A Story of a Noble Lady Who Was Ravaged by an Incurable Disease and Covered in Bandages All Over Her Broken Body; After Healing Her, She Turned Into a Stunning Beauty and Started Desperately Courting Me - Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Carrying Alicia in a Princess Carry

A little while later.

“Haa… haa…”

“That’s it, that’s the spirit!”

“Y-yes… haa… haa…”

I had come to the courtyard of the mansion and was now holding both of Alicia’s hands while we slowly practiced walking together.

“All right, you managed to walk one full lap around the garden. Let’s call today’s rehabilitation done. Good work, Alicia-san.”

“Haa… haa… Is it already over? It’s only been about thirty minutes, though…”

“Walking that much is plenty. Besides, if you push yourself too hard right from the start, you might actually harm your body instead. So let’s take rehabilitation nice and slow, little by little. With that in mind, how about we spend the rest of the time relaxing and taking it easy?”

“Haa… haa… Yes, I understand. In that case… I’d like to sit down on the ground right here, so… could you support me…?”

“Of course. Here we go… there.”

Still holding Alicia’s hands, I gently lowered her until she was sitting on the grass in the garden.

“Thank you. Still… I can’t believe just this little bit of activity leaves me so out of breath…”

“There’s no need to feel down about it. In fact, considering you haven’t moved your body at all for such a long time, being able to walk this much is honestly amazing. If you keep up with rehabilitation properly from now on, I’m sure it won’t be long before Alicia-san can walk around energetically again.”

“R-really? That would be wonderful if it’s true.”

“Yes. But to make that happen, it’s not enough to just keep doing rehabilitation—you also need to give your body plenty of nutrition. Oh, by the way, I heard you’ve been sleeping really well, but how about meals? Do you have an appetite now?”

“Yes, my appetite is coming back too. But since eating solid food all of a sudden would probably shock my body, it looks like I’ll still be on soft things like porridge for a while longer. Even so, I’m really happy because I feel like I can eat a lot more than before.”

“Oh, that’s great to hear. But it’s kind of a shame that even though your illness is cured, you still have to stick to porridge life for a bit… Oh, wait. Hey, Alicia-san. This might seem sudden, but… do you like sweet things?”

“Sweet things? Yes, of course—I love them.”

“Really? Haha, that’s perfect then.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Nothing, nothing. Well, you’ll probably find out soon enough, so just look forward to that moment!”

“?”

Alicia told me she loved sweet things. All right, in that case I’ll make that for her next time.

“…? I don’t really understand, but… yes, all right. I’ll look forward to it then. And today’s rehabilitation is finished now, right? If so, since we have the chance… if you have some free time later, Setsuna-sama, would you like to relax and chat with me for a while?”

“Chat?”

“Yes. We’ve finally gotten the chance to meet like this, so I was hoping I could hear more about you, Setsuna-sama, and lots of other things. I-is that no good…?”

“No, no, it’s completely fine. I don’t have anything planned anyway, so if you’re okay with it, let’s just enjoy talking together after this.”

“Thank you. Fufu, I’m really happy you said that… achoo”

“Hm? Ah, s-sorry. Was the garden too cold? I thought it would feel warm since it’s early spring, but…”

“Ah, n-no, I think the weather is warm today. But since I’ve been living indoors all this time, maybe my body got a little chilled from feeling the outside breeze after so long…”

“Ah, I see. Right, today was your first time going outside in a long while, wasn’t it, Alicia-san… It would be terrible if you got sick again, so let’s hurry back to your room. We can warm up there and keep chatting at our leisure.”

“Fufu, yes, let’s do that. Then… may I borrow your hand again, Setsuna-sama?”

“Yes, of cour— Wait, ah, no. In that case, Alicia-san, could you put your arms around my shoulders instead?”

“Huh? Put my arms around Setsuna-sama’s shoulders…? U-um, l-like this?”

“Yes, exactly. All right, here we go. One, two—!”

“Eh… w-whoa!”

Saying that, I slid one hand under Alicia’s waist and the other under her thighs and lifted her up. The classic princess carry.

“Are you okay? Not scared?”

“N-no, I’m completely fine. I’m not scared at all. B-but… um… carrying me like this… a-am I not heavy?”

“Haha, there’s no way Alicia-san could be heavy. It’s completely easy—like holding a piece of cotton fluff.”

“R-really…? Phew, that’s a relief. Ah, but… um… I was working hard to walk earlier, so… my body is kind of sweaty… D-do I… smell bad or anything…?”

“Smell bad? No, I don’t smell anything bad at all. Actually, you smell really nice. Is this… perfume by any chance?”

“Ah, yes. It is. It’s rose perfume.”

“Wow, so that’s what it is. I see—this is what perfume smells like!”

“Y-yes, that’s right… but why do you seem so surprised? Is perfume unusual to you?”

“Yes, it is! Up until now I’ve lived a life completely unrelated to fancy, grown-up things like perfume, so this feels really fresh and new. Even back in middle school, I don’t think any of the girls wore perfume… Ah, s-sorry! Sniffing a woman’s body scent like that is obviously bad manners, right?! I’m really sorry… it just smelled so nice that I couldn’t help myself…”

“…Fufu, it’s okay. I’m actually very relieved and happy that you said it smells good. So please don’t worry about it.”

“R-really? Thank you—that helps a lot. cough Anyway, let’s get back on track… We’re heading back to your room now. Keep your arms around my shoulders nice and tight, okay?”

“Yes, understood. Please take care of me then, Setsuna-sama.”

“Leave it to me!”

And so I carried Alicia in a princess carry all the way back to her room.

After we returned to Alicia’s room, the two of us spent a relaxed, carefree time chatting about all sorts of light, meaningless things and simply enjoyed each other’s company.