Kays Translations

Chapter 129: Extra Story: Sophia and Soleil and “A Modest Prank”

This time, it seems Princess Sophia is thinking about something…

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“Do I look like Liana now?”

This is at Princess Sophia’s residence in the town of Nosa.

On the morning that Thor came to visit, Sophia was wearing a slight disguise.

It all started when she found some clip-in hair extensions in her luggage.

When Sophia was at the detached palace, she kept her hair short for the maids to take care of it easily.

While Liana’s hair reached down her back, Sophia’s hair only reached her shoulders.

That was unavoidable, but Sophia had always longed for long hair.

She wanted to try out various hairstyles and fashion herself.

So when she cut her hair previously, she had kept the cut hair bundled up.

For times when she wanted to try changing her hairstyle.

“I’ll tie my hair up… and put on a ribbon… something like this, maybe?”

Sophia styled her cherry blossom-colored hair into a short ponytail.

She attached a hair tie and connected the clip-in extensions there.

She lightly shook her head—it was secure and wouldn’t fall off.

Looking in the mirror… she felt she was starting to look like Liana.

How could she look even more alike?

It was unavoidable that her arms were thinner than Liana’s.

She would cover that up with makeup to give her complexion a healthier look.

And then—

“If I wrap some cloth around my body, would that help disguise my figure? To make me look a little healthier—”

“Meow~”

Suddenly, a cat’s meow came from the window.

Looking toward the sound, she saw a white cat clinging to the windowsill.

“Oh, Soleil-sama. You’ve come, haven’t you?”

“Meow, meow~”

“I’m clearing the room. It’s okay even if you return to your original form, you know?”

When Sophia said this, the white cat shook its fur and removed its hood.

The cat form disappeared, revealing a small girl in cat-like pajamas.

She had wings on her back. This was Soleil, the Light Wing Fairy.

“I have come with a message. The alchemist will arrive shortly.”

“Thank you, Soleil-sama. I have some sweets prepared for you.”

“That makes me happy. Princess Sophia is such a good person.”

“I like you too, Soleil-sama. We both struggled with the strength of our ‘light magic.’ By the way…”

Sophia stood up and showed her hair with the extensions and her dress.

“Do you think I look like Liana now, Soleil-sama?”

“Because your ‘light magic’ is strong, I know you’re Princess Sophia.”

“Oh, that’s right. The wing fairies can sense the flow of magical power.”

“Are you imitating your little sister?”

“Yes. It’s a little prank.”

Sophia put a finger to her lips as if sharing a secret.

“I wonder if the alchemist will recognize me as Sophia in this form…”

“That’s unusual. Serious Princess Sophia playing pranks?”

“Hehe. Yes, I guess so.”

At Soleil’s comment, Sophia smiled like a child.

“There hasn’t been anyone before who made me feel like it was okay to play pranks.”

Sophia had been confined to the detached palace all along.

The only people close to her were the maids, and even they changed every few months.

Sometimes Liana came to visit, but Sophia could never play pranks on her.

Not because Liana was a princess, but because she was too honest.

No matter what prank Sophia tried, Liana would never fall for it… It was just too risky.

Also, Sophia was always on guard at the detached palace.

As a princess, and as Liana’s older sister—she couldn’t show weakness to others.

But—

“I feel like it might be okay to play pranks on Thor Canaan-sama.

With him, I could feel safe and be able to depend on him…”

“That’s right. The alchemist is someone you can truly trust.”

“Yes, he makes people feel at ease.”

“So you’re disguising yourself as your little sister to meet the alchemist?”

“Yes. It’s a prank pretending to be Liana.”

“What exactly are you going to do, Your Highness?”

“Well… how about posing as if I’m swinging a holy sword?

I think Thor Canaan-sama will be interested and come closer.”

“A ‘Zubabababaan’ kind of thing?”

“Yes. I will do the Zubabababaan.”

“If you do that, I think the alchemist will come close to you.

And that way, you want him to touch your arms and shoulders, right?”

“…Y-yes.”

“I understand. Sometimes Soleil wants to be touched by the alchemist too.”

“Really?”

“The wind wing fairies are good at that kind of thing, you know.”

“Please explain in detail.”

“They slip under the alchemist’s clothes naked.”

“…That’s absolutely impossible.”

“That’s why I think your method is good, Princess Sophia. But…”

“But? What is it?”

“I feel like your body is slimmer compared to Princess Liana.”

“Do you think so too, Soleil-sama?”

“How about loosening the dress strings and tucking some cloth underneath?”

“That’s a good idea. Could you help me?”

“Understood.”

Soleil flew in the air and went behind Sophia.

Then, she loosened the strings on the back of the dress.

With a little extra room at the collar, Sophia put in some cloth and wrapped it around her chest.

(Liana’s chest is smaller than mine, but she has a better physique.

I’ll disguise myself by wrapping cloth around my body.)

After patting it to adjust the thickness, Sophia smiled with satisfaction.

Of course, she didn’t forget her makeup.

She made her complexion look healthier, and once Soleil checked, preparations were complete.

Now all that was left was to wait for Thor to come.

“Let’s decide on the plan first.”

Sophia murmured quietly.

“This time, we’ll say Liana came on a secret visit.

And I, Sophia, am having a meeting with Isaac.

So while I’m not around, I will teach the alchemist the secret stance for the holy sword’s outside-the-gate forbidden technique.”

“That’s a great idea.

Then the alchemist will surely be interested.”

“Let’s say you and I just happened to hit it off.”

“Let’s say we got excited talking about baths.”

“The time when Liana threw off her princess clothes, right?”

“I don’t know about that, but if we talk about the ‘bubbly bath,’ it’s no wonder we get excited.”

“If you say ‘This is Liana,’ then Thor Canaan-sama won’t suspect a thing.”

“Soleil is getting excited too.”

Soleil sat on Sophia’s shoulder, covering her mouth as she laughed.

“Soleil has never done this kind of prank before.”

“You can only do something like this with someone you truly trust.”

Sophia pressed her hands to the chest of her dress.

The first person she wanted to do something like this to was Thor.

She wanted to be fooled. If it was Thor, after revealing her true identity, he would surely laugh it off.

But at the same time, she also wanted him to see through it.

She wanted to hear words like, “Even if you disguise yourself as the younger princess, I can tell it’s Princess Sophia.”

Excited. Nervous.

She wanted to see the various expressions on Thor’s face.

What kind of face would he make upon suddenly seeing Liana appear?

What answer would he give if Liana asked about Sophia?

This was like a charm cast by the princess, who had been locked away for so long, onto the alchemist who freed her.

She wanted people to know that Sophia had this side to her.

And then—Sophia listened carefully.

From the first floor came the voice of a maid. It seemed Thor had arrived.

She had also been informed of the plan. Though the maid looked suspicious, she should cooperate.

Footsteps approached.

Thor was coming up the stairs. Soon.

Lastly, Sophia and Soleil confirmed their plan.

Soleil suggested that the moment Thor entered, Sophia should pose as if swinging a holy sword.

That sounded good. Very Liana-like. Sophia herself wouldn’t do something like that.

The plan was as follows:

Sophia would stand before the door, raising both arms high above her head.

When Thor came in, she would swing both arms down at once.

Soleil’s role was to cheer nearby with, “Do your best, Princess Liana!”

Soon, footsteps sounded beyond the door. Thor had arrived.

Sophia focused all her senses on her ears.

She forgot all other sensations—so much so that she didn’t notice the coolness on her back from the loosened dress strings.

Nor that Soleil had loosened the back ties, which were starting to come undone—

Knock, knock.

“Princess Liana. This is Thor Canaan. May I come in?”

“Y-yes. I—I am Liana Dolgaria. I have come in secret.”

“Where is Princess Sophia…?”

“My sister is in a meeting with Captain Isaac. Please… do not hesitate to enter.”

“Y-yes. Then, excuse me.”

Click, the door opened.

Thor looked this way.

He was surprised to see Sophia—Liana—near the door.

From her hairstyle, clothing, and the color of her skin, he should not know which twin she was.

The timing was now.

“J-just practicing sword swings.”

Sophia raised both arms high above her head.

“I will show you my secret stance! ‘Holy Sword Blade Zubabababaan’!!”

Whoosh.

Gathering strength in her slender arms—Sophia swung both arms down with all her might.

Shu-run.

The strings on her back completely came undone. The back of the dress opened wide.

Shuba!

The momentum of her arm swing caused the dress to come undone.

As if she were trying to take it off, it split open from the back, left and right—

A large gap appeared at the chest—

The fabric wrapped around her chest fell down to her stomach—

Her white skin and underwear made from ‘Light Magic Woven Cloth’ were revealed.

“────”

“…Um, Princess Sophia?”

Thor’s gaze fell upon Sophia.

In an instant, he saw through her true identity.

The reason was simple. Her underwear was see-through.

For health reasons, Sophia wore underwear made from ‘Light Magic Woven Cloth.’ Because the underwear was constantly exposed to Sophia’s magic power, it was naturally transparent—almost completely.

So Thor could see Sophia’s skin and thus her true identity—

“…Th-this has a reason, you see.”

Sophia’s skin turned cherry blossom pink.

It wasn’t the first time Thor had seen her skin.

But this was unexpected.

What should she do… her mind went completely blank.

The prank was a failure. A huge failure. So she decided to cover it up.

“T-this is something I learned from Liana. They say that performing the ‘Holy Sword Light Blade Zubabababaan’ makes you healthy. It’s a new health method. That child is very intuitive and a genius. She came up with this for me. Please praise her when you meet her next time.”

“…Princess Sophia?”

“I have been following Liana’s guidance and repeating this health method. I wanted Thor Canaan-sama to see the results.”

“…But your clothing… should probably be covered.”

“I understand. I do know. But…”

It was too much.

Sophia calmly covered her chest with her hands.

She turned around and asked Soleil to fix her clothes.

Then, slowly, she calmed her breathing.

“I apologize. I will be honest.”

Covering her face with both hands, Sophia confessed.

“…I wanted to play a prank on Thor Canaan-sama.”

“To go so far as to risk your body for a prank…”

“…I regret it.”

When she glanced at Thor over her shoulder… he was blushing deeply too.

Perhaps embarrassed to look at Sophia, his gaze drifted elsewhere.

(Purpose… achieved.)

(I got to see an expression of Thor Canaan-sama that I had never seen before. That will be enough.)

Actually, I had only planned to play a trivial prank.

After that succeeded, I intended to gradually pull off something amazing.

(…If I’ve already done something like this on the first try, what should I do next time?)

“Your Highness, failure is the stepping stone to success. Next time, you just have to do the same thing as the Wind Feather Fairy, okay?”

“That’s definitely… impossible.”

Hearing Soleil whisper this by her ear, Sophia felt her body temperature rise.

“Thor Canaan-sama.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“…Were you surprised?”

“…………Yes, I was.”

Thor still avoided meeting her gaze.

He was calm in the ‘Fizzing Bath,’ but elsewhere it seemed different.

Watching his embarrassed expression somehow made her happy. She wanted to see more of those different expressions. Next time, even closer.

Even if Sophia felt embarrassed and wanted to run away, she wouldn’t be able to escape from such close proximity.

“For now, let’s have some tea. I’ll prepare it right away.”

Saying this, Sophia stepped out into the hallway.

Since the others had been sent away, she went to brew the tea herself.

This too was a valuable experience. Being with Thor meant encountering so many firsts.

“But the prank was a failure.”

“Do you regret doing it, Your Highness?”

“…No.”

Sophia swept the hem of her dress,

“It was very fun. I even got to see expressions of Thor Canaan-sama that I had never seen before. This prank was a failure, but it’s a huge success.”

──With a childish expression, she wore a radiant smile.

(But… what if I get addicted to this kind of prank?)

Even so, surely Thor would accept it.

If that’s the case… maybe it’s not so bad…

Thinking such thoughts, Sophia headed to the kitchen with Soleil.

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