“Your Majesty. Why can’t you agree to Ash’s proposal?” I asked. “There are obviously issues between the crown prince and myself, the fourth princess. If I were to marry Ash, it would solve the problem immediately.”
“You ask why, Alicia. I am certainly the king, but I am also your father. There’s no way a father would be able to immediately accept hearing that his daughter is suddenly going to marry.”
I almost sneered at him. I had already proposed this option to him before. I had offered to be betrothed to someone—even a central lord—in order to support Sacula. It was odd that he had put me, the princess, to one side and hadn’t even considered that I would eventually have to marry into someone else’s family with Prince Albert being next in line for the throne. Ah, but wait, that’s not the point. This man referred to himself as my father. Of all times, he chose now to acknowledge that fact. Since he has seemingly forgotten, I’ll be sure to remind him.
“Your Majesty, when the former Marquis Datara tried to use me as a puppet six years ago, you sent me away to prevent it. I understand what you did, and I am grateful. If it weren’t for your wise decision, I wouldn’t have been able to meet such a wonderful person.” I wasn’t about to let him forget what happened two years ago. “After the former Marquis Datara was restrained thanks to Sacula’s efforts, I understood why I was summoned back to the royal capital, and once again, I am grateful. By being here, I was able to repay their favor.” I wasn’t lying. I was indeed grateful. It was just that my resentment surpassed my gratitude. After being ripped away from my warm new hometown, I couldn’t relax. It was painful. I always wished they had just told everyone that Alicia had died of illness in Sacula. In fact, even when I was in Sacula, I wished for that. If that had been the case, none of this chaos would have happened. That was probably where I went wrong. I didn’t die back then. That’s why I won’t make a mistake this time. I’m going to end the story of Princess Alicia here.
“So, Your Majesty, you need to act like a king again.” The woman before you is no longer your daughter. “You don’t need to hold back. After all, it has always been me who has reached out to you, Your Majesty the King. You have never once spoken to me as a father.” If I erase Princess Alicia, that would also mean I’d lose all blood relations, but, even though I should be happy about that, it doesn’t mean I wouldn’t also be saddened by it. I was never interested in the high standing of a royal. It did nothing but cause me pain, and I felt like I could show my worth by working on a farm. “Your Majesty, the conflict within the royal family has started to cause problems for the civilians. If I am to be betrothed, not only will it solve that problem, but I will go to the Yanga region and make amends there. I ask that you understand my honest intentions.” My father, the king, looked hurt. It was no doubt the face of a man who was losing his daughter. After everything. After all this time. No words would be able to reach the remains of Princess Alicia. I stared at him with an ice-cold expression. He finally gave in.
“Okay, Alicia. This certainly would avoid further turmoil within the capital.” Even now, he was still only thinking about the capital. “All of us here will pray for your happiness.” There was no princess left to pray for.
There was nothing left to discuss, so I ended the conversation. “Yes, Your Majesty. Thank you.” I spoke quietly. There was neither regret nor turmoil in my words. Instead, they flickered like a flame.
With one flame extinguished, the others burned much brighter. I couldn’t help but be comforted by the sound of hooves against concrete—a sound distinct from the stone floors I was used to in the capital. We were traveling in a carriage on one of the many roads that had been built across the land. I’d heard about them, but I didn’t expect them to be so spectacular. My wonder turned to excitement, and I grabbed the arm of the driver seated next to me with all my might.
“So these are the concrete roads! They’re amazing, Ash!” The ride so far had been incredibly smooth. No more sore behinds! This was a far better trip than the last time I was in a carriage—partly because of the paved roads and the carriage’s suspension, but mostly because Ash was here beside me. Our conversation flowed easily, and time flew as we talked. It was just as fun to be with him as it had been when we first met. “I’m surprised there’s no shaking at all! Once again, Sacula is the mastermind!”
“Yes, I wish to make this commonplace within all of the Frontier Alliance regions. While I’m somewhat improvising, I plan to cooperate with the refugees,” Ash responded.
“With the refugees?” Using Yanga refugees to do work in Sacula would immediately raise questions. I understood what Ash was trying to do. “Oh, I see. You plan to help them gain their independence by giving them work! If they have experience making roads like this, they’ll have no issue finding jobs!”
“You are always quick to understand. We will need good roads if we are to rebuild the Yanga region.”
“I think it’s a great idea. While they have met with a terrible fate, there are still ways we can make something good sprout from it. Hope for the future.” By developing within the territory, we can create jobs for the Yanga residents, and we can expect the scope of the development capabilities of the Frontier Alliance and the Yanga region to increase across the board. It was a greedy plan that aimed to let nothing go to waste. This is definitely Ash’s kind of plan. I felt a warm feeling build up inside me as I talked with him. It felt as if I was being reborn from within. From here on out, as Viscountess Yanga, I would have to put all my focus on the destroyed lands and distraught civilians, but even so, I had a feeling that everything would go well. As long as Ash was here, and as long as I was with Ash, we would be able to do anything if we combined our strengths. I wholeheartedly believed that.
“Ash, you’re always like this.”
“What do you mean?” Ash tilted his head quizzically. Having his face so close to me felt like a dream. I was clutching his arm to my chest. It was something I had only ever dreamed about after leaving Sacula that day. Ash had no idea how much this intimacy meant to me. So I decided to let him know.