Chapter 107
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 106
Chapter Title: Surviving in the Academy (2)
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"Wha-what?"
Kairen stared wide-eyed at his own chest, glaring at it as if it had pierced right through. The crown prince tilted his head in bewilderment.
"What's wrong?"
"M-my ch-chest."
"...Chest?"
The crown prince looked at Kairen suspiciously in return, then suddenly caressed his own chest as he replied.
"My chest does look a bit odd, doesn't it?"
"......"
"Is it really that surprising...?"
As he tilted his head to the side, Kairen, who had been staring blankly, muttered inwardly.
'Am I seeing things, maybe a hallucination?'
For some reason, the crown prince's bare chest was wrapped in compression bandages.
- Rrrrrumble...
And the suspicious energy churning from within those bandages was something Kairen had felt a few times before.
'No, it's not a dream or illusion.'
He had been doubtful at first, but as the energy grew stronger over time, Kairen turned his suspicion into certainty.
'What's in Crown Prince Alberion's chest... is definitely a black heart.'
And right around then, the crown prince spoke up in a trembling voice.
"Wh-why are you staring so intently?"
"...Your Highness."
"Hm?"
Kairen made a grave request to the crown prince.
"Could you remove the compression bandages you're wearing right now?"
The crown prince stared blankly at Kairen for a moment.
"Wh-wha-what's this for?"
"It's a physical exam, right? You have to take off all your clothes for a proper one."
"R-really?"
He scratched his head with a somewhat dumbstruck expression at Kairen's response.
"Hurry."
"Uh, okay."
At Kairen's urging, the crown prince moved the hand that had been scratching his head toward the bandages.
- Tremble, tremble, tremble...
But the hand grasping the end of the bandages kept shaking for minutes on end.
"Uh, well, you see..."
"......"
"How do you even take off bandages?"
How much time passed like that? The crown prince finally lifted his head blankly and spouted nonsense at Kairen.
"This won't work..."
Finally losing his patience at the sight, Kairen strode toward the crown prince.
"Stay still."
"Eek?"
"I'll take it off for you!"
Kairen grabbed the crown prince's bandages, his eyes turning red as he began to apply force.
"N-no!"
"Hnnngh..."
The panicked crown prince flailed and resisted, but fending off Kairen—who had grown accustomed to the power of his crimson eyes over two years—was no easy task.
- Rip, tear!
Suddenly, the sound of bandages ripping echoed between the two as they struggled.
- Plop...
Immediately after, incredibly soft skin touched Kairen's cheek.
"Huh...?"
Kairen blinked wide-eyed and looked up.
"Haha... ha..."
With the left bandage torn, one breast was exposed. The crown prince's eyes spun wildly as he broke into a cold sweat.
"My chest looks a little weird? Doesn't... it?"
"Your Highness?"
"Ugh, urgh..."
Then, as if suddenly spouting more nonsense,
"Urp..."
He urgently shoved Kairen forward and began to vomit.
"Haa, haa..."
He heaved several more times, breathing raggedly.
"Your Highness."
"......"
"You don't mean..."
Kairen stared blankly at him from the side, then paled as he asked,
"You're a woman?"
A strange silence filled the room.
"What nonsense is that!"
"......"
"Of course I'm a man!"
After staring blankly at Kairen in the silence for a while, the crown prince suddenly shot to his feet, frowning and raising his voice.
"But that chest..."
"Yes, I do have gynecomastia. But don't treat me like some girl because of it."
Yet the crown prince's left breast boasted a presence far too massive to be explained by mere gynecomastia.
"No, that's way too big to call gynecomastia..."
"Enough teasing."
Kairen pointed it out, but fell silent at the crown prince's suddenly icy tone.
"Anyway, is the physical exam over now?"
He picked up his shirt and turned toward the door.
"W-wait a second."
"Hm?"
"There was definitely a black heart..."
Hearing Kairen's words from behind, the crown prince broke into a cold sweat and halted.
"Wha-what black heart?"
"......?"
"Wh-what are you talking about?"
The crown prince turned his head, his face greatly agitated as he stammered.
'Come to think of it... the bandage came off on one side.'
Kairen glared silently at him, then realized something.
'I couldn't check the other side...'
The crown prince's other breast was still covered by the bandages.
"Your Highness."
"...Wh-what is it."
With that thought, Kairen grew even more serious.
"Could I check your right breast too?"
"......"
"It's nothing much, just that it seems to have the mark I was looking for..."
The moment the crown prince heard that, his eyes widened and his face drained of color.
"Kuh!"
A groan escaped his lips, and
- Thump, thump, thump...
his heart began to pound violently.
"...Damn it."
The crown prince dropped to one knee from the shockwave, muttering through cold sweats.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it..."
"......"
"I barely suppressed it, and now..."
At the same time, his pupils began flickering black.
- Tremble...
But to hide it from Kairen, he kept his head down before slowly lifting it.
"...My friend."
The crown prince forced an awkward smile and spoke softly.
"Sorry, but could you give me a little time?"
Kairen swallowed dryly, frowning deeper.
"Le-let's postpone the physical exam for now."
"......"
"I'm not feeling well right now!"
Before Kairen could stop him, the crown prince covered his chest with his shirt and bolted out of the room.
"Whenever this happens, I head to the hot springs!"
"Wait..."
"So, we'll finish the exam there!"
With those words, he dashed down the hallway and vanished.
"Haa..."
How much time had passed?
'Fortunately, the black heart seems to have gone back to sleep...'
In the changing room of the academy's most popular hot spring facility, the crown prince meditated, then sighed as he caressed his chest.
'But hiding it like this has its limits too...'
He muttered inwardly, a trace of anxiety on his face.
"Hey, my friend!"
"......"
"You can come in now!"
But he shook his head vigorously to clear stray thoughts and called energetically to Kairen waiting outside.
"R-really?"
"Yes! I'll prove this body's innocence right now!"
And the next moment.
- Slide...
Kairen opened the changing room door with a tense expression and stepped inside.
"Huh?"
His expression quickly hardened.
"...Hic."
His face flushed bright red in an instant, and pitiful hiccups escaped his lips.
"What's wrong, my friend?"
"......"
"Feeling guilty for pushing me? I'll forgive you with my vast magnanimity!"
The crown prince looked puzzled for a moment before draping an arm over Kairen's shoulder with hearty enthusiasm and walking forward.
"Then, as a sign of reconciliation..."
He narrowed his eyes slyly and whispered softly into Kairen's ear.
"...Shall we enjoy the hot springs together?"
Crown Prince Alberion, saying this, gave off the friendly vibe of a neighborhood dimwit brother—but one terrifying fact completely altered the situation.
'...She really is a girl!'
The crown prince, fully naked in the changing room, lacked what every man must have.
'And she's going into the men's bath like this?'
Right after realizing that, an even more terrifying fact dawned on Kairen.
'This is bad.'
Classes at the academy would soon end, and exhausted students would flock to the hot springs en masse.