Chapter 41 – Are You Even a Guy?
“That girl with the gray curly hair, she's got real poise—no doubt a Divine Princess. Her figure’s well-maintained, and aside from the somewhat regrettable bust size, her presence is remarkable. I wonder which family she’s from… Hmm, because of that one shortcoming, I’m giving her 85 points!”
“Oh, oh! That brunette with the straight hair’s not bad either! Not too big, not too small in that area, but she’s tall, with beautifully shaped legs! With that height, she must be from a noble family up north. Not bad, not bad—I’ll give her 90!”
“Hey, Dylin, look—look! That’s the young lady from the Calebes family. She’s been famous in the kingdom for years. Tsk tsk, worthy of a Divine Princess from such a renowned family. Fair-skinned, beautiful—no wonder she made it onto the ‘Coleman Golden Flower Rankings.’ That presence and poise—no average Divine Princess could match her. Full marks!”
“............First of all, what is the ‘Coleman Golden Flower Rankings’?” I couldn’t quite stand the noisy hedgehog-head next to me who just wouldn’t stop. Still holding my book, I quietly raised my eyes.
“Huh? You don’t even know that? Come on, are you even a normal male student?” John gave me a disdainful look. But to be fair, he couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d changed over the past few days.
I’d become… quieter.
Curiosity was a trait all Divine Children shared, but I had never loved knowledge to the extent that I’d spend every spare second with my nose in a book.
Still, John didn’t find it strange.
Men often changed after going through painful transformations and difficult decisions. It was natural.
What happened with Astrid… must’ve hit him hard.
John sighed inwardly.
Even though I didn’t show anything on the surface, John knew—it must’ve weighed heavily on me.
After all, what man could be truly unaffected by something like that? Especially someone our age, who hadn't yet learned to let go.
John had clearly seen how I fell for Astrid at first sight. Honestly, with that Elf Princess's charm, what man wouldn’t be moved? If one wasn’t, he might as well be a eunuch.
John understood how I felt. He couldn’t do much for me, so the least he could try was being goofy—cheering up his heartbroken buddy. But who’d have thought this quiet guy wouldn’t even give him the time of day?
Playing the wise, silent master now, huh?
“The so-called ‘Golden Flower Rankings,’ as the name implies, is Coleman Academy’s school beauty ranking.” John wagged a finger at me. “Are you seriously a hot-blooded young man if you don’t even know that?”
“I do know it. But what’s the point?” I tilted my head.
“Of course it matters! Why else do we go through all the trouble to get into Coleman Academy?”
“To learn. To improve ourselves.”
“My god…” John stared at me like I’d grown a second head.
“...What?”
“Have you been possessed by something unholy?” John was dumbfounded. “How the hell did you manage to say that with such a dead-serious tone?”
“What’s wrong with that statement?”
“Nothing. Exactly. It’s just so proper that it doesn’t sound like something any student would actually say.”
I said nothing.
“I’m telling you—did you change your whole persona after getting dumped or something? From cigarette-smoking brooding youth to driven literary scholar?”
“Google your pretty girls.” I knew John would never say anything worthwhile, so I ignored him and looked back down at my book.
“Hey, seriously—didn’t we come to Coleman Academy to find the Divine Princess of our dreams? Throwing yourself into study won’t get you anywhere. Don’t give up just because of one setback! There are plenty of fish in the sea, right? Why hang yourself on one tree?”
“I’m telling you, keep an eye on the Golden Flower Rankings. Who knows, maybe your future partner’s already on that list!”
“The way you’re talking, it sounds like you came to Coleman to pick a concubine.” I couldn’t help but comment.
“Well, you could say that. And I’ll bet that’s exactly how a lot of male Divine Children feel! Think about it—Coleman’s the top academy. It brings together Divine Princesses from all the greatest noble houses. Most of them are going to be next-generation family heads. If you’re lucky enough to be chosen, that’s thirty years of life shortcuts, right there!”
“..........So what you’re telling me is, you came to school just to get picked up by a rich lady?” I stared at John, unimpressed.
“Not quite. You can’t just wait passively. These are daughters of great houses, after all. Waiting won’t cut it. You gotta go in swinging if you want to win their hearts!”
“You agree, don’t you?”
“I think you’ve got no chance,” I shot him a glance. “Eighty percent odds you fail.”
“Huh? Why?”
“To be honest, most Divine Princesses look down on grassroots Divine Children,” I said, confident.
“..........Man, you really can’t let it go, can you? Guess you were really hurt…” John patted me on the shoulder, his face full of sympathy.
“?”
What the hell nonsense was this hedgehog-head going on about now?
“Picking a bride’s something you’ll have plenty of time for. Do you really have to crowd into the tournament arena to do it?” I kept my eyes on my book, not bothering to look up.
“Sure, sure, that makes sense. But today’s different. Hey, do you know why our arena is so packed?”
“No.” I glanced around the Roman-coliseum-esque combat arena, uninterested.
“Oh come on, stop pretending. There’s no way you don’t know.”
“Why would I know?” I was genuinely confused by his random question. “You’re the one who dragged me here this morning. If you hadn’t, I’d still be back in the dorm reading.”
“Give me a break. Don’t act like you didn’t know Astrid’s match was scheduled for today. You expect me to believe you’d be calm enough to read?”
“Oh, her match is today?” I nodded. “Which arena?”
“What do you think?”
“This one—Arena Twenty-Three?”
“Exactly! Don’t even try to deny it. I know you already looked up Astrid’s schedule the moment it dropped. And you better be grateful—I booked us these seats early. Without me, you wouldn’t even be seeing your ex—”
“Say one more word of that crap and I’m throwing hands.” I clenched my fists and forced a smile.
“Okay, okay—my bad, my bad. I meant your former flame—ow!” John rubbed his hedgehog hair with a pout. Maybe shutting up really was the best call, before he pissed me off even more.
Yeah, he definitely hadn’t let go. Otherwise, why would he get so worked up?
What John didn’t realize was that my outburst had been more instinct than anything.
Maybe even I hadn’t noticed yet—but I really hated hearing people make up scandalous nonsense about me.
“If something didn’t happen, then it didn’t. Don’t go tossing around baseless gossip about who’s involved with me. Hearing that kind of thing makes others uncomfortable—and it makes me uncomfortable. A partner to love and spend a lifetime with… isn’t something to joke about.” I said it coldly—and even I was surprised by how firmly those words came out of my mouth.