The Crown Prince Thinks I'm a Guy

The Day After the Test

There's a certain pattern. Just before I wake, I hear strangers gossip around me. It must be because they're free to visit the sick in the infirmary, which I assume was where I was, but I suppose I can allow their eyes to trail after my half-unconscious body, as though I was some kind of spectacle, if only I could glean out some information about the world while I was asleep.

"What kind of test happened this cycle, to have them go back in this state?"

"I heard a few more Sinus Fidei were injured too."

"They surprised me, teleporting back with them all covered up in blood."

"But they... passed?"

"Just... can't be... will probably-"

"... failed..."

When I could no longer hear them anymore, I deemed to open up my eyes. Just as I had thought, I was in the infirmary. It was a longish room with curtained single beds lined up in two rows. Then, I fully revealed the rest of the room after bunching up my bed's partially opened curtain. On the bed beside mine, I can see a familiar head of curly brown hair.

She was looking at me with a snoozy grin. "I thought they'd never leave."

"You doing okay, Kendra?" I asked, inching myself towards the corner of the bed, planting both my feet on the ground.

"Mhmm..." Kendra mumbled. "But I don't think you should be getting up yet. Look. Your bandages are getting bloody again."

Looking down at my abdomen, I saw a thick layer of bandages beneath my thin shirt, already staining with splotches of red. I sighed, and allowed myself to collapse back into my sheets. Turning my head to look at my friend, I asked, "Joren? Albert?"

"They were here for a while, but they weren't as hurt as we were, so they were shooed off by the Academy nurse," Kendra said. "Charles made a huge fuss, even hinting out that he was the crown prince. Oh, but you should have seen the nurse! She was absolutely fearless, pushing the prince out like he was naught but a simple child."

That made me laugh, but after seeing my wounds, I was now well aware of the pain. Just shaking from laughter made me wince.

In the silence that came afterward, I had to ask. "And the test?"

"... Telken passed, if that's what you mean." Kendra sighed quietly. "If it would make you happy, I would have you know that Crown Prince Charles at least passed the test as well."

'So they held up their end of the deal,' I thought, weariness taking over me.

Then, I frowned. "What about the traitor?"

"... He passed too."

I groaned. Imagining Jordan's haughty face and quietly going through ways to make him feel pain, I forced myself to calm down. Besides, nothing much could be done about it.

Sighing, I asked, "After I blacked out, what happened?"

When I was greeted with silence, I turned my head to look at her again. Kendra looked like she was deep in thought too. Then, she murmured, "I don't know. After you were... stabbed by Telken, there was a sudden darkness, and the moment it cleared up, we were all already teleported back into the hall... I suppose after the ceremony finally ended, the treasure was already Telken's."

I frowned deeper. "I thought Joren had the treasure?"

Kendra pursed her lips. "I don't know... He told me that too, but it mustn't have been the real treasure, or why else would we have failed?"