A Fake Marriage? Sure! …Wait, Is It Actually Fake? Something’s Not Right Here! - Chapter 42

Shury crouched silently in the darkened dormitory hallway, holding his breath.

Click.

A sound so faint it could be mistaken for the wind.

(He’s here… Wait, what are my older brothers doing?)

Frowning slightly, he shifted his gaze to the window at the end of the hallway.

The moon cast shadows.

The window opened silently, and he saw a man slip inside. Dressed entirely in black, the man landed in the hallway without a sound and cautiously surveyed his surroundings.

Then he reached behind his back with his right hand. He hadn’t drawn it yet, but there was likely a weapon there. He advanced slowly down the hallway.

Only Shury and Crown Prince Anabel Mary used this floor of the dormitory.

The intruder’s target was probably the Crown Prince’s life.

Shury hitched up his nightgown and drew a knife from the holster at his ankle.

He stood up.

In the darkness of the hallway, the white of his nightgown stood out starkly. Because of this, the man froze in his tracks.

“What the hell are you doing here, you bastard?”

Shury’s voice was quiet. Of course, this was to avoid waking the sleeping master.

“That voice. You… are you a man?”

At the intruder’s confused voice, Shury felt like a blood vessel in his head might burst.

“Shut up! I’m not wearing this because I want to!”

He snarled, still in a low voice, and lunged forward with his knife.

The intruder, as if startled, drew a knife from behind his back and thrust the blade forward.

“I see. ‘The Fairy King’s Princes,’ then.”

The intruder’s muttered words made Shury’s temper fray again.

“Shut up! To hell with the Fairy King!”

He ducked under the horizontally slashing knife, placed his left hand on the floor, and swept with his leg.

The intruder leaned back but didn’t fall. Shury placed both hands on the floor, did a handstand, and spun his legs. His nightgown rode up, but he slammed his heel into the intruder’s jaw.

He felt the impact. A groan reached his ears.

Shury quickly backflipped to create distance. After a beat, he closed the gap and put all his strength into a kick to the man’s right flank.

The intruder crumpled to the floor, dropping his knife and curling up while clutching his stomach. Just as Shury was about to seize the intruder’s knife to restrain him, two men entered through the window.

He braced himself, thinking they were new enemies, but…

“Sorry. There were intruders on our side too.”

“Running late, huh?”

Realizing it was his eldest brother Liam and second brother Noah, Shury placed his hands on his hips and scowled.

“Get it together, will you? If they get this far in, it’s over.”

“This is your post. Be aware of that.”

Liam glared sharply at Shury before looking at Noah.

“That’s right. My brother and I are busy with security around the academy♪ Now then, restraints, restraints.”

Noah began wrapping the intruder in rope attached to his belt.

“The order bestowed upon us by His Majesty the King and our father is to guard the Crown Prince. For that purpose, we brothers enrolled in this academy, and you are in the dormitory. Correct?”

Spoken like a lecture, Shury crossed his arms sullenly.

Eldest brother Liam was 18 this year. Second brother Noah was 17. And third son Shury was 14.

The three brothers had enrolled in this academy, which was said to have been attended by generations of royalty, as both guards and schoolmates to Crown Prince Anabel Mary.

Liam and Noah were in the boys’ dorm.

Shury was cross-dressing in the girls’ dorm.

“Seriously, why am I the only one who has to cross-dress?”

He still wasn’t convinced.

“Of course, it’s so you can protect the Crown Prince from the closest position, right? Even though you’re in adjacent rooms, you’re connected by an interior door, so be careful not to make any mistakes.”

Noah said this with a wink.

“If you think that, then you take my place, Noah!”

“Both my brother and I are already too tall, you could say. We’ve become men.”

Noah gave a wry smile.

That was true.

Even slender Noah would be identifiable as male by his height, and muscular Liam was out of the question.

Shury was the same age as Anabel, 14. There was still no visible gender difference in their appearance, and above all, only Shury bore a striking resemblance to their mother, Lidoria.

In other words.

Only he “looked like a girl.”

‘I know I’m asking a lot, but would you be willing to take this on?’

That was three years ago.

King George, who had ascended the throne, had made the request to Alex, their father and also deputy commander of the “King’s Hounds.”

He asked if Alex would transfer his sons to the academy to guard his newly appointed Crown Prince daughter, Anabel Mary.

George and Sophia had long been unable to have children, but their wish was finally granted with the birth of Anabel Mary.

When George ascended the throne, Anabel Mary became the Crown Prince, but there was certainly a faction that was unhappy about her being a girl.

Anabel Mary had been targeted since she was young.

Therefore, just as George had organized the “Crown Prince’s Hounds” to protect himself from his sister’s venom when he was a student, he decided to assign guards to his daughter as well.

And the ones he selected were Alex’s sons.

Alex immediately transferred the eldest and second sons from the military academy and, for Anabel Mary who lived in the girls’ dormitory, had his third son Shury cross-dress and move into the dorm.

For better or worse, Shury hadn’t yet entered the junior military academy.

Lidoria was tearing her hair out over him being “hopelessly stupid,” and they had just hired a tutor to focus on his education.

Therefore, no one outside knew what Shury looked like.

So, Alex threw him into the girls’ dormitory as “the youngest daughter of the Reading family.”

“This is all Father’s fault. It’s because he had to go and become the Fairy King.”

Shury pouted and grumbled. Just as Liam was denying it with “No, the Fairy King has nothing to do with this,”…

“Um…”

Click. The door opened unexpectedly, and Anabel Mary in her nightclothes timidly peeked in.

Liam, Noah, and Shury quickly lined up side by side to hide the suspicious person lying on the floor.

“What’s the matter? Is it something to do with me…?”

“Your Highness, our deepest apologies for disturbing you at this late hour.”

“We apologize for causing you concern.”

Liam and Noah bowed deeply. Next to them, Shury scratched his head.

“Just a meeting. You know, we have the school festival preparations starting tomorrow, right? About the security for that.”

When he said that, Anabel Mary smiled with relief.

“Oh, I see. I’m sorry, at this time of night.”

Liam and Noah responded that it was no trouble at all.

“Having you all, who are called the ‘Fairy Princes,’ protect me like this truly gives me strength. Thank you.”

This time, Anabel Mary bowed deeply, flustering the two older brothers.

“Please, don’t do that!”

“Come on, Shury! Escort Her Highness back to her bed!”

Urged by Noah, Shury sighed and approached her, who was also his childhood friend.

“Go to sleep. Come on.”

“Okay, thank you.”

“Can you sleep alone?”

“Yeah.”

Anabel Mary smiled shyly.

“What about you, Shury? Are you done?”

“Yeah, I’m going to bed too.”

While they were talking, the eldest and second brothers quickly picked up the intruder and disappeared from the hallway.

Confirming this, Shury breathed a sigh of relief, and Anabel Mary called his name.

“Hm?”

“Good night. See you tomorrow.”

She said this with a soft smile.

“Yeah, good night. See you tomorrow.”

Shury responded, and Anabel Mary gave a small nod before gently closing the door.

Whew.

Shury stretched widely.

Cross-dressing again tomorrow, huh.

Feeling fed up, he returned to his own room.