Christina took her first step as an adventurer.

She wanted to continue training in swordsmanship and martial arts so she could function as an adventurer, but on the condition that she must also undergo lady education every single day.

While Christina was doing her best day by day, reluctantly enduring lady education alongside her efforts, terrifying news arrived.

Swordsmanship and martial arts training are held three times a week.

Perhaps because the original setting is a Japanese-made otome game, the days of the week are simply Monday through Sunday, with Saturdays and Sundays treated as days off.

The daily life of noble sons and daughters consists of free time in the morning, with training and education taking place in the afternoon.

Swordsmanship and martial arts training are held on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, while lady education is held every day.

When one turns seven, dance lessons and foreign language studies are added.

Writing, arithmetic, sociology, imperial studies and history are also taught on alternating days, so the only times I can sneak out of the house to help at the restaurant are in the mornings or on weekends.

Today is Saturday, so I quietly slipped out of the house early in the morning and headed to the Little Bear Pavilion restaurant.

“Good morning. I’ve come to help.”

“Oh, little guy. You’re early. Then today, could you help by cleaning inside the shop first?”

“I understand.”

Gripping a broom handle longer than my own height with both hands, I swept from the corners of the room in order.

I opened the door and swept the gathered trash outside.

There’s no such thing as a dustpan, so this is the normal method.

Thanks to that, the parts of town where commoners live are filthy everywhere, with a distinctive foul smell hanging in the air.

The noble district is well maintained and cleaned, with proper water and sewage systems, so it feels clean and has no bad odors.

If they’re going to do it, they might as well install it throughout the entire capital… but I suppose that’s impossible budget-wise.

Unlike modern Japan, there’s no country in this world where national budgets are distributed to every possible facility, with electricity, gas, water and sewage and transportation infrastructure fully developed nationwide.

Even on Earth, not every country has that.

A major factor is probably the extreme shortage of people with knowledge and technical skills.

I don’t have general contractor knowledge either.

“Once you’re done cleaning, go back and peel the vegetables again.”

“I understand.”

Given my next task, I took a knife as before and went behind the shop to peel the vegetables packed into boxes.

* * *

After doing the same thing for hours, I gradually picked up a few tricks and became just a little faster.

The finished result also felt slightly better.

As lunchtime approached, the woman told me, “That’s enough for today,” so I got her signature on the request form like yesterday and sprinted home.

If I were late for lunch again today, my mother’s scolding would increase.

I rushed back to my room, changed clothes and headed quickly to the dining room.

Alright, today was just barely safe!

“Now then, everyone, take your seats.”

At my father’s prompting, everyone sat down.

“There is something I need to inform you all of today.”

I thought we would immediately give thanks and start eating, but my father suddenly said that instead.

“Something to inform us of?”

When my brother asked, my father nodded.

“Yes. Actually, His Majesty has proposed an engagement between Crown Prince Alex and Christina.”

Huh?

…Huh???

HAAAAAAAH?!?!?!

Wait, wait, wait, wait!

Hold it right there, Father!!

Just look at your daughter’s appearance!!

She doesn’t even look like a noble lady, let alone a girl!!

And remember what you yourself said during our serious discussion just the other day!!

I declared that I would live as a man from now on and after more than ten hours of discussion, you finally gave in and said “Very well,” didn’t you?!

So how did it come to this?!

“F-Father… I cannot… become engaged to His Highness.”

“Haa… I told His Majesty repeatedly that it was impossible, but he insisted and I couldn’t refuse outright. I explained your current situation as well, but he pushed back, saying, ‘If she receives proper lady education and begins attending the royal castle from age seven for queen consort education, it will be fine’…”

Unbelievable… I never imagined the game’s forced mechanics would assert themselves so strongly here.

“I will not get engaged! I will not receive queen education!”

“I understand how you feel, but when it is a royal command, we cannot oppose it.”

“Why go so far as to make Chris the fiancée?”

My mother’s question was perfectly reasonable.

Especially since they had explained my current condition.

“There are three factions in the kingdom right now, are there not? The King’s faction, the Prince Regent’s faction and the noble faction. The Rosenschwert house belongs to none of them and maintains neutrality, while possessing the greatest wealth, influence and voice within the kingdom. To ensure that Crown Prince Alex becomes the next king, His Majesty wants a powerful supporter behind him. That is why our house was chosen. Crown Prince Alex and Christina are the same age, after all.”

No, no, no, no, absolutely not!!

“Wouldn’t the Ebbinghaus ducal house work instead? I believe they also have a young lady close in age to His Highness.”

The Ebbinghaus ducal house… I think I’ve heard of that.

“The Ebbinghaus ducal house is the head of the noble faction that supports the Second Prince as crown prince, because the Second Queen’s family holds a higher rank than the Queen Consort’s family. That would be difficult.”

“Then what about the Harnish Ducal house? They also have a young lady close in age…”

My mother desperately tried to avoid my engagement to Crown Prince Alex.

Naturally so. With me in this state, she probably wouldn’t want to present me to the royal family or high society at all.

“The Harnish ducal house’s young lady is already engaged to the Second Prince.”

Seriously? That’s already decided?!

Ah… come to think of it, she did appear in the game.

Unlike me, she was positioned as a rival character.

The Harnish house’s young lady—her name was Flora, I think.

She wasn’t a villainess like me, but a rival character who appears in the Second Prince Leonard’s route.

She was purely a romantic rival and if intimacy was low, Leonard would marry his fiancée Flora in one ending.

I think that was the friendly acquaintance ending.

In the friendship ending, they don’t marry, but the story ends with the protagonist cheering on their close relationship.

In the more-than-friends-less-than-lovers ending, their relationship remains ambiguous, ending with a “Wait, don’t they actually like each other?” kind of fluttery, frustrating conclusion and again, no marriage to Flora is depicted.

“I am not suited to be a queen or a prince’s consort. I want to live as a man. It is absolutely impossible.”

“…Very well. Then I will request an audience with His Majesty. He shall see your current state with his own eyes.”

“I understand! I’ll do my best to show how manly I am and properly refuse!”

I clenched my fist and snorted with determination.

My mother pressed a hand to her forehead and drooped, my brother wore a wry smile and my father let out another deep sigh before saying, “Now then, let us eat.”

* * *

The audience with His Majesty was scheduled for two and a half months later, due to both his and my father’s busy schedules.

Until then, I decided to do additional self-training beyond swordsmanship and martial arts to increase my masculinity even a little.

Fortunately, I belonged to an athletic club in my student days, so I understood the basics of physical training.

I ran ten kilometers and did one hundred push-ups, sit-ups and squats, twice a day—morning and night.

I also drank milk every day (cow’s milk is rare, so goat’s milk; it has a strong, distinctive smell, but I endured it) and asked the chef to make all my meat dishes chicken breast only.

I specifically instructed him to remove all skin and fat and use only the lean breast meat.

As a result, dry, stringy meat appeared on the table, but I endured it!!

I had to build up my body in a short time, no matter what!!

Thanks to those efforts, by the time the audience arrived, small but distinct muscles had formed on my arms, my abs, hips and thighs were toned and my boyish noble clothes suited me even better.

“Haa… no matter how you look at it, Chris is a boy now…”

My father muttered that with a sigh as he held my hand while walking through the royal castle.

Heh heh heh. Wonderful, isn’t it, Father!!

Long bangs, plain-colored clothes—an unmistakably gloomy boy!!

There’s no way I look like a girl!!

When we reached the large double doors, the guards standing on either side slowly opened them.

“Duke Rosenschwert, arriving!”

We were in the audience chamber.

However, only His Majesty the King, Her Majesty the Queen and a middle-aged man who looked like the chancellor were present.

My father led me forward, knelt on one knee and bowed his head.

I followed suit and did the same.

Normally, a noble lady would remain standing and perform a graceful curtsey, but I was a boy now.

The proper courtesy toward the king was the same as my father’s.

“I see. So this is Lady Christina.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. This here is my daughter, Christina. As you can see, she insists on living as a man and dresses this way daily. Not only that, she wishes to learn chivalry, swordsmanship and martial arts—things noble ladies would never normally study—and her behavior is that of a noble son rather than a daughter. I do strictly insist that she receive lady education, but… this is the result…”

“Lady Christina, why do you wish to become a man?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I will one day leave my ducal house. When that happens, I wished to become an adventurer who travels the world. However, to become an adventurer, one must have the means to protect oneself. It is also true that being in a female form increases danger in many ways. Therefore, I decided to learn as a man, live as a man and become an adventurer as a man.”

“An… adventurer? Why would you deliberately choose such a harsh path? You are a ducal lady. If you married my son Alex, you could live a life without want. Do you dislike lady education or queen consort education?”

“I do not fear hardship. More than anything, I wish to be free.”

“Free…”

“To live without being bound by anything, to be myself, to go where I wish when I wish and to do what I wish. That is the kind of free life I want to live.”

“Freedom of action comes with corresponding responsibility. At your young age, you likely do not yet understand what that truly means.”

“No, Your Majesty. To act freely means that all responsibility rests with oneself. Good outcomes and bad outcomes alike are all the result of my own decisions and actions. They are no one else’s responsibility. Knowing that fully, I still wish to be free.”

His Majesty widened his eyes in surprise at my words.

“Rosenschwert, your daughter seems to have far firmer convictions than I expected.”

“…Yes.”

My father couldn’t exactly say, “Indeed,” here.

“Do you truly hate the idea of engagement to Alex that much?”

“I humbly apologize. I have no intention of opposing the royal family, but I am unsuited to be a queen or prince’s consort. If refusing this engagement constitutes disrespect, then please punish me alone, even with exile. My father, my mother and the Rosenschwert house bear no guilt. This is solely my selfish desire for freedom. If punishment is to be given, please give it only to me.”

Saying that, I bowed deeply once more.

If this went well, I would have a reason to leave the country sooner rather than later.

It’s fine. I can live on my own.

“…Very well. I understand. Then we shall place the engagement with Alex on hold for now.”

Eeeeeeh?!

On hold?!

That’s where you let it go completely!!!

“I find myself all the more determined to make you Alex’s fiancée at all costs!!”

Whyyyyy?! How did it come to that?!

“For one so young to possess such a firm will and articulate her thoughts so clearly is rare indeed. You are far more admirable than you realize. Rosenschwert, you should be proud of your child.”

“Thank you for your gracious words.”

Nooooo!! I should have refused with more childish wording and stupid reasons!!

Ahhh—my idiot self!!

This was a huge failure!!

And so, regrettably, my engagement was not annulled entirely, but instead placed on hold, with me labeled as a “fiancée candidate.”

While it remains on hold, I sincerely—desperately—pray that a more suitable young lady or a foreign princess will be found!!

At this rate, the game’s forced mechanics will push me into becoming Crown Prince Alex’s fiancée just like in the game!

* * *

Christina desperately wants to avoid this, but her opponent is royalty.

She can’t act rashly and refusing the wrong way could stain her father’s honor and the family name.

Now what will you do, Chris?! (laugh)