Surely There's One to the Princess' Taste (9 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 5
Prodia, who had been listening to Irtis’s story, was quite surprised.
Of course, she had also heard rumors about Irtis before.
That a genius mage of unknown origin had appeared at the Magic Tower—but that was all she knew.
She never imagined there was such a backstory.
Irtis let out a low sigh after finishing his tale.
Prodia, who had been silently listening until now, murmured,
“Why were you unconscious and suffering from amnesia…?”
“Probably got mugged by some back-alley thugs. It’s pretty common in your world.”
“No way. Who in their right mind would dare lay a hand on you?”
“Who knows? Back then, I hadn’t even started learning magic yet.”
Hmm, that might be possible.
Prodia asked,
“If you win the tournament and meet your parents, what do you plan to do?”
“Isn’t it obvious? I’ll ask them why they abandoned me. And then…”
A cold, murderous glint filled Irtis’s eyes.
“I’ll gather every last one of them and kill them all at once…”
Snap!
Suddenly, the sound of clapping hands echoed right before Irtis’s eyes.
He jerked his head up in surprise.
It was Prodia, standing right in front of him, who had made the sound.
“Sigh, I knew you’d do something like this.”
“What? All of a sudden?”
“Master Mage? Do you even know what’s most important when participating in an… uh, groom selection contest?”
He blurted out confidently,
“Skill?”
“Nope.”
Prodia wiggled her fingers.
“It’s your character.”
Character?
Irtis’s expression twisted.
Character was the most important thing for winning the contest?
What nonsense.
Irtis tried to argue back, but Prodia was quicker.
She spoke with exasperation,
“Talking about killing your parents and your master—you’ll get disqualified in the first round over character concerns! Maybe you need to get thoroughly humbled before you come to your senses? Ugh, this is going to be a long road. Where on earth should we even start?”
Irtis’s mind went blank under Prodia’s rapid-fire scolding.
Until now, he’d seen plenty of people ready to fight at the sight of his killing intent—
but never someone who attacked with words.
Irtis’s pupils trembled.
Prodia stared straight at him and said,
“Alright, Master Mage? Repeat after me.”
“Huh?!”
“The reason I’m entering the groom contest is!”
“The… reason is?”
Without even realizing it, Irtis had already begun parroting her words.
Prodia continued her eloquent speech,
“Because I’ve secretly adored Her Highness the Princess!”
“Secretly adored Her Highness the— Hey, are you insane?!”
Irtis was startled.
He’d nearly repeated her words like a mindless parrot!
‘Me? Me?!’
A sudden chill ran down his spine.
This woman might be even scarier than those who wield mind-affecting magic.
Prodia spoke sternly,
“You went out of your way to find a top-tier private tutor, didn’t you? So you absolutely must trust what I say.”
“Trust what, exactly?!”
“There’s no story more compelling than love.”
“Huh?!”
“Think about it. If the judges ask why you joined this contest, you’re not going to say, ‘To find my parents and take revenge,’ are you?”
“Well… no, that’s true.”
It was a fair point.
“So what will you say then? That you want to become the groom and seize the throne?”
“What are you talking about? I wouldn’t care even if they handed me that position.”
“But if a powerful mage like you suddenly enters the groom contest, won’t everyone assume your goal is to usurp the throne?”
Irtis fell silent.
He’d never thought of it that way before, but her reasoning made sense.
Prodia asked again,
“So what’s the right answer, then?”
“Well…”
Right.
Saying you joined because you liked the princess—though obviously a lie—would sound far better.
Though baffled, Irtis found himself strangely convinced.
After a few minutes passed, he began to feel as if he were being brainwashed.
Was this the power of a legendary instructor with a 99.99% success rate?
An hour later,
Irtis had somehow effortlessly completed a self-introduction that sounded utterly truthful—yet was entirely fabricated.
It was the spectacular, amazing, romantic epic of a mage driven mad by love, too tear-jerking to watch without crying.
[This is the timeline separator]Serious training for the groom selection contest had begun.
After carefully examining something, Prodia stood before Irtis once more.
He asked,
“What were you just doing?”
Hmm, I was checking your status window.
Prodia smiled sweetly and replied,
“I’ve been thinking about your stats, Master Mage.”
“What’s there to think about? You can just look right now.”
As he spoke, Irtis gathered mana into his palm.
Prodia shook her head.
“I’ve already seen enough of that earlier. Besides, you probably won’t need offensive magic much in this groom contest.”
“What?”
Irtis was bewildered.
“Why not?”
“Well… this is just my speculation, of course…”
In truth, Prodia had been deeply troubled about this contest.
Her personal karmic debt was inexplicably tied to the imperial princess’s groom selection.
Could this really be mere coincidence?
‘No.’
That was impossible.
There had to be a specific reason why the gods had singled out this contest as her quest.
But what was it?
She’d pondered day and night—and finally reached a conclusion.
Her past life as a PD who’d successfully produced an idol audition show. The karmic debt accumulated from demonic editing. The divine quest to produce once more.
Putting it all together, there was only one answer.
‘This groom selection contest must include judging criteria similar to the programs I once produced!’
Moreover, one particular fact perfectly supported her hypothesis.
Upon rechecking Irtis’s stats, she found most of them related to magic—
except for one.
His singing ability.
When she clicked on that stat, unexpected information poured out.
Ding~!
[Singing Ability (S)Sings with a heavenly voice.]
Now it was clear.
This wasn’t meant for casting spells—he was, after all, a grand mage who didn’t even need incantations.
This stat was meant for the stage.
‘Maybe the gods chose Irtis as the ideal candidate precisely because of this.’
Prodia turned to Irtis and spoke,
“Master Mage, do you remember the official eligibility requirements for this contest?”
“Something like… any healthy guy can join, right?”
“Yes, exactly. That means they won’t consider applicants’ backgrounds at all.”
Irtis nodded.
“That’s why even non-nobles gathered at this mansion earlier.”
That applied to him as well, given his uncertain origins.
Prodia continued,
“It’s true they won’t look at your social status—but there’s one other thing they won’t consider either.”
“One other thing…?”
What could it be?
Seeing Irtis’s confusion, Prodia explained,
“They won’t consider your race either.”
“…!”
Irtis’s eyes widened.
Why hadn’t he thought of that!
The eligibility criteria clearly didn’t specify “human.”
Which meant…
Prodia said,
“That means dragons, demons, elves—everyone can participate. So there’s no way they’ll include combat-related judging criteria.”
Irtis’s voice trembled.
“Because ordinary humans wouldn’t just lose a fight—they’d end up dead…”
“Exactly. So, Master Mage,”
Prodia spoke seriously,
“In this contest, you’ll hardly get a chance to win through your magical power.”
Ugh!
This was maddening.
Irtis pressed his palm to his forehead.
He’d planned to simply smash everyone and claim victory!
For the first time, he realized this contest wouldn’t be easy at all.
He muttered,
“Now that I think about it, something’s odd. Your sudden change in attitude earlier was suspicious too.”
“Huh?”
Irtis turned to face Prodia.
“You already knew my magic wouldn’t be much help in this contest, didn’t you? Then why did you choose me?”
“!”
He stepped closer.
“At first, you clearly didn’t like me.”
Before he knew it, he was right in front of Prodia, his eyes sharp.
Prodia stepped back—but hit the wall.
Irtis stretched out both arms, trapping her between them and the wall.
“Tell me. Why did you pick me?”
Their gazes locked.
Why?
‘Because you might be my jackpot for clearing karmic debt.’
And because the gods chose you.
Prodia lightly pushed against Irtis’s chest.
“Why else?”
Her fingertips felt his firm pectoral muscles, yet her expression remained utterly unmoved.
“You came quietly to get your number tag, unlike the rumors about you causing trouble. So I figured you’d listen well.”
At that, Irtis’s face scrunched up in annoyance.
“You’re really pushing it…”
“More importantly, I realized you were right.”
“About what?”
“Among all the applicants who came here, you’re clearly the most outstanding.”
“But you just said magical power won’t matter.”
“No, I meant your face. You’re really handsome.”
“Wh-what?!”
Irtis looked utterly incredulous.
“Is that seriously your reason?”
“Yes. Looks matter.”
But Irtis remained cold.
“You’re lying again.”
“I’m not! You really are handsome…”
“You’re looking right at my face right now and acting completely unaffected.”
Prodia flinched involuntarily.
How did he know?
‘What is this guy—his intuition’s freakishly sharp.’
She replied calmly,
“Not at all. I’m trembling because you’re so handsome. Can’t you hear my heartbeat getting louder? Thump-thump.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
Irtis grabbed her hand and placed it firmly on his chest.
“…!”
“You touched me here earlier and didn’t even blush.”
It was true.
She wasn’t flustered at all.
But she played it off smoothly,
“What kind of logic is that?”
“Normally, people blush.”
He leaned his face even closer.
“Even without touching me, people usually turn bright red just from looking at my face.”
Wow, that obnoxious confidence.
Prodia frowned slightly.
But he wasn’t entirely wrong—his looks were unrealistically radiant.
It was just that Prodia’s eyes were numb to handsome men.
‘Especially the god I met when I died—now that was the sexiest… Ahem, never mind.’
She couldn’t afford to add blasphemy to her karmic debt.
Prodia said,
“Some people just don’t blush easily. And looks really are important—second only to character.”
“…Really?”
“Yes. Being handsome is always thrilling and the best. Why would Her Highness be any different?”
Irtis still looked skeptical.
Just then—
Knock knock—
Someone knocked on the parlor door.
Startled, Irtis and Prodia quickly pulled apart.
Clearing her throat, Prodia called out,
“A-ahem! What is it?”
“Miss, a letter has arrived from the Imperial Palace.”
“The Imperial Palace?”
“Yes, an official notice regarding the groom selection contest.”
“!”
Prodia and Irtis’s eyes met instantly.
When scheming men desperately battle for her favor in the male harem
This one’s also on my reread list! The rivalry, scheming between the men in the imperial harem are just as intense and thrilling as in classic palace drama novels, where concubines fight to the death. Give it a read, girls! I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Synopsis:
“I am not worthy of her… but I still want to be by her side, even if only as a loyal dog…”
Those were the painful whispers of Yue Guanyi – the proud Crown Prince of the Great Qi, who was torn between deep love and a guilty conscience. Despite holding the supreme power of the Imperial Guard, he still could not forget the dark past when he was sold into a brothel.
Fate played a cruel twist when Qiu Shuzhi – a young female official who had just passed the imperial examinations with top honors – stepped into his life. She did not know that she was the one who had saved him from a tragic fate many years ago. And now, her heart was the target of pursuit for both Yue Guanyi and the powerful Empress Dowager Qin Qing.
While Yue Guanyi only dared to silently care for and protect the one he loved from afar, the Empress Dowager Qin Qing openly expressed his feelings and did not hesitate to take advantage of his power to approach Qiu Shuzhi. The covert struggle between the two most powerful forces in the imperial court began…
Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.
_____
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