Chapter 5

Parsed with an automated reader. The content accuracy is not guranteed.

(O3O)/ – Here is Ch-5!!!

(O-O) – Sorry for delaying the chapter for so long guys, things have been a bit rough for me lately….

(-.-) – Also, just to let you all know, the beginning of the chapter was written in 3rd person.

(O3O)/ – But that’s it!!!

(O-O) – The rest of the chapter is in 1st person….

(OwO) – Anyway, enjoy the chapter∼♥

<hr>

The King of the Skyford Kingdom was staring at a small ring with a pondering look on his face. He was still a bit unsure of what to do with it, but after considering all the risks involved in someone wearing it, he decided the ring was worth a shot, so he placed it on top of his desk and waited for his guest to arrive on his office.

After waiting for a while, someone finally knocked on the door.

“Did you call for me, father?”

“Yes. Please come in, Vincent.”

The moment Vincent entered his father’s office, he noticed that the air inside the room was a bit heavy, so he decided to ask if everything was okay.

“Is everything okay, father?”

“You tell me….” – Said the Hero King, as he gestured at the ring that laid on top of his table.

“This is…?”

“The grandfather of the girl who tried to curse you gave me this ring as an apology to the royal family–”

Vincent frowned the as soon as he heard that, after all, the old man was probably trying to gain the favor of the royal family by apologizing in place of his granddaughter.

“–But that’s not all there is to it–”

After saying so, the Hero King held up the ring with two of his fingers, and continued.

“–This ring can lift any curse that is currently afflicting it’s wearer….”

“!!!!!!!!!”

“Well, the only downside of this thing, is that you have to wear it at all times for it to work. However, now your friend, Lenoir, will be able to live a normal life, free of that curse….”

The Hero King let out a troubled sigh after saying that. In his opinion, Lenoir was the best candidate to marry his son. She was attentive, well-mannered, loyal to the crown, and to make things even better, the two of them got along really well, so he couldn’t help but feel like he was making the wrong decision by giving her the magic ring, since she was everything he ever wished for in a daughter-in-law.

Nonetheless, the Hero King also wanted what was best for Lenoir. He watched her growing up along with his son, so he cared about her just as much as he cared about Vincent. That’s why the Hero King decided to give her the ring. He didn’t want to bind her to his son against her will.

“But I… I love Lenoir….”

“I know, son… but we should prioritize her will above all else….” – Said the Hero King, as he handed the small ring to his son.

After being handed the ring, Vincent stared silently at it for a short while, then he looked back at his father, and asked–

“–Do I really have to give this to her…?”

“If marrying you is what’s going to make her happy, then you don’t have to… but if that’s not the case, then yes… you should give her the ring….”

Lenoir had already sacrificed herself for his sake once, so the last thing Vincent wanted was to force her into a marriage that she would later regret. However, that didn’t mean he wasn’t feeling a bit conflicted about all this.

(I don’t want to give her this ring… but what if she doesn’t feel the same way about me…? If being a man again is what’s going to make her happy, then…)

After seeing the conflicted look on his son’s face, the Hero King sighed again. He knew what was going on inside Vincent’s head, so he felt really bad for making him go through this, specially since this was the first time he probably ever felt like this about anyone.

“That’s all I wanted to say, son… you may take your leave now….”

“I see… then, please, excuse me….” – Said Vincent, as he bowed to his father, before exiting his office.

…

…

…

While walking down the silent hallways of the palace, the prince held up the magic ring in front of his face and stared at it for a while.

Vincent didn’t want to tell Lenoir about the ring. All he wanted was for her to accept his love. But there was barely any progress in their relationship lately, so he was unsure of what to do.

“If marrying me isn’t going to make her happy… then I should give up on her….”

After muttering those sad words, the prince disappeared into the darkness of the night with a regretful look on his face.

<hr>

*Back to Leno’s POV*

Thanks to Vee, it didn’t take me that long to get used to school again. He helped me study for the subjects that I was having a hard time with, so it’s like I never even took that sick leave to begin with.

About the usual gatherings that Vee is holding for the sake of choosing a new retainer, it seems like he and the candidates for my previous position are actually using that time to hold their debates, instead of doing what they’re there for.

Well, I’m happy that Vee is finally getting along with the boys, but what I don’t understand, is why they like talking about politics so much. I swear, they’re way too obsessed with that topic.

Aside from that though, nothing much changed in our everyday lives–

“Thanks to Prince Vincent, some girls finally decided to join our debate group! His boundless popularity is finally helping us a bit, guys!”

“Hmph! I’m sure those cockroaches only joined our debate group because they want to get close to me. We can’t trust them.”

–Except that Vee is now openly showing everyone how much he hates women.

“W-well, you’re probably right, Your Highness… nonetheless, that’s still a golden opportunity for us bachelors. Not everyone here is engaged, you see? Which brings me to the point I was trying to get at! Can you arrange a welcome party for those girls, Lenoir-sama!?”

“Huh…? Why do I have to arrange a welcome party for them…?”

“Because they will feel more welcomed into our group if another girl does that for them. Besides, we could use that opportunity to get to know them better, so… it would help a lot if you could do that for us….”

“Hmm… thinking about it again, you do have a point… alright, I’ll see what I can do to help you guys.”

The boys started cheering and clapping as soon as I said that.

However, Vee was the complete opposite of them.

He hated the idea of holding a welcome party for those girls so much, that he couldn’t even hide the disgusted look on his face.

“If you guys won’t believe me, then ask Lenoir to tell you all what kind of person those girls are. She had to constantly peel them off of me back then, so I told her to investigate them in case they became a bit “too much” for her to handle. I’m sure you guys will agree with me after this.”

All the boys turned around at the same time after hearing that, and they were all staring at me like I was some sort of holy being sent to them by god.

“Lenoir-sama, is Marcelina really as kind and gentle as the rumors say!?”

“What about Vivian, Lenoir-sama!? Is it true that she likes small and cute animals!?”

“Wai-! Calm down everyone! One at a time! Otherwise, I won’t be able to understand any of you!”

After Vee declared that I was his fiancee in front of those wannabe thugs, the news of our engagement spread like wildfire.

In less than a week, everyone already knew about us.

To be honest, I felt a bit weirded out when everyone suddenly started treating me like a princess. But I’m already used to that now, so being treated politely by everyone doesn’t bother me anymore.

“I already knew this, but looking at you two sitting side by side only makes it even more evident how perfect you are for each other! There’s no one more suited to be the next Queen than Lenoir-sama, Your Highness!”

“Hmph, that’s only obvious. We’re talking about Lenoir here, so of course there’s no one more suited than her to be by my side as the next Queen.”

“\\\Y-you guys are exaggerating…\\\”

“We’re not exaggerating, Lenoir-sama. The whole continent is supporting your engagement with Prince Vincent because it’s you who’s going to marry him. If it was someone else, there would be many countries opposing this marriage by now.”

Maybe it’s because I used to be Vee’s most loyal subordinate, but the amount of support we received when word of our engagement got out, was actually really amazing. Even his fans, who used to hate me, are now supporting us.

Well, the reason they’re not opposing our marriage is because they don’t want to receive the same punishment as that girl who cursed me.

But that doesn’t really matter right now.

The thing is, everyone’s just so enthusiastic about our marriage, that they keep pestering the two of us about the date of the ceremony all the time, which is kind of a pain, to be honest.

Aside from that though, nothing much has changed… except that now no one tries to disturb our peace when we’re alone.

“Why is everyone accepting me as your fiancee so easily? Isn’t that weird?”

“Well, they don’t know you’re a hopeless masochist, so maybe that’s why?”

“Pfft! That’s true….”

At times like these, I’m kinda glad I’m engaged to Vee and not some other guy. I mean, we’d never be able to joke around like this if we were engaged to different people, so… I guess I wouldn’t mind spending the rest of my life with him if things stayed like this forever.

“Oh, right! I almost forgot! What should I do about my Queen studies, Vee? You’ve been studying to be the next King for as long as I can remember, so I’m sure you know what I should do as a Queen, right?”

Vee will be the second King of the Skyford Kingdom, and I’ll be the second Queen, so we’ll have to either keep things as they are right now, or make this place an even better country, which is why I’m so worried about my lack of skill.

I’m not nearly as talented as Vee, so in the worst case, we’ll have to hire a good assistant to take care of my share of state affairs, after all, I don’t want to mess up on something important and destroy the great foundation that the Hero King laid for this country.

Well, to tell the truth, the administration work of this country isn’t nearly as hard as it is for other countries, but even so, I don’t want to try my luck. That’s why I asked Vee to help me–

“In my opinion, you don’t really have to study any more than this. Queen work isn’t as hard as you think it is. You just have to be next to me and smile, nothing more.”

–But he answered my serious question with just that.

I mean, I’m not complaining that I’ll only have to smile and be next to him, but people will probably think of me as a leech of a wife, and a useless Queen who dumps all of her work onto the King, if I do as Vee says.

(Haaah∼, there’s no other way around it then… I’ll have to study a lot more if I don’t want to be known as a useless Queen…)

<hr>

I was supposed to continue with my Queen studies today, but I learned something really important during one of my most recent studies.

—If the King is ever unable to do his job due to poor health, or because of an emergency, the Queen is the one who has to assume his place as a temporary regent.

Needless to say, but I became a bit worried after reading that. I’m not as competent as Vee is, so I’ll probably have to rely on our vassals if something like that ever happens… which brings me to my current predicament.

Vee has the son of the Prime Minister and the son of the Commander of the Royal Guard to help him, but I don’t have anyone like that on my side.

That’s why I’m thinking of making some allies in case I ever need their help.

The only problem, is that I don’t know where I should go to look for them. It hasn’t been that long since I turned into a girl, so I still don’t know which social circles I should frequent, or who I should make friends with, among many other things.

And to make my life even harder than it already is, there are some girls who simply just hate me because I’m engaged to Vee. Thankfully, they haven’t tried anything yet, but I’m sure that’s because they’re afraid ending up like that girl who cursed me.

(Anyway, now’s not the time to be thinking about that. I need to go greet her.)

The reason why I took some time off of my Queen studies today, is because I made an appointment with lady Villisiana, the leader of Rose Garden, one of the most prominent social circles of this school.

When I arrived at the meeting place that we agree on, one of her servants was already there waiting for me. I was then guided to a small tea table located in the middle of a rose garden, where we enjoyed a pleasant tea time together.

I just wasn’t prepared for the huge bomb that she dropped in the middle of our conversation.

“To tell the truth, I regret not being able to make Prince Vincent see me for who I am… but I’m glad that he finally found his other half.”

Even though lady Villisiana was staring at me with her usual composed smile, I could tell that she was actually feeling a bit sad.

Lady Villisiana wasn’t just the leader of the most prominent social circle of our school, she was also like an idol for many noble ladies as well. A woman among women, if you will.

But even she fell prey to Vee’s charms and joined the huge cat-fight–I mean, the huge fight for his affection that happened everyday within school grounds.

At the time, many people thought she would emerge victorious and become the next Queen. However, as the battle for Vee’s affection escalated, the girls fighting for him started losing themselves.

They became beasts driven by jealousy… and lady Villisiana wasn’t an exception to that.

It was around that time that Vee started avoiding women everywhere he went. And I don’t blame him for doing that. After witnessing that carnage everyday, even I started avoiding them.

“It would be a lie to say that I don’t yearn for his love anymore… but I’ll respect his choice and support you two as best as I can.”

“Lady Villisiana….”

In a way, I feel kind of bad for lady Villisiana.

Her household is way bigger than mine, and they contribute a lot more to the country, so in theory, she’d be the ideal candidate for the position of next Queen if none of that had ever happened.

I mean, I would never give Vee to lady Villisiana, but I guess I do pity her a little bit, since she’s not really that bad of a person.

After opening her heart to me, lady Villisiana made a rough sketch of the relationship between all the noble ladies from major households, then she handed it to me.

“Here, I think this will be of some help to you.”

“Thank you, I’ll do my best to memorize this as soon as possible.”

I was already aware that some girls hated me because I got engaged to Vee, but with this small gift that I just received, my suspicions got more evident. Thankfully, most girls here have already moved on, or are either in the process of doing so.

“I think you already know this, Lenoir, but the social circles of this side of noble society are way more vicious, so you should be careful of who you make friends with.”

“Yes, I know that. Thank you for the reminder.”

“It was nothing. Just don’t let them walk all over you as they please. Show them that they have a lot more to gain from being your friends, rather than being your enemies.”

In other words, I need to make them see me as a beneficial ally.

(Hmm, I have an idea of how I’m going to do that… I just don’t know if it will work…)

Since Vee’s out of the market, many girls have already started searching for other suitors, which means that now’s the perfect time for me to strike.

I used to be a man, so giving them some advice on the guys that they are interested in will be a piece of cake for me.

Furthermore, if I use this opportunity to host a tea party for both men and women alike, the girls will be able to use the advice that I give them right away, and the boys will go home with a girlfriend.

It’s a win-win for everyone.

<hr>

“The only downside of this plan is that I won’t be able to enjoy the party, since I’ll be busy playing Cupid.”

“……….”

“Hmm… Vee? Are you listening?”

“…!!!…Yes, I’m listening–”

Even though we’re finally having some alone time to ourselves, Vee seems awfully out of it today. I know his crown prince duties wear him off quite a bit sometimes, but I’ve never seen him like this.

“–But I don’t think you’ll be able to host this tea party at your family’s estate. This will be a large scale party, right? So I’ll arrange for you to use one of the party halls of the palace.”

“You’d do that for me!? Wow, thanks Vee! Now I don’t have to worry about who I should invite to the party!”

“……….“

Even after I thanked him, Vee still had that same difficult look on his face, but I don’t have any idea why he’s so worried like this.

Everything has been going well lately, so there’s no reason for him to be like that.

Well, I guess there’s a possibility he might be worried because I haven’t given a concrete answer for his confession yet. But how can I bring myself to do that?

This all started because Vee hates women, so what if my feelings make him hate me as well?

That’s why I don’t want to tell him how I feel.

(This would be a lot more easy to deal with if our marriage was one of convenience… but it’s not, and that’s what makes this decision so hard…)

Besides, what’s with that look on his face!? Does he have any idea how much I want to pat his head right now!? This is so unfair!

(No, calm yourself Lenoir! If you do that, Vee will think you’re just another creepy girl!)

After repeating that little mantra a couple of times, I managed to calm down a bit.

“Hey, Leno….”

“What is it, Vee?”

“Do you have a dream? Like, something you want to do… or somewhere you want to go?”

“Hmm… not really. As embarrassing as it sounds, I never thought about any of that. I’m already happy enough when I’m with you, Vee.”

“Is that so? I’m happy for you then….”

“Fufu, thanks.”

It’s a bit weird to think that we’ve known each-other for more than a decade now.

When we were kids, I used to follow Vee around everywhere he went because that was my job. However, as time passed, I started to enjoy following him around… I started to enjoy his company… and then we became best friends.

That’s why I’m certain I won’t regret marrying Vee, after all, he’s the most important person in my life.

“Why are you laughing…?”

“I just felt a bit nostalgic. You see, back when we were young, people used to say I was like your shadow because we went everywhere together. But I never cared about any of that, since spending time with you was, and still is, what I like doing most.”

“……….”

“So, if marrying me is going to be of any help to you–”

To be honest, I want to answer Vee’s proposal with a clear yes and become his lover… but I’m okay with just staying by his side. That’s good enough for me.

(Ah, dammit… I feel like crying right now…)

I guess there really is a first time for everything. I never imagined a broken heart would hurt this bad.

“–Then I don’t mind-”

“Leno…!”

Before I could finish what I was going to say, Vee cut me off with a yell.

“If… if you could go back to being a man, would you do so…?”

“Huh…?”

I wasn’t expecting Vee to ask me that kind of question right now, so it took me a moment to process what he said. But once I did, I felt an extremely unpleasant sensation welling up inside of me.

“W-what are you talking about, Vee? Y-you know it’s impossible to lift this kind of curse, right?”

“But what if you could?”

“B-but it’s impossible…!”

“That doesn’t answer my question!”

Confused. That’s the best word to describe my situation right now. I want to look Vee in the eyes and say no, but at the same time, I’m afraid of what he’s going to think of me if I do that.

Honestly, I don’t have any idea how he wants me to answer that question. I just know that, after everything we went through during these past couple of months, I don’t want to turn back anymore.

“I… everyone is waiting anxiously for the day of our marriage, so I want to answer their expectations in the best way I can. Besides, if I turn back now, those girls will become even more aggressive than before… and I don’t want to see you go through that hell again….”

Vee became really sad after I said that, since the answer that he was looking for never came… but I only realized that when it was already too late.

“It’s always been like this, huh? You’re always looking out for me, even when you don’t have to… I’m sorry for not noticing it sooner….”

“Vee…? What are you-”

“Here… this ring can’t cure you for good, but it’ll help you suppress the effects of the curse.”

After taking the ring into my hands, I wore it just to see if Vee was telling the truth, and to my surprise, my body started glowing faintly.

When the light faded a few seconds later, I had turned back into my male self.

“With this ring, you can now go back to your old life… you don’t have to live as a woman anymore.”

At first, I only agreed to marry Vee because he wanted to take responsibility for what happened to me, so I’m sure I would’ve celebrated this moment with everything I had a couple of months ago… after all, I didn’t want to marry my best friend.

But now, I don’t feel happy… I just feel empty… like I lost something really important to me.

However, as tears streamed down my face, I noticed that I wasn’t the only one feeling hurt because of this ring… Vee was hurt too.

<hr>

(O-O) – I hope this has a happy ending….

(-.-) – Well, I think my worries are unfounded, but I’m suddenly having Guilty Crown PTSDs right now, so this can’t be good.

(OwO) – Anyway, don’t forget to join the Discord.

(O3O)/ – See you all soon!!!

<hr>

Previous – TOC – Next

Like this:Like Loading...\n Related