I Think My Fiancé Has Regressed

Chapter 11: The Duke’s daughter’s revenge is not too late even if it takes 3 years (5)

~A makeshift shelter to one side of the royal infantry~

Bonfires of varying sizes crackled quietly here and there to preserve light and warmth as night fell.

In one of the tents surrounding one of these fires, a woman lay comfortably, slowly recovering her depleted magic.

The breathing sound, which seemed like it would die out at any moment, fortunately has now turned into a soft tone.

She was silently relieved, though not outwardly, that she was over the hump.

“Are you satisfied?”

The question came from Elise, who was tending to Ariana at her side.

It was unlikely that Ariana would wake up just yet, so her blunt words were also a clear attack on me.

“I asked you if you were satisfied with the choice you made in abandoning Ariana.”

The question was a predetermined one.

The day she mysteriously disappeared, everything in the kingdom of Leavrov changed overnight.

Her family, House Anastasia, turned from pro-royal to anti-royal, and her younger brother, who had been a member of my entourage, became downright hostile to me.

Eamon had also divorced his fiancée, apparently because Charlotte didn’t want me to share the same last name as her.

The political balance of the Academy, which had been precariously maintained by Ariana’s presence alone, collapsed as soon as a few rumors swept through.

As I later learned, Charlotte’s hatred of me was a move to completely disrupt the forces around me.

When Sierra’s insistence led to her execution for treason, Eamon took her into exile in a neighboring country.

It was a month after Eamon disappeared that I discovered that all the diplomatic work he was responsible for had been neglected.

Everything was in shambles.

By the time I realized it, it was too late to prevent the destruction of my kingdom.

All I could do was slow it down with my sword and my magic, slaying the endless waves of demons from beyond the borders.

And now that I knew I was relying on Ariana for help with even that, it was hard not to loathe myself.

I still don’t know why she fled to the edge of the land, leaving only a letter and hiding her identity.

Maybe she didn’t want to reveal the sorrow of her loss, so she hid herself.

Did she disappear on purpose, leaving no trace so that I could never find her, hoping that I would regret her after she was gone?

Or maybe there was another reason I didn’t know.

One thing is for sure, for whatever reason, I didn’t deserve to say anything to her.

Before, I’d surely harbored in my heart the desire to make her happy, to keep her smile forever.

But since then, that thought has become blurred and faded, as if it were buried in a white mist.

As soon as I let go of my precarious connection to her, which was only a finger’s touch away, everything else became a mirage and vanished in an instant.

All that remained was a foolish king on the brink of destruction.

It was an objective assessment of myself that I could ask ten thousand people and ten thousand people would give me the same answer.

“…I was foolish.”

No excuses, no defense, just a simple answer.

It wouldn’t change anything if I came back now and apologized.

At least to Elise, who had stood by Ariana’s side all this time, she owed it to her to return the favor.

Unlike a stupid, foolish traitor like me.

“…….”

Her eyes flicked to mine.

It was a look that said, “Do you realize that now?”

Even sitting on a cushion made of obsidian spikes, I couldn’t have been more uncomfortable.

A few moments of silence passed between me and her, broken by another.

“Ugh…ugh….”

“Ariana!”

“Lady Ariana!”

She slowly opened her eyes and looked around as her magic recovered.

Her gaze locked with Elise’s first, and she began to name the children of the village as soon as she woke up.

“Where’s Tommy and…Anna?”

“They’re resting in the other tent. Thanks to Ariana, they’re both unharmed.”

“That’s good to hear.”

After a brief exchange with Elise, she shifted her gaze, this time locking eyes with me.

The smile that spread across her face as soon as we met was both beautiful and painful.

“So it wasn’t a dream after all.”

“…….”

“Alex saved me, didn’t you?”

…Don’t say that.

I never, ever, ever saved you.

“Thank you, Alex.”

…I don’t deserve your thanks.

“…Oh, come to think of it, the Prince once told me not to call you Alex.”

‘You asshole. You piece of shit.’

“It just came out of my mouth because it’s been a long time, and I’ve gotten comfortable talking to you face to face.”

…I think I’m going crazy just seeing my face in the glimmer of your eyes right now.

“I’m sorry, Prince. Oh, no, Your Majesty.”

Please, stop.

Stop it.

No more, don’t stab me in the heart with your smile.

Please, please.

* * * *

Alex staggered out of the carriage, looking as if he was going to collapse at any moment, and was carried by Dale up to his dormitory, where he promptly fell into a deep sleep.

Somehow, I had a gut feeling that I shouldn’t leave him there, so I asked Dale to come in and see if he woke up.

What the hell has he been up to lately?

The sight of his frizzy blond hair and deep, dark circles under his eyes only fueled my imagination.

“He probably won’t be up for a while.”

Dale, who had come up with the rest of the wagon’s load, told me, still waiting for him to wake up.

“Is he ill, by any chance?”

“I wouldn’t say ill, but he’s mostly sleep deprived.”

“Sleep deprivation….”

Not getting enough sleep is a pain in the ass, so maybe I should let him sleep it off.

“If you have anything to say, you can pass it on to me, or I’ll tell him that Lady Ariana came to see him when he wakes up.”

“That’s okay, I don’t really have anything I want to say.”

“What?”

“It’s just that it’s been a while…and I wanted to ask you how he’s been doing lately.”

“I see.”

Dale flashed a faint smile, then opened the door and stepped outside, as if to excuse himself.

“I’m going to be doing other things for a while, but I’ll be in the next room if you need me.”

“Oh, sure.”

The door to Alex’s private dorm room closed, leaving me and Alex alone.

“…….”

Judging by the lack of eye movement above his eyelids, it would probably be at least another half hour before he woke up.

Plus, Dale was out of the room.

I knew I shouldn’t be thinking about it now, but it was clear that this was an opportunity that wouldn’t come around often.

Remembering the advice Kael had given me the other day, I quietly got up from my seat and moved towards Alex’s luggage.

Maybe I could find some evidence of Alex’s sudden change in demeanor.

I don’t think so, of course, but just in case Kael was right.

If Alex is temporarily showing a sincere attitude towards me in order to frame me with Miss Sierra and trap me.

I’m just going through the motions to find proof that he’s not.

If I go through Alex’s piles of stuff, I might find evidence of a change in his personality.

One by one, I set the boxes down on the floor from top to bottom, carefully examining their contents.

Spellbooks with high-level magic.

Simple tools and household items needed for daily living.

School uniforms, cleaned as if they were brand new.

I rummaged through the rest of the luggage, but I didn’t find anything that gave me a clue.

“Maybe it was all for nothing.”

It may seem like a cop-out to say this, but the look in Alex’s eyes the other day was definitely different.

Whereas before the end-of-year ball, Alex felt like he was everyone’s prince charming.

After the day of my doomsday event, Alex had a look of determination in his eyes, as if he had been through a lot.

Judging by the change in his demeanor towards me shortly thereafter, I can only assume that this determination was also related to his efforts to mend his relationship with me.

Once I realized that, a small sense of relief blossomed in my mind.

“After all, if not me, who else would believe him?”

Other people might still be suspicious of Alex, but at least I had to believe unconditionally that he had changed.

Regardless of what he’s done in the past or anything like that, it’s like a fiancé’s duty.

After making my own resolve to act that way from now on, I put the hastily unpacked things back together without being noticed.

As I was putting his things back and returning them to their original stack, a sword slipped through a gap in the pile and tipped over.

“That’s Alex’s sword.”

Alex’s specialty was magical swordsmanship, energizing swords to increase their power, so it was no surprise that his personal sword was included in his luggage.

I was about to slide it back into the crate as it had been, but a strange sensation in the handle drew his attention once more.

“…I’ve seen that sigil before.”

As I stared at the familiar pattern on the sword’s hilt, I immediately remembered where I had seen it in my previous life.

An ominous premonition flashed through my mind, so I hurriedly unwrapped the cloth-wrapped blade to confirm its identity.

As soon as I saw the blade shining white with a faint holy power, I immediately understood the identity of this sword.

“This. Why is this….?”

The Holy Sword of Protection, a piece of equipment that is essential to obtain in order to progress through the later stages of the story, capable of killing all mid-level or lower level monsters with a single blow.

“Why the hell is this here…?”

It’s an item that can only be obtained in an event just before you graduate from the Academy, and should never be here.