The Princess’s Humiliating Duty

“W-what??? Must I really wear something so… humiliating?”

In the princess’s bedchamber within the castle, I scrambled onto the bed, pulling the covers over my pajama-clad body. I absolutely refused to put on the outfit Beth Daisy had brought.

“Princess!” Beth Daisy’s voice was stern, a rare occurrence. “Do you comprehend the magnitude of the disaster you’ve caused? You brazenly used an eighth-tier magic, a power beyond taboo, on ordinary human commoners, and then grandly announced your name! How could the Empire possibly turn a blind eye? Do you realize the immense crisis this will bring upon our Dungeon?”

“If a crisis comes, we’ll just deal with it!” I stomped my foot on the bed, exasperated. “What does that have to do with me wearing such a shameless outfit?”

“Of course it’s profoundly related! While no commoners were harmed, the Dungeon’s reigning princess personally appeared and obliterated a vast stretch of the Empire’s land. This is practically a declaration of war! Intelligence indicates that the Empire’s high command is already discussing plans to launch an expedition against the Dungeon. And all of this is due to your impulsiveness and recklessness! It was merely about rescuing a witch; couldn’t you have just secretly brought her out? Why did you have to make it known throughout the entire Empire? What was the point of all our previous disguises?!”

“About this…” I turned my head away, unable to offer a defense. “I was wrong, yes… but, but…”

“But what? The Empire’s army is approaching, yet our Dungeon’s morale is scattered and low. Only through the coming-of-age ceremony can we reignite the ambition and passion of all Dungeon tribes! Originally, we intended to handle the ceremony discreetly, knowing you might feel awkward. However, after yesterday’s council meeting, we unanimously decided to make it grand! We will make it vibrant and captivating! We must make all the demons of the Dungeon go wild for you! And how to ignite their passion? That, Princess, falls to you!”

Beth Daisy spoke with such earnest conviction, employing a mix of reason and emotion in her eloquent nonsense, that I found myself struggling to refute her.

“But… I am a princess. A village woman by the roadside has the freedom to decide what she wears, yet I do not. Am I to understand my rights are inferior to a common villager’s?”

“With greater power comes greater responsibility, Princess. It is lonely at the top. You command a Dungeon spanning hundreds of miles, with tens of thousands of demon tribes under your banner. Do you not understand what it means to be beyond your own control? Princess Coolie, the moment you became the Dungeon’s guardian, your body ceased to belong to yourself! Instead, it belongs to the entire Dungeon’s future! Inspiring the morale of the entire tribe is your inescapable duty!”

Beth Daisy’s words made my legs weak, and I sank powerlessly onto the bed. “If it’s for the Dungeon’s future, then… do as you wish! It’s not as if I *like* wearing such clothes!”

Ever since yesterday’s political assembly, I felt as though I, the princess, had become a puppet under their conspiratorial control.

First, they criticized me for rashly exposing my identity and blowing up a village. Then, they accused me of privately deploying the Dungeon’s forces to search for an unrelated girl, which even made my senior sister quite uncomfortable.

After an entire night of argument, an agreement was finally reached: I would proceed with the coming-of-age ceremony according to their arrangements. In return, they would each do their utmost to dispatch people to search for Yukino.

Yet, who would have thought that the outfit they brought today would utterly shatter my bottom line?

I refused to believe that the Coolie who was a girl, body and soul, would have accepted wearing such clothes. Even I, a boy with no female sense of shame, found it unbearable!

To put it simply, this outfit was sheer, sheer, sheer! It possessed a maturity utterly unsuited to my style.

However, I also knew that even as a princess, I couldn’t act entirely on my own. For them to diligently search for Yukino, I could only reluctantly go along with their wishes.

The coming-of-age ceremony was three days away from my birthday, but the preliminary rounds of the selection competition began today. And I was about to attend the opening ceremony.

I didn’t know if I was attending this ceremony as a distinguished guest or… a prize!

At my strong insistence, Beth Daisy still permitted me to put on the clothes by myself. To be honest, it was quite a challenge.

Just as I had finally managed to put most of it on, my body glistening with sweat, the door opened.

“Huh?!” I wasn’t ready to be seen yet! My face flushed crimson with alarm.

My senior sister, Faein, dressed in black from head to toe, in a black form-fitting jumpsuit, pushed open the door and walked in. Seeing me in this attire, she too was stunned.

‘Damn that Beth Daisy for not locking the door when she left!’ I cursed inwardly.

“Faein, Senior Sister…” I was terribly embarrassed for her to see me dressed like this. Still, having her be the first to see me was better than anyone else.

I half-turned, facing her sideways. My fair, slightly rosy skin was clad in a black, form-fitting, hollowed-out lace bodysuit. However, in reality, this bodysuit was only opaque where the narrow bra and minuscule panties—which barely covered anything—were fastened with black soft fabric. The rest was semi-transparent, a shimmering, elusive black lace!

What was even more infuriating was that this black lace deliberately *failed* to cover the crucial areas, instead only obscuring insignificant ones. My rounded shoulders and the pitiful cleavage on my chest were exposed, yet my neck and upper arms were covered. My armpits were clearly bare, but my ribs were covered. My navel and spine were largely exposed, almost to the very bottom. The integrated stockings on my thighs were even stranger; they fastened to the top at the side of my waist, leaving the front and back utterly bare and stark white, yet tightly hugged the sides, as if proclaiming, ‘Look, I am still wearing pants!’ In truth, it was even more shameful than wearing nothing at all!

My calves and feet, however, were tightly encased in black, fitted stockings, making them appear even more slender and long compared to my white thighs. And those ten-centimeter stiletto heels forced me into a naturally alluring posture when walking. Who designed this outfit? It had to be either a pervert or a **! What ‘painstaking effort’ indeed!

“Mmm,” Senior Sister Faein frowned slightly, covering her mouth, her gaze like one observing a brazen girl. “Are you sure you want to wear *that* to the coming-of-age ceremony’s opening?”

“I…” Her gaze made me utterly speechless, yet for some reason, a surge of temper rose within me. “Hmph! What? Is it not allowed? Does what I wear concern you?”

“Mmm, not particularly…”

“Senior Sister, shouldn’t you be out searching for Yukino instead of lingering here?”

At the mention of Yukino, Faein once again displayed that familiar, irritating look. But today, it seemed slightly different; her eyes held a distinct wavering and a sense of distraction.

“Coolie, it seems there’s no news within your Dungeon. I plan to search the Minos Labyrinth for news of Yukino. However, before that, I couldn’t feel at ease leaving here. So, I came to check.”

“Couldn’t feel at ease? Is that so? I thought my Dungeon no longer held any utility for you…” I didn’t know why I uttered such hurtful words.

But this time, my senior sister didn’t get angry. Instead, she spread her hands and said, “Listen to me, Coolie! Therefore, I have decided. I intend to participate in this coming-of-age ceremony’s selection competition.”

“Huh?!” My face instantly flushed. “Senior Sister? You, you’re going to participate in the competition? But, weren’t you in a hurry to find Yukino?”

She shook her head helplessly, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall, her eyes closed. “Hmph! Although you always make me angry, you are, after all, my sensitive little sister whom I personally trained. I wouldn’t feel at ease entrusting your development to others! What if, when I return, you’ve been trained into losing your sanity? What then? I do have some responsibility, don’t I? Besides, I am your guardian knight, even if only in name. But in reality, I am your master, aren’t I? So, whether in name or in reality, I cannot abandon you. Not only would others gossip, but I, as your senior sister and master, would feel guilty. I am a responsible sister, you know? This is chivalry. Do you understand chivalry?”

“Sister… what righteous nonsense are you spouting?”

“What’s wrong? Do you think your sister’s chivalry is nonsense?”

“Not that, it’s what you said before—about ‘training,’ and ‘master,’ and ‘sensitive constitution,’ and ‘deve—development’… Sister, your choice of words makes your little sister so embarrassed!” My clothes were already embarrassing enough, and my face grew hot and red as I turned my head away.

“Embarrassed about what? I think you’re excited! In any case, I don’t trust you to fall into Suriya’s hands, let alone spend three days and nights alone with those male demons! Your sister is afraid you’ll break, do you understand? So, no matter what, I must win this coming-of-age ceremony before I leave! Do you understand?”

“Sister~~~” While I was happy you were staying to compete, there was no need to take advantage of the situation to humiliate your little sister!

I suddenly realized that I felt so, so happy to hear this news!

Seeing my expression, Senior Sister Faein’s demeanor shifted, and she calmly said, “Don’t misunderstand, alright? I’m simply acting out of chivalry, and my… responsibility as your senior sister.”

Responsibility? Had you said all those strange things, only to ultimately find an explanation in responsibility?

Responsibility for me, but what about for Yukino?

My senior sister’s decision, which should have moved me, instead brought a pang of bitterness to my heart because of that reason.

Huh? Wait a minute! Why did I feel a pang of bitterness?

Was I jealous?

Jealous of Yukino?

But last night, my senior sister’s distraction, her anger, truly didn’t seem to be solely for Yukino. Could it be that my senior sister had opened her heart a little to someone else? Should I have realized yesterday that asking her to stay was the best option?

Does Sister care about me, her little sister…?

Could this, could this be true? Or is it my… illusion?

A sudden wave of dizziness overcame me, so I seized the opportunity to playfully lean into my senior sister. With agile grace, she caught me, drawing me into her embrace.

And my face, traitorously, buried itself in my senior sister’s chest.

The scent of happiness, and also the scent of being lost—it was the scent of the person I loved.

Happiness came from a primal physical sensation, while the feeling of being lost stemmed from a sudden realization: even as I delighted like a little woman that my senior sister harbored feelings for me, to what extent had my boy’s soul truly fallen? I, whose soul was inherently male, was now experiencing jealousy over another girl.

“Senior Sister, can I, can I ever go back…?”

I leaned against my senior sister’s warm, soft chest, sucking my thumb and murmuring.

“Huh? What are you saying? Suddenly falling into my arms, what do you intend?”

Though my senior sister’s voice feigned anger, it was not without tenderness. These past few days, I had completely forgotten to search for a way to turn back into a boy. Even if, one day, such a method truly existed, if my senior sister was destined to like girls, could I truly, resolutely, change back?

As a girl, feeling jealous in my senior sister’s arms over another girl—this feeling, though sorrowful, somehow brought forth the bitter joy that only a girl experiencing the stirrings of love could know.

I should have resisted this feeling, strongly resisted it. Otherwise, what… what would become of me, other than sulking and clinging to my senior sister in her arms?

****

In the deep, dark Dungeon, the ancient, ethereal sound of stalactites tapping echoed, like an ancient bell.

I walked through the dim Dungeon tunnels, gradually hearing the thunderous cheers and blessings that resonated from all directions.

“Princess!”

“Long live!”

“Princess!”

“Long live!”

“Screech—!” The two massive, pitch-black stone gates slowly creaked open.

The deafening roar of cheers and howls surged forth, washing over me. Beyond, stretching endlessly into view, was a vast underground arena, ablaze with demonic flames like a sea of stars!

I, clad in that alluring, sheer black lace gown, walked out of the great gates, my expression serene and ethereal.

I spread my slender, pale arms, facing the myriad demons, and declared in a childish yet haughty voice, “Roar! Children of the Demon Race—today, is your feast!!!”