6 Beloved Prince and his Retainer.

(O3O)/ – Here is the last chapter!!!

(-.-) – Sorry for not posting the chapter on Sunday guys, but as ridiculous as it might sound, I actually ended up falling asleep on my desk while I was editing the chapter.

(O-O) – College is consuming me… I need help….

(-.-) – Or just more coffee.

(OwO) – Anyway, enjoy the chapter∼♥

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Vee was staring at me with a dejected look on his face.

Knowing him, Vee was probably misunderstanding the tears streaming down my face as tears of joy. However, I couldn’t find the right words to tell him that he was wrong.

I was afraid of hearing whatever Vee might say to me if I told him the truth… if I told him that I was actually crying because I wanted to marry him.

So I wrecked my brain in search of a way to convey what I was thinking, while making sure to not expose my true feelings–

“I don’t-”

“You don’t have to say anything, Lenoir. I already know what you want to say.”

–But Vee cut me off before I could even say anything… which made me a bit angry.

“No, you don’t know anything…! Do you really think we can just go back to how things were before, without any repercussions!? What would your parents think of this!? They were really happy when they learned about our engagement! Not to mention all the people who are supporting our marriage! How are we going to explain this to them!? You could even lose all your favorability with the people if you did this!”

Even if I went back to my old life as a man, someone as incompetent as me would never be able to become Vee’s retainer again, so I grabbed onto his clothes as tightly as I could and tried my best to change his mind–

“Whether or not I lose my favorability with the people, that’s still my problem. You don’t have to worry about any of that. So please, let go of my clothes, Lenoir.”

–But it didn’t work.

I know I was originally a man, and that we will always be best friends above all else, but still, asking me to let go of these feelings so suddenly like this, is just too cruel.

I feel like we will end up drifting apart one day if I let go of Vee now… I feel like he will go to a place far beyond my reach… and that’s the last thing I want.

However, contrary to my wishes, Vee gently grabbed both of my hands and made me let go of him, before walking away towards the exit.

“You should live your life as a man from now on.”

---

Some days passed after Vee gave me that ring and it was almost the day of the tea party.

Many of the guests that I invited to the party were high ranking nobles, so Vee lent me some servants from his palace in order to help me organize everything.

Needless to say, but this will be the most luxurious tea party of all time. There’s no way I would ever be able to host something like this without Vee’s help.

“Oh∼!”

“What is it?”

I was talking with some of the maids that helped me prepare the venue of the party, when one of them, a very skilled party coordinator, raised an amused voice while staring at me from the side.

“So you’re wearing a ring around your neck, huh? It’s so nice to be young∼”

“Ah…!”

I thought I had carefully hidden the ring under my dress, but it seems like it slipped out without me realizing it.

“Prince Vincent gave you that ring, right!? It’s really beautiful, Lenoir-sama!”

“Yes, it’s such a beautiful engagement ring!”

We were talking about today’s party before, but now, they’re only talking about rings and stuff related to that.

Not to mention that they misunderstood this thing as a wedding ring, which is kinda sad, if you ask me, after all, this is more of a break up ring than anything else.

But I couldn’t exactly tell them that, since it would only dampen the happy mood, so I just continued smiling and nodding while they talked about that.

About this magic ring that I received from Vee, it seems like the ones who actually prepared it for me, were the remaining relatives of the girl who cursed me.

Those snakes are probably trying to regain the favor of the royal family by doing this.

Still, it doesn’t change the fact that this ring is as valuable as an ancient relic, since it can temporarily lift a curse of its wearer.

I just don’t like the fact that I received this ring from that girl’s family, of all people.

Anyway, thanks to Vee’s help, the party is going to be a huge success; everyone that I invited confirmed their attendance.

What really surprised me though, was the amount of people who came to me, asking if they could attend the party as well.

To be honest, I never thought they would be the ones to approach me first, much less want to attend my party, so I was a bit freaked out by their behavior.

Well, aside from that, nothing much happened.

“You should stick close to me until the day of the party. The people of this school don’t know anything about personal boundaries, so I’m afraid they will end up swarming and hurting you by mistake if I’m not around.”

“Haha… I never thought everyone would be so desperate to attend my tea party….”

True, no one bothers me when I’m alone with Vee… however, I’d rather be bothered by them, than having to endure this awkwardness any longer!

We were supposed to have a relaxing lunch on our school’s courtyard today, but everyone is just staring at me like I’m some kind of rare animal.

I mean, sure, I already knew I would receive a lot of attention since I’m Vee’s fiancee, but still, hearing people whisper things like, “look, it’s the crown prince and the crown princess,” all the time, is just way too awkward.

“Is everything okay, Lenoir? Like I thought, you’re pushing yourself for my sake again, aren’t you? Why don’t you just go back to being a man? You wouldn’t have to worry about any of this if you listened to me.”

Even though I yelled so much at him that day, Vee is still just as kind to me as always. The only thing that changed, is that now he uses every opportunity he gets to convince me to turn back into a man.

But I can’t tell Vee that the only reason I’m still like this, is because I like him, after all, he hates women, so, lately, I’ve been making up a lot of excuses about why I can’t turn back into a man whenever he brings up that topic.

“You know I can’t do that, Vee. Everyone would be really confused if I suddenly turned back into a man. Not to mention how sad our parents would be if we broke off our engagement.”

“I already said you don’t have to worry about any of that, Lenoir. I’ll handle everything related to our parents, so you should worry more about yourself. The last thing I want, is for you to live an unhappy life because of me.”

I don’t know how many times we’ve repeated this same back and forth already, but if doing this is what it takes for things to stay the same, then I’ll do it as many times as it takes.

Besides, Vee is a decisive man, so if he really wanted me to turn back into a man no matter what, he would’ve made that a reality already, regardless of what I wanted.

But he hasn’t done anything like that, which means that he’s either reluctant about me turning back into a man, or that he’s just respecting my wishes… although, I don’t think that’s the case, since he wants to break off our engagement this badly.

“You know, your sense of urgency is a bit off sometimes, Vee. I mean, it’s not like I’m going to live an unhappy life just because I decided to live as a woman for a couple of years. You don’t have to worry so much about that. I’m okay, really.”

“You think I’m going to believe that? The reason why you’re forcing yourself to go through this, in the first place, is because of me, so how can I not worry about you?”

(But I’m not forcing myself at all! I would even let you push me down right now if you asked me! Ahhhh! Not being able to tell him how I feel is so frustrating!)

Even though I wanted to complain so much about my current situation, I couldn’t bring myself to say any of that, after all, Vee was staring at me with the sweetest smile I had ever seen in my life.

It was like he was shining–no, emitting divine light. I couldn’t even look him in the eyes without blushing.

(It should be a crime to be this cool! My heart can’t take it!)

I’m sure Vee would think I’m disgusting if I ever told him how I feel, but I want to make him mine so badly that I almost can’t contain myself.

If I agreed to marry him on the first time he asked me, now I wouldn’t be in this predicament.

Seriously, I almost want to go back in time just to hit myself for thinking that I would never be able to fall in love with Vee.

Actually, now that I stopped to think about it, maybe I’ve been in love with Vee all along?

No, wait. I always thought Vee was super cool and strong and really intelligent, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I was…… oh.

“…………….”

After my sudden realization, my head went blank for a few seconds.

Maybe the reason why Vee is trying so hard to make me turn back into a man, is because I was denying my own feelings so much when I turned into a girl, that he still thinks I hate being like this, when I actually don’t.

I’ve served Vee for many years, so I’m sure he’s misunderstanding how I feel.

(Wait, if he’s misunderstanding how I feel, then there’s a slight chance I’m also misunderstanding how he feels, right?)

“………….”

(Yeah, right, like that would ever be the case. I’m just deluding myself at this point…*Sigh*…It’s hard being in love with someone…)

I don’t want my first love to end in heartbreak, however, with Vee as my end goal, this will be really hard, if not straight up impossible, to accomplish.

With my newfound motivation to win Vee’s heart, I bit into the sandwich that I was having for lunch.

Although, strangely enough, it tasted like nothing.

---

“Hey, Vee, can we really call this a normal tea party? I feel like we went a tiny bit off road when planning this event….”

“Really? I feel like the party is still lacking something though.”

The venue’s decoration, the expensive teas, the food, even the relaxing music being played in the background; all of this was the work of the capable servants that Vee lent me, in order to oganize today’s party. We had little to no input on how this event turned out.

No, that’s wrong.

I had little to no input on how this event turned out.

Vee did something, alright? He dumped a lot of money on the servants, and told them to make this the best tea party ever, then we sat back and watched the magic happen.

To be honest, I was kind of expecting something grandiose, but not on this level. No wonder people say that the Skyfords are the wealthiest royal family in the continent.

But what do I know, right?

The only tea parties I ever attended, were the ones hosted by my mom’s friends when I was a kid, so maybe this is the norm for all tea parties sponsored by royalty.

Although, I still think this event is more of a matchmaking ball than anything else, since everyone here took the time to look as elegant as possible.

Well, let’s hope they all go home with a partner tonight.

“””Thank you so much for inviting us to your tea party, Lenoir-sama! Really, thank you!”””

After the party’s opening speech, some boys from Vee’s debate group approached me to thank me for inviting them to the party.

“Haha, you guys don’t have to thank me so much, you know? I invited you guys because I wanted to, so I’ll end up feeling bad if you keep thanking me.”

“Is that so…? Then we won’t do that anymore.”

“Anyway, did you see how pretty lady Villisiana looks today, Lenoir-sama!? She’s so beautiful, that everyone has their eyes glued on her!”

Lady Villisiana always looked pretty no matter the occasion. That’s one of the main reasons why she had so many admirers. But everyone here has to agree that she outdid herself today.

It’s no wonder every boy here has their eyes glued on her.

However, that same lady Villisiana, who was the hot topic among every boy here, was talking alone with Vee right now.

Well, it’s not like I can forbid people from speaking with Vee during parties, so I’ll just wait until they’re done.

(Although, seeing them together like this does make me feel a bit jealous…)

Compared to lady Villisiana, I’m just an ordinary girl. I’m neither as intelligent, nor as lady-like as her. Not to mention that she fits perfectly with Vee in terms of looks.

My only winning trait, is that I get along better with Vee.

But that’s it.

There’s nothing else.

Literally nothing.

She’s better than me in every aspect.

Even so, I still don’t want to give up on Vee… at least not yet.

(I have to confess to him first before giving up…)

Vee will probably end up hating me after I confess to him, but that’s worth the risk. I don’t want to live the rest of my life regretting that I didn’t say anything.

Besides, even if I return to being a man, it’s not like I’ll get my job back, so this will be my last stand. Whether I remain by his side or not, it’s all up to fate.

Well, I’m not the luckiest person there is, so I’m not expecting much.

Still, I hope everything goes well for me.

…

…

…

The rest of the party went by smoothly and I greeted a lot of people during that time. Among them, there were many important nobles and famous people, like renowned singers, amazing chefs and genius musicians.

However, by the time I got free from all those formalities and endless introductions, it was already close to nightfall and the party was nearing it’s end.

“So this is where you were, Lenoir. I was looking for you.”

While I was resting my feet after standing up all day, Vee suddenly called out to me.

“Oh, are you finally free as well, Vee? I thought they were never going to let you go.”

I was thinking about looking for him after resting a little bit more, but since Vee came to me first, I guess I’ll use this opportunity to ask him to meet me after the party.

I hope this works.

“Hey, Vee…?”

“Hm?”

“Do you, uh, have some time after the party? I need to speak with you… in private….”

“Of course I have. I’ll come to your room after the party.”

Alright! Vee agreed to meet me after the party! Now I just need to gather enough courage and confess to him!

---

By the time I finished seeing all of today’s guests off, the sun had already set and the air was starting to get a little cold, so I left the cleaning to the servants and headed straight towards my room, where Vee was waiting for me.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t feeling uneasy at all, but I can’t just back down now after asking Vee to wait for me here all this time, so I took a deep breath and opened the door.

To my relief, Vee was still waiting for me when I entered the room… but the air around him was a bit different than usual… it was cold.

“So…? What did you wanted to tell me?”

From as long as I can remember, Vee always had a warm look on his face whenever we were together, so I thought nothing would ever change that. But I guess I was wrong.

Right now, Vee was completely expressionless. The look on his face was so scary, that I almost wanted to turn around and run away from this place.

But I couldn’t simply do that.

I came here to confess to Vee, so I’m not leaving this place until I tell him how I feel.

“I-I, uh… the magic ring… I-I wanted to return it to you….”

Well, even though I resolved myself to go through with my confession, that didn’t mean I wasn’t scared of Vee anymore. I literally had to muster all the courage I had left, just to hand the magic ring back to him.

“I already said you should go back to being a man, didn’t I…?”

“B-but I don’t-!”

“Didn’t I…?”

“Ugh…!”

However, not only Vee didn’t want to accept the ring back, but he also wouldn’t let me tell him why I wanted to return it in the first place, so I waited patiently, with my arm extended towards him, until he decided to finally pick up the ring.

After some time passed, I think Vee noticed that I wasn’t going to lower my arm any time soon, so he let out a really long and heavy sigh, before saying–

“–Please, Lenoir, we both know what you want, so listen to me just this once. I don’t want to see you hurting yourself like this anymore.”

“Vee…?”

I’ve known Vee for a really long time, however, this was my first time seeing him look as sad and dejected as he was right now.

It should’ve been clear to me, since I know Vee better than anyone, that he never actually wanted to turn me back into a man because he was disgusted of my appearance… it was because he was truly worried about me.

But I never noticed his concern until now–no, I was too busy worrying about myself, to even notice how he felt.

This isn’t the time for me to be scared of Vee! I need to tell him that he doesn’t need to worry about me! That I’m okay with staying like this!

“No! You’ll listen to me, Vee! I don’t want this ring!”

“Leno…?”

Vee must be rather confused, and maybe even a bit surprised, to see me yelling at him like that… but I have to do this. If I don’t tell him how I feel right now, I think I’ll never find enough courage to do this ever again.

“You were right about everything, Vee! I want to stay like this for your sake…! But no one forced me to do this…!”

Maybe it’s because of all the yelling, but I was starting to tear up a bit. I could also feel my voice getting weaker and weaker. Even Vee noticed that there was something wrong and approached me with a worried look on his face.

“That’s why I won’t do what you want…*Sob*…this time, I’ll do what I want…!”

I know that crying in the middle of saying something important seems a bit stupid, but I just couldn’t control myself.

Way too many emotions had pilled up during the past few days.

The best that I could do right now, was just continue speaking.

Although, even that was getting a bit harder to do.

“I don’t care what you’re going to do with me…*Sob*…I can be anything you want… a maid, a concubine…*Sob*…even your Queen… just, please, let me stay by your side, Vee….”

It doesn’t matter what Vee choses to do with me, I just want to be with him.

“But if you really want me to…*Sob*…then I’ll go back to being a man….”

Honestly, I don’t know what’s worse at this point.

The fact that I’m crying like a little kid, or the fact that I look exactly like a monster because my make up is running down my face.

In either case, both are horrible.

(Haaah∼, I’m sure he’s going to reject me… this is the worst confession of all time…)

However, contrary to what I expected, Vee gave me a really tight hug, and said–

“–You’re such an idiot! You didn’t have to lower yourself that much because of mere confession! You could’ve just said a simple I love you, and that would have been enough for me!”

After scolding me, Vee then grabbed the magic ring from my hand and threw it as far as he could. Then he looked back at me, and continued.

“I promise you the next ring will be way better than that one!”

---

After my, uh, successful confession? Vee declared to the whole world that we were getting married… again.

Everyone’s response to that was as expected though.

They were all really confused, and with good reason.

I mean, everybody, and their grandma, already knew we were engaged, so everyone just ended up asking us the obvious, which was the date of the ceremony.

By the way, we later asked a servant to help us search for the magic ring, since that thing was really expensive and we had return it properly to the King.

“It would be nice if we could overlap the date of the ceremony with this year’s autumn festival, huh? What do you think, Lenoir?”

“But we’re still students, Vee. Are you sure it’s a good idea for us to get married this soon?”

Talking about the autumn festival, it’s been a while since Vee and I started dating.

Back then, we were so awkward around each-other, that we couldn’t even do anything together without blushing.

But that embarrassing phase is long gone now.

“In other countries, the members of the royal family usually marry their partners when they’re 10 years old, so I think we’re the ones late here.”

“Sure, we may be a bit late when compared to some other places, but I still think we should take things at our own pace.”

“But that’s the thing, my dear, I don’t want to sneak around eggshells whenever I wish to be with you at night, so sharing a room would be a lot more convenient for both of us, don’t you think?”

“\\\\\\\\\M-maybe…\\\\\\\\\”

Even though I was already used to cuddling with Vee on a daily basis, I still couldn’t resist it whenever he hugged me from behind and teased me like that.

“Oh, right, I never got the chance to ask you that… when was the first time you noticed you were in love with me, Lenoir?”

“\\\\\\\\\…*Whisper*…F-from the very first time we met…\\\\\\\\\”

Even though Vee probably knows the answer to that already, he still decided to ask me anyway.

Geez∼, he’s such a tease.

“Hmm∼, I didn’t quite hear what you said earlier. Can you repeat that for me?”

I knew it. Vee’s really doing this on purpose. I bet he just wants to see me squirm around from all the embarrassment, doesn’t he?

“\\\\\\\\\T-that… I always thought you were super cool, strong and really intelligent, Vee… s-so I couldn’t help myself…\\\\\\\\\”

“Hmm∼, is that so? Alright then, I’ll accept that answer.”

After teasing me to his heart’s content, Vee then picked up the small calendar that was laying on top of my bedside table and held it in front of us.

“Hey, Lenoir, which season do you prefer? I’ll let you choose the day of our wedding.”

Honestly, I wouldn’t mind letting Vee choose the day of our wedding, but since he asked me to do the honors, let’s choose a day from a season that he might like.

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(O3O)/ – Here are the illustrations of the last chapter!!!

(OwO) – Don’t mind the red (OwO) face down there, it’s just to keep things symmetric.

(-.-) – Yep, I’m happy things didn’t end up in drama.

(O-O) – I don’t like crying….

(O3O)/ – Anyway, don’t forget to join the discord!!!

(OwO) – Link’s HERE.

(-.-) – See you all soon.

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