The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL]

Hazy.

Everything felt absolutely hazy for one Elven Prince.

In fact, just moments ago, there hadn’t even been any haze. All that had been there was darkness.

And pain.

Yeah. There had been a lot of pain.

From the moment he felt like his body was splitting into two and he saw the look on everyone’s faces, an immense amount of pain flooded him. But whether it came from his body finally giving out or from his heart breaking for his beloved, he couldn’t be so sure.

The only thing he was certain of was his regret.

He had been so close to her.

So close.

And yet he hadn’t been able to say anything more.

Prince Elior tried to think. He tried to hold on to that fragile spark of consciousness, to figure out what he could have said or done that would have helped make things better.

If only he had managed to stay awake a little longer.

But the more he thought about it, the harder it became.

The small spark dimmed.

Slipped.

And he ventured into a slumber he never even asked for.

__

But apparently, the answer to his lingering question wasn’t as difficult as he thought it would be.

Because, according to one screaming Princess, he could have said sorry.

In reality, what followed his collapse stood in stark contrast to the engulfing darkness swallowing the Elven Prince’s senses. Because chaos didn’t even begin to describe it.

Princess Kira, in particular, was mortified beyond belief.

She still remembered the exact moment he fell forward.

He was all too fragile. Too fragile even for the lightest of her touch. She had been so shocked that her normally agile body had locked up in pure terror the instant it happened. Her heart lurched violently as the man she had just been scolding crumpled in front of her.

She didn’t even know how she had managed to catch him.

One moment, he was standing there. Next, he was in her arms. Somehow, impossibly, she had moved before her mind even caught up.

Just a moment before his body could hit the ground.

Fortunately for her, she wouldn’t ever know what expression she had been wearing on her face.

She only knew that whatever it was, it had made Luca stare at her like that.

Then again, in her panic, she wouldn’t remember much at all.

She wouldn’t remember how she begged them for help even as everyone was already rushing to do exactly that. She wouldn’t remember how her voice broke, how her words tangled together into something desperate and incoherent.

What she did remember was Xavier using spiritual energy to gently but firmly escort her out of the room so Luca could concentrate.

Because Princess Kira had started screeching.

”This guy! Luca!” she cried, voice sharp with terror. ”He can’t possibly die, right?!”

She sounded exactly like every loved one who had ever cornered a doctor in the middle of an emergency. Panicked. Grasping. Desperate for certainty that didn’t exist.

Only this time, she was screeching at a friend who was already trying his best.

But she couldn’t help it. She couldn’t even see beyond the thought of losing him or hear anything beyond her throbbing heart.

And in the end, it was best for her to wait outside.

The Orcish Princess sank to the ground, knees drawn to her chest, arms wrapped tightly around herself as her breath started to hitch.

Tears spilled freely.

”He hadn’t even said sorry...” she muttered, the words slipping out like a prayer.

That’s right. It was a realization she couldn’t help but have.

It was probably a stupid realization and one she should have delayed. Maybe she should have grabbed him by the collar and shared a passionate kiss as she had dreamt she’d do all this time.

But no. With everything she discovered over the time it took to reformat her life, the Princess couldn’t help but explode together with her emotions.

She hadn’t even thought about what she wanted to accomplish in the heat of the moment. Hadn’t thought about what she wanted to happen to them after she’d voiced her thoughts.

But now that she was sitting on the floor outside the room, as helpless and anxious as she was, all she could think about was how she would have accepted it.

She would have accepted an apology.

”He could’ve just said sorry right away!”

Her voice cracked, strangled by the weight of it.

”Does he not understand that I couldn’t have forgiven him because he hadn’t even asked for forgiveness?!”

Her breathing grew erratic. Shallow. Fast. The kind of breaths people took right before sobbing uncontrollably.

But then, beside her, a calm voice that was a stark contrast to her mess of a being spoke.

”Princess,” Xavier said, leaning against the wall, expression unreadable. ”I suggest you start thinking.”

”Huh?”

Princess Kira looked up, eyes even redder and unfocused.

”Start thinking,” he repeated evenly, ”about how you want him to make it up to you.”

”What?”

She stared at him, confused, distressed, unable to process what he was saying.

Then he added, almost casually, ”A man like that would likely survive.”

She couldn’t help but gawk at him.

”R-really?” she asked hesitantly.

Xavier nodded once.

A response that would have looked cold to anyone who didn’t know anything about him.

But how did he know?

Because that punk of an elf had unfinished business.

And more importantly, because Xavier’s little wife would make it so.

While CP might have been the reason why he had been excited to take a look at the elf before he collapsed, Xavier knew that now Luca was doing it for his friend.

Because no matter how emotional the confrontation had been, no matter how angry, disappointed, or frustrated Princess Kira had been moments before, the moment she caught him, everyone in that room had learned something important.

They had seen what she looked like when she was truly broken.

And people didn’t fall apart like that over someone they couldn’t possibly love or, at the very least, care about.

Then again, love alone wasn’t everything.

So she ought to start thinking.

She ought to start figuring out what she wanted to do with the chance Luca would fight tooth and nail to give them.

It didn’t matter what they ended up as in the future, but for as long as she looked at him like he was her world, Luca would try.