Every three decades, a new princess is selected from the Hime family to serve the Hayagami. The time has arrived once more, but records from the past years indicate that not a single female has been born, except for one, the 15-year-old Arata. The issue is, Arata is actually male! He is compelled to disguise himself and assume the role of the princess candidate until a legitimate one can be located. While attending the festival, he witnesses the current princess, Kokuri-hime, being murdered, and his own life is also at stake, at the hands of the princess' personal guard, the 12 Shinshou. As he flees for his life, Kannagi of the 12 persuades everyone that Arata is the one who killed the princess instead, making him the target of the entire Imperial Court! Now, another Arata from our world has appeared in place of him! How did this occur, and how will both of them manage to survive? Note As a result of changes imposed by the mangaka's former editor in early volumes of this series, which were at odds with her initial plans for the story, a remastered version was started and the series was paused after volume 24 to allow the remastered version to catch up. However, as the story in the remastered version had diverged significantly by volume 8, in 2021 it was decided to discontinue the Shounen Sunday version and continue the narrative solely in the remastered version.