Before the Princess Pounces on Me First
Huh?
There was no time to even feel confused.
Soft-looking, moist, pudding-like lips were drawing closer.
To where?
To my own lips.
Why?
…Well, how should I know?
The princess wasn’t waiting for my answer. She was already leaning in to press her lips against mine.
When our faces had drawn so close that our noses were about to brush—
“Ah, no!!”
“Mmph.”
I barely managed to slip my palm between our mouths to stop her.
The princess, whose eyes had been gently closed, lifted her eyelids.
Chu.
“…Why?”
She pulled back from my palm and asked.
Did she just kiss my hand…? It must have been my imagination.
I fanned my burning face and spoke.
“I-It’s only natural, isn’t it? We only met today for the first time…”
“Hmm… Is that so?”
“A-And besides, someone as noble as the princess shouldn’t be throwing her lips at just anyone! If the Demon King finds out, my head will definitely fly!”
For a moment, an unbearably unfair scenario flashed through my mind.
The princess had been the one to initiate the kiss, yet the story would twist into how some insolent wretch had stolen the princess’s lips and was executed for it.
If that happened, I wouldn’t be able to close my eyes even in death. It would be too unfair.
I… I had only wanted to earn a lot of money.
“Princess… I’m grateful that you looked favorably on me from the start, but… your joke is going too far. It may be a game to you, but for me it’s a matter of life and—”
“It’s not a joke…”
The princess cut off my sincere plea.
With her cheeks slightly puffed, she moved to the spot beside me—that is, onto the bed—and sat down.
I hadn’t noticed while she was in the chair, but the princess had quite an impressive figure.
Long, elegant arms and legs that stretched beautifully.
A chest far more curvaceous than mine and buttocks that looked firm and full.
If she had been born on Earth in my previous life, she could have been a model without any shame.
“Teacher, you don’t know the rumors about me, do you?”
While I was staring at the princess like a work of art with my mouth hanging open, she poked my cheek.
“Y-Yes? What rumors?”
Startled, I asked.
“Huuung~ If you don’t know, that’s fine.”
Looking inexplicably delighted, the princess hummed a little tune and stroked my hair.
No, why did she keep touching my head from earlier…?
Feeling her pleasant touch, I seriously considered whether I should return all the money and flee the Demon King’s castle right now.
It made sense. Too many strange things were happening all at once.
I was the only person who had shown up for the honorable position of tutor to the next Demon King—the princess.
Suddenly my gender had been changed to female.
And now the princess was saying my transformed appearance was cute and trying to kiss me…
As I stroked my chin and organized everything that had happened so far, a terrible thought occurred to me.
This… this couldn’t mean I was actually the princess’s courtesan under the title of tutor, could it?
“Hehe…”
I didn’t want to think that way, but seeing the princess continuously stroke my head with that faint smile made suspicion bloom even where there had been none.
Her gaze was like a farmer generously feeding a pig that would soon be slaughtered. My anxiety doubled.
“What are you thinking about so hard?”
“Y-Yes?”
“You look like you’re lost in deep thought… You’re not thinking of quitting or anything, are you? That would make me really sad…”
S-Scary!
The princess was clearly smiling. Beautifully enough to dazzle the eyes.
But… but I couldn’t find the courage to speak honestly.
Because the meaning behind that smile felt like If you run, you die.
When I actually thought about it, that was exactly the situation.
I had already entered deep inside the Demon King’s castle.
Both the Demon King and the princess had seen my face.
My gender had changed, so I had no way to prove my original identity.
If I quit now, I would become a wanderer with no status.
Even if I somehow escaped, I would be executed immediately…
Wait. Had my life already been ruined?
I realized it far too late. My body had already been mortgaged to the princess…!
My body trembled as if it were inside a spinning washing machine.
The thought of what might happen to me now as the princess’s plaything made the shaking refuse to stop.
“Hm? Teacher, what’s wrong? Is the room too cold?”
“N-No? I-It’s warm. Very warm…”
I shakily forced the corners of my mouth upward.
The princess narrowed her eyes with a small “Hmm?” then pulled over the blanket I had tossed aside earlier.
With a soft poof, she covered me with it and rose from the bed.
“Hmm… I’m truly sorry. It seems the aftereffects are lasting longer than expected… Father definitely said you would be fine…?”
The princess personally lifted my head and slipped a pillow beneath it.
“Just in case, I’ll call my personal physician. Please rest a little, alright?”
“What? Princess! I’m fine! Princess?!”
I wondered why she was suddenly heading for the door.
She was leaving the room.
Still, calling her personal physician…
The princess’s doctor would hold incredible influence within the Demon King’s castle.
But my body was perfectly normal.
If the doctor thought he had been summoned for nothing and started spreading malicious rumors about me…
Ah… I really might get sick.
“How did things end up like this…”
I sighed, pressing hard on my throbbing temples.
Of course, nothing changed.
Click.
Regrita, the girl who had closed the door behind her, slid down the wall and sat on the floor.
“Haa… Hah…”
Anyone who saw her clutching her large chest and breathing roughly would have misunderstood completely, but fortunately no servants were passing through the corridor.
Regrita, daughter of the Fourth Demon King Ergeros.
Being Ergeros’s daughter was her entire identity—her everything.
After the Demon Queen’s death, she had grown up under heavy protection.
She was a girl who spent her days receiving education to become the next Demon King.
In such a stifling routine, it wasn’t strange for Regrita to enjoy the occasional deviation.
The only thing was that her deviations consisted of summoning pretty, cute girls to the castle to admire them.
And what had happened today was simply another method of deviation that had suddenly occurred to her.
She had asked for a tutor who could stay by her side all day.
She had even requested that her father change the tutor’s gender if necessary to make them a cute girl.
In truth, Regrita, who had already received nearly every possible education, had no real need for a tutor.
The castle servants who knew this whispered behind her back that the princess was chasing after women again.
From Regrita’s perspective, who had never actually pursued a woman’s body, it was terribly unfair.
Of course, she was aware that many of her requests to Ergeros could easily be misunderstood, so she didn’t voice any grievance.
It wasn’t as if she had zero impure motives, even if the women had run away early on.
Anyway, this request was simply an extension of her usual behavior.
Still, because it was rather unusual, she hadn’t expected it to be granted so quickly.
However.
I thought it was an unreasonable request…
Her father was competent—almost too competent.
Not only had he brought a tutor just two days after the request, but—
“She’s too cute…”
He had brought one whose adorable appearance perfectly matched Regrita’s tastes.
When she had first carried the unconscious tutor to the room, the urge to pounce on her had been so strong she nearly gave in without thinking.
On top of that, the tutor’s completely shrunken, herbivore-like demeanor and those shy, stolen glances—like a boy in puberty sneaking looks at her body—had all been exactly to her liking.
“Melly… Her name was Melly, right…”
Regrita repeated the tutor’s name several times and let out a foolish laugh.
She had truly fallen in love at first sight. Controlling her pounding heart had required her to use magic.
While picturing the tutor’s face in her mind, Regrita recalled the stupid mistake she had made.
“Ugh… Idiot… Why did I suddenly ask for a kiss there…!”
It had been far too impulsive.
She had never kissed anyone before. She had only read about it in books.
But the moment she saw those lips, she had been irresistibly drawn. The urge to kiss had been overwhelming.
Those soft-looking small lips, that tightly pressed, pale pink mouth—she simply couldn’t hold back.
“Haa… To someone who hasn’t even gotten used to her own body yet…”
It really had been too soon.
Having her body suddenly changed must have been confusing enough. To then be asked for a kiss out of nowhere—how startled she must have been.
―A-And besides, someone as noble as the princess shouldn’t be throwing her lips at just anyone! If the Demon King finds out, my head will definitely fly!
Watching Melly sweat buckets, she had realized.
She had been too selfish.
She had charged ahead without considering the other person’s position at all.
Still, after giving her such a huge sum, a kiss should be fine, right? It’s not like she would spread rumors.
With that thought she had teased her a little, but…
“Why did she tremble so much?”
She had left the room saying she would call the physician, but it had only been an excuse to calm her racing heart.
Melly hadn’t looked sick so much as… afraid.
…Of what?
No matter how much Regrita thought about it, she couldn’t figure it out.
Her head was simply filled with thoughts of how to seduce Melly.
If she showered her with money, she might be able to get permission for a kiss, but…
That’s not what I want.
Regrita shook her head vigorously and clenched her fist.
She didn’t know how long it had been, but Melly was a rare type who lived without knowing the rumors about her.
Either she had no interest in society, or she had been too busy to pay attention…
Either way, a tutor who had come without knowing the rumors was perfect.
It meant someone who wouldn’t run away from her with preconceived notions.
Regrita simply wanted to experience love.
The kind of beautiful romance found in the novels she often read.
She resolved firmly not to rush like today, but to take it slow—very slow—and dye Melly in her own color.
Click.
The princess, who had said she would call her physician, returned surprisingly quickly. Without bringing anyone.
“Ah… Well, I’m sorry, Teacher. My personal physician had an urgent matter…”
“It’s fine. I’m really perfectly fine!”
What a relief. Such an enormous relief.
I had nearly earned the displeasure of the princess’s highly esteemed personal physician.
To prove I was okay, I waved my arms energetically.
The princess let out a small laugh and stroked my head again.
“About what happened today… No matter how many mouths I had, I could only apologize…”
“I-It’s okay! I received far more compensation than I deserve, and I’ll work hard starting tomorrow!”
The princess’s eyes widened at my words.
What? Why did she look so surprised?
Did I say something wrong?
“You’ll really work hard for me…?”
While I was stiffening up, thinking I had made a mistake, the princess took my hand and looked straight into my eyes.
Her gaze drew a gentle curve. It was beautiful enough to steal one’s soul. I wondered how those sharp eyes could possibly become so soft.
I had thought this was the beginning of a slow devouring, but…
No. No.
I shoved all the unpleasant thoughts into a corner and smiled brightly.
“Of course! Please take good care of me from now on!”
After all, my body was already mortgaged. There was no helping it now.
In truth, only my body had become a little smaller. The fact that I was still in the subordinate position hadn’t changed at all—whether back at the academy or here in the Demon King’s castle.
But overcoming crises from the subordinate’s position was my specialty.
I clenched my fist tightly and made a firm resolution.
Before the princess could pounce on me first, I would raise her into a magnificent Demon King who would lead the demon realm!