Leave a comment

Project GB is an official initiative by Re:Library.

「Thank you for waiting. You must be Miss Ailneige, correct?」

The girl who arrived late—Princess Leshimiiya—seemed to quickly understand the situation as she immediately approached me and spoke in a gentle tone.
I noticed her pause briefly to scan Ailneige. From her line of sight, I believe she was checking my eye and hair color.
Since the princess had initiated a conversation and ignoring her was not an option, I began to introduce myself.

「Yes, I am Ailneige. I would have never expected Princess Leshimiiya to be my partner.」
「Oh, so you figured me out?」
「Yes, of course. I would be ignorant indeed to fail to recognize the treasure of Ausente, Princess Leshimiiya.」

I had absolutely no knowledge of her until I was taught in Central, though.
In fact, I don’t even know the names or faces of the royals of Estoque, the kingdom of my birth, so there’s no reason I would recognize royalty from another nation, and I don’t have any interest in them to begin with.
That aside, I am curious why Princess Leshimiiya is being so polite with me. Is this just her natural demeanor with everyone, or is she being tactfully non-offensive for information?

Either way, I have no way of knowing which it is, nor can I read her mind, so I decided to play along. I just hope this won’t devolve into some mind game.

「Is that so? I’m flattered.
I’d love to continue chatting, but we do have a test to finish. Let’s not keep everyone waiting, shall we?」
「Of course. However, I must apologize in advance—I can only dance the female parts.」

In reality, I can dance both roles, but it would be strange for a normal girl to know the male steps… I think.
Perhaps sharing that sentiment, Princess Leshimiiya let out an elegant chuckle before extending her hand as though to escort me.

「The circumstances surrounding this were caused by my—no, the royal family’s circumstances, so I’ll take the lead.」
「I understand. I leave myself in your care, Princess Leshimiiya.」

I nodded and took her hand.
While her gesture was intended to be suave, her hand was only slightly larger than Ciel’s, with delicate white fingers seemingly untouched by the sun.
She’s the very image of feminine, so the gap between her actual appearance and her earlier gesture is adorable.

I have a hunch that Ciel is pouting right now, so I’ll make it up to her later.
Honestly, I would much rather have Ciel escort me over the princess. And I also want to lead Ciel by the hand as well.
But personally, I’m relieved not to be paired with one of the boys.

Whether it’s because I was formerly a man or because I was under the impression that Ciel had androphobia, I feel vaguely uncomfortable coming into contact with males.
There’s still a barrier between us, and I’m wearing gloves with my dress for the test, so physical contact would have been minimal anyway.
Hmm… Princess Leshimiiya is holding my gloved and barrier-protected hand; doesn’t she notice anything strange about it?

Even if she does, I don’t intend to do anything about it, so I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.
While I’m relieved to have avoided a male partner, being paired with the seemingly sharp-witted princess is its own kind of problem.

Led by the princess, we stepped into the crowd of examinees, but a wide space almost immediately opened around us for some reason.
Well, that’s probably because the princess of this very nation is here.
It must be tough being royalty. When I glanced her way, for some reason, she responded with a wry smile.
Before long, music began to play, and everyone started to dance.

As she proclaimed earlier, Princess Leshimiiya led the dance, so there wasn’t much for me to worry about.
I’m not particularly skilled at dancing, but my performance should be good enough to pass.

「Aren’t you curious why we were paired together?」
「Perhaps. Why was I chosen?」

Now, dancing isn’t just about the display of skill—it’s also a venue for nobles to gather information.
For that reason, it’s apparently common for conversations to take place during dances. Some do initiate conversations to calm the nerves, I hear.
Which would be nice if it were the case, but this sounds more like an invitation to probe one another for information.
I have no intention of probing the princess, so I’ll focus entirely on playing defense.

「Miss Ailneige, may I inquire how much you know of my position?」
「Wouldn’t you be the youngest princess of the Kingdom of Ausente?」
「Yes, I am indeed. However, that is not all. My existence serves as a display of amiability toward Central. To symbolize this, I have been given a small part of Lady Fiiyanamia’s name.」
「Is that so?」

I saw it as unnecessary to reveal any information, so I acted ignorant and feigned surprise.
Nonetheless, what is the proper position I should take here?
I know nothing of Princess Leshimiiya’s intentions so far; does she already find me suspicious? If she does, I don’t know what she is suspicious about and to what extent, so I’m finding it difficult to make judgment.

If the princess has some sort of definitive proof, it might be best to try winning her over. And if she doesn’t, then it would be wise to avoid giving her too much information and simply be reactive.
Well, until I can gauge her thoughts more clearly, I’ll continue playing the ignorant foreign aristocrat incognito.

「Because of my position, I am granted a certain level of freedom. However, as I’ve reached enrollment age without a fiancé in sight, I must carefully select my dance partner to avoid unwarranted speculation.」
「I see. That certainly makes sense. Considering your earlier explanation, you surely cannot leave Ausente freely, and there must be many who would vie to be your partner.」

Even if the dance pairs are chosen at random. Rumors have a way of spreading—and getting embellished—after all.
If someone with malicious intent were to take advantage of those rumors, it could easily lead to her downfall. Due to her having some level of influence, whispers such as—Perhaps she handpicked a boy she fancies for the dance test?—could circulate.
For that reason, I can understand she chose a female partner instead. However, this doesn’t explain why Ailneige had to be her choice. In the end, it’s probably a similar reason, if I had to speculate.

「It’s a similar story even with female partners. If I interact too closely with a noble lady from Ausente, it might also lead to misleading speculations.」
「And that’s why you chose me.」
「Commoners already struggle enough with formal dancing, so there were no other options. My apologies for the inconvenience, Miss Ailneige.」

It’s a plausible story that’s riddled with holes—which I did somewhat expect—but it still leaves me at a loss for how to respond. Misleading speculations? That shouldn’t be an issue if she simply danced with someone she’s already close to. In fact, a certain noble girl who she is close to is currently dancing with someone else nearby.
And if necessary, I believe she could have brought one of her siblings as her partner instead. She’s royalty, after all—with her unique circumstances, it should be permissible. I could have been just paired with a teacher.

And that ends this part! We’re getting princess on ‘princess’ action this time, let’s see how it goes!

First of all, I like how Ain in the end was “Hrmmmnnn, plausible story. *But*…!” It just cracked me up when I went through it. Also, it’s hard being a public figure, Ain. You’re either speculated to be in a scandalous relationship with *that one guy the paparazzi had a picture with you in it* or, if you don’t even have *that one guy*, girls as well. No matter what age, shipping seems to prevail, apparently. Seriously though, it is funny that they’re literally dancing in the same group as *that one girl* the princess is already always (from Ain’s perspective) with.

Well, our girls now have their formal introduction to the princess of Ausente. Compared to back then, she does seem a bit more assertive, but that just speaks of how wise she was to know when to avoid asking questions. It was cute how she did the “Your hand, my lady?” gesture (at least in my head). Also, she is awfully polite.

Now then, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please feel free to comment. Stay healthy, stay safe, and have a nice day~!

Support Us

Unlock Early Access ------- Select Project ------- Project Gender Bender Project Necro ∴ Support your favorite series and unlock chapters before the public release.