Vera von Bluefield.
Without a doubt, he's the craziest bastard in the entire empire.
Self-centered and wicked to his core.
He'll kill someone just because their looks rub him the wrong way.
Or simply because he's in a bad mood.
Everything's just an excuse—it's not an overstatement to say murder is his hobby.
The story of him visiting the Alchemists' Guild, wrinkling his nose at an unpleasant smell, and promptly chopping off the alchemist's head is still making the rounds even now.
And yet, no one could stop him from committing such atrocities.
Because he's the emperor's one and only daughter.
As long as Emperor Absol von Bluefield dotes on his child so fiercely, Vera's villainy will continue unchecked.
And I... I've been assigned as that mad bastard's home tutor.
"Why...! Why...!"
The moment I received the despairing notice, I stormed off to confront the Magic Tower Master.
I charged straight to the top floor the instant I arrived at the Magic Tower.
"Why me?!"
The moment I burst into the Magic Tower Master's room, dazzling sunlight greeted me.
There he was, the Magic Tower Master, reading his newspaper in front of a floor-to-ceiling window.
"What?"
His voice drifted from behind the newspaper floating lazily in the air.
What?
What do you mean, what?
This was the day.
The day I'd finally make good on my daily morning vow to snap that damned lumberneck of his someday.
"Got something to say to me?"
The newspaper folded away, revealing the rugged-faced man behind it.
I'd been rolling up my sleeves as I advanced, but I froze in place and casually adjusted them back down.
Yeah, no way.
As a mage who lived by the creed of the strong preying on the weak, I gave up in an instant.
It was impossible to break that thick neck with my slender wrists.
If anything, my wrists would snap first.
How the hell do you even snap something like that?
The Magic Tower Master had a brutish build that made it hard to believe he was a mage.
He could pass for a lumberjack.
"If anyone's got something to say, it's you, Master!"
The Magic Tower Master stroked his bushy beard.
"Me? Nothing comes to mind."
I glared at his shameless face and pulled a letter from my robe pocket.
"This! Explain this!"
I unfolded the letter and waved it right in front of his face.
He glanced at it sidelong, then coolly turned his gaze out the window.
"The empire looks so peaceful today. Must be thanks to His Majesty's boundless grace, eh? Kahaha."
"Don't change the subject!"
"You brat! How dare you speak so casually to the lofty Magic Tower Master...!"
His booming command shook the windows, making me flinch for a moment—but since this was a matter of life and death for me, I thrust the letter even closer.
We locked eyes in a staring contest for a beat.
The Magic Tower Master closed his eyes and sighed.
"Fine... You've got something to say, huh."
His finger pointed right at me.
"What kind of man has hair like that? Pink, of all things?"
He jabbed at my hair.
My hair, which had been pink since birth.
"It's what my parents gave me. Whatever— that's not the point. Explain what this is all about!"
I slammed the letter from the Imperial Palace down on his desk.
"...Tch."
He hemmed and hawed for a long while before finally speaking.
"What else? It's exactly what it says. Starting tomorrow, you report to the Imperial Palace. Teach the princess magic for a year."
"That's what I'm asking—why me?"
"Because the princess picked you herself."
"Pardon?"
"Even I can't refuse when the palace says jump."
The Magic Tower received funding from the Imperial Palace.
Thanks to that, we could afford our astronomical research costs.
So yeah, if the palace said jump, the Magic Tower had to jump.
"But... how am I supposed to teach the princess?"
That psycho.
I might lose my head for some ridiculous reason while trying.
You're explaining it wrong—slice.
This is so boring—slice.
All I could see was slice after slice in my future.
"Please, Master, do something about this. I'll really die. The Imperial Mage couldn't even teach him—how am I supposed to?"
"She was just a kid back then."
"Right, so now that he's an adult, the Imperial Mage can take over again."
"I told you, the princess specifically chose you. And what's wrong with you? You're my successor, the mage even the empire's top Imperial Mage wanted as a disciple."
It really was an honor.
Not even thirty, and already next in line for Magic Tower Master.
Still...
"This is too much...!"
I rubbed my dry face and wailed.
"Why, why me of all people?"
"Beats me. If you're so curious, go ask the princess yourself."
This was so unfair.
I was dying of injustice here.
How did I end up with punishment like this...?
I'd lived a good life.
Born in the countryside, I got into the academy through self-study.
Top of my class for four straight years, full tuition waiver.
Right after graduation, hired at the Magic Tower, climbed all the way to successor.
That's my whole life story.
I could hold my head high telling anyone.
It might sound weird coming from me, but I really was a good person—utterly shameless.
And now this divine punishment on me?
The world really is unfair.
Giving me talent as a mage, then slapping me with this cruel fate.
"Uwaaaah!"
I clutched my head and screamed.
"Esther."
"Uwaack! Uwaaaah!"
"Esther Withbel."
I looked up at the Magic Tower Master.
"Don't worry too much."
"You'll go in my place, Master?"
"Nah."
He waved both hands in disgust.
"Then what?"
"The only advice I can give you as an adult is this."
The Magic Tower Master put on a solemn face.
I straightened up at his seriousness.
"Just survive the year."
"Uwaaaah!"
I curled up on the floor and wailed again.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Ha... Life..."
I'd arrived at the Imperial Palace.
I'd spent the whole night agonizing over whether to flee into exile.
By the time I finished agonizing, morning had come—and an escort from the palace had kindly come all the way to my house to pick me up.
Is this what it feels like to be a pig dragged to the slaughterhouse?
I wanted to run, but I couldn't.
Even if I did run, it'd just be death by another name.
Die if I go, die if I don't.
So what should I do?
Pick the option with even a slightly higher chance of survival, obviously.
Fawning over the princess with bootlicking flattery might give me a tiny edge.
Still hated it, though.
Scary as hell.
Home tutor to a princess whose hobby was murder—who knew? If I'd known, I never would've bothered learning magic.
"You'll have to go the rest of the way alone from here."
"Pardon?"
The knight escorting me stopped in front of a hallway.
"Everything from this corridor is the princess's private quarters. Only those with his express permission can enter. Lady Withbel, you've been granted access, so no need to worry—just head in on your own from here."
The knight flashed a bright smile.
I wasn't in the mood to smile at all.
Made me jealous that he could.
"Um... Any special precautions I should take?"
This knight was one of the princess's escort knights, with years of service under his belt.
He must've spent ages by the princess's side.
The very fact he'd survived proved he was tough.
I asked for the secret to his strength.
"Hmm..."
The knight rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then smiled brightly again.
"The princess dislikes talkative people."
"But teaching magic means I have to talk a lot..."
"Unless he gives you permission, avoid eye contact."
"What happens if I do?"
"He might gouge your eyes out."
"Pardon...?"
"Haha, it only happened once. Most people just avert their gaze under the pressure of his presence anyway."
Not helpful at all.
If anything, even scarier now.
"Well then, I have other duties to attend to."
The knight gave my back a light shove down the corridor.
"Eek...!"
No barrier spells or anything, but crossing that single line sent chills down my spine.
I trudged forward with heavy steps.
Is it really okay to send an outsider in alone like this?!
Outsiders are the dangerous ones!
Normally you'd think the opposite.
The princess should be the one in danger.
But it was infamous that the princess's swordsmanship rivaled even the Knight Commander's.
With skills like that, he didn't need escort knights. Instead, he used them like secretaries for odd jobs.
Didn't make sense.
With sword skills like that, why bother learning magic too?
Greedy much?
"I-is this it...?"
There was a door at the end of the corridor.
A massive door.
Anyone could tell it was the princess's room.
Knock knock!
I knocked.
Not too soft, not too hard—just right.
"Come in."
A calm woman's voice—no, a man's voice? Wait, Vera is male—responded immediately, as if he'd been waiting.
Gulp.
I swallowed a lump of tension and slowly opened the door.
"Welcome."
A figure silhouetted against the sunlight.
His black hair looked even darker.
Backlit, his golden eyes seemed to glow.
Like a bird of prey eyeing its quarry.
That quarry—me—shuddered the instant our eyes met.
For the first time, I understood what it meant to subdue someone with a mere glance.
"You're one minute late. I've been waiting."
The princess caressed the hilt of his black sword with a blank expression.
"S-sorry!"
I flattened myself to the floor at once.
"Sorry for what?"
"F-for daring to keep... Your Highness waiting..."
"Oh, that."
Footsteps approached.
I huddled smaller.
My body trembled uncontrollably.
I knew the princess's reputation all too well—that's why terror gripped me.
Any second now, he might plunge a sword into my back like some legendary assassin.
"I did have to wait quite a while."
"Eek..."
"But I'll forgive you. Sometimes, waiting for someone can be its own pleasure. And right now, I'm quite delighted."
Phew.
He seemed in a good mood.
"Still, don't be late again. Even one minute... heh."
My body went rigid at that ominous laugh.
"Y-yes, sir!"
I trembled furiously at the princess's seemingly pleased chuckle.