## Prologue
One day, Nigel, the crown prince of the Kaiserion Empire, sensed something strange the moment he woke from sleep.
Hm?
What’s going on?
No matter how much he tried to move his arms and legs to lift his body, he couldn’t budge an inch.
It felt as if his entire body had been bound tightly with rope and tossed into a swamp. His vision was blurry, and instead of the smooth touch of the finest silk bedsheets that would normally embrace his body, a rough and damp unpleasantness enveloped him from head to toe.
What is this? He could feel something heavy pressing down on his entire body. I need to get this off me…
Just then, knock knock. A knocking sound came from outside the room.
—”Lord Nigel. The door was open, so I knocked. Do you need cleaning services?”
It was the cleaning maid who tidied up the dormitory room every day. For whatever reason, the door to his room was indeed slightly ajar.
He had closed the door as soon as he entered his room yesterday, and he hadn’t opened it again after that. Since the door couldn’t have opened on its own, someone else must have opened it.
An outsider infiltrating the Kaiserion Academy dormitory. What on earth was the dormitory management office doing instead of protecting the dormitory’s security?
A list of people who needed to be held accountable—from the dormitory supervisor to the security captain—unfurled in Nigel’s mind.
Nigel thrashed his entire body and shook his head. But strangely enough, even when he tried to open his mouth to speak, only bizarre sounds came out as if his throat was blocked.
His vocal cords wouldn’t vibrate properly. Instead, he only felt the unfamiliar sensation of the thin skin below his jaw inflating like a balloon before deflating.
After the knock, he heard the maids outside the room talking to each other, unable to hear his voice from inside.
—”…I don’t think he’s inside? But why is the door… open?”
—”He must have gone out for personal business. I didn’t hear anything about it… but anyway, this works out well. Let’s quickly tidy up and get out.”
—”Yes!”
The door immediately swung wide open.
How dare they open the door like that without the room owner’s permission! At this rude behavior, a short breath escaped Nigel’s mouth in disbelief. He didn’t know what was happening, but he couldn’t let others see him in such a ridiculous state.
Just moments ago, Nigel had been struggling under something heavy. If he made eye contact with someone like this, he would feel like disappearing from the world immediately.
Don’t come in! The crown prince tried to shout. But the sound that came out of his mouth was:
“Ribbit.”
That was all.
Ribbit? Nigel furrowed his brow sharply. What sound just came out of my mouth? He must have misheard. There was no way such a sound—one that only lowly creatures would make—could come from the noble crown prince’s mouth.
What is that sound? I think I heard a frog croaking. This was an academy that employed cleaning staff at twice the number of students just to maintain the empire’s dignity. There was no way they would let frogs roam around inside the building.
Then what on earth was that “ribbit” sound just now—
That’s when it happened.
Whoosh— Whatever had been covering and pressing down on Nigel’s entire body was suddenly pulled away.
“!!”
The sudden light was blinding. Nigel’s eyelids trembled.
As the honorable crown prince of the empire and a member of the academy student council, Nigel quickly raised his body to protect the image of nobility and dignity he had always maintained.
The crown prince had to show perfection without any dishevelment, even if he had just woken from sleep. He instinctively straightened his spine and raised his chin. Or rather, he tried to raise it.
Until a scream pierced his ears.
“Kyaaah!”
It was a sharp sound that seemed to tear his eardrums. At that sound, Nigel froze.
“What? What’s wrong?”
She said as she threw open the large double-panel window.
Meanwhile, Nigel tried to compose his expression and regain his usual appearance.
“Ribbit.”
If only that sound hadn’t come out again.
This time it was clear. The sound that had bubbled up from deep in his belly and burst out of his mouth was not the language of the empire.
“A f-frog!”
Only then did Nigel’s gaze fall to his own body. He immediately saw round, green fingers. What? Round and… green?
Smooth, glossy skin, joints protruding at each segment, and most decisively—thin, transparent webbing connecting his fingers.
“Oh my, a frog? How did a frog get all the way into the dormitory? Anna, hand me the broom. We need to get rid of it before he returns.”
Nigel looked up at the two maids before this unbelievable reality. They were gigantic like members of the giant race, unlike usual. His line of sight was too low.
He had to crane his neck for a long time just to barely see the tips of their chins. The fear from the overwhelming size difference flowed down his spine.
…Did I really turn into a frog?
“Ribbit?”
Damn it. It was a curse he had never once actually pronounced with his own mouth in his entire life. But Nigel didn’t have time to be lost in thought.
Whoosh— Because one of the maids swung her arm.
The sound of air being cut sounded as threatening as cannon fire. If he got hit by that broom, there would definitely be no bones left to collect.
Ugh? Nigel unconsciously turned his body to dodge the hand that seemed as large as the room’s door. After barely dodging it, Nigel hopped toward the corner of the room.
“If His Highness the Crown Prince finds out such a lowly creature was in his room, everyone will be severely punished! Catch it quickly!”
“Yes! It ran over there!”
At least it was praiseworthy that the academy’s cleaning maids were this thoroughly concerned with hygiene. Once everything was sorted out, he would want to personally give them an award.
But if he himself was the target of this “hygiene management,” that was a different story. This is treason! This is attempted regicide!
Nigel hopped around the dormitory room in terror as their giant arms and brooms rapidly approached him.
I’m not a frog, I’m Nigel Kaiserion, the owner of this room! The crown prince of this empire that you fear! Why can’t you recognize me!
“Ribbit!”
Still, no voice came out.
He hadn’t even adapted to his body bouncing and jumping high yet, but imagining what they would do if they caught him made his non-existent spine feel distant.
There was no way they would tolerate bugs or frogs crawling around.
…He would probably die.
No!
He couldn’t die after turning into a frog like this.
Nigel Kaiserion still had too many things he wanted to do and too many things he wanted to obtain. He hadn’t seized the position of crown prince just to die in this peaceful, provincial academy. He had far grander and more brilliant dreams.
Yesterday had definitely been an ordinary day, so what on earth was happening overnight!
Swoosh—! The broom grazed past Nigel’s eyes. The maids’ determination to catch the frog still hadn’t wavered. Nigel, who had landed on all fours on the floor, spotted a narrow, dark gap before him. It was under the wardrobe.
…Let’s get in there first. Nigel barely avoided the gaze of the two cleaning maids and crawled under the heavy wardrobe made of fitted mahogany.
No matter how much the academy employed the best cleaning staff, they wouldn’t clean under the wardrobe every day.
Nigel pushed through a few strands of spiderweb and dust clumps to go deep underneath. Because it was dark and sunlight didn’t reach there, he felt a cool temperature on his belly.
His moist body, befitting a frog, was uncomfortably creepy. Moreover, even though he was clearly exhaling and inhaling through his mouth, for some reason it didn’t feel like he was breathing and it was just stuffy.
Nigel, curled up in the corner, recalled yesterday’s memories.
Just where did things go wrong? What did I miss?
There must have been some sign.
Surely.
