“What kind of knowledge do Maiko and I share?”
Hina suddenly felt uneasy.
The only areas where she could confidently say she surpassed Maiko were makeup and fashion.
When the princes handed them a document detailing the problem they needed to solve, Hina froze.
She couldn’t understand a single thing written in it.
“There’s no way I can solve this,” she thought.
Glancing over at Maiko, she saw her calmly reading the document and nodding in understanding.
“Maiko can solve it,” Hina realized with a sinking heart.
“Only Maiko can.”
“I can’t let the princes figure that out,” Hina resolved.
A cold chill ran down her spine.
If Maiko managed to capture the attention of these wonderful princes, Hina didn’t know what she would do.
As Hina anxiously looked over the documents again, Arthur, with a regal smile befitting a prince, spoke words that nearly stopped her heart.
“When you two demonstrate your results, it has already been decided that one of you will be welcomed as the wife of either myself or my brother. We had planned for you to choose between us, but since two of you were summoned, it seems we’ll be able to marry without any disputes.”
Marriage to a prince.
As a child, my dream was to become a princess.
“This dream might actually come true,” Hina thought, her chest trembling with excitement.
She wanted to seize this once-in-a-lifetime chance. But if it became apparent that only Maiko could solve the problems, Hina feared she would lose that opportunity entirely.
With determination, Hina pleaded with the princes.
“Prince Louis, Prince Arthur, could you allow Maiko and me to work on the problem in private? If we can focus, we’ll solve it more quickly.”
The two princes agreed readily, and Hina breathed a sigh of relief.
“Good. I’ll leave the problem to Maiko, and during that time, I’ll focus on making the princes like me,” she told herself, vowing to grab this chance no matter what.
* * *
A week later, Maiko had completed all the documents.
We were summoned to the room where we first arrived in this world, and the princes thanked us for our help and asked about our future wishes.
Of course, I chose Arthur.
Both Prince Louis and Prince Arthur were incredibly handsome, but I wanted to choose someone who would put me above Maiko. Even as a princess, I wanted to be queen.
So when Prince Louis casually mentioned over tea, “Arthur is the elder brother,” my mind was made up.
“I… I choose Prince Arthur! Prince Arthur, I’ve admired you from the moment I saw you. Please accept me as your future queen!”
At last, my dream was coming true.
I felt tears of joy welling up.
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