I Think My Fiancé Has Regressed

Chapter 83: Your Heart in My Hand (2)

While healing Alex’s heart in the center of a darkly energized plaza. I feel something snap in your head, and I fall unconscious.

When I regained consciousness, I woke up in Alex’s bedroom in the palace.

How long had I been asleep?

Judging by the darkness outside, I’d say at least a day.

I usually wake up after a day or so, even when I’m exhausted, but this was definitely too much.

I barely manage to open my heavy eyelids and turn my head to see who’s lying next to me.

Sure enough, it was my fiancé, Alex, lying on the same comforter.

Luckily, my last words before I passed out must have stuck.

“If I black out and fall, you can never be more than 10 meters away from me.”

Regardless of anything else, this was something that had to be honored.

If I had woken up and Alex hadn’t been there, my head would have been pretty disoriented.

I’d be wondering if his heart was okay, if there were any side effects.

As I stared at Alex’s face in the moonlight from the window in the middle of the night, I silently swallowed the questions I wanted to ask him.

Once I see him quietly close his eyes and exhale next to me, I know I’ve avoided the worst case scenario of a failed side effect claiming his life.

Of course, I’ll need to check once more to make sure my temporary healing spell is working.

For now, the amount of magic in my body seems to be nearly restored. If I can just detect the magic and make sure it’s working properly, I’ll be able to see if it’s working….

“Coo, coo….”

“Ah.”

I realized that Alex wasn’t the only life I had to take care of.

“I’m sorry, Purr. You were really hungry, weren’t you?”

“Koooooo….”

Purr, moaning softly beside my pillow, replied in a groggy voice.

As promised, I was supposed to heal Alex’s heart and feed her magic right away.

As soon as I healed his heart, I collapsed from exhaustion, and remained unconscious for nearly a day.

Poor Purr was forced into the beginning of Ramadan because of me.

As she was about to collapse, I put my fingers to her head and the first thing I did was feed her the dark magic I had just regenerated.

After devouring nearly a full spell’s worth of magic, Puur let out a happy cry of satisfaction.

“Koooow! Koooow!”

I’ve heard that some summoners become estranged from their spirits if they don’t feed them in time.

Thank goodness Purr wasn’t one of those backstabbers.

“Koooooong….”

Satisfied with her fill of magic, Purr laid back down on the bed with a satisfied look on her face.

After making sure she was fully asleep and breathing evenly, I shifted my attention back to Alex, who was lying on the other side.

Now was as good a time as any to check on him.

“Alex, are you asleep?”

“…….”

Looking out the window, it was already early morning, but I called his name softly, just in case.

He didn’t answer, but I could tell by the movement of his eyes that he was in a fairly deep sleep.

I think it’s safe to say that he’s definitely in a deep sleep.

It would be a shame to wake up my fiancé, who is oblivious to the world, so I decided to just check on him secretly while he slept.

I just need to make sure the three replacements I installed in his heart are working properly.

…Of course, to do that, I’d have to get things out of the way a bit.

“…Hey, it’s just a medical procedure.”

I say to myself, as if to reassure myself that it’s okay. I carefully lift the blanket he’s covered in.

I slowly began to undo the top button of his robe.

I felt a little guilty about undressing my fiancé while he was asleep, but I figured it was best to get this out of the way quickly so I could have peace of mind later.

I’m not stripping him out of selflessness, I’m only doing it to save his life.

“…….”

Just in case Alex wakes up. I slowly undo the buttons on his pajamas, one by one.

Carefully, I opened the front flap slightly, exposing his upper body.

At first glance, I could see his pectoralis major and his six-pack, tight rectus abdominis.

The obliques running down the side of his waist and the vastus lateralis running down his back.

It was the perfect body for Alex, who never stops training, and it showed through his clothes.

….

…….

………….

“This is not the time.”

I was so caught up in the moment that I almost forgot my original purpose.

The important thing was to see how well my magic was doing its job in Alex’s heart.

I want to make it clear that I removed Alex’s top to check that, not to fulfill my own selfishness.

“So, obviously, the heart was around here.”

Judging by the faint sensation of my magic within his body, the treatment itself must have been successful.

When I see that it moves with the heart to the beat, the treatment method itself of filling in the missing part of the heart seems to be a good fit.

Even the third spell, the one I didn’t know what happened to after my memory was cut off was doing its job.

“Haaaaa….”

With everything working out perfectly, I could finally let go of the biggest burden on my mind.

I stopped all the bad endings that would befall the Kingdom of Leavrov by defeating the Demon King and curing Alex’s heart disease, which is incurable without light magic.

A sigh of relief escaped my lips as I realized the task was finally complete.

I’m also glad to see that he followed my warning to stay no further than 10 meters away from me.

In order to maintain the dark magic I used to repair Alex’s heart, of course, I need him to be within range of my magic at all times.

My magic has a maximum range of about 15 meters. I told him to stay no further than ten meters away, just to be safe.

If he doesn’t take my words to heart, my actions could have been for naught.

As it was, Alex took my words to heart, and apparently never left my side from the Academy to the palace.

“…….”

Ah, not the time for this.

In order to explain to Alex the precise principles and precautions of curing his heart disease, I needed to wake him from his slumber and to do that, I’d have to fix his clothes.

I didn’t want Alex to think I had a weird hobby like that, like removing my sleeping fiancé’s top, sneaking it off, and admiring his muscles.

As I’m buttoning his shirt, starting from the top, his pectoralis major suddenly catches my eye.

It was the slightest hint, but it felt like I was being reminded of something I’d forgotten.

“…Just a little bit.”

Looking outside, it’s still a long way from dawn. Alex was deeply asleep and probably wouldn’t wake up for a while.

I’ll have a little bit of time before he wakes up.

…Not that I’m trying to be selfish.

I just want to put my ear to Alex’s chest and see how well his heart is beating.

I mean, isn’t that the first diagnosis in internal medicine, to put a stethoscope on the chest?

Even pre-modern doctors, before the discovery of the stethoscope, would put their ear to the chest and listen to the heart.

What I’m about to do is also part of a treatment check.

I put my ear to Alex’s chest, cupping his pounding chest.

I use my left ear to check how well his heart is doing.

“…What are you doing, Ariana?”

“Hmph?!”

Alex’s voice came without warning, and as I panicked I let out a strange voice.

“Oh, Alex, when did you wake up?”

“…I just woke up, from the point where Ariana had her ear on my chest.”

“Oh, I see….”

He picked a good time to misunderstand.

“I thought I felt like I was getting a chill in my upper body. I guess it wasn’t just a dream.”

“Well, is that so….”

Looking down at his upper body, which had been untangled by my hands, Alex smiled broadly at me.

“Hey, don’t get any weird ideas, I just wanted to make sure Alex’s heart was taken care of.

Unbuttoning your top, taking my ear to your chest, it’s all part of the treatment and follow-up!”

“I didn’t say anything, Ariana.”

He hadn’t, but his eyes said it anyway.

His sleepy eyes freaked me out, and I found myself in this weird place where my conscience was pricked and I was making excuses, even though I hadn’t really done anything out of character or weird.

“So?”

“What?”

“So, according to Dr. Ariana Anastasia’s diagnosis. Was my heart cured?”

“…….”

By my standards, it’s a success, but it’s technically a half success, not a cure.

Should I call this a success or a failure for Alex?

To give him more clarity, I responded in a more neutral way.

“I have good news and bad news, what do you want to hear first?”