“I understand. Thank you.”
The healer’s worried words were met only with silence from Kareha.
Aisia observed them quietly from a distance.
‘It’s because of me.’
The princess herself reproached herself to such an extent that this matter could not be brushed off as a joke.
Even assuming she had been in perfect condition, Aisia wondered if she would have acted on her own.
That was why she wanted to go directly to the injured Kareha, but the inner conflict in her heart had not yet fully resolved.
However… she couldn’t deny the unfamiliar warmth that was starting to grow in her chest.
‘He really didn’t abandon me.’
In the past, she suspected that he used her merely as a tool to lead wars to his advantage or as a shield.
But the situation moments ago was entirely different from her assumptions.
He was willing to sacrifice his own life to protect her.
‘And does that mean I can fully trust him?’
She asked herself.
Many doubts still swirled in her mind.
Did he truly act without political calculations? Or was this sacrifice a means to tame her?
Despite lingering suspicions, the thought kept disturbing her: wasn’t his earlier action genuine?
“My chest feels constricted…”
She was overwhelmed with the complexity of emotions.
The following dawn, the campsite was somewhat settled.
The wounded were being treated, and the number of patrols had increased.
Despite visible signs of exhaustion, Adolf Kareha reviewed the surrounding terrain and deliberated on the next move as soon as daylight broke.
“General, shouldn’t you rest a little today?”
The officer worriedly suggested, but Kareha shook his head and mounted his horse.
“I need to confirm the route myself.”
Kareha appeared to be considering the path while gazing at the unfolded map.
Though this area belonged to the empire and was like a home ground, they had been attacked unexpectedly.
Considering those facts, he was discarding all the areas that were once considered safe.
“We must find the entrance to the relic we’re looking for as quickly as possible to prevent further ambushes.”
Adolf Kareha placed wooden pieces along with figurines of cavalry on the map.
The cavalry figurines represented them, and the wooden pieces symbolized their route.
However, his bandaged arm was stained red, prompting the surrounding people to gasp in alarm.
“You shouldn’t push yourself in this state! Your arm is severely injured!”
“Thanks to the magical healing, I can move for now. I can endure this.”
He firmly replied.
Witnessing this scene from afar, Aisia felt something indefinable stirring deep inside her.
The suspicion and prejudice that once troubled her were gradually cracking.
“Why does he have to exhaust himself this much?”
She mumbled to herself.
Though she had no answers, the perception of Adolf Kareha being a “cold-blooded” man in her heart was gradually fading.
That afternoon, Aisia decided to take a stroll around the campsite to move her body a little.
The ruins resembled a devastated city, littered with collapsed building debris and broken stone pillars. Gaping cracks spread across the ground, uncertain if they were traps or fissures.
The atmosphere was eerie, evoking an unsettling feeling of lost souls, making it hard to walk for long.
“Princess, be careful.”
A soldier from the empire approached hurriedly with a warning.
“There might be monsters that suddenly appear, or assassins lurking as well.”
Aisia slightly bit her lips at the words.
She realized how powerless she had become, now heeding even a soldier’s warning.
However, for the moment, she enjoyed the freedom that had been handed to her by him.
But when she realized that she had gained some sense of freedom, it was.
“I know, but staying cooped up in the tent is too suffocating.”
“reckless actions are not good.”
The imperial soldier reproved the princess for her rash behavior.
Suddenly, a commotion nearby caught their attention.
A rumbling sound from the ground was immediately followed by voices.
Some soldiers attempting to clear a large pile of rocks seemed to be injured, as screams of pain erupted.
“We need help here immediately!”
Aisia couldn’t help but look towards the source of the disturbance.
There, Adolf Kareha had already arrived and started personally supervising the situation.
Despite the bandages still wrapped around his arm, he helped the soldiers remove the massive rock fragments without hesitation.
“Stop it! You’re injured!”
Though soldiers tried to dissuade him, Kareha pushed them aside and shouted as he strained to remove the rocks.
The pain was evident through his clenched teeth.
“Get out of the way! We need to save them immediately!”
Through the cracks of the collapsed rocks, faint groans could be heard.
Those sounds spurred Kareha to act even faster.
“Is anyone alive? If you can hear me, speak up!”
Ignoring his injuries, his urgency grew as he tried to remove more rocks.
The soldiers also joined in, but the pile was too heavy to handle easily.
With his wounded arm, Kareha was tearing away the rocks, one by one, as a crimson stain slowly spread across the bandage.
Watching this scene, Aisia instinctively reached out her hand but refrained from touching him due to the distance that typically separated them. The gap between Adolf Kareha and her was wide.
“There!”
A drenched-in-sweat officer called out.
“Push a little bit more, and we might be able to rescue someone.”
Even the rocks that Kareha couldn’t lift alone were moved with the combined strength of several soldiers. Beneath the rubble, they discovered a soldier whose leg was trapped.
Pain was evident on the soldier’s face, and he had lost a significant amount of bl**d.
“Can you endure?”
Adolf Kareha, despite his labored breathing, softly inquired upon realizing his subordinate was alive, and the soldier quickly replied between gasps of breath.
“Yes… I think I can move… But my leg…”
“Bring a healer.”
Kareha commanded those nearby.
“Be careful not to move suddenly when we remove the rock.”
As he lifted the remains from the soldier’s leg, Kareha added,
“And apply an emergency splint and clean the wound.”
With expert coordination, he skillfully managed the situation, leading to the soldier’s safe extraction from the rubble. He then received medical treatment.
Witnessing the entire event, Aisia suddenly felt tears welling in her eyes.
This wasn’t the ruthless general she knew from battles. This was someone who cared for his subordinates and risked his own life to help others.
‘Is this his true nature?’
Amidst the conflicting rumors and preconceptions in her mind, the reality she observed was telling a completely different story.
‘Honorable… What was his attitude towards me during all these days, with such honor…?’
It slowly dawned on her that no matter how much bl**d he shed or the dangers he faced, he would never turn away from those he swore to protect.
Sensing her gaze, Adolf Kareha turned his head and noticed Aisia watching him.
Their eyes awkwardly met for a moment.
He slightly raised his bl**d-covered hand and gave a slight wave, indicating “I’m fine.”
‘Does he think I was worried?’
Embarrassed, she looked away.
That night, Aisia sat alone inside her tent, drinking tea while lost in thought.
The soldiers outside were busy both with healing and on high alert. Adolf Kareha was also rushing around tirelessly.
“Is he truly exploring the ruins just to heal me…?”
Recalling the rumors she had heard about his ruthless actions in battles and massacring enemies mercilessly, she now began to reconsider the source of such tales.
‘Of course, maybe he had to make cold-hearted decisions in war, but from what I’ve seen today during the assassination attempt and how he saved his subordinates, the cruelty isn’t the whole story.’
In the end, she couldn’t fully trust him yet but began to acknowledge there was more to him than the image she had of him.
“If his aim is truly to heal my infertility, what does he want with it?”
Princess Aisia Lil Shuhain thought about the reason Kareha had directly mentioned. She wondered why he would want to heal her infertility.
While pondering, she contemplated the obvious benefit of curing infertility — a ‘baby.’
‘E-E-What?!’
The mere thought caused a heat wave in her mind, as if steam were rising from her head.
“Your Highness… do you have a fever? Your cheeks are red.”
When the maid Minna returned and noticed Aisia with flushed cheeks, the princess gave her a look like a broken wooden doll.
“Y-You… I’m perfectly fine!”
As this little incident unfolded, footsteps approached the tent from outside.
The tent flap opened slightly, revealing Adolf Kareha under the enchanted lantern light.
His left arm was still bandaged, and his eyes appeared shadowed from exhaustion.
“Princess, are you alright?”
He asked quietly.
“Use my name.”
She replied with a somewhat sharp tone.
“Am I a princess or your hostage… I’m getting confused myself.”
He fell silent for a moment.
“Using your name… I respect you. It’s not just because you’re the princess.”
“Can I believe that?”
She averted her eyes.
While doing so, she cautiously extended her arm toward him.
“Still, you did protect me tonight.”
He gently grasped her hand with his bandaged arm.
The traces of intense bloodshed were still vivid on his coat.
“Is your wound alright? Should you get more treatment?”
“They’ve treated me, but full recovery will take time. Nonetheless, there’s no serious hindrance to movement.”
He chuckled softly.
As fellow knights, Aisia knew how crucial his arm was and couldn’t fully reassure herself with his laughter.
“Conversely, I’m curious if you’re injured anywhere…”
“I’m fine.”
She replied briefly.
Had she been the same Aisia from before, she might have snapped and told him to stop worrying about her wellbeing, but this time, she didn’t.
Instead, a small sense of relief began to settle in her heart.
