Chapter 287: What I Really Wanted to Tell You
“A country where everyone can be happy…”
Looking at the hand Elizalina-sama held out to me, I murmured those words as if repeating what she’d said.
…Up until now, all I’d thought about was making sure the people of my own territory could live happily in the future.
For that purpose, I worked hard at my studies and devoted myself to sword training.
Of course, I knew that would benefit this country too, and if possible, I wanted to contribute to the nation itself… but.
At the very least, I’d never once imagined that someone would tell me so directly to create a country where everyone could be happy.
“…If I become king, will the people of this country really be able to live happily?”
When I voiced that fundamental question, Elizalina-sama immediately nodded.
“Yes. If you become king, Lux, this country will undoubtedly see prosperity unlike anything in its recorded history. That’s one thing I can absolutely promise you.”
I really couldn’t imagine it myself, but just as Elizalina-sama had said, she was an incredibly wise person.
I’m sure there were sights she could see that I couldn’t.
Even so… up until now, I’d only wanted to make my own territory prosper, so when it came to the prosperity of the entire nation, it didn’t feel very real to me.
I found myself hesitating over whether I should take her hand, just as that thought crossed my mind.
“Just kidding!”
“…Huh?”
Elizalina-sama pulled the right hand she’d been offering back behind herself.
“E-Elizalina-sama…?”
As I stood there, confused by her sudden action, Elizalina-sama leaned forward and spoke.
“Lux, you can’t hesitate over something like that. An engagement isn’t about whether everyone else will be happy. It’s something you do so you yourself can be happy, so you need to put your own feelings first.”
“…!”
“That might’ve been a little mean of me, but I really wanted you to understand that.”
…She was right.
Of course, everyone being happy is very important, but when it comes to an engagement, what matters most is how you feel.
Ignoring those feelings and taking the hand of Elizalina-sama, who’d told me she loved me, would be incredibly disrespectful.
As I was re-realizing that thanks to Elizalina-sama,
Elizalina-sama continued.
“So, after you’ve understood that, I want you to respond purely to my love. And then I want to shower the Lux who’s responded to my love with affection, for us to love each other, to make you happy, and for me to become happy together with you. That’s what I truly wanted to tell you today.”
As she said that…
“…!?”
Elizalina-sama gently embraced me.
At that moment, a wonderful scent drifted over me.
“E-Elizalina-sama…”
“I think it’s hard for you to give an answer right away, so I don’t think you can hug me back yet. But someday, I want you to hug me back with love, Lux, and I want us to embrace each other. I love you, Lux.”
Elizalina-sama said that in a voice filled with deep affection.
…I was being embraced by Elizalina-sama.
Not just that, I could feel her scent, her warmth, and all sorts of other sensations.
After Florence-san and Felisiana-sama, I now had to think about an engagement with Elizalina-sama too, so normally I should’ve been far more tense and overwhelmed… but.
“…”
Wrapped in the warmth of Elizalina-sama’s love, right now I forgot everything else and felt only that warmth.
…Through that warmth, I could clearly feel just how deeply Elizalina-sama truly loved me.