Barging In

“Still... In Your Highness’s eyes, I must have looked rather unsightly, didn’t I?”

He lightly stroked the wheel of his wheelchair as he spoke to Elisia in a somewhat rueful voice.

“Pardon...?”

“When we were staying at Eisen Guard, I never broke a sweat. I put on airs, pretending to be a refined, carefree nobleman. And now I’ve shown you this sight of me drenched in sweat and crawling on the floor just to live like this. I’m ashamed, as if I’ve sullied Your Highness’s eyes.”

At Karl’s self-deprecating words, as he belittled his desperate struggle as nothing more than an ugly sight...

“N-No!!”

Elisia hurriedly waved both hands, vehemently rejecting Karl’s words.

“Not at all! It wasn’t ugly or unsightly in the slightest! If anything...”

Elisia clasped her hands to her chest, recalling the beads of sweat she’d seen on Karl during his parallel-bar training, and spoke with all the sincerity she could muster.

“If anything... you looked so awe-inspiring and noble that I could hardly bring myself to look away. Every time you took another step without giving up, I felt my own heart grow warm. You really... looked more magnificent than anyone in the world.”...