This is so fucking funny, what a chad author. Big points for creativity and finding a way to make nobody the bad guy in an otherwise done-to-death scenario, for sure.
I feel it could have had a bigger impact and “worked” better with more time and development... but it’s definitely better than the other stuff we’ve gotten from this anthology. If we’re gonna go this far, either develop the prince a bit more, or pull something like, “oh actually the prince was actually just super butch, regards!” and just lean in to the tomfuckery.
... shit, now I actually really want to see that. Like do a Handsome Girl and Sheltered Girl thing, where the prince is trying to disguise that she’s a woman because she doesn’t want to lose the villainess, but then she finds out the villainess is gay because she’s in love with the heroine so she reveals herself and they poly it up. Shit, maybe I’ll write something like that...