Wasn’t This Supposed To Be a Strategy Game? – Chapter 88

Author: B0ucha

At his gentle jest, Eden’s heart sank quietly.

Only then did she realize—her heart was thundering in her chest like it had lost its mind. Her ears flushed bright red in an instant.

“Y-Your Highness…”

Flustered and unsure of what to do, Eden opened her mouth hesitantly. In response, Asmun pulled her in even closer with a slow, steady motion.

“Just a moment.”

Unlike his firm embrace, which made it clear he had no intention of letting her go, his voice—scattered softly in the night air—carried a quiet trace of longing.

“Just for a moment.”

Every time that low voice brushed her ear, his breath tickled her skin, making her heart drop again and again. Yet Eden no longer tried to push him away. She simply held her breath and remained still.

It was because the fingertips resting on her shoulder felt somehow sorrowful.

The human heart is strange and unfathomable. At times, right after accomplishing something momentous, it becomes smaller—lonelier.

Today was the day Asmun had finally revealed the power he had long kept hidden. To the world, it meant reclaiming an existence that had been erased for far too long.

And while she couldn’t understand everything, Eden felt she could grasp a sliver of what Asmun was feeling in this moment.

That distant yearning—to be comforted by anyone at all.

“……”

A soft night breeze brushed past the two of them, their bodies still pressed close. It felt much like the breeze they’d shared once while on an expedition westward.

「Are you only following the will of the gods?」

「…Pardon?」

「Don’t you have any desire of your own in this?」

Back then, by the peacefully babbling brook, Asmun had asked her that.

「Of course, I do want Your Highness to become emperor.」

「Why?」

「Because… I just have a feeling. No, I’m certain. You’ll be a good emperor.」

That had been Eden’s reply. And now, she was finally confident that her impromptu answer had been the right one.

Asmun, who never yielded to anything, who overcame every fear—he had all the makings of a great emperor.

And Eden realized once again just how far she had come. There was no turning back now. The only path left was forward.

Asmun had walked that road with her every step of the way. So she could understand his emotions now.

A surge of camaraderie—and emotions she couldn’t even begin to define—rose in her chest. It wasn’t just because this was a game anymore. She genuinely wanted Asmun to become emperor. A wise and just ruler.

And in the end,

She wanted him to be happy.

“……”

Eden slowly moved her rigid hands and patted Asmun’s broad back, as if to embrace him in return.

Then, as if her touch had unlocked something, Asmun’s tightly sealed lips finally parted—and a quiet voice spilled out.

“My mother…”

Eden froze at the unexpected name.

“She used to call me As.”

“……”

At that, Eden’s heart lurched. She had suspected it, but hearing it from Asmun himself hit differently.

“Just once more…”

“……”

“Would you call me that again?”

The sudden, tender plea made Eden go still.

She finally understood why that affectionate name had been listed under restricted information—and the weight of it now pressed heavily on her shoulders.

“I… I wouldn’t dare…”

But Asmun simply closed his eyes, still holding her tightly, as if he wouldn’t let her go until she complied.

After a moment of hesitation, Eden finally parted her lips and whispered,

“…As.”

The name left her with countless tangled emotions. She felt the grip of his hand tighten.

In that grasp, Eden could feel all the hardship he must have endured to reach this point. Her chest ached.

“Do you know this? You’re the only one who’s ever praised me like that.”

“……”

“For a very long time… I forgot what kind words felt like.”

His words made Eden’s heart sink again. She had tried not to dwell on it, but she too understood his pain.

The sorrow of losing someone precious and being left behind all alone.

She thought of that winter when she was twenty—the year she lost both her parents in an accident—and her throat tightened painfully.

“You wouldn’t know.”

Asmun’s low, heavy voice drifted into the night.

He was confessing emotions he had never shared with anyone.

“Those memories…”

“They fade, and that’s terrifying.”

Eden answered quietly. Slowly, Asmun’s eyes—shut tight—opened again.

“I know.”

Eden understood, too. She too had spent days mired in sorrow, unable to do anything, overwhelmed with grief and resentment.

There had been a time when she refused to move forward, shackled by a past she couldn’t let go of.

“No matter how hard you fight to remember—no matter how much you struggle not to let go—in the end, memories fade. It took me a long time to accept that that’s just the way things are.”

“…”

“The only thing I can do is to fill that empty space with new life.”

The voice that had grown so precious it could no longer be let go offered Asmun a quiet comfort.

Feeling his calm breath spreading over her shoulder, Eden recalled her own past.

Falling into the game had been her way of releasing the memories she had been clinging to so desperately. She had never imagined it would truly lead her to experience a new life like this.

But now, she felt deeply grateful for having seized this opportunity. Perhaps…

“That’s why, Your Highness, you should fill the emptiness with something even more precious.”

Asmun’s red eyes sank deeply.

“Sometimes… when it’s just the two of us… I’ll call you As. So, Your Highness…”

“…”

“As is not alone.”

At that gentle reassurance, Asmun’s heart trembled uncontrollably.

“Haha, I don’t know if I’m even worthy of speaking such an affectionate nickname.”

Trying to lighten the mood, Eden offered a sheepish joke.

She hadn’t intended for things to get so heavy. She never meant to go this deep.

Then, she felt Asmun’s faint laugh against her shoulder. He whispered softly.

“Anything is fine, if it’s you, Priestess.”

Eden’s heart stirred at those words.

Who would have thought this fearsome prince could be capable of such tenderness? When they first met, she never could have imagined he would say something like this.

Asmun continued, his voice calm.

“His Majesty has declared that whoever finds the Silverstone will be named heir to the throne.”

Eden, who had been lost in sentiment, blinked wide-eyed.

‘What? Silverstone?!’

“I will find it. No matter what it takes.”

Asmun spoke the vow with quiet, unwavering determination, as if making a pledge to Eden.

Panic swept through her mind. She had assumed the Silverstone would come up eventually, but she never expected it to be introduced this directly.

This development hadn’t even occurred during Kiris’s route. Which meant… Eden had truly brought Asmun that much closer to becoming crown prince.

She quickly tried to gather her thoughts.

‘Well, I guess it is part of the quest, so it makes sense that it connects here.’

In hindsight, there was no reason to be so surprised.

‘In that case, we really have to find it—no matter what.’

As she steeled her resolve, Eden suddenly realized she was still being embraced by Asmun—and her face flushed with embarrassment.

“Your Highness, um… that’s enough…”

“…”

“Ah, and you’ve got a wound on your face. We should treat it. Quickly now.”

Eden chided him gently, and only then did Asmun reluctantly let her go. But his face was still far too close.

Too handsome a face to be seen this close for so long.

Reaching up, Eden placed her hand on Asmun’s cheek and healed the deep cut there. She couldn’t deny it anymore—Asmun had developed a strong attachment to her.

‘…What happens when affection reaches 100? Is that even possible?’

It had started as a strategy game. She had never factored in emotional developments like this. So she had no plan for how to handle these kinds of situations.

And not just with Asmun…

“…”

After finishing the healing, Eden lowered her hand and looked at him, her expression tense.

“Um… Your Highness. There’s something I need to tell you.”

Asmun’s languid red eyes fixed on her intently.

“Hagenti has returned.”

The moment she said it, the warmth vanished from Asmun’s face, replaced by a chilling rigidity.

Seeing that expression, Eden silently swallowed a sigh.
***

Asmun had gone from a mere third prince to the savior of the empire in the blink of an eye, earning the praise of the entire realm.

All of the Empire’s citizens were deeply moved by his selflessness and awed by the power he had kept hidden for so long.

And it wasn’t just the commoners who were stirred.

「Asmun. You saved everyone.」