“My, whatever could you be doing in a place like this?” The noble daughter of Marquis Riefenstahl, and my fiancée, appeared in the courtyard. She was an elegant girl with bright-purple eyes and honey-blonde hair that ended in drills. As soon as the beautiful Lieselotte opened her mouth, I knew I was in for trouble.
“Um, well, there was something I didn’t understand in class, so...” Meanwhile, my new friend Fiene timidly shut the notebook in her lap. She nervously stood up from the bench we’d been sharing; her rose-blonde hair quivered and her sky-blue eyes darted about as she awkwardly bowed her head.
“I just happened to see she was having trouble and decided to lend her a hand,” I explained, backing Fiene up. “What brings you here, Lieselotte?”
Lieselotte silently curtsied. “A kind little birdie went out of their way to inform me that my fiancé was out in the courtyard. With a girl. Alone. I came to examine the scene myself.”
I responded to her greeting with a casual wave, but her thorny attitude only confirmed my suspicion that her arrival would bring trouble. Stifling a light sigh, I forced a smile onto my face and began to explain the situation.
“There’s nothing for you to worry about,” I said. “This is a public courtyard and we were merely discussing Magic Theory.”
“Though that may be the extent of Your Highness’s intent, who’s to say what your companion had in mind?”
Seeing Fiene flinch at Lieselotte’s piercing glare was tragic. I admit that the circumstances could be misconstrued when viewed under a ludicrously twisted lens, but neither Fiene nor I had any ill intentions. No normal person would come down so harshly on us. Alas, my fiancée’s informant had probably maliciously exaggerated the truth. What to do now?
“Well, I suppose it’s only natural that a commoner like yourself would find it difficult to keep up with the lectures at the Royal Academy of Magic. If you so wish, I would be happy to instruct you,” Lieselotte said. There was an ominous pause. “Or perhaps, Miss Fiene, could it be that you only accept lessons from handsome gentlemen?”
In the time that I had spent trying to find something to say, Lieselotte had piled on layer after layer of verbal abuse. But just as I opened my mouth to reproach her, I was interrupted.
“The tsun is coming off strong!” a man announced. “Lieselotte’s acting as standoffish as ever, but this time, she may have taken it too far!”
“Lieselotte’s maneuver comes from the simple desire to not be left out, but her roundabout choice of words and constantly haughty attitude seem to be causing a complete misunderstanding,” a woman said. “I suspect all she’s done is drastically lower His Highness’s opinion of her yet again. Things are looking grim!”
They were the Voices of the Gods.
“Why do you do this to yourself, Lieselotte?!” the man asked, frustrated. “Why can’t you see that your sharp tongue only pushes His Highness away?!”
I looked around reflexively, but couldn’t find a source for the sound. Despite being directly mentioned, Lieselotte seemed totally unaware of the voices. The same went for Fiene. The two of them were preoccupied with their staring contest, the former exuding open hostility and the latter cowering from it.
“This is exactly what makes Lieselotte a tsundere,” the woman said. “She can’t bring herself to admit that she’s legitimately worried for Fiene’s reputation or that she’s so super duper in love with His Highness that even the tiniest things send her into a fit of jealousy.”
The calmly delivered analysis sent shock waves through my mind. L-Love? Who? With whom? Jealousy? Wait...what on earth is a “tsun de rais”? While I spiraled into confusion at the incomprehensible words of the mysterious voices, I happened to make eye contact with Lieselotte.
“Is something the matter, Your Highness?” she asked.
“No, uh, I heard the Voices of the Gods,” I answered meekly. I wasn’t completely sure, but these were most likely the words of gods that the royal family were able to hear. What we called the Voices of the Gods belonged to deities from foreign realms, and they were the reason my bloodline had risen to the throne. My forefathers had led the people according to their teachings and had been glorified because of it.
These heavenly voices told us many things; at times they offered knowledge, at others they prophesied the future. However, according to my father, his father, and all the tales I could find in the royal records, our correspondence with the gods was supposedly fleeting—so much so that our power was considered but a divine whim.
It was often said they offered some word or two of wisdom before a great disaster or in response to fervent prayer. I wasn’t supposed to receive an endless stream of information like this. What was more, no one in the history of the royal family had ever been blessed by the presence of two deities.
These unexpected developments combined with the gods’ unbelievable statements left me perplexed. The adverbs I would use to describe the likelihood of these voices belonging to divine beings included “probably,” “most likely,” and “almost certainly,” but I had trouble reconciling my doubt in their claims and authenticity with my faith in the gods.
“You don’t even know the power of the royal lineage?” While I was lost in thought, Lieselotte began to carefully explain all of the minute details of my family history to Fiene. I blankly stared at her as she prattled on about our national legend and the gears in my mind slowly turned.
The voices I had heard were probably Voices of the Gods—and according to them, Lieselotte was in love with me. But despite our betrothal, she had never once acted sweetly toward me. That’s not to say that she wasn’t appropriately respectful when interacting with a member of the royal family, of course, but there was something about her politeness that felt cold and distant. Her stern expression never faltered and when she spoke, she often admonished me, just like moments ago.
In fact, I had always thought she hated me. Was it really a matter of not being able to admit affection?
“Why did Lieselotte suddenly start talking about Prince Siegwald?!” the god asked.
“I’m not sure myself,” the goddess replied. Her voice had been stripped of all theatrics and I would go so far as to say it sounded conversational. “‘His Highness heard a Heavenly Voice’...? Wait, Fiene and His Highness shouldn’t be awakened at this stage, so he shouldn’t be able to yet. Plus, the courtyard scene doesn’t go like this, and it’s way too early for the Hidden God Route... Is this another hidden route that I didn’t know about? Endo, did you press any weird buttons?”
It was true that I was young and inexperienced. This was my first time hearing a Voice of the Gods, but some part of me was absolutely convinced that the words that had descended upon me and me alone were none other than the power of my bloodline.
“I didn’t do jack,” the male deity named Endoh said in a similarly conversational tone. “I put it on autoplay just like you told me to, Kobayashi. I haven’t even touched the controller since I picked the ‘I think I’ll study in the courtyard’ option...”
“Uh, um,” I stammered. As the gods discussed amongst themselves, seemingly puzzled, I asked to the skies, “Are your names Lord Endoh and Lady Kobayashee?”
And then, the heavens fell quiet. Perhaps to not impede my divine exchange, Lieselotte and Fiene had ended their conversation as well. I cut through the total silence and continued on.
“I sincerely apologize for addressing you so suddenly. I am His Majesty King Fitzenhagen’s first son, Crown Prince Siegwald. Though you have been referring to me as ‘His Highness’ for some time now, I pray that you might call me Siegwald or Sieg.”
After offering a formal greeting, I bowed down to the gods. Lieselotte gracefully followed suit, and Fiene hurried to mimic us as we knelt and prostrated ourselves. No title, whether royal, marquis, or commoner, was worth mentioning in the face of a god; to be addressed as “His Highness” felt out of place.
“Ever since Lord Endoh announced...um, ‘the tsun is coming off strong,’ I’ve been able to hear the two of you speak.” I couldn’t see them, but I sensed that they wavered at my statement. I added, “My family and I have the power to receive messages from deities in other realms.”
“Uhh,” Lady Kobayashee started, “I mean, sure, that was a thing, but...are we in this ‘other realm’? Like, you can actually hear us? In that case, Your Highness—er, Sieg, if you can hear my voice, give Liese-tan—er, I mean, Lieselotte—a big ol’ smooch!”
...Smooch?! Lady Kobayashee sent me into shock once again. Did...Did she just tell me to k-kiss Lieselotte?!
Unbelievable as it was, it was a command from the goddess. As a member of the royal family—no, as a denizen of this world—I had no choice but to obey. Besides, Lieselotte was my fiancée. A mere exchange of lips isn’t a big—ah, but we’re in public. No, but the gods...
Even as my mind swirled into mush, I made my way over to Lieselotte and placed my right hand gently on her cheek.
“Y-Your Highness?” she asked, looking up at me, petrified by confusion.
The anxiety I felt over what I was about to do nearly drove me mad. This is the gods’ will. But we’re in the courtyard. There are people about. But the divine must be obeyed. Wow, her cheek is soft. Her fair skin is springy too. Her lips are glimmering pink and... As my thoughts swirled, sloshed, and tumbled about, I finally reached my tipping point and left the rest to fate.
“Wh-What are you—”
Ignoring Lieselotte as she panicked, I leaned closer as if I were being drawn in. Finally, I placed my lips onto her...cheek.
“Will this suffice? Lady Kobayashee?”
A kiss on the lips had been too much to ask. Actually, the peck I’d given her cheek was already unbearably embarrassing. I hadn’t been given any instruction on where I had to kiss her—though that was just me making excuses. This was the best I could do.
“Ffff—” A short outburst from Lady Kobayashee gave way to an oppressive silence. I fretted over the shame of my public indecency and recalled the sensation of Lieselotte’s smooth, supple skin. A burning heat lingered on my still-outstretched hand. When I looked over to Lieselotte, she was beet red. There was a tear in her eye, her lips were quivering, and she was trembling all over.