The Pink Room's Secret
My roommate returned to the dorm room after getting treated for the injuries from our duel—a duel that happened while I was deeply entangled with Liv Roth Astaroth.
"Hoo..."
Yujin let out a deep sigh and started undressing for a shower.
"Lord."
As Yujin murmured the word "Lord," his body began to change. His originally flat chest suddenly swelled, and while his hair remained a bob cut, it grew just a bit longer than the short cut he'd had before.
Yujin headed into the bathroom and turned on the water.
"I went a bit too far, didn't I."
Yujin sighed again.
"I didn't mean to say all that... but there's no chance to apologize now... Hoo..."
Letting out one sigh after another, Yujin muttered,
"Acting like an oppa is so tough."
The word "oppa" slipped from Yujin's lips, and his body was anything but masculine.
"Why the hell did that jerk suddenly vanish..."
Yujin gritted his teeth as a certain someone came to mind.
That's right. This Yujin wasn't the real Yujin Keruspal.
This fake Yujin's true name was Yuna Keruspal—the grand duke's daughter of House Keruspal and Yujin's twin sister. Due to certain circumstances, she was now impersonating her brother at Elan Academy. She began recalling the events from one week before her enrollment.
One week before the Elan Academy entrance ceremony.
"Wh-what do you mean, Father? You're telling me to impersonate Oppa at the academy?"
"Exactly as I said, Yuna."
Yuna had been summoned to her father's study, where she heard the most absurd story imaginable. Her brother, who had been fine just yesterday, had vanished without a trace overnight. And now, she was supposed to enroll at the academy in his place, pretending to be him. The two revelations were more than enough to leave Yuna dumbfounded.
"Have you even looked for Oppa?"
"We have. Not just in the grand duchy, but every nearby region—searched high and low."
"And you still couldn't find him? What the hell was the knight order doing?"
"Don't try to change the subject."
"Eek..."
Yuna clenched her teeth. Her attempt to deflect had been seen through.
Yuna thought of her brother. True to his infamous reputation as a total wastrel, he was arrogant, pathetic, and utterly irresponsible on the surface. But deep down, he carried the mindset of House Keruspal's heir—he wasn't the type to just irresponsibly disappear like this.
So where the hell had he gone?
"Even if I'm his twin, our builds are different. I'll get found out right away!"
Yuna tried to wriggle out by pointing out her physique, but it didn't faze the grand duke one bit.
"Don't you have your Abl, Yuna?"
"Th-that's..."
Yuna's Act was contact. Her Abl was storage and recall—she could save and load anything she touched. If it was an object, she could store and summon it as such. If it was a person, she could transform into them. It was an Abl with endless potential applications.
And in her storage list was her own brother, Yujin.
I should've deleted him ages ago...
That's what she thought, but reality wasn't so forgiving. She'd saved him on her father's orders, as a precaution for emergencies.
And now... this was that emergency.
"This isn't a request. It's an order from your family head. Understood, Yuna?"
"I... obey your command, Your Grace."
As a member of House Keruspal, the grand duke's word was absolute. Defying it would mean abandoning the family name, like a monk leaving the temple if he couldn't follow the precepts.
But Yuna had no intention of discarding the Keruspal name.
She had grand ambitions.
I have to become the first female grand duke.
Her dream was to become the first woman in continental history to hold the title of grand duke—and not just any, but the head of House Keruspal, leader of the Five Great Houses, the most noble bloodline outside the imperial family.
In an empire steeped in male-preference traditions, ascending to that position would shatter those outdated ideas. With such lofty goals, Yuna resolved to obey her father's command.
"Milady, are you sure you'll be alright?"
Yuna's head maid—and leader of her assassination and intelligence unit, the karasu—Itsuki Karasuno, a kunoichi from the island nation of Etoma in the eastern continent, looked at her with worried eyes.
"I'll be fine, Itsuki. It's His Grace's order. As the grand duke's daughter, I have to follow it."
"Milady..."
Knowing her lady's dreams all too well, Itsuki grew even more concerned. She fretted that Yuna might break under the strain.
Seeing Itsuki's anxiety, Yuna smiled reassuringly.
"I'm strong. And I've got you and the karasu with me."
"That's true. We crows will always support and protect you, Milady."
Itsuki reaffirmed her loyalty to her liege, though it was hardly the first time.
A week later, Yuna enrolled at Elan Academy and faithfully carried out one of her father's orders: "Act just like Yujin."
Thanks to that, she successfully established herself as Yujin Keruspal, the wastrel young lord of House Keruspal.
And then the special transfer student arrived.
What would Oppa do...?
It didn't sit right with her, but she approached the transfer student and hurled vicious insults at him. Mentioning his parents, though—that stung her own heart a little.
Then the transfer student threw down his gauntlet, and it led to a duel.
I need to hold back so he doesn't get hurt too bad.
She tried to subdue him without making it obvious.
But...
I... lost?
She'd lost. The transfer student had used her brother Yujin's Abl to overwhelm her completely.
Who the hell are you...?
As she was carried to the infirmary, Yuna stared at the transfer student, Han Ijun.
Seeing his face, her frustration at the defeat gave way to curiosity about him.
"Y-you?!"
"Yujin?"
My roommate was Yujin. Of all people, him. What kind of cosmic joke was this?
"D-don't look!"
"Huh? What's wrong?"
Why the hell was he covering himself with a towel like some shy girl?
"Looks like you just showered. Sorry—some guys are weird about showing skin even to other dudes. I won't look, so relax."
I played it cool and turned the doorknob on one of the rooms to check if it was empty.
But the moment I opened it...
"Whoa..."
Bear dolls. Bear dolls everywhere. And one suspiciously lewd plushie. The room was stuffed with them, all in an overwhelmingly pink, girly vibe.
"Wh-why the hell are you opening my door, you trash bastard?!"
Yujin freaked out, rushed over, shoved me aside, glared like he wanted to kill me, then—
Bam!
—slammed the door shut and stormed inside, like a kid protesting to his parents.
"This is gonna be fun."
Sure, a guy could have girly tastes, but this felt like I'd hit a nerve. He clearly hated anyone finding out—and if I played it right, I could use this to wrap him around my finger.
Gotta tell Squirrel later.
A wicked grin crept onto my face. Spreading this to Rata Tosk, that walking tabloid squirrel reporter, would stir up some hilarious chaos.
"Guess that's my room, then."
I headed to the other one. Stark and empty—I'll furnish it to my taste later.
Meanwhile, Yuna couldn't calm her pounding heart. Her secret room had been discovered.
She'd thought her roommate wouldn't show, so she'd decorated it to her own tastes. And of all people, Ijun had seen it.
"He didn't figure out I'm a girl, did he?"
Anxiety washed over her. If he had, she'd fall out of favor with the grand duke for sure. And her dreams would be dead.
"I need to keep an eye on him."
If he had figured it out and tried anything shady...
"Itsuki."
As Yuna murmured Itsuki's name, a maid emerged from the shadows.
"Yes."
"You know what to do, right?"
"Understood."
Itsuki, who monitored Yuna's situation daily, grasped her intent without needing details and carried out the order at once.
But Yuna didn't know.
Ijun was denser than she thought—completely oblivious in matters like this.
And so, the truth remained hidden as I unknowingly fell under twenty-four-hour surveillance by a single kunoichi.