🎧 Recommended Song: Please listen to the male cover of Romeo and Cinderella.

To you, who were so breathtakingly perfect in every way, I always felt an inexplicable jealousy, which is why I recklessly challenged you that day.

You were fundamentally different from me in every respect; you were the noble Crown Prince of the Sorpen Empire, the hegemon of the continent, while I was just a prince of the mediocre Kingdom of Paden.

Simply because we were close in age, I was summoned by the Imperial family to be your 'playmate.'

But you didn't give me an ounce of attention.

Despite being the Crown Prince, you treated me like I was invisible, staying holed up in your study flipping through thick books.

That characteristically indifferent and lofty attitude gave me a strange sense of spite, so I think I threw tantrums and acted as annoying as possible just to catch your eye.

It was the year I turned eleven.

I started learning chess as part of my cultural studies, and what do you know?

I turned out to have an incredible talent for mental warfare.

Even my tutor was impressed, so you can imagine how high my confidence soared.

Thinking 'I've finally found a weapon to beat your arrogant self,' I excitedly ran to you and issued a challenge.

But even when you saw the chessboard, you looked uninterested and just sighed with that typical dry expression of yours.

Then you said in a bored voice,

"What's chess? Just tell me the rules first."

The moment I heard that, I cheered internally.

Finally, there was something this arrogant Crown Prince didn't know how to do!

I triumphantly explained everything from the movement of the pieces to the victory conditions.

You just rested your chin on your hand and stared blankly down at the board.

...But the result was disastrous.

I was utterly crushed by you, who had just learned the rules, for ten consecutive games.

As my pride plummeted to rock bottom, an uncontrollable stubbornness exploded within me.

Fuming and looking ready to flip the board, I shouted at you.

"This time it's a bet! One more game! If I lose this time... I'll live as a woman for the next 10 years!!"

Looking back, I don't know why I made such an extreme wager, but I was blind with rage then.

However, you were already preparing for bed and grumbled that you were sleepy and annoyed.

When I clung to your sleeve and screamed, you reluctantly sat back down.

The result? Naturally, it was another crushing defeat for me.

Whether I was in despair or not, you just yawned widely and muttered as if exhausted.

"Since you're the one who blurted out the penalty, do as you please."

With that one indifferent remark, you turned your back and went to sleep.

Not long after that, you left for the Imperial Academy, and we didn't see each other for a very long time.

What happened to me, you ask?

My father was a man who lacked flexibility in strange ways. He bellowed, "An oath from the mouth of royalty must be kept even if the heavens fall! A bet is a bet, so it cannot be helped!" Because of that, I had to start performing my penalty by wearing voluminous dresses every morning, much to my chagrin.

But here's the thing... that wasn't the real problem.

When I stood in front of the mirror, oh my god, I looked so dazzlingly beautiful in a dress!

At first, I was too ashamed to even lift my head, but as I kept wearing them, I started to like the feel of the soft lace, and the ornate jewels and ribbons matched my facial features perfectly!

I even started researching dress lines that suited my physique and decorated myself with care, and before I knew it, ten years had flown by.

Now, I had become someone who could pull off a dress more perfectly and elegantly than most noble ladies in the Empire.

And finally today, I faced you again after ten years, now a grown man.

You, who exuded an even colder and more overbearing aura befitting the heir to the Empire.

But the moment I approached, gracefully fluttering my dress skirts while partially hiding my mouth with a flamboyant fan, I saw your precious loftiness shatter completely.

Your face turned beet red all the way to your neck as you looked on in horror, your pupils shaking.

It felt like ten years of pent-up frustration just washed away.

Why are you staring so blankly? Even to your eyes, I look breathtakingly beautiful right now, don't I?