The Gloomy and Timid Princess Heads to the Academy – Chapter 98

Thanks to stroking Hoyeon and cooling my head, I was able to think about the immediate problem. It wasn’t an abstract problem like being hated by Hoyeon, who had regained her senses.

It was about a very realistic problem, perhaps so realistic that it was right in front of me.

Black Wolf, and Jeongho. I wasn’t sure exactly when it started, but Black Wolf had been following me. I didn’t know how he found me, as he was so well hidden that even Anya didn’t notice.

Once I knew, I could see where he was if I concentrated all my attention. Even now, he was watching me from up in that tree.

He wasn’t showing any emotion, so I wasn’t sure if I was safe, but I probably was. At least as long as I was by Hoyeon’s side.

“Heeuh… Hheueung… There…”

It was a good thing there were no prying eyes, as we were somewhere in a corner of the academy. Hoyeon was making pleasant noises like a purring cat, urging me to keep touching her.

I couldn’t stop, but it was awkward to continue.

“…Do you like it that much?”

I was touching her because she asked me to, but Black Wolf’s gaze was becoming increasingly burdensome. Even though he was nominally Byeolbi’s direct subordinate, Jeongho was still his superior, so I was afraid of the aftermath.

Even though his wife was clearly stronger than him, he kept taking care of her, and if anything happened to his daughter, he wouldn’t stand still.

Just like I feared at the beginning of the semester, a real war might break out. Not because this continent was unfair, but because of me.

…Well, now that I’ve given up, a war will break out anyway. I wanted to delay it as much as possible, at least.

“Joah… This kind of thing… It’s my first time… Grrr…”

A purring song… So beastkins might have stronger animalistic traits than I thought. It’s like even these things are similar to the original animals.

Black Wolf’s gaze became a little scarier, but… it’ll be alright. I think so. But when I thought of Jeongho, I couldn’t help but sigh again.

Passing the heroines to Black Wolf, passing Black Wolf to Jeongho. It was suffocating just to get this far, but if I passed Jeongho…

Byeolbi. Yes, she was surprisingly showing me favor. To be precise, she wasn’t showing any animosity. Still, that was even more surprising.

In the original story, she was like a machine. A machine moving towards an unknown goal without favor or malice.

The reason she had something like a heart must be because of Hoyeon.

“…Heeeaeae… Heu. Feels good…”

Maybe things had already gone wrong before I entered the novel. I had a feeling that the original story had become distant from the moment Hoyeon was born.

…Well, it’s a good story now. If I think optimistically, a war might not break out. But that’s just wishful thinking.

“…Um, Hoyeon. Shouldn’t we get going soon?”

After stroking her for 20 minutes like this, my wrist was starting to hurt. I was twisting and turning to control my strength, so it was starting to strain me, and I wondered how long I would have to keep doing this.

“Heueu… Ung, it’s a shame…”

She was blatantly expressing her dislike, as she hated being disturbed while she was enjoying herself, but she reluctantly got up slowly. Thank goodness, my hand would have broken off if I had done it any longer.

***

I was dragged to the cafeteria by Dogeon’s hand. I was amazed that it was only lunchtime, but since I had originally spent my time in academy classes, it was only natural that it felt awkward now that it was ending early because of the exam.

…More than that, it felt much better than when my dad scratched my back before bed. I don’t know why it felt so good, even though it was just the base of my tail.

It doesn’t even tickle when I touch it while showering. Strangely, Dogeon’s touch had the effect of tickling even places that shouldn’t tickle.

…Well, people say that they react a little more sensitively to being touched by others than by themselves. It must be something similar to that. I’m in heat anyway, so it wouldn’t be strange if my body became a little strange.

More than that. Now that Black Wolf no longer needs to monitor Dogeon, shouldn’t I let him rest soon?

I sent a signal with my eyes to my brother, who was following me without being detected by anyone even while parting the crowd, that he could stop now.

For some reason, my brother, who likes to rest, rarely insisted on monitoring me more, but I firmly conveyed my intention to stop. It’s also a little petty to monitor a friend, and besides, there’s no reason to monitor Dogeon anymore.

Because I made it that way.

There were many eyes watching, so I couldn’t openly rub against him, but I maintained a subtle distance where our shoulders would touch.

My brother couldn’t help but step back when I was so firm. Fortunately, I no longer needed to keep winking and look strange to Dogeon.

Now there were no prying eyes, or rather, no one I knew. There was no need to care about anyone. People wouldn’t approach me anyway, so I ignored them.

I weakly intertwined my tail with his legs. I wanted to wrap it around him completely, but that was impossible unless I was a snake beastkin.

“…Um, Hoyeon. It’s a little uncomfortable to walk, so could you untangle this…”

“Ung. No. I wrapped it around you so you wouldn’t fall away from me on purpose. Walk according to me.”

Dogeon always took care of his food first and then reserved a table in advance. It could be said that he was sensible, but today, such sense was not necessary.

All I needed was… you.

“…Okay. But don’t take too long to choose.”

Could it be that he disliked that so much that he forced me to choose quickly by securing a seat in advance? I can’t just let this go.

So I took Dogeon around to look at the menu. I dragged out the time by visiting the seafood and dessert corners, which I wouldn’t normally even glance at.

Dogeon seemed a little tired. Still, he’s with the person he likes. Dogeon will definitely like it too.

In the end, I filled my plate with the same menu as always. Dogeon had an expression that said, ‘If you were just going to get the same thing, why did you hold me back?’ Hmm, was he not happy?

While eating in an awkward atmosphere, Dogeon suddenly looked at me. If you have something to say, just say it. Why do you have to give me pressure by looking at me like that?

“You have something on your face.”

He said that and brought his hand to my mouth. Eh.

Wait a minute. Before I could protest, Dogeon brushed my mouth with his hand. I was thinking, why are you doing that with your bare hands, and why does it hurt to just tell me?

For some reason, my heart was pounding a little.

“…T-thank you. I don’t know if you had to… but.”

I didn’t hate it. I was too embarrassed to say that out loud, so I swallowed the rest of my words. Because of that, my words came out a little strangely, but Dogeon seemed to understand perfectly.

I can tell by the way he’s smiling so mischievously. I glared at him for a moment, but I couldn’t deny that he had eased the atmosphere a little.

“…Haa. Okay, thank you. So, is there anything you want to ask me?”

The more I try to win, the more I lose. I accepted my defeat and asked Dogeon if there was anything he wanted to ask me.

He was asking me all sorts of things like a child whenever he had time. So it was obvious that he still had a question in his heart.

“After listening to your stories, I feel like the most important thing is missing. Is there no currency?”

I was wondering when he would ask that, but he’s finally asking it now. Well, even I asked my parents if there was such a thing at first, so it’s not strange that he’s curious.

“Uh. There are ration tickets and stuff, but there’s so much food and medicine that you can just take them whenever you need them.”

“Then aren’t there people who are greedy?”

“Why would they be greedy? Everything is already abundant, and there’s no chance of running out in the future. Well, some people take a lot of ‘happiness pills’ or ‘pills that expand the horizons of thought’…”

Mostly artists or scholars. Well, there’s nothing else like that. After finishing the general explanation, Dogeon couldn’t speak for a while, as if he was shocked.

“…So you don’t need money. But aren’t there people who have more than others…? Like you…”

Ah, that. Of course, landowners had a little more than ordinary people. But all of that was distributed or used as offerings.

As a result, the amount left over was only slightly more than others.

“Not really? Landowners and clansmen take more, but most of that is reserved for ancestral rites or feasts.”

When he asked what the money I had was, I told him that I had brought money that foreign merchants had used and about three carts of gold bars that my parents had given me, and Dogeon understood and closed his mouth.

If he keeps asking me these questions, it’s safe to say that he has feelings for me, right? Even my boring hometown would be fun if I was with him.

“…There’s no money, but you do store those things.”

“We don’t need it in our country, but we need it when we trade with island countries.”

Before I knew it, he had forgotten to eat and was just asking questions, so I pointed that out.

He came to his senses and ate the food that was gradually cooling down, so I scolded him to only eat when he was eating.

After finishing his food in an instant, Dogeon asked me something with a serious expression.

“…Um. Then finally. What is ‘God’?”