The Crown Prince Thinks I'm a Guy

Mare Desiderii

"Please," Tora said. "Tell us your thoughts."

I gulped down once, and muttered two simple words, "Mare... Desiderii."

I watched how the whitish man's eyes grew round in blatant surprise, and like I had spoken of words so terrible and taboo, the rest of the room froze as well. Even the music ceased, the invisible instruments dying down to a soft hiss. Apparently, despite the magical ruckus and lively conversation they have been doing, they have all actually been paying close attention to our conversation.

I gulped down nervously, and thankfully the silence didn't last long. When some of the masked students started walking towards our corner of the hall, Tora ordered them to stop. He then turned to me, and said rather than asked, "You know us."

"... I only heard rumors," I explained.

He raised a dainty snow-colored eyebrow, and then turned slightly at his back, asking the rest of the room, "Has anyone of you been having trouble with your lips? I believe they have become too loose. If so, I might just be capable of screwing them tightly, none too gently, of course."

Immediately, an outraged outburst came from the diversely-costumed students.

"We didn't!"

"I'd rather die than face your wrath, Tora-kins~"

"Lips are sealed!" a small one squeaked incessantly. "Lips are good and sealed!"

Then, before the hall could become even more chaotic, with the room filled with the flailing of glittering colors and the screaming complaints of every possible pitch, the butler--- the professor --- thankfully stopped it from getting worse.

"Tora," he muttered lowly, although it held such power that the hall came back into order.

After turning towards the professor's direction, Tora asked, "Yes, Professor Kartik?"

"I don't believe any such rumors have been going rampant in recent years," he told the awaiting Tora. "If even the slightest gossips about the Mare have been going around the castle walls, I would have been the first to know."

Tora seemed doubtful only for half a second. Then, he sighed. Turning his clear eyes back to me, he asked, "Then, can you explain how you've come to know of us, little sir?"

I pursed my lips, believing that I had already told him. Nevertheless, I still repeated it. "I only heard of that name from a friend."

"A friend?" Tora asked.

But before I could explain more, he had suddenly stood up from his seat and turned towards the rest of the group. In a succinct voice that could have almost been angelic if it weren't for the vile undertones, he ordered the students to reveal their faces.

When the whole population was lined up orderly in a single row, he then told me to look at them.

Standing up as well, I walked over to where Tora stood and observed the faces right in front of me. Now that they were lined up like this, I realized we were far fewer than I had previously thought. Each of them carried such prominent presences that I had thought the hall to be crowded when in fact, it was more than big enough to accommodate all of us and some.

There were probably less than twenty of us, and that's including the professor, Tora, and myself. They all looked diversely different, and they even showed off varied auras. When I sensed for the notes in the surroundings, I realized that most of it gathered around the people inside the hall rather than them being spread around evenly in the air as they usually were. I realized that these people might just hold as much control over notes as I do. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they could control it better than I could.