TOPWL 155

“He’s a real prince!”

“He’s really a prince!”

As they stood in front of the temple school, the children began whispering, voices lowered in awe.

“But… the prince is a girl?”

“Idiot, then he wouldn’t be a prince!”

“But I know a thing or two about men, and all the ones I’ve seen were big, gross, and smelly. But the prince is clean, pretty, and smells nice.”

A girl who looked to be about eleven said it in all seriousness. Yudit had to fight hard not to burst out laughing.

“I am Yudit Friedrich Adanauer.”

At his greeting, the children all bowed their heads.

“Hmm, does anyone have a question?”

As soon as he asked, the murmuring died down. After a while, a girl with red hair in two braids raised her hand.

“Should we call you Prince, or Teacher?”

“Either is fine.”

As Yudit answered, the room buzzed with voices again. I’m going to call him Prince! I’m going to call him Teacher! The children competed to decide how to address him. Yudit could see factions forming around his title right before his eyes. Then another child raised a hand.

“What do you do, Teacher?”

“Right now, I’m working on making the village a better place to live.”

The child tilted her head in confusion.

“Are you decorating the village?”

“You could say that. But it’s not just decorating—I also fix and build things so people can live more comfortably.”

“Like stepping stones?”

“Stepping stones?”

“My dad did that. There’s a river in front of our house. It’s really wide, and the bridge is broken. So my dad laid some stones to make a path. It made things easier.”

As Yudit pieced together the child’s story, he nodded.

“Yes, that’s exactly the kind of work I do.”

“Wow!” The child’s eyes sparkled.

“My dad does the same job as you!”

Though the child’s takeaway was a little off, the conversation had finally opened up, and questions came flooding in.

“Teacher, do you have a lover? Are they pretty? Are you an omega? What’s an omega? Our cow had a calf! No, dummy, it’s the other way around! Then can you name it for us? Do you live in a house made of gold? Do you eat golden bread and golden milk every day? What does gold taste like? Teacher, when I see you, my chest feels ticklish. Can I scratch it? Teacher, he’s hiccuping!”

There was a kind of destructive power to the children’s voices. Yudit felt like his sanity was unraveling. Unable to watch any longer, Pavron clapped his hands.

“Alright, alright! Don’t overwhelm His Highness. That’s enough questions.”

“Aww…”

The children booed in unison. Yudit turned to thank Pavron, but then noticed a boy who had been holding up his hand for a while. He was fair-skinned, round-cheeked, and red-faced.

“I’ll take one last question. What do you want to ask?”

“Uh, I…”

The boy bowed his head, a little shy about being the final questioner.

“I heard yesterday that the prince is coming to the school… but I don’t really get why we have to go to school…”

“Hmm. That’s a good question. Everyone, why do we go to school?”

“To study!”

One child, excited to be called on, shouted the answer. Yudit tilted his head and asked again.

“And why do we study?”

“To become great people!”

“And what’s good about becoming a great person?”

“Then we’ll be famous and make lots of money!”

“That could happen, sure. But if we become famous and rich, what’s good about that?”

The children fell quiet for a moment at Yudit’s question, as though trying to understand where he was going with this.

“Then… we can eat whatever we want and buy whatever we want.”

“That would be nice, wouldn’t it? But even so, should that be the ultimate goal in life? That’s something to think about.”

“What does ultimate mean?”

“Hmm, ultimate. It means the final, farthest goal,” Yudit explained, then looked around at the children before continuing.

“Studying gives you new choices in life. Not just in terms of jobs. You might come to realize, ‘I hate math, but I like language.’ Once you know that, it helps you start to find direction in your life. Learning something you didn’t know—and realizing you didn’t know it—is more important than you’d think.”

“I hate math!”

The child from earlier raised his hand, clearly feeling a sense of camaraderie with Yudit. When Yudit looked at him, he blushed and spoke in a small voice.

“B-But I like music.”

“You don’t even get to learn music!”

Another child pointed that out matter-of-factly.

“But the bell rings when class ends. I like that sound.”

“Isn’t that because you just like class being over?”

Laughter rippled through the group. The boy who said he liked music turned as red as a tomato.

“Alright, alright, that’s enough. What’s your name?”

“Peter…”

“Alright, Peter. That was very brave of you.”

“…Me?”

“Yes. Saying in front of others what you dislike and what you enjoy is actually pretty hard. Shall we all give Peter a round of applause for being courageous?”

Yudit began clapping, and the children clapped along, a little bewildered. Peter, though still blushing, smiled with clear delight. Then another child raised their hand.

“I… I like language class. There was a word I didn’t know, but today I learned it.”

The children began eagerly sharing what they liked.

“I like learning foreign languages. But… I don’t know what use they’ll be.”

A red-haired boy with a close-cropped haircut said it uncertainly.

“Why do you think it won’t be useful?”

“My dad’s a blacksmith. I’m the eldest son. I’ll be a blacksmith too… So what’s the point in learning foreign languages?”

The boy’s tone held a hint of resignation.

“I really love learning foreign languages too,” Yudit said, locking eyes with the boy. “Even when I was young, I loved studying other countries’ languages. I studied hard, hoping someday I’d meet someone who spoke them.”

“And I did meet someone—someone who speaks the language of Herut. What do you think happened next?”

“You became friends!”

“You fell in love!”

The children shouted over each other.

“We became friends. And he became my bodyguard. He saved my life. We became deeply involved in each other’s lives.”

A romantic sigh escaped from the children.

“Could we have gotten that close if we didn’t speak each other’s language? I don’t know. But I do know this: opportunities come to those who are ready. And since I don’t know what opportunities might come into my life, it’s not a bad thing to be prepared.”

Yudit smiled warmly at the blacksmith’s son.

“It might not just be a friend. Someone who speaks a foreign language might one day be your guest. And you know, it’s surprisingly delightful to meet someone in another country who speaks your language. That guest might become a friend, and that friend might even become family.”

The boy nodded, as if understanding.

“I’ll try hard to study. Thank you.”

Seeing the earnest expression on the boy’s face, Yudit smiled gently.

***

After spending the whole day at the school, Yudit didn’t return home until evening. His body was tired, but his heart felt full. He was happy to think he’d been even a little helpful to the children.

“Ahh…”

Fresh from his bath, Yudit sprawled across the bed. The air was turning chilly, as though rain might fall. Tonight, the bed felt especially wide.

‘When will Khalid come back…’

He stared absentmindedly at the pillow beside him, then pulled it into his arms and took a deep breath.

It was a pillow he’d specifically told them not to wash. But over time, the scent Khalid had left on it had faded. Now, it was barely there.

Unable to feel him anywhere, the longing doubled. Yudit pressed down on the pillow with a small sigh of complaint.

“Khalid, come back soon…”

He’d enjoyed being the adult and acting like a teacher today, but now, he wanted to curl up in Khalid’s arms and be pampered. He wanted Khalid to ruffle his hair and kiss his cheeks and lips. And then…

As his thoughts went further, Yudit’s face flushed. At the same time, his member rose, stiff and eager. He looked down at his lap in awkward dismay. Ever since his second manifestation, his libido seemed unusually strong. No—it wasn’t just a feeling. It really had gotten stronger.

He wasn’t unfamiliar with the idea of handling it himself, but his lack of skill left him more frustrated than satisfied. He’d always stop midway, annoyed. Now he understood why people said widows stabbed their thighs with needles.

He tried rubbing himself a few times over his clothes, then let out a long sigh and gave up.

As Yudit lay there with his eyes closed, a sudden voice spoke beside him:

“You look like you’re struggling. Want me to help?”