Chapter 001: Prologue
The entire city was alight on New Year’s Eve.
How likely was it that kidnappers would choose New Year’s Eve to carry out a plot to abduct the Empire’s First Princess?
Even a rookie thug would laugh at such a ridiculous plan.
In that sense, Keith, an executive of the Western Continent’s worst gang, Anubis, was extremely proud.
A crazy stunt like this—only we could pull it off.
“Guess it’s true what they say… the darkest place is under the lamp.”
He muttered cheerfully to himself, then paused. That phrase didn’t really feel appropriate here.
Still, there was no one around to nitpick his word choice, so Keith chose to ignore the vague sense of unease.
There was a far more pressing issue at hand.
“…Now what?”
It was a ridiculous question for someone who’d just kidnapped a princess—but Keith was entirely serious.
So-called Operation Diamond—the abduction of the First Princess—had been orchestrated by their damned boss. But the bastard hadn’t exactly laid out what they were supposed to do after the kidnapping.
If it were an adult, it’d be easy—just lock them in a cell and be done with it.
But this hostage was a child. Not just any child, but a delicately raised princess.
Just like a stray dog knows nothing about chicks, Keith had a vague sense of terror and ignorance when it came to children.
Technically, the boss was the one who planned this whole thing. Keith could just dump the responsibility back on him.
But even Keith—infamous scumbag that he was—could tell that was a bad idea.
The head of Anubis—who was he?
A man whose treachery could make even his own allies shudder. A barbarity honed since birth. A shamelessness that could persist even in hell. A womanizer who never chased or stopped anyone.
The man was surrounded by the most obscene, uneducational rumors imaginable.
Some even whispered that he was the current emperor’s brother—“The Second Prince,” who’d been cast out during the reign of the previous emperor.
A man so irredeemable even the merciful “Emperor of Benevolence” had given up on him.
Keith and the other executives had confirmed these rumors themselves—unfortunately, every single one was true.
He was the ultimate scumbag, fitting of a gang made entirely of human garbage.
I mean, look—he even plotted the kidnapping of his own niece, the First Princess.
And Keith was supposed to entrust this fragile child to that man? The guy might get pissed and actually kill her.
Sure, Keith had never heard of the boss killing a child before.
But there’s a first time for everything.
“Shit, I should’ve just passed her off to Mercy and told her to report in…”
The executive lounge was as filthy as ever, mostly because everyone was out watching the fireworks or whatever.
Keith decided to place the hostage on the only clean spot—a couch.
Her long, curly blond hair.
Her chubby cheeks.
Her eyelids, fringed with long lashes.
The girl looked like a porcelain doll, lying in the crate as if dead.
Princess Nina Atreid—the Empire’s First Princess.
At this moment, the most precious hostage on the entire continent…
“…Is she dead?”
Panic gripped Keith. Had she suffocated in the crate?
But on closer inspection, she was still breathing.
He let out a deep sigh of relief, then carefully—almost reverently—lifted her and laid her on the couch.
The act of being gentle drained all his energy.
Keith plopped down on the floor and stared at the doll-like girl.
Should I tie her up?
If she woke up and started screaming, things would get messy.
But… how do you tie up a child?
Same as you would an adult?
But what if something breaks or gets pinched?
And she dies?
No matter how he thought about it, the conclusion was always she might die.
And Keith did not want that.
Not because he cared about killing royalty.
But because if she died, the ransom would be gone. And if the ransom was gone, his lavish retirement plans would go up in smoke…
So when the two other dirtiest executives in Anubis returned, they were greeted by a very suspicious sight.
Keith, crouched like a starving animal, staring intently at a fainted little girl.
“You sick bastard… You finally crossed the line, didn’t you?!”
Smoky didn’t even try to hide his disgust. Mira threw a punch immediately.
Whack! Thump!
“Son of a bitch—!”
“What did you just say, you goddamn pervert?!”
“Agh! It’s a project! It’s the mission!”
“You’re telling me this is Operation Diamond?!”
Smoky asked in a suspicious tone.
There’s no way these guys didn’t already know—but Keith nodded desperately.
Because Mira’s punches could knock out a warhorse.
“That bastard boss finally went and crossed the final line…”
Smoky groaned, while Mira exploded about how misleading the mission codename was.
“You crazy sons of bitches! Everything about this sucks!”
“W-Wait, Mira, where are you going?”
“You wanna get hit again?!”
“No, I mean, what if she wakes up? We need you here!”
Keith massaged his aching jaw and spoke as calmly as he could.
Mira paused for a long while.
“Why?”
“Because you’re the only woman here.”
Keith’s reasoning was simple.
She’s a baby.
And babies need a mother figure.
That’s how you feed them and change their diapers…
“Wow, Keith. You are so stupid,” Smoky said in genuine awe.
His logic was so dumb it was almost pure. Naturally, it led to disaster.
“She’s not a baby, you moron!”
“How the hell was I supposed to know, you psycho?!”
And just then, Nina finally woke up.
While Mira and Keith were wrestling, and Smoky was lighting a cigarette and enjoying the show, the esteemed hostage opened her eyes.
In fact, she even exchanged an unimpressed glance with Smoky, a fellow witness to this absurd play.
Then—only a beat too late—Smoky realized something was off.
He turned to the couch and saw…
…That she was sitting up.
Startled, he snuffed his cigarette on his own hand.
“AAAAH! HOT HOT HOT—!”
Keith was about to hurl a string of curses at the guy dancing around while he was getting punched—when he suddenly froze.
So did Mira, who’d just landed a blow on Keith’s left eye.
“Uh…”
Golden hair that looked like it would shed glitter, plump rose-colored cheeks, and eyes as blue as a lake.
The eerily beautiful girl sat up wordlessly, staring at them.
The three criminals froze in place.
The royal hostage blinked her big eyes slowly.
Then her dainty lips parted, and an equally dainty voice emerged:
“…Where am I?”
A reasonable question for a girl who’d woken in a strange, unfamiliar place.
And typically, this is where the villain says something like—
What do we even say?
These three outlaws, each with nationwide bounties on their heads, were all stumped by the same question.
The first to break the awkward silence was Mira.
“I—I don’t know. You guys figure it out.”
She stammered as she turned and bolted out the door.
The two remaining men just stared blankly at her retreating figure.
“Where am I?”
Nina asked again.
Keith, finally snapping out of it, gave the girl a hurried, toothy grin.
Which was supposed to be a smile.
“This is… the Handsome Boy Academy.”
