people know to some extent, but…

‘That would be a shame.’

Though it’s more troublesome, this way we can make it clear and also go on dates together.

“You’re very subtle about asking me out on a date.”

“You’re quite perceptive about these things.”

She must have received many date requests before.

Of course, given her personality, she probably didn’t accept any of them.

“Still, it was refreshing. I almost didn’t catch on.”

“So, are you accepting my date request?”

She answered with a warm smile:

“Of course.”

“Do you remember the bet we made before?”

“About buying me an item?”

Fortunately, she remembered.

“Yes, that one. I’ll get couple rings for that. I’ll buy really expensive ones with good stats.”

“That’s a good idea. Let’s go together later. They’ll be extremely expensive… so don’t feel burdened.”

“I’ll… try not to.”

Originally, I had plenty of money and used to spend quite a bit on accessory-type items, so I was confident I wouldn’t be surprised by certain price ranges.

Of course, it was clear that the price would exceed “certain” ranges.

She was busily searching for something on her phone and asked me:

“What color do you like?”

“Purple.”

“Oh!? I like purple too.”

“What a coincidence.”

I wanted to say, “That’s why I like it,” but I couldn’t.

‘When should I tell her about that?’