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Link blinked drowsily and stifled his yawn with his sleeve. This was his final exam!
If only Alfonzo's gushing about the princess wasn't so tedious…
"It's Her Highness, not princess, got that?"
"Check your clothes!"
"Kneel and don't lift your head!"
Seriously, this tirade was more boring than Nico's tales and that was saying something. What was so special about this princess, anyway? She would give him his certificate, declare him an engineer, and that was it.
With all this kneeling and bowing ruckus, and the funny way of addressing her — he just knew she must be ultra-boring and stiff. He blew a raspberry, immediately catching a scolding from Alfonzo.
Address her as Her Highness, kneel, don't look up, take the certificate, and vanish without ruining everything. Easy, right?
When they were finally inside, it got even worse.
A guy with two silly hats ushered him everywhere, his litany of complaints even longer than Alfonzo's rules.
What was wrong with his shoes? He had polished them yesterday, and he was an engineer for heaven's sake! If this princess, Her Highness, mind you, couldn't live with a speck of coal on an engineer's shoe, she shouldn't give out the certificates.
Spoiled brats, the whole lot.
Seriously, this two-hat guy gave him bad vibes. His cap was spotless, thank you very much! Alfonzo had just checked it.
A kick into his knees sent him to the ground and he barely made it into a proper kneel before Her Highness was announced.
Okay, first part down. Now receiving the certificate without looking up — wait, how was that supposed to work!?! Should he stretch his hands out and she put the paper within his grasp?
This was ridiculous.
Screw it, he was going to look up. They wouldn't want him to accidentally grab a part of her instead of the certificate, right?
Slowly, he let his gaze travel up her pink gown. Were princesses always dressed up like this? How impractical.
Oops, the two hats were exploding, but he didn't care. His mission was to receive the certificate and disappear.
It wasn't as if he was interested in Her High— oh boy.
She had a smile like the sun and the dress suited her outstandingly well and her cheeks dusted perfectly pink when they made eye contact — by the Holy Three, she slipped him a letter and he was so doomed.
She was cute.