Chapter 10: Your Highness Wants Me to Confess

After a peaceful night, morning arrived.

Tina could hardly believe she’d slept in the same bed as Althea and done nothing.
Not that she wanted to do anything, but for a pure college guy in her past life, lying next to a beautiful girl felt like a dream.

“Didn’t sleep well?”
Althea’s voice was soft and groggy, just waking up.

“Nah, just had a weird dream.”

For some reason, Tina had dreamt of being tied up in a castle by a stranger who said, “I finally found you. This time, you’ll never leave me.” They’d used all sorts of tactics on her, scaring her awake.
Terrifying—she didn’t want to be chopped into pieces!

“It’s okay.”
Althea pulled Tina into her chest, making her heart swell with gratitude.

“Your Highness is the best—way gentler than that psycho in my dream.”

“Is that so? So, Tina, do you like gentler people?”
Althea’s eyes stayed closed as she gently stroked Tina’s hair.

Huh?
What did that mean?

Why did the vibe feel… weird?
“W-Well, of course! Being with someone gentle makes you feel at ease, right?”

“Then, do you feel at ease with me?”

Althea’s casual question left Tina stumped.
If she said yes, it’d mean admitting Althea was gentle to her, and she’d just said she liked gentle people.

Rounding that off… wasn’t that basically a confession?
“Uh…”

Seeing Tina fumble without an answer, Althea gave a helpless smile.
“Alright, I’ll stop teasing.”

“Huh? I knew you were joking, Your Highness!”

A joke…
Althea let out a barely audible sigh.

What if it wasn’t a joke?
She opened her eyes, gazing at the girl in her arms.

This was the first—the only—noble who hadn’t shunned her during her exile.
She’d imagined countless possibilities, but never that the haughtiest noble girl would be the one to respect her most.

What Althea didn’t say was that, in her heart, the only people who’d ever read her bedtime stories were her parents.
Anyone else who did was either family… or as close as family.

“Tina, will you keep reading me stories after today?”

“Of course, if Your Highness wants, I’m always ready.”

Hearing the firm answer, Althea brightened a little.
“It’s a deal, then. I’ll have a pillow ready for you.”

Tina felt like Althea had changed since last night—more forward, her flurry of moves overwhelming.
“Let’s go have breakfast. Tyr and the others have been waiting outside for a while.”

“Got it—wait, what’re you doing, Your Highness?!”

Althea stood and stripped off her nightgown, even reaching to tug off Tina’s.
“Changing, obviously. What, is Tina the type to get shy seeing a girl’s bare body?”

“N-No way!”

Sure, she’d seen plenty in her past life and didn’t mind looking, but staring openly would be way too rude.
“We’re both girls, Tina. I’ve got what you’ve got. Why so shy? Unless…”

Althea dragged out the word, a sly glint in her eye.
“Spare me, Your Highness!”

How long would this life go on? Reading bedtime stories every night, “accidentally” sleeping together, then “accidentally” changing together the next morning?

It wouldn’t take long for Tina to get used to having Althea around.
But if they parted then, would Althea be the only one hurt?

Tina couldn’t help pondering that.
Making the heroine regret for life while falling for her first? That’d be awful.

“What’re you thinking about so intensely~?”
A pair of small hands brushed her waist—Althea had already changed.

“Hm, Tina’s figure is just okay, but it’s pretty soft to touch~.”

“Your Highness, you…”
Tina couldn’t bring herself to tell her to behave, her face burning as she bolted out of the room.

“Phew—I can’t look anymore, or I’ll explode.” Her heart was itching like crazy.

Down in the hall, men’s voices caught her attention.
Tyr was chatting happily with an unfamiliar hooded mage.

“Hey there, miss! Glad to see you safe.”

“You are…?” Tina didn’t recognize the mage.

“Oh, my apologies. Call me Everett. Don’t worry, I’m on your side.”

“Your side…?”
So he knew the princess was here.

“No need to be so wary, miss.” Everett paused.
“After all, Tyr and I both know your strength. If you don’t trust us, you could just take us out.”

“What, you make me sound like a homicidal maniac!”

“Just trying to put you at ease. Our goals align—protecting the princess, opposing the Mistmoon Cult. I hope we can trust each other.”

“You’ve got a grudge against the cult too?”

“Absolutely. Before I became the Great Sage, I crossed paths with them plenty. But it’s hard to win against their numbers.”

“Is the Mistmoon Cult that strong?”

Tina was puzzled. This time, things hadn’t escalated too much—everything was over before others arrived.
Or was there a bigger player behind the cult?

“Miss, you only killed one of their archbishops. But the truth is, across the continent, they have ten like him.
Kellivir might’ve had just this one, or there could be more lurking, ready to make a move on the kingdom.
Sadly, our king seems to have been deceived. I alone can’t take him down. We need someone to overthrow him—the princess.”

“Our king?” A possibility flashed in Tina’s mind.
“You mean the current king, the prince who issued the princess’s warrant? Mr. Everett, do you have solid proof?”

“Of course. As one of the kingdom’s top mages, I can sense the growing ominous aura on him—a mark of a contract with the Mistmoon Cult. Our king’s likely been used.”

Tina lowered her head, thinking.
If the prince was working with the cult from the start, the king’s assassination and Althea’s framing were steps to seize the throne.

If the cult planned to control him, the prince would end up a puppet, and the kingdom would fall into their hands.
To help Althea reclaim her throne, they’d need to clear out the cultists in the city first.

Then, using Everett’s reputation, they could use the prince’s contract as evidence to bring him down.
It was a nice plan.

“Do we have any leads on the cult’s movements?”

“Yes, miss. My scouts’ intel points to a lab in the city.
They’re likely preparing some dangerous ritual there.”