Chapter 43

Rumble…

“…Did you hear that?”

Esadien didn’t answer, just nodded and glanced downward for a moment, as if making up his mind—then strode toward me with purpose.

The rumble came again, this time strong enough to rattle the glass in the display cabinet.

‘A… an earthquake?’

But since becoming Minuelle, I’d never once heard of an earthquake occurring in Roquate—or anywhere in the Preseria Empire, for that matter.

“Sorry I can’t keep my promise, but we have to get out of here.”

In the blink of an eye, Esadien was standing right in front of me.

With the situation escalating, I couldn’t exactly scold him for getting too close. We were on the third floor. If the building collapsed…

‘Esadien came here just for me.’

My life was one thing, but if something happened to him, the Emperor’s grief might turn into a bomb dropped on Karnian.

I bit my lip, shook off the hesitation, and grabbed Esadien’s hand to dash forward.

“Let’s go!”

He drew in a breath, clearly surprised that I was cooperating without a fight—but I pretended not to notice.

Somehow, the door was already open.

I thought all we had to do now was run out. But that wasn’t nearly as easy as I’d imagined.

We weren’t even close to the main staircase yet, and I was already breathless—true to form, my paper-thin body was giving out on me fast. Of course, today of all days, I’d decided to wear high heels. My feet were getting shredded.

“W-Wait.”

Since we were already holding hands, I used Esadien’s strength to balance myself and yanked off my heels. But for some reason, his expression looked… displeased.

“Minuelle, wouldn’t it be better if I carried you?”

“…What?”

“I mean… uh… I could carry you. It’d be faster.”

“……”

I knew, logically, that he was right. But I couldn’t bring myself to agree—his face was turning bright red, and it was obvious what he was thinking.

He was supposed to be convincing me calmly, and now here he was, leaking feelings all over the place.

“You might hurt your feet.”

A pitiful excuse.

For the record, the temple halls were lined with plush carpets.

“No need. It’s indoors—my feet will be fine…”

I brushed him off and started running again.

RUMBLE!

Just when I thought things had quieted down, a much louder noise split the air, and a crack split the wall. Debris rained down from the ceiling for good measure.

“Ahh!”

With a short scream, I instinctively threw my arms around Esadien’s neck.

Forget dignity—survival first!

“It’s all right, Minuelle. Calm down.”

There he was—awkwardly comforting me while I hung around his neck instead of rushing us out!

I wasn’t heartless. I couldn’t just keep clinging to him shamelessly. Overwhelmed by embarrassment, I smacked him lightly on the shoulder.

“Don’t comfort me—carry me!”

“Gladly.”

With a chuckle, he slipped one arm beneath my knees, and I felt my body lift off the floor. I squeezed my eyes shut.

‘Why… why does he look happy when I hit him?’

Seriously. The man was weird.

‘And… it’s way too quiet.’

Even if this was the third floor and half of it belonged to the High Priest, there was no way no one was around.

Especially after that rumble—anyone would’ve felt it. Yet, not a single soul came running from the other end of the hall.

Thump. Thump.

The silence made it easier to hear Esadien’s heartbeat. Loud and steady, right in my ear.

‘Well… he is alive, so of course his heart’s beating. If it wasn’t, we’d have a problem!’

Don’t think about it. Don’t focus on it.

Thump-thump!

“……”

The more I tried to not think about it, the louder it seemed.

Then Esadien said awkwardly, “Minuelle… if you keep pulling away like that, you might fall.”

“Huh?”

I opened my eyes and realized I’d been unconsciously leaning my head away from him little by little.

“S-Sorry…”

Being carried like this and squirming like that—what a mess.

In a tiny voice, I apologized, and Esadien gave a gentle smile as he tightened his hold around me.

“It’s fine.”

“Why…?”

“Hmm?”

“N-Never mind.”

“I almost asked why you’ve been smiling so much today,” I muttered to myself, barely catching the words before they slipped out.

Asking questions was a sign of interest—and this was not the time to show ambiguous concern. I was trying to push Esadien away. If I gave him any reason to hope, he’d never sign those annulment papers.

Thump.

The warmth, the steady beat of his heart surrounding me—it all made me bite my lip.

That’s when I finally saw someone.

“Your Highness, someone’s collapsed over there!”

“You’re right… I see a few on the other side, too.”

I found out why the halls had been so eerily quiet when we reached the second floor. Here and there, temple priests lay unconscious.

“They’re alive. Their pulses are steady—it seems they’re just asleep.”

“This one too.”

When I held a finger under their nose, I felt calm, even breathing. Still, the sight of powerful priests, known for their high resistance to magic, lying unconscious sent a chill through me.

Rumble…

The deep groan of the building continued, rumbling now and then.

I fiddled with the communicator clipped to my waist, hesitating.

‘Should I call for my knights?’

Normally, I would have pressed the button without a second thought.

‘But what if the building collapses as they come in?’

They weren’t trained rescue units. I didn’t want to put them at risk—not because of me.

But at the same time, I couldn’t ignore these priests.

They hadn’t grown up with me, but they were still servants of Plendena. Having spent so many years in the temple myself, they felt… a bit like sixth cousins or something.

“Minuelle.”

Esadien, who had begun gathering the unconscious into one area, flinched at the sight of my tearful expression.

“W-what’s wrong?”

“Esadien, what do we do? I can’t just leave them…”

Seeing him only made it worse.

‘Esadien… no, he especially needs to get out of here safely.’

But I couldn’t even move one person on my own. I hated how powerless I was.

Clutching at my skirt pooled around the floor, I cursed my own helplessness.

But then—warmth. A gentle heat touched my cheeks and lifted my face.

“Minuelle. It’s all right. Breathe.”

Esadien had knelt in front of me, locking eyes with a calm, steady gaze.

“Those earrings of yours—they’re potions, aren’t they? Like last time. Wake a few people with them. They’re all priests; they’ll know what to do after that.”

“…Ah!”

My eyes widened.

“Right! How could I forget?”

They were imbued with Ramande’s divine power, meaning they had a status ailment nullification enchantment. I’d only ever used them when I was coughing up blood, so the rest had slipped my mind.

I shot to my feet, and Esadien’s steady hand caught mine, helping me up.

Just for a second—I admitted it. I was glad he was here with me.

“…Thank you.”

It came out a bit shy and awkward, but Esadien just smiled like it was the easiest thing in the world.

‘Ugh.’

Seeing that smile straight on made something heavy drop into the pit of my stomach.

“Here. Take this.”

If I kept looking at that face, I’d fall again. Not in ten encounters, not in three—just once more would be enough.

Acting on pure instinct, I shoved one of the potion vials into his hand and whipped around.

“Ugh, too dazzling…”

Why did he keep smiling like that?

Although, calling it ‘keep’ might be a stretch. He still smiled less than the average person. But it was undeniably more than when we were engaged—and every time he did, I found myself catching my breath.

‘Oh, please. Just think of him like a statue. You can do that, right, Minuelle Karnian?’

As if that ever worked.

‘Answer the question, Minuelle.’

Aaaaagh! Fine! I get it!

Just as I was scolding myself—or rather, being scolded by myself—the priest I had just given the potion to coughed and opened their eyes.

“Ugh… Who are you?”

“You’re awake? I’m Minuelle Karnian. It’s dangerous here, so please help wake the others and get them out.”

Right on cue, the building groaned again with another deep rumble.

“Y-Yes, of course!”

After helping the priest to their feet, I turned around—just in time to see Esadien approaching as well.

“Let’s leave things here to them and head downstairs. Judging by how quiet it is, I bet it’s the same down there.”

“I think so too.”

If even Esadien, a trained knight, hadn’t sensed anyone, then it was almost certainly true. Before he could offer his hand, I grabbed my skirts and darted down the stairs.

“Minuelle, that’s dangerous—!”

Dangerous? Please. If I couldn’t even handle stairs, how would I survive in this world with no elevators?

…Or so I thought.

One of the many layers of fabric that made up my skirt slipped from my grip and ended up right underfoot.

“Ah!”

Of course, that made me pitch forward. I squeezed my eyes shut, fully prepared to tumble messily down the stairs.

‘Is this body so hopeless I can’t even walk down stairs anymore…?!’

But the impact that followed didn’t come from my head or shoulders as expected—it landed in my stomach.

“Guhk!”

“Sorry. I had to act fast…”

The voice, cutting off in hesitation, was unmistakably Esadien’s. I didn’t know how he’d managed it, but he’d caught me just in time.

‘Wow. He really does act like a Prince, huh.’

Even before I registered that I was safe, his ridiculously handsome face filled my view—and that was somehow my first thought.

“H-hhngh… cough, cough.”

The breath I’d gulped in came out in wheezing coughs. Esadien immediately began fussing.

“Are you okay? Do you need a potion? Does your ankle hurt?”

“I’m fine! Don’t make such a fuss…”

He was so over-the-top that my face went bright red from secondhand embarrassment. Thank goodness no one had seen that.

“A-anyway, thanks. I feel like I keep relying on you.”

“There’s no need to say that, Minuelle.”

He said it so gently it almost made my chest flutter—and then he effortlessly scooped me up in his arms again.

“I can walk!”

“I know. But I’d rather not risk it.”

“……”

I had just made a whole fool of myself right in front of him. There was no point arguing.

‘He’s a statue. Not a man. A statue.’

I had no choice but to keep repeating the mantra.

Yet… the harder I tried to ignore him, the more I could feel him—his presence. The warmth, the solidity of him. Just getting from the second floor to the first felt like traversing a mountain trail.

We finally reached the ground floor, my body feeling oddly relaxed while my heart remained a mess. Down here, it wasn’t just priests—paladins were mixed in too, and thanks to them, we didn’t have to wait for everyone to wake up before evacuating the unconscious.

“Looks like almost everyone’s out…”

Strangely enough, there were no tremors outside. I looked around, puzzled. Esadien gently laid his hand on my shoulder.

“Minuelle, I think it’s best if we leave the rest to the priests and head back now.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you for today.”

“Just to be safe, I can escort you—”

“No, that won’t be necessary. I’ll be going now.”

His shoulders visibly slumped, but I gave a deep bow and quickly turned to leave.