He Did Not Abandon Me
"I understand. Thank you."
Even to the healer's worried words, Kareha answered only with quiet stoicism.
Aisia watched them from a discreet distance.
It's because of me.
As a princess, she reproached herself so deeply that this affair could never be dismissed as a joke. Even if she imagined herself in perfect health, she doubted she would have moved of her own accord. That was why she longed to go to the injured Kareha's side herself—yet the conflict in her heart had not fully settled.
Still, she could not deny the inexplicable warmth that had begun to sprout in one corner of her chest.
He truly did not abandon me.
In the past she had suspected he meant to use her as a pretext to tip the war in his favor, or as a living shield. The scene just now had been nothing like her conjectures. He had been ready to throw away his own life to protect her.
Does that mean I can trust him completely?
She asked herself the question. Countless doubts still circled in her mind. Had he truly acted without political calculation? Or might this very sacrifice be a means of taming her?
Yet even as suspicion lingered, the thought that his actions moments earlier had been sincere continued to shake her.
"I can't breathe..."
The tangled emotions left her chest tight and constricted.
At dawn the next day the campsite had regained a measure of order. The wounded were under treatment, and the number of patrols had increased. Adolf Kareha still looked worn with fatigue, yet the moment daylight broke he was again scouting the surrounding terrain and weighing their next move.
"General, would it not be better to rest today?"
His adjutant urged him with concern, but he shook his head and mounted his horse.
"I must confirm the route myself."
Kareha studied the spread map as though charting a path. These ruins lay within imperial territory—practically home ground—yet they had been ambushed here. In light of that fact he was discarding every region he had once considered safe.
"To prevent any further surprise attacks, we must locate the entrance to the relic we seek as quickly as possible."
Adolf Kareha set wooden pieces one by one upon the map beside a carved horse. The horse represented their company; the pieces marked the route they would take. Because the bandage around his forearm was already stained red, his retainers cried out in alarm.
"You must not overexert yourself with an arm injured so severely!"
"Thanks to magical treatment I can move for now. I can endure this much."
His answer was heavy and final. Watching from afar, Aisia felt something unknown resonate deep within her. The creaking suspicions and resentment seemed to develop fine cracks.
"Why does he drive himself so hard?"
She murmured the question to herself. She had no answer, yet the image of Adolf Kareha as a cold-blooded man was steadily fading from her heart.
That afternoon Aisia walked the edges of the camp simply to move her body. The place resembled a ruined city—collapsed building fragments and snapped stone pillars jutted everywhere, and the ground was riddled with fissures that might have been traps or natural cracks. An eerie atmosphere, as though wandering souls drifted through it, kept her from walking long.
"Princess, you must be careful."
An imperial soldier following behind spoke urgently.
"Monsters might appear, or assassins like those before could be hiding."
Aisia bit her lip lightly. She knew her own helplessness now—helpless enough that even a common soldier felt free to warn her. Yet she was only savoring, for a brief while, the freedom he had granted her.
It was just as she realized that freedom still belonged to her.
"I know. But staying cooped inside the tent is stifling."
"Rash actions are unwise."
The soldier rebuked her carelessness. At that moment a sudden clamor rose nearby—voices that followed a deep subterranean rumble. Several soldiers had been hurt trying to clear a great heap of stone; screams rang out.
"We need people over here at once!"
Curiosity drew Aisia's gaze that way. Adolf Kareha was already there, inspecting the scene himself. The bandage still wrapped his arm, yet he ignored it and helped the soldiers shift the massive fragments.
"Please stop! You are wounded!"
Even when a soldier tried to restrain him, he pushed the man aside.
Adolf Kareha heaved at the rock, teeth clenched against the pain, and shouted,
"Out of the way! We must get them out now!"
A faint groan soon rose from a gap in the collapsed pile. At the sound Kareha moved with still greater urgency.
"Are you alive? If you live, speak at once!"
Heart racing, he shoved the stones despite his injury. Soldiers joined him, yet the mass was too heavy. Only the wounded Adolf Kareha tore at the rocks as though ripping them free. Fresh red began to seep through the bandage that had surely been changed only a short while earlier.
Seeing it, Aisia's hand rose of its own accord—yet never reached him. The distance she had always kept between them remained too great.
"Here!"
The adjutant shouted, streaming with sweat.
"A little more and we should be able to free at least one man."
A boulder even Adolf Kareha could not lift alone blocked the way; he gathered his men. When several of them heaved together and shifted the stone, they found a soldier trapped by the leg beneath it. Pain filled the man's face; blood had flowed freely.
"Can you hold on?"
Despite his ragged breathing, Adolf Kareha asked gently, relieved that his subordinate still lived. The soldier gasped out an answer.
"Yes... I think I can move. But my leg..."
"Bring a healer."
He ordered those nearby.
"Even after the rock is removed, do not move him suddenly."
While clearing the last debris from the soldier's leg, Adolf Kareha continued,
"Apply an emergency splint and wipe away the blood."
He directed the rescue with practiced skill; the injured man was drawn free and carried off for treatment.
Watching it all, Aisia felt a sudden sting at the corners of her eyes. This was not merely the ruthless general of the battlefield, but a man who looked after his subordinates and risked himself to save others.
Is this his true self?
Rumors and prejudices tangled in her mind, yet the reality before her eyes told an entirely different story.
Honorable... what, then, has been the attitude of a man who understands such honor toward me all this time...
No matter how much blood he shed, no matter what danger he faced, if someone was under his protection he would never turn away. That truth was slowly being carved into her.
Suddenly Adolf Kareha turned his head and noticed her watching. Their gazes met for an awkward moment. He lifted his bloodied hand slightly and gave a small wave, as if to signal that he was fine.
Does he think I was worried?
Flustered, she looked away.
That night Aisia sat alone inside the tent, sipping tea and lost in thought. Soldiers within and without busied themselves with healing and vigilance; Adolf Kareha likewise moved without rest.
"Is he truly exploring these ruins in order to cure me...?"
She recalled the old rumors—that he had coldly massacred enemies, that he had not hesitated at battlefield atrocities—and turned them over, wondering from what viewpoint they had been born.
Of course he may have made ruthless decisions on the field of war. Yet from the assassination attempt just now, and from the way he saved his men, that cruelty does not feel like the whole of him.
In the end she could not trust him completely, yet she began to admit that parts of him differed from the image she had long held.
But if he really means to cure my infertility, what does he intend once the treatment is done?
Aisia Lil Shuhain wondered what purpose curing her barrenness would serve if the reason Kareha himself had stated was true. She considered the advantage he would gain... and that advantage was a child.
Whaaaat...?!
The thought struck her so hard she felt heat like steam burst from the top of her head.
"Your Highness...? Do you have a fever? Your cheeks are flushed."
When her maid Minna returned and saw Aisia's scarlet face, she asked with concern. Aisia turned toward her like a broken wooden doll.
"F-fe-fever?! I... I am perfectly fine!"
Not long after that little episode, footsteps approached outside. The tent flap opened a fraction, and under the glow of a magic lamp Adolf Kareha appeared. His left arm was still bandaged; fatigue had darkened the skin around his eyes.
"Princess, are you well?"
He asked quietly.
"Why not call me by name?"
She answered with a touch of sharpness.
"Am I a princess, or your hostage... even I am no longer certain."
He was silent a moment.
"A name... I respect you. And that is not merely because you are a princess."
"Can I believe such words?"
She averted her eyes. Then, as Adolf Kareha drew nearer, she carefully reached out and took hold of his bandaged left arm. Dark bloodstains still marked his coat.
"Is the wound all right? Should you not receive further treatment?"
"The healers have done what they can, yet full recovery will take time. Still, it does not greatly hinder my movement."
He gave a low laugh. As a fellow knight Aisia knew how vital an arm was; she could not simply take comfort from that laugh.
"Rather, I had been wondering whether you yourself were hurt anywhere..."
"I... I'm unharmed."
She answered briefly. The old Aisia would have snapped that he need not concern himself with her safety; this time she did not. Instead a small, quiet relief settled in one corner of her heart.