Seijo ni Narunode Nidoume no Jinsei wa Katte ni Sasetemoraimasu ~Outaihi wa, Zensei de Watashi wo Fu

     Liz took out her silver key with a yellow string tied to it from the drawer in her desk. She also took out the ring—the one Eugene had engraved “to Cecil”— and placed both together in a long leather strap and hung it around her neck. Both are very important to Liz.

     Keefa, who is sitting on the sofa playing with the Holy dragon, noticed the ring and smiled.

     A feeling of embarrassment arose, Liz sat in front of the Holy dragon to conceal it. She placed a plate she got from the dining area on the table, and brought out bread.

     “Hey, wheres my ‘door’?”

     “Kyu?” The holy dragon, next to an apple, tilted its head to the side.

     “Please, tell me. Will you lead me to the door?”

     “Kyu?” It had bread and apples in its cheeks, tilting its head to the side. Then, it placed its last bribe of meat dumpling to its side and again, tilted its head.

     “You don’t know, do you?” Keefa asked.

     “No way,” she replied to Keefa’s question, but she felt uneasy when she saw the face of the Holy dragon, “but the chief priest said that what’s born from the fruit would show the way to the door…Lloyd, that’s you, isn’t it?!”

     Lloyd, who had been peeping through the doorway, came in, “Oh, I found it!”

     “Please stop peeping.” she said.

     “You were  alone with Prince Keefa, so I thought I’d be a bother and get in the way between you. However, there are exceptions to everything.”

     ‘Lies…’

     “Then, how do I find it?”

     “Come on.”

     “Kyu?”  Both Lloyd and the Holy Dragon tilted their heads with the same angle. Liz felt frustrated with them.

     Lloyd came up to her and whispered, “Why is His highness here? He’s not his calm usual self, or was it your doing?”

     “There are various of things.”

     “How did the prince settle down in this room?”

     “So many things had happened.”

     Mostly it was 500 years ago though. She ignored the unconvinced and unsatisfied expression of Lloyd and shook her head.

     “Then I will go.”

     “Where to?”

     “I’ll find it on my own two feet.” 

     Liz walked around the temple with the Holy dragon on her shoulder. She had the key and the dragon with her hoping that she’d feel something when she gets closer to the door. Unfortunately, she doesn’t feel anything in particular.

     ‘What should I do?’

     She doesn’t know why Keefa has such a happy expression on his face but it’s a relief that he was there.

     Of course, Lloyd isn’t with them, “I’ll try to look for it myself. Don’t be rude to His highness.” He waved his hand with a smile. But the truth is he didn’t want to walk around because he’s tired. And Liz was sure that’s what he meant.

     When she became quite tired, she found the court magician’s daughter, Manon, and one of the candidates—Anna, near the pond of the courtyard. Anna is the oldest of the remaining candidates — even in her late twenties —  she’s a little plump and gentle woman.

     “Ah Liz, holy dragon too. And — Your Highness Keefa!?” Anna suddenly became stiff.

     Liz noticed Anna’s disposition and hurriedly asked, “Is it born from the fruit?”

     Anna had a bucket of water, where  a small light blue fish was swimming.

     “Yes, it was born this morning. Since it’s a fish, I thought that my door was in a place related to water, so I came to the pond and it seems to be right.”

     The fish turned its head towards the direction of the pond, it banged its head against the edge of the bucket. It seemed that it’s about to jump out.

     ‘They show you the door after all. What about the holy dragon?’ 

     In front of Liz, she frowned, her expression became cloudy, “But I don’t know what to do from here. I tried pointing the key to the pond, but nothing changed. If I release the fish in the pond, it’d immediately come back. I met Manon by chance and talked to her…”

     “I suggested for her to go into the pond and personally look for it. Anna’s hesitating because she can’t swim, though the pond isn’t deep.” Manon laughed, glancing at Liz.

     “Just in time, Liz. Why don’t you go into the pond? You might be able to find Anna’s door.”

     “Alright.”

     “Huh!?” Both Manon and Anna’s eyes widened in surprise.

     Liz hesitated first, then jumped into the pond. The water in the vast pond is cold and not deep, the water is just until her chest. She took a deep breath and plunged her face on the surface of the water where the algae were floating. She looked around slowly.

     “Oh Liz! I’m so sorry, this is all my fault!” Anna cried out.

     “What are you doing?!” Manon exclaimed.

     Liz lifted her head out of the water, “Didn’t you say that I should go into the pond?― I don’t see any doors or anything like that.”

     “I said so, but I literally did not mean it!!” 

     Yes, Liz knew.

     “But I’ve found a clue. Also, I want to see what Anna’s door is like.”

     It’s true.

     Manon stared at Liz with her jet-black eyes, trying to look into her.

     At the same time, Liz heard a splash of water behind her. She turned around and realized that it was Keefa. He was in the pond, the water was up to his waist, and rolled up his sleeves.

     “What should I look for? Let’s do it together.”

     It seems that it was only Liz who calmly thought that the Crown Prince in the pond was strange.

     “Oh, no! Prince Keefa!? What—What do I do—!”

     “Somebody! His Highness is in the pond! He’ll catch a cold, quick -!”

     Anna and Manon screamed, panicking as if they were going to faint. The servants who rushed there also reacted the same, and the usually quiet courtyard became quite noisy.

     “I’ll boil the bath at once!” One of the servants left in a hurry.

      In the warm room, Liz and Keefa were sitting, wrapped in a big towel. Her eyes met with Keefa’s. His dark brown eyes were laughing.

     “There’s  algae.”

     He reached his hand out to her hair and slowly removed the green algae. As much as possible, he was careful not to touch her hair, only getting the algae. However, she still felt the small touch and the temperature of his fingers near her face. For a moment, her heart jumped.

     She knew that he’s different from Eugene from their previous life but she can’t help but feel restless. It was the same with Keefa. He had a puzzled expression plastered on his face, hastily retracting back his hand.

     “The bath is now ready. Come on!”

     Both of them were called by a maid. Liz stood up in relief, having the feeling that she had been saved.