#miluka

When the princess first arrives at the Thieves’ den, she’s very nervous and uncomfortable with the leers she’s being given…

But the boss keeps his chill and talks to her like a normal person. The princess is still scared of him at this point, but I thought the man deserved praise for this, and it sets as good a first impression as any for her. And…

He’s not really eager to see her go?

When Kukuri and Nike first arrived, his first instinct was to kick them to the curb. But he sat down with a member of the royal family, which should be way more trouble for a thief than he made it seem. Is it because she’s a pretty face? Because she was in distress? Because she’s not a kid like our main protagonists? Probably a mix of all three. But no matter the reason, he was willing to hear her out and didn’t want her running off scared.

After asking for her reasons for being there, Miluka begs him to save her kingdom by stealing the Banana Moon. He’s her only hope. The princess is appealing to the boss’s sense of justice and honor - she’s assuming he has these things, despite being a thief. And he does! He’s moved by her words, discreetly. After all, he didn’t have to mention selling the Banana Moon back to the kingdom at all - he could have just taken it as planned. The ransom money for it is basically the same as receiving a reward for helping the kingdom and returning their jewel. Then he turns to exit the cave, and she sees, uh…

Let me just say? This is not the face someone makes when they see a man’s rear end and think, “gross!” or “what the hell!?” - this is a pure “oh my” face.

Her stare lingers…and then she clutches her face and ducks away in embarrassment. But she is by no means repulsed or offended at the sight of his bare bottom. I’ll even dare to say she might be a little impressed. Remember, the boss is a master thief who can jump to great heights in a single bound. He’s fast and nimble. His lower body must be in fairly decent shape…including his gluteus maximus muscles. In other words, in a world of childish anime drawings, he’s got a tight ass yo.

Furthermore…

The boss is viewed by others as attractive in canon.

In comparison to everyone else, the princess is most shocked by the (fake) revelation that the boss is bald. She must have thought him a handsome young man as well, only to be startled beyond belief to find that beneath his bandana was a (not actually) bald head. But let’s backtrack a little.

Before heading off to find the Banana Moon, Miluka asks the boss to give her a nickname as he’d done with Nike (Cricket) and Kukuri (Chestnut Bun). He’s hesitant - she is a princess, after all, but his formality is paper thin. He quickly dubs her ‘Princess Stovepot, and she’s thrilled at the title. Her reasoning for the nickname was to allow for better communication between them, when in truth…

The princess dreamed of having a nickname, being called ‘Her Highness’ all her life. She looked to the boss to fulfill this lifelong dream of hers, showing that despite her initial fears, she’s already holding him in high regard.

But wait a minute! Earlier, the boss claims that the nickname ‘Princess Stovepot’ was due to her having a pot on her head the first time they met. But while wearing the pot…

Kukuri was the first to encounter her. The boss was busy training Nike at this point.

The princess then introduces herself to Kukuri…by taking the pot off her head. They’re both hiding in the bushes at this point, so I wonder when the boss would have seen her wearing the pot? Was it when he was training Nike, spotting her from afar?

Or maybe he’d noticed her presence much earlier, like after they met the chancellor here:

It’s possible she’d caught his eye by this point - she’s hardly stealthy, and he had just noted that the situation was turning into ‘a real pain’ - and maybe not just because of the chancellor’s appearance. But I digress.

After the Banana Moon is taken by the chancellor and the princess captured, the gang sneak into the castle to save the day, and the boss steals some food. I just found it cute that he’s been curious about palace food the whole time. This also ends up sparing the princess from a fate which would later befall him…that is, turning into a duck. But one more thing, real quick -

The boss doesn’t peek at girls changing. I just like that he’s a gentleman is all.

A little while later, they’re facing the chancellor, the gang boards a boat from god, and Juju recites a prophecy depicting all the human characters as animals. Something about this caught my eye:

Runrun, the boss’s other potential love interest, is described as a snake. This connection is obvious given her main magical abilities. But the princess is described as a frog. This might be due to the popular ‘princess and the frog’ trope from classic fairytales. Another important thing to note is that snakes eat frogs. You know what else eats frogs? Ducks, which the boss currently is at this point. This hammers out their odd little love triangle pretty firmly. One could say that the duck and snake go together due to sharing the same food source, but you could also say that the duck might see the snake as a fellow predator and something to be wary of (as the boss, being a thief, fears magic users like Runrun) while the frog is more to the duck’s ‘tastes’. Or not! This isn’t meant to be a ‘my pairing is better than this other pairing’ kind of post, so let’s move right along, shall we?

When all the fuss is over, the princess takes the initiative by carrying the boss in her arms, wondering what will become of him? She’s not at all reserved about hugging him either, and quite aggressively at that.

They’re told that receiving a kiss from the one that loves him should be enough to break the curse. The princess pauses, closing her eyes in thought. The boss also looks thoughtful…but with a slight blush on his cheeks. As if he’s already thinking about who might kiss him - probably the woman holding him - and getting just a little bit excited at the idea. The princess announces with a small blush of her own that she will kiss him, and the boss blushes in full! They’re both sweating nervously at this point, but it has to be done, right!?

Miluka admits that she doesn’t know for sure if she’s in love with the boss, but she does know that he’s very important to her. He gave her a nickname after all! The boss stares as the princess makes her declaration.

The princess closes her eyes and leans in, and the boss continues to stare, his blush returning in full as his brows raise as if to say “is this seriously happening!?” - he’s totally going to get a kiss from the princess and that’s a situation he probably never thought he’d be in.

But. Just. You. Watch.

Such. TENDERNESS. And the very slight movement of his…uh…lips? Gives the impression that the kiss was returned. At least in comparison to the kiss that happened next.

The princess looks a tad unhappy to see that it took another kiss from someone else to finish breaking the curse. Is it simple dissatisfaction she’s feeling, or a bit of jealousy as well?

But all’s well that ends well. Peace returns to the kingdom, and the king is able to greet his subjects alongside his daughter. After sharing a smile with her father, Princess Stovepot looks to the sky with rosy cheeks…

…and the scene fades to the boss. I can’t think of a more obvious way to say “I’m thinking of my loved one.” Now, I know the princess said earlier that she wasn’t sure if she loved him or not, and her kiss was only enough to transform his body while his head remained a duck’s. But let’s think about the situation a little more. When they first met, she was scared of his mean expression, but her opinion of him quickly changed for the better. She came to see him as an important person…and I think the reason why it was his body that changed is because she cared for his ‘heart’, the center of who he was, more than any physical feature. This is on the opposite spectrum of Runrun, who fell for him immediately after catching a glimpse of his face - and continued to stick to that, even forcing him to shave his stubble to her liking. And so for her kiss, it was his head that changed back. Again, not trying to say one is better than the other - nothing wrong with liking a good-looking guy! I’m just trying to put logic into the whole transformation bit (but it’s anime? Logic why? I don’t know either.)

Anyways. The princess probably isn’t madly in love with the boss, nor he with her. But what people forget is that love often doesn’t happen all at once, and the trigger doesn’t have to be anything grand - rather, it’s usually something small, like seeing a new side of someone (nice ass), receiving a precious gift (a nickname), going on an adventure or overcoming difficulties together (saving the kingdom), or sharing something special (a kiss) - that builds up into something bigger.