Ai Is So Adorable, She's Adding Years To My Life...!

“SOOOOO ADORABLE~~~!!!”

Inside a spacious room in the royal palace, where rows of colorful children’s dresses were on display.

I was practically screaming in ecstasy.

Standing before me was Ai, dressed in her Saintess outfit, looking rather bashful.

“Aaah! Just look at how adorable Ai is in her Saintess outfit…! She’s so precious that I feel like her cuteness alone could wipe out every monster in the kingdom…!”

On top of Ai’s natural cuteness, there was something uniquely adorable about a child wearing such formal clothing. Seeing Ai standing there in her crisp, proper outfit, trying her very best to look serious, was so adorable that I felt like I could eat an entire loaf of bread just looking at her.

Hehe… Her previously uneven hair had been neatly trimmed, and now that she’d started eating properly, her cheeks were beginning to fill out, too. She was truly invincible. Ah, I wanted to capture this cuteness in a drawing right this instant…!

As I gazed at her in rapture, struggling to restrain my itching fingers, the High Priest, who had been watching nearby, stepped forward.

“Your Majesty, the Saintess’s ceremonial attire appears to be perfectly suitable. …However, may I ask about those over there…?”

As he spoke, he glanced at the dresses nearby.

“Oh, those are Ai’s clothes. She can’t spend all her time wearing her Saintess outfit, can she?”

“R-right…”

When I smiled brightly at him, the High Priest began wiping away his sweat.

…Well, I could understand why he was bewildered. After all, there were more than twenty dresses lined up, even by a conservative estimate.

They ranged from the sort of elegant dresses young noble ladies commonly wore to outrageously extravagant outfits that made you wonder when anyone would ever have an occasion to wear them.

Of course, my personal tastes played a considerable role in the selection! …I simply couldn’t resist the desire to see Ai wearing them.

“Say, Ai, would you like to try on some of these clothes? If you don’t want to, we can go back to your room, all right?”

Suppressing my excitement, I asked her somewhat hesitantly, and Ai nodded happily. There didn’t seem to be any dishonesty or reluctance in her expression. Her eyes were sparkling, and I could already tell that she was completely captivated by the dresses.

All right, if she was enthusiastic about it too, then that settled it! I eagerly began dressing Ai in all sorts of outfits.

First, a traditional princess dress with a lovely classical silhouette and plenty of frills.

“Aaah! What an adorable little princess!”

Next, a slightly cooler-looking dress made from crisp black fabric with a striking red lining.

“Kyaaa! This little devil has stolen my heart!”

Then, a fairy-inspired dress made from several layers of soft, lightweight organza, decorated with star-shaped sequins.

“How adorable! Little fairy, look over here!”

…Ah! Oh no. The High Priest was giving me an extraordinary look.

I cleared my throat with a little cough. Besides, I couldn’t keep having all the fun myself.

“Ai, which of these outfits would you like to try on? You can choose whichever one you like. Pick anything you want. You can even try them all if you’d like!”

I’d gotten carried away and leaned toward her a little too eagerly, and I worried that I might have frightened her. However, Ai didn’t seem to mind at all.

Although she smiled bashfully, she was already busily searching for the next outfit herself. Hehe, that was a good sign. Yes, we should definitely buy every single dress.

I nodded in satisfaction and called over the tailor. It was while I was discussing things with the tailor that I suddenly noticed something.

…There, in the corner of the room, His Majesty Yuri was standing motionlessly like some sort of ghost.

“Wah!? You startled me, Your Majesty! If you were here, you should have said something…!?”

“…Well, I thought it might be bad to startle you again…”

Oh, so he’d actually been trying to be considerate. Perhaps I’d been a little too harsh with him last time…

“So, what brings you here?”

…Surely he wasn’t going to scold me for buying too many clothes? If these were my own dresses, that would be one thing, but I refused to compromise even the slightest bit when it came to Ai’s clothes! I’d pay for all of them out of my own allowance if I had to!

While I was preparing my arguments in my head, His Majesty began speaking about something entirely different.

“…It’s about the Saintess. Unfortunately, it seems there really is no way to return a Saintess to her original world once she has been summoned.”

“I… see…”

Both His Majesty and I turned our eyes toward Ai.

“I thought Her Majesty Sakura, the former queen, might know something about it… Unfortunately, she refused to see me.”

With those words, His Majesty Yuri lowered his gaze.

—Her Majesty Sakura, the former queen, was the Saintess who had preceded Ai.

The quickest way to learn about Saintesses was to ask a Saintess herself. His Majesty Yuri must have thought the same thing. However, ever since the previous king had betrayed her, Sakura had shut herself away in a detached palace and stopped appearing in public.

Besides, to Her Majesty Sakura, His Majesty Yuri was essentially the child of her husband’s mistress. …She probably didn’t even want to see his face.

I found the situation rather bitter, but at the same time, somewhere deep down, I felt relieved.

Ai was only five years old. Ordinarily, the right thing to do would be to search for a way to send her home.

…But I didn’t want to.

I simply couldn’t believe that returning that child to the parents who had hurt her so terribly and made her so frightened would bring her happiness.

As His Majesty and I stood there in silence, the sound of little footsteps came pattering toward us, and Ai came running over with a smile.

She was wearing a delicate, one-piece-style dress with a softly billowing skirt made of white tulle, giving her an almost ethereal appearance.

Overwhelmed by her angelic cuteness, I let out a shriek.

“Oh my goodness! An angel! An angel has descended among us! She’s so adorable that I could practically hear my lifespan increasing by another ten years! Don’t you agree, Your Majesty!?”

At those words, Ai apparently noticed His Majesty’s presence as well. Her expression grew somewhat frightened.

His Majesty looked bewildered as he spoke.

“…Yes, I think it suits her very well.”

I gave His Majesty a little nudge and whispered to him.

“At times like this, you shouldn’t just say it suits her. You should tell her she’s incredibly cute.”

“I-I think she’s… incredibly cute.”

At His Majesty’s words, Ai looked surprised… and then gave a small, bashful smile.

I’d been thinking about this for a while now, but I had a feeling Ai was beginning to understand what we were saying.

If that was the case, it was wonderful news.

His Majesty Yuri could seem rather unapproachable when he was silent, but he was a genuinely good person at heart. If Ai could understand our words, I wanted to take our time and gradually help her overcome her fear of His Majesty…

Just as I was thinking that, Ai’s body suddenly jerked.

“Ai? What’s wrong?”

Ignoring my question, Ai hurried toward the window with a tense expression.

“Be careful, dear! Watch out so you don’t fall—”

I hurried after her, and the moment I grabbed Ai’s arm, an electric jolt shot through my body.

“Ah…!?”

At the same time, words suddenly flooded into my mind.

…Huh? What is this?