Gun Princess Royale: Awakening the Princess, Book One

by Albert Ruckholdt

  “Y—yes, sir.”

  The Vee-Pee humpfed to himself, then circled around me one more time. Even without looking at him, I could glimpse his face in my peripheral vision when he came to a stop at my one o’clock.

  “Tell me, Mister Kassius, just how far do your female characteristics go?”

  My stomach began to clench into an unpleasant ball. “I…I’d rather—”

  “You would rather not say, is that right, Mister Kassius?”

  I swallowed and replied with a nod.

  “Do you have breasts, Mister Kassius?”

  I swallowed again, and after a breath a nodded weakly.

  “Are they large breasts, Mister Kassius?”

  I shook my head faintly.

  “I disagree, Mister Kassius. They look very large and very firm, Mister Kassius. Have you touched your breasts, Mister Kassius?”

  I shook my head once more.

  “I see…lift up your dress.”

  My heart stopped, then slowly started up again, though I had trouble breathing. As I struggled to reply, my gaze darted to the Vee-Pee. His expression remained unchanged, as stern as ever, but there was something in his eyes that made me feel both afraid and unclean.

  “…sir…?”

  He crossed his arms across his broad chest and stepped closer to look down at me. “Are you a boy or girl, Kassius?”

  Keeping my eyes averted, I had trouble swallowing, realizing I’d felt something like this before when I faced an angry Tobias in the cafeteria. “I…I’m a boy, sir. I just have a condition—”

  “Then let me see if you’re still a boy, Kassius. And depending on what I see, I’ll decide whether you attend this Academy as a male or female student.”

  Blinking nervously, I struggled to suppress the shivers running through me. “Sir, I can just take a leave of absence—”

  “Kassius, I will decide whether or not to grant you that leave of absence.” He leaned closer toward me. “Is that clear?”

  “…yes, sir….”

  “Good.” He straightened slowly. “Now lift up your dress.”

  I unclasped my hands from behind my back, and with trembling arms, my fingers touched the skirt of my dress.

  The Vee-Pee nodded slowly, his voice low though not quite a baritone rumble. “That’s a good boy.”

  I grabbed the skirt between fingertips.

  “Slowly, Mister Kassius. If you please.”

  It wasn’t just my arms that trembled, but my legs too.

  I couldn’t describe all the emotions that roiled inside me. It was an unrecognizable mixture of fear, nervousness, trepidation, dismay, and disgust, that bubbled as it swirled within my chest, shortening my breath that I feared sounded loud in the stillness of the large office. But when he edged closer to me, his presence exuded a pressure that squeezed my heart, making it beat louder and faster.

  “I’m waiting, young man.”

  With fingers I could hardly feel, I edged up the hem of my dress, and Ghost whispered in my ear, “Princess, what are you doing?”

  Standing so close to me, the Vee-Pee’s presence smothered me. I couldn’t look at him, my gaze focused on the top of his desk, but I couldn’t escape him either, and his voice sounded as though he was inside my head.

  “A little higher….”

  “Princess, I do not believe this is wise.”

  My dress edged upwards another inch, then another, exposing the slender girlish thighs that Ghost had credited as part of its handiwork to promote my disguise.

  “Higher, if you please….”

  “Princess!”

  My heart drummed loudly as it struggled against the pressure surrounding it, and my breathing grew ragged the higher the dress rose and closer to revealing what I knew he wanted to see.

  “Higher, young lady….”

  I closed my eyes, feeling as though I was standing on the edge of a precipice, and one more step, one more inch, would be all it took for me to fall into the abyss that lay beyond. It was metaphorical, but it was also more than that, because as I raised the dress I realized a truth so abhorrent that part of me wished to curl up and die, while another part laughed maliciously as my denials were stripped away, exposing me for the fraud that I was.

  “Princess—stop! Now!”

  I opened my eyes, then turned my head and looked up at the Vee-Pee. “No. I will not.”

  The dress fell limply from my hands.

  For a long while, there was no response from him. No reaction whatsoever. No anger. No malice. No sudden rage, and surprisingly no disappointment. Instead, he continued to stand over me, regarding me with a stern visage and ice cold eyes that I met with a gaze that was surprisingly cold too.

  The sway he held over, the spell I’d been under, was broken.

  I felt dirty and ashamed, but I also felt as though I’d been unsheathed and now faced him with a sharp edge.

  He nodded faintly, perhaps to himself, and then walked away.

  I watched him sit down in his high backed chair, and then type away on photon keyboard he called up with a single tap to his desk. Though I was free of the constricting chains of his presence, my body continued to tremble and my emotions tumbled heedlessly, knocking about my heart that quivered and shivered in the aftermath of my depraved conduct.

  “…thank you, Ghost….”

  I heard a deep sigh in my ears. “Princess, we need to talk. There is something I need to tell you.”

  I nodded faintly in reply.

  The Vee-Pee addressed me without facing me. “I will discuss your situation with your physician, and recommend you continue attending this academy. It is the beginning of the school year, and you cannot be allowed to fall behind in the school curriculum. Home learning is simply out of the question. However, considering your medical condition, I will propose to the Principal that you attend classes in a school uniform that befits your current appearance.”

  Suddenly anxious, I took a step closer to the desk. “Sir, you mean as a girl—?”

  The Vee-Pee rumbled on. “It is quite clear, Mister Kassius, that you make a more convincing female student than otherwise. As such, you will attend this school in the appropriate uniform.” Despite the distance between us, when he faced me his eyes bore into mine, and I stiffened sharply. “Are you going to disagree with me, Mister Kassius?”

  His iron hard gaze made it difficult for me to respond, and truthfully, after what I’d just done – or rather almost done – how could I disagree. Would Tobias or any other male student have come so close to debasing themselves the way I almost did? Most certainly not.

  After holding me in the iron grip of his gaze for a moment longer, the Vee-Pee turned away to regard the holovid windows that continued displaying data that was pertinent to me. “You will be informed of the Principal’s decision later today. Return to your classes as you are, Mister Kassius.”

  I had nothing with which to oppose him, nor did I feel I had any right to do so. The moment when I could have taken control of the situation had come and gone. As a blade, I failed to draw blood, and now I returned to the sheath.

  Ghost whispered gently in my ears. “Princess, for now I suggest you agree. Your leave of absence will be granted regardless of his opposition. Remember, this Academy receives much of its funding from the Telos Corporation, and Project Mirai is very important to them as well. Place your trust in me. I will ensure that matters are resolved in your favor.”

  I nodded faintly, and noticed the Vee-Pee mistake my response for agreement. Yet there was nothing dishonest, nothing false, about my dispirited response. “Yes, sir.”

  “Then return to your class, Mister Kassius. I will notify the teachers conducting your afternoon classes about the matter of your feminine attire.”

  There was nothing more for me to say. Arguing now would be pointless, so I withdrew while grasping onto the frayed remains of my dignity, the threads of which continued to unravel and fade away like wispy smoke.

  I don’t remember lea
ving his office, nor walking by the middle-aged secretary in the waiting area. My passage from the administration building to the high-school wing was an indistinct montage of still images, until I grew conscious of my surroundings and realized that I had wandered into the girl’s toilets, probably on the first floor, and found myself entering a stall. Swinging the toilet seat down, I sat on it and then buried my face into my hands.

  I was no longer a blade, but a scared, emotionally unstable mouse.

  “Princess?”

  I replied in a whisper. “I want out of this body, Ghost. I want out. I want out. I want out….”

  “I understand.”

  Shaking my head slowly, I continued at a whisper. “No you don’t. You don’t understand at all. You don’t understand anything.”

  “Princess, I know that what you did was extremely unpleasant. It was certainly quite shocking to me. Truthfully, I am deeply unsettled.”

  Behind my hands, my eyes widened before I looked up and faced the door. “You’re unsettled? You’re unsettled?”

  “However, you were coerced into that situation—into doing something against your grain.”

  “…so I’m not a pervert…?”

  The ghost sighed like soft breeze. “Princess, listen to me. There is something I am obliged to tell you.”

  I lowered my hands and then clenched them together, as tears of frustration and near unbearable shame threatened to spill down my cheeks. “What? Tell me what?”

  “Despite being a Simulacrum, your body is extremely close to human. Of course, no human body can change its appearance the way yours can, but that’s because your Simulacrum is an extremely high-grade model with highly advanced and quite limited features.”

  I cocked my head slightly. “When you made this body more female, did you change my mind too?”

  It was quiet in the stall or rather in my ears for a long while afterwards before the Ghost replied. “There was a slight deviation in the Simulacrum’s hormonal chemistry that blurred the lines between male and female behavioral responses.”

  “So my mind is less than male, is that right?” I felt I was reaching out for straws, but I couldn’t stop myself from trying to find an answer that I could live with.

  “Not your mind, just your hormone mix.”

  “Explain,” I demanded.

  “During your encounter with Mister Praetor the Third, I altered your hormone mix in order to elicit tears as a means of emotionally disarming Mister Praetor the Third. However, that failed to achieve the desired result, other than making you cry in front of dozens of students. Unfortunately, the side-effect is an unnatural compliance and submissiveness that would otherwise be out of character for you.”

  I swallowed then cautiously whispered, “So you’re saying that I’m open to suggestion? That I’m not entirely in control?”

  “Yes, you are indeed open to suggestion. However, I am working on correcting the imbalance. It is simply taking longer than I estimated.”

  My inner turmoil began to ease, perhaps because I felt reassured I was not responsible for my behavior in the Vee-Pee’s office, and though it raised doubts regarding the degree of control I had over my body and actions, I couldn’t shake off the impression that I was denial because for one moment a delicious thrill had run through my body as I lifted my dress up the last few inches.

  That realization alone sickened me.

  A chime sounded throughout the school, clearly audible in the toilet.

  Overwhelmed by the impression that I was hiding and thereby delaying the inevitable, I rose to my feet and stepped out of the stall. After using a hand basin to wash both my hands and my face, I studied my reflection in the mirror. Not long ago I’d thrown up at the sight of myself en femme. Now, I was able to stomach it remarkably well, allowing me to appraise myself critically and felt relieved the light makeup was intact, apparently as waterproof as Angela had mentioned. My short hair was indeed longer than it had been a couple of hours ago, a stark reminder that I wasn’t in control of my appearance, let alone my emotions and behavior.

  Though my reflection scowled faintly at me, I felt she was mocking me too, challenging me to deny I made a better girl than I ever did a boy. It was becoming familiar trodden territory, and with every step I took, and every act I committed, it was growing harder to refute the evidence before my eyes. Though Ghost had certainly played a hand in altering my appearance, the soft pink lips, large doe eyes, relatively small nose, and the rich dark hair framing my soft heart shaped face, all belonged to the Ronin Kassius I remembered and so fervently wished that I wasn’t.

  I closed my eyes, counted to ten while taking deep breaths, and then opened them.

  When I looked at the girl in the mirror and admitted she was cute, I felt as though part of me had surrendered to her, and in doing so the scowl on her face turned into a thin, dark smile.

  - VI -

  Despite everything that had transpired, I returned to class in time for fifth period that happened to be history with Mrs. Merkaba. She took one exhaustingly look at me as I stood in the open doorway, and with a complicated expression she waved me through to my seat by the window. I walked across the room, the sensation of my classmates’ eyes tracking my every move making my skin tingle in an unfamiliar way, and yet I wasn’t cowed by their attention.

  My intelli-desk was situated behind Tobias’s seat, and I saw that my carry-bag was hanging beside it. I had no intention of thanking him for its return, but couldn’t help myself from glancing at him. When our gazes brushed against each other, a conflicted look crossed his face and he turned away quickly. I noticed a heartbeat later that I was smiling faintly as I sat down at my desk, and I held onto that smile while I slipped the neural headset into place over my head. As the device took effect upon my mind, my emotions dispelled quickly, replaced by a state of calm preternatural alertness that I employed to great effect upon the lecture material.

  Yet it wasn’t just my head that was clearer, but my heart too, because I believed I had a way to deal with Tobias Matheus Praetor the Third, one that would work to my advantage, without greatly compromising who I was.

  - VII -

  It wasn’t until the intervening gap between sixth period and homeroom, a scant few minutes filled with the noisy interaction between classmates, that I was inevitably confronted by elements of Class One-Cee, quickly surrounded by the Class Rep, Angela, and Felicia, all eager to interrogate me. I was reticent to reveal much, what with Tobias seated ahead of me and doing his best to appear oblivious to his surroundings, but I did assure them we would talk after homeroom. However, a number of my other classmates did not agree, and shoved their way past Felicia, Angela, and Shirohime, confronting me with a range of expressions as they demanded vociferously to know why I was suddenly dressed as a girl. The trio had trouble keeping them back, and I was surprised to see Shirohime acting in her capacity as Class Rep.

  With the situation escalating quickly, I was spared from an ugly confrontation by the appearance of our homeroom teacher, Miss Serene Marisol, who quickly ordered everyone back to their seats with that chilling tone of hers that could freeze Hell over.

  Unfortunately, it was a proverbial temporary stay of execution.

  Once issues on the homeroom itinerary were addressed, Miss Marisol then informed the class that on the advice of my physician, the Principal and Vice-Principal had recommended that I attend school as a girl, with all the rights and privileges that entitled me to, including the use of the female toilets. That’s when the class erupted into a furor, mostly from the girls who expressed their discontent having a male sully their facilities. In order to quell the disorder, Marisol had me come up to the front of the classroom and explain myself to her and my classmates.

  I fell back upon the half-lie that my body was the victim of a medical condition, and while I looked relatively female on the outside, I was still undeniably male on the inside. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to keep my condition a secret any longer, and someone dec
ided it was better that I attend the Academy in a female uniform. As anticipated, my ambiguous and vague explanation was greeted with a mixture of skepticism, ridicule, and mockery, with questions ranging from requests to see my breasts, and would I sit down or stand up to pee.

  What surprised me was the nature of their reactions. The guys were mocking me but they weren’t hostile toward me. If anything, they regarded me as a curiosity. On the other hand, the girls felt the most aggrieved by my existence, although one girl was intrigued by my revelation.

  Andrea, a slim girl with long flaxen hair who sat at the intelli-desk in front of Tobias, turned in her seat to ask him, “Did you know about his condition? I mean, you two are friends right? You’ve been friends all through middle school.”

  “I didn’t know anything,” Tobias muttered without turning away from the window.

  “So, you didn’t know he was turning into a girl?”

  “I said I didn’t know anything…and we’re not friends. Friends don’t keep secrets from each. Friends don’t deceive each other. Not like this….”

  Andrea looked openly surprised before sparing me a sympathetic look that in turn caught me off guard. However, while she was commiserative another girl wasn’t. Seated near the front of the classroom, a platinum blond by the name of Lizetta stood up and angrily demanded to know if I would share the gym change room and showers with them.

  I stared at her in brief silence before quietly asking, “You expect me to walk into the boys showers looking like this?”

  “You’re a boy. So use your own change room and showers.”

  “Yeah, but—”

  “But what?” she questioned sharply. “We have swim class next week. Do you expect to be swimming with us?”

  The anger radiating from the girl stoked the fires within me as well, and I clenched my hands as I returned her glare. “Sure. Why not. I’ll swim with you.”

  She almost shrieked loud enough to break permaglass. “What?”

  The guys behind her started to chant, “Swimsuit. Swimsuit. Swimsuit.”