Boy And Princess

Second Princess Fina was an expressionless princess. Because she was poor at showing her emotions, she was known as the “Doll Princess.” Yet her beauty was rumored to be the greatest in all of Courtois, and she was so beautiful that royals from other nations watched eagerly for a chance to secure an engagement with her.

…But the Doll Princess had a secret. She absolutely loved touching demi-humans’ ears and tails! She loved demi-humans so much that it would hardly be an exaggeration to call it an obsession… Yet even in Courtois, demi-humans still held low social standing. If a princess openly touched them, there would inevitably be people who disapproved. And so she restrained herself.

Day after day… at an academy where demi-humans lived all around her, she desperately endured the temptation.

Then one day, Fina visited the academy cafeteria and witnessed something outrageous. At last, her restraint reached its limit.

Two upperclassmen from the basic curriculum were seated on either side of a younger student from a class made up of commoners. Looking distinctly uncomfortable between them was the cutest beastfolk girl Fina had identified among this year’s students: “Mii of the White Cat Tribe.” With her adorable smile and petite body… Mii was not particularly tall. That was not to say that members of the White Cat Tribe were naturally small, however.

Which only made her even more valuable! …At least in Fina’s mind.

Despite her petite stature, Mii had a distinctly feminine figure… curves in all the right places and a slender waist where it counted, which was another reason for her popularity. Mii was extraordinarily popular with the boys… and now two upperclassmen were bothering her.

While the students serving as both Fina’s guards and school companions hesitated over what to say about the suspicious way she was hiding nearby, one of the upperclassmen made his move!

“Still… I’m curious. Can I touch them?”

“I-if it’s only for a little while… U-um…? Are you still going to keep touching me?”

“Rudel? That’s enough, isn’t it…? Why don’t you let her go? You’ve already asked everything you wanted to know.”

Indeed, the pair were Rudel and Izumi. Rudel had been asking Mii, who happened to be nearby, all sorts of questions about how beastfolk normally trained their bodies. But then something began bothering him… Were those ears and that tail genuine? Or were they decorations?

…Once Rudel became curious… naturally, he touched them to find out. But the way they felt… they were soft, fluffy, and delightfully squishy. On top of that, Mii’s eyes began to glaze over as though she were enjoying herself. Rudel simply kept touching her. …He experimented with different ways of stroking her ears and tail. The result was—

“Ah! N-noooo!!! …Ah!”

Mii trembled several times before her entire body suddenly shuddered once. Then she slumped against the table… her breathing strangely ragged. Her face had also turned faintly red…

“Rudel… how about we have a little talk? We’re going to the rooftop.”

Izumi’s mood had visibly worsened, and Rudel felt that resisting her would be a bad idea, so…

“O-okay. But we can’t just leave this girl like this…”

“I see. Then I’ll take her back to the girls’ dormitory, so don’t you dare run away.”

Watching that exchange, Fina genuinely had no idea what she was supposed to do. Yet she felt that she had to act now.

(What the hell is with this master technician!!! I’m so jealous, you bastard!!! Teach me! Pass those techniques down to me!!! That would be more useful for my future than half the classes here!)

“You two! Let that girl go! How envi—aren’t you ashamed of yourselves as upperclassmen?! (Thank you very much for the feast for my eyes!!!)”

Fina stepped in front of Rudel and Izumi. Rudel, however, had no idea who the princess was. From Fina’s face and bearing, Izumi realized she was royalty and immediately found herself at a loss over what to do.

But Rudel said,

“Who are you? If you know this girl, could I leave her with you…? Apparently, I have to go to the rooftop.”

He was so outrageously rude that everyone around them recoiled. It was already a serious problem that he had revealed, in the middle of a cafeteria packed with students, that he did not recognize his own country’s princess, but asking a princess to do an errand for him on top of that… was simply unthinkable.

But at that moment, the princess was thinking—

(Isn’t this guy seriously a great person?! He’s entrusting this adorable little kitten to me… Pant, pant… I can’t take it!!! Now I can touch her as much as I want without hiding it!!!)

“…Very well. I will take responsibility for escorting her back. Please make sure nothing like this happens again. If I catch you doing the same thing next time… (Wait? Wouldn’t it actually be better if he did it again? Then I’d have another excuse to touch her openly.)”

The princess personally carried Mii all the way to the girls’ dormitory. Ignoring everyone around her completely, she even brought Mii into her own room. …And then she thoroughly indulged herself in all that fluff! She also became friends with Mii, making that day the greatest day of Princess Fina’s life.

The following morning, a thoroughly satisfied Fina was sitting in her classroom when, as usual, a boy entered and immediately began showering her with flattery… Chlust. That was when she remembered. Chlust’s older brother was none other than Rudel, that master technician!

“Chlust, is your elder brother always like that?”

“Huh? Oh, you mean that disgrace to the Arses family? He causes me no end of trouble as well. After all, he’s just a child who rambles about dreams without facing reality…”

Chlust proceeded to complain endlessly about Rudel. Listening to him, Fina thought,

(This guy really is useless. His constant flattery is annoying enough, but when I finally want him to introduce me to the important person—Master Rudel—this is what I get… Isn’t there anyone else I know who could introduce us?)

The previous day, Fina had also spent plenty of time petting Mii. However… she could not do what Rudel had done. No matter how much she stroked her, Mii only said, “That tickles.” Faced with the enormous difference between her own ability and Rudel’s, Fina had even felt a sense of defeat. And then she came to a decision.

‘I’ll ask him to take me as his disciple!’

Yet his younger brother Chlust was utterly useless. Chlust’s standing in Fina’s mind plummeted more dramatically than ever before. Precisely because she had expected something from him, the disappointment was even greater than she had imagined. Perhaps because of that, Fina began treating Chlust even more coldly than usual…

Puzzled by Fina’s behavior, Chlust began investigating what had happened. Eventually, he traced the cause back to his older brother, Rudel. Chlust’s followers had heard about the incident in the cafeteria the day before.

That evening… after classes, Izumi finally resumed the lecture she had intended to give Rudel on the rooftop the previous day, before everything had become muddled.

“What do you think about what happened yesterday?”

Izumi spoke in a chilly tone, and Rudel answered with a serious expression. Indeed, Rudel had spent the entire night thinking about it. He had reflected, in his own way, on what he had done wrong and intended to make Izumi understand.

“I’m sorry. But I was confident! You might laugh and say I’m getting ahead of myself, but I read this wonderful book called How to Pet a Dragon, and I practiced my petting technique. So I thought that beastfolk girl would surely enjoy it too… Admittedly, the only ones I’ve actually practiced on were my little sister and our pet dog. But I’m certain they both enjoyed it!”

Perhaps it could only be described as a completely sideways line of reasoning… Seeing the utterly serious expression on Rudel’s face gave Izumi a headache.

“…Nobody ends up like that from being petted! No, that matters too, but more importantly, you didn’t even recognize the princess of your own country… Have you ever heard the term lèse-majesté?”

“What does it matter that she’s a princess? Here at the academy, she’s just a younger student. If everyone tiptoes around her too much, she’ll only get exhausted… More importantly, I think my petting technique is quite impressive. My sister praised it highly. Want me to try it on you too, Izumi?”

For just a moment, Izumi nearly gave in to the temptation to find out for herself. She regained control of herself and was just about to scold Rudel when the door leading to the rooftop burst open with a violent crash, revealing Chlust with several dozen boys behind him.

“This is all your fault, Rudel! You’re the one who keeps dragging me down!”

Rudel and Izumi had no idea what he was talking about… Chlust and the other boys were holding wooden swords and knives in their hands.