Chapter – 32
Alesto’s expectations went completely off course when, upon hearing his proposal, the Saintess suddenly began pressing her chest tightly.
At first, he thought she was simply trying to calm a bit of nervousness.
But as time passed, her face turned deathly pale, and her breathing grew ragged, as though her chest were constricting.
Alesto’s mind went just as white as her face.
“Where does it hurt?”
She seemed too weak to speak and only shook her head.
“Are you in pain? Is your chest tight?”
It was obvious something was wrong with her body, yet she kept shaking her head. His anxiety mounted by the second.
After several deep breaths, she finally managed to speak.
“Please wait a moment. My heart… feels like it’s going to jump out of my mouth.”
It was not something anyone could take lightly.
“Has this happened before?”
“No, it’s the first—”
Before she could even finish, Alesto scooped her up and started running.
His left arm supported her small hips and thighs, while his right hand cradled the back of her head, pulling her close against his neck.
Holding her like this, he realized once again just how frail and thin she was.
She was so light that it felt as though a little too much pressure might crush every bone in her body.
Am I an idiot?
I shouldn’t have ignored the fact that she skipped dinner last night.
From now on, she’s getting regular health checkups.
Damn it.
“P-Please put me down.”
Thinking he might have been holding her too tightly, Alesto adjusted his grip slightly and tried to reassure her.
“Bear with it a little longer. We’re almost there.”
“No, I’m not sick.”
Of course, her words had no effect.
Alesto knew that some people were afraid of doctors.
Even his own aide, Caster, had once foolishly worsened an illness simply because he didn’t want to see a physician.
The Saintess seemed timid… it wouldn’t be surprising if she feared doctors too.
With such a small and delicate body, how many things in the world must seem frightening?
Yesterday she had been examined the moment she woke up. Perhaps she hadn’t had the chance to refuse.
Maybe even yesterday she had simply claimed she was fine to avoid the situation.
The thought hardened his expression.
By the time he had run through every possible scenario in his head, he had already resolved to make her medical examinations far more thorough in the future.
Then, as if soothing a frightened child, he spoke in the gentlest tone he could manage.
“Do you remember my physician from yesterday? Chino is highly skilled. He’ll quickly determine the cause and treatment. I promise it won’t hurt.”
He ran at the fastest speed he could manage.
He couldn’t even remember the last time he had sprinted like this.
Even as his breath grew ragged, he didn’t slow down.
No—he couldn’t.
Of course, he wasn’t a fool.
He didn’t actually believe her heart would leap out of her mouth before they reached the physician.
But what if something nearly as serious happened?
“N-No, that’s not what I meant—”
“We’re here.”
After dashing full speed to Blossom, he headed straight to his physician’s sunlit chambers on the first floor.
Bang.
Without even knocking, he flung the door open and placed the Saintess onto the bed by the window.
“Chino!”
Chino had already put on his glasses when he heard the door burst open and was stepping into the sitting room.
“It’s an honor to see—”
“Forget the greetings. Come examine her.”
“Y-Yes, Your Highness—”
Asha tried to get off the bed.
“I’m really not sick—”
But Alesto gently pressed her shoulders and laid her back down.
“There’s nothing to be afraid of. He’ll just check where it hurts. It’ll be over quickly.”
There was no way she could overpower him.
At this point, she gave up trying to clear the misunderstanding.
Ah, whatever.
Let it be.
Resigned, Asha obediently followed the Crown Prince’s physician’s instructions.
When told to look up, she looked up.
When told to open her mouth, she opened it.
Even when he pressed what seemed to be this world’s version of a stethoscope against her back, she quietly lay there.
After observing her for quite some time, Chino finally spoke.
“Just like before, aside from long-neglected malnutrition, there appears to be no other significant issue.”
“Check again.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Chino examined her just as meticulously as he had the first time.
Then—
“The results are the same. Aside from malnutrition—”
“She suddenly turned pale, started gasping, clutched her chest, and said her heart felt like it would leap out of her mouth. Find out what’s wrong.”
Listening to him, it almost sounded like she had some grave illness.
Chino’s expression grew serious as well, and he began asking questions.
“Please describe in more detail what you meant by your heart feeling like it would leap out of your mouth.”
Asha briefly searched for a metaphorical hole to crawl into.
There was none.
She glanced between Alesto and Chino, then, with the air of someone delivering her last words, slowly pulled the blanket over her head.
“My heart was beating so hard it made my insides tremble, so I said it felt like it would come out of my mouth. I didn’t mean it literally climbed up my throat.”
Alesto kept his grave expression and turned to Chino.
As if demanding an explanation.
Chino tilted his head slightly.
“It is certainly unusual for the heart to race to the point of breathlessness without cause. Can you think of anything that might have triggered it?”
“…Yes.”
Before answering properly, Asha tugged the blanket fully over her head and muttered as though leaving behind a will.
“His Highness the Crown Prince asked me to marry him.”
At that same time.
Second-floor conference room of Blossom.
Jerold, the Owls, Cedric Dalbert, and his retainers were gathered there.
The reason was a meeting concerning maritime trade.
No—
Could it even be called a meeting?
In truth, it was more of a session where Alesto’s Owls, who handled imperial foreign affairs, were pressuring Dalbert to take full responsibility for opening a new sea route.
Which was only natural.
After all, the Crown Prince had deployed troops to eliminate Dalbert’s pirates in the first place to pave the way for route expansion.
Alesto needed many things.
First—money.
Even before he had taken control of state affairs, the Empire’s finances had been in shambles, largely due to the Emperor’s womanizing and extravagant indulgences.
The long story short: the Emperor was beyond saving.
Because of that, even the imperial elders could not openly oppose the Crown Prince when he began involving himself in governance.
Step by step, Alesto consolidated control.
Thanks to that, the Empire had grown considerably more financially stable.
And yet—
It was still not enough in Alesto’s eyes.
What he wanted was an overall rise in the Empire’s civic consciousness.
Frankly, to maintain a monarchy for generations, it was easier if the populace remained ignorant.
Who didn’t know that?
But perhaps because he had not been born into the imperial bloodline, Alesto did not prioritize the eternal preservation of the monarchy.
He wanted the people’s awareness and education to improve.
And such progress, in his view, stemmed from two pillars: education and welfare.
But to send children to educational institutions, families needed stable living conditions.
And for that, robust welfare systems were necessary.
Which meant, inevitably—money.
A great deal of it.
Though the treasury had stabilized, it was nowhere near sufficient to achieve his ambitions.
So the breakthrough Alesto sought was maritime trade.
The reason was simple.
By securing new material resources and maximizing profits from them, he could create an economic foundation.
If they successfully opened new sea routes and established regular maritime trade lanes—
They could maintain constant exchange even with nations previously accessible only through long overland detours.
That would revitalize the iron industry, which had struggled with export limitations due to transportation constraints.
It would positively impact not only the imperial treasury but the Empire’s entire economy.
At least, that was what Alesto and Blossom believed.
But then—
What was the stance of Dalbert, who would be the one to actually undertake the dangerous task of route expansion?
