SIDE STORIES

01. A Sweet and New Daily Life

Olivia hugged her basket tightly and stepped aside as she heard the noisy sound coming from behind. A carriage rushed past on the clean, well-maintained road. A cat curled up in the basket poked its head through the gap.

—It’s chaotic. Noisy. Dirty.

“Oh my, did dust get in?”

She gently stroked the grumpy-looking cat, soothing the complaining little one. Even Olivia, a human, hadn’t fully adapted to the busy city life yet, so how much worse must it be for the cats? For cats that had grown up all their lives in a limited forest, a road with carriages coming and going all day couldn’t possibly be comfortable.

“Do you want to go back to the forest where the villa is?”

—……Not really.

Although she could take them back to the forest whenever they wanted, the complaining cat promptly crawled back into the basket with a prim expression. Right, just because they could communicate didn’t mean she could read their minds completely. Watching the cute sight of the cat neatly licking and grooming its paws, a smile naturally bloomed on her face.

After hurrying her steps again after stopping to avoid the carriage, Olivia arrived at a clean mansion that hadn’t been built long ago. The large building with its light blue roof, white walls, and a terrace with a cute design showed off an appearance that could have come straight out of a pretty fairy tale.

“I still can’t get used to it.”

The building, which looked like a noble lady’s villa from the outside, was actually Olivia’s new clinic. A clinic that had everything to an almost excessive degree—from a greenhouse where she could grow necessary ingredients herself, to a storage room, pharmacy, examination room, and even an inpatient ward. Since there was no clinic of this scale even in the capital, it was perhaps natural that Olivia felt pressured every time she came, despite it being her own building.

“Olivia! You’re here now?”

“Yes! Was everything alright?”

“Of course. Oh, that’s right. A visitor came just a little while ago.”

Unlike when she ran a small clinic in the village, the scale had grown in the city, and now three employees were helping her. Laura, the clinic manager and Olivia’s secretary, gestured toward the reception room. As she handed over the materials she had collected, Olivia tilted her head at the mention of a visitor.

“I don’t think there were any appointments today. Who is it?”

“They said they’re from your former village.”

“Ah!”

After hurriedly changing her clothes, she headed to the reception room. When she arrived, the visitor from her hometown seemed absorbed in admiring the splendid interior of the mansion. Olivia ran to him with a bright smile.

“Kale! You must have had a hard time coming all the way here.”

Kale greeted Olivia with a slightly embarrassed expression at her warm welcome. Perhaps from experiencing many difficult things, Kale seemed to have developed a somewhat more mature air since she last saw him. Even so, he was still a boy shorter than Olivia.

“Are Ricky and your mother doing well?”

“Yes. This is to thank you for personally visiting last time. Mom asked me to give it to you.”

Olivia accepted the basket Kale handed to her. Inside were several jars filled with various fruit jams, probably made by Kale’s mother. She expressed her thanks and held the gift close to her chest.

“Since it takes time for everyone to come here, I prefer visiting myself. I can see familiar faces too!”

As the only healer in the village, Olivia still felt guilty toward the villagers after moving to the city. She was also worried about the animal friends she had left behind. So she regularly made time to visit her old village for outreach care. In a small village, talent that could make medicine for both animals and people was always scarce.

“I’ve prepared tea and snacks.”

At Olivia’s gesture, Kale sat on the sofa and tasted the snacks, his eyes widening slightly. It was the effect of the high-quality desserts made by an experienced pastry chef whom Alois had personally selected and brought. Since she had a similar reaction when she first tried them, Olivia quietly laughed in sympathy with Kale’s surprise.

“Really, uh, amazing. Not just the snacks, but this building too……”

“Right? Sometimes, I’m still surprised myself.”

Olivia shook her head playfully with a slightly overwhelmed expression. Not just the clinic, but the mansion where she lived with Alois was something else entirely. Though he never directly expressed it, the new mansion in the city, influenced by the emperor’s power to reduce her sense of indebtedness, was sometimes at a level where she felt guilty just walking on its floors.

‘Alois looked at it with such an indifferent gaze as if it were too obvious.’

That was the first time she had so vividly felt that he was of imperial blood.

Since starting a life in the city, Olivia was learning every day how vast the world was and how truly diverse things happened. Even this, Alois said, was quiet compared to the capital, making her belatedly realize how much she had lived without knowing the ways of the world in that remote village.

How much time had passed as she enjoyed the leisurely conversation with Kale, who was as curious as he was surprised? After a brief knock, the door to the reception room swung open.

“Livi.”

The intruder who opened the door without a moment’s hesitation, despite obviously knowing there was a guest in the reception room, was none other than Alois. Before Olivia could even finish happily pronouncing Alois’s name, he strode urgently toward her and embraced her as she was rising from the sofa.

“Hup.”

Kale, who had been standing awkwardly across from them trying to greet the duke, inhaled sharply. Though Alois couldn’t possibly be unaware of his presence, he embraced Olivia as if he couldn’t see anything else, burying his face in her shoulder and taking a deep breath.

“Are you just getting off work?”

Unlike Kale, who was looking around nervously, not knowing what to do, Olivia seemed familiar with the situation, gently rubbing Alois’s back as he clung to her, and greeted him cheerfully.

“I’m acutely realizing these days why I was never interested in power.”

“What?”

“It was because dealing with those damn fools who are nothing but stupid is infuriating.”

Alois’s profile had a hint of irritation as he muttered ominously, grinding his teeth. At his childlike demeanor, like a child throwing a tantrum about not wanting to study, Olivia held back her laughter and embraced him affectionately.

“You worked hard today too! By the way, this is Kale, you know him, right?”

Though their first meeting hadn’t been particularly good, it was in the past now. Trying to update the image of Kale in Alois’s mind to something better, Olivia attempted to introduce him. But Alois, who had straightened up from leaning on her, only showed an expression with an even thicker layer of annoyance.

“Ah yes, I heard he was here. That thief boy from back then.”

“There were unavoidable circumstances then. But thanks to that, you and I met, so he’s like a messenger of love.”

Kale looked desperately at Olivia.

‘No, please stop talking!’

But Kale’s gaze didn’t reach Olivia, and instead, Alois’s stare toward him grew increasingly colder.

It wasn’t the cruel feeling that would freeze one’s body in terror like when he was a beast before. But the blatant intention that he wished Kale would leave quickly was certainly clear.

“It seems I’ve stayed too late, so I’ll be going now.”

“Huh? Already?”

“Yes. It takes some time to get back. And I’ve already delivered what I was asked to give, so I’ll be going.”

Pretending not to notice the cold sweat running down his back, Kale hurriedly gathered his things. Repeatedly declining Olivia’s attempts to see him off, as she still seemed oblivious, he barely managed to escape from the reception room. Through the closing door, the duke’s persistent eyes followed him to the end.

“Will he really be okay?”

Shuddering once and worrying about Olivia’s well-being, Kale let out a sigh that seemed unsuited for a child and quickly left the mansion.

“If he leaves now, he should arrive at the village before it gets late, but he’s still a child. Will he be alright?”

“The coachman I arranged will safely take him back once he goes down, so there’s no need to worry.”

“Oh, really? Alois, you’re so thoughtful.”

Olivia’s warmth as she snuggled against him in praise was satisfying. Although his purpose had been to quickly remove anything that might concern her, what did it matter? It was enough that he could finally be alone with Olivia after finishing his tedious day’s work. Vitality finally returned to Alois’s eyes, which had been like those of a dead fish all day.

“Is that what that guy left behind?”

“Yes! It’s jam made by his mother herself.”

Alois quietly embraced Olivia from behind as she proudly showed him the glass jars filled with colorful jams. Her flushed cheeks looked much more deliciously tempting than the sweet jam that had been simmered in sugar for a long time. He kissed her cheek, nibbled her earlobe with his lips, and lightly set his teeth against her shrinking white nape.

It was an intense contact that didn’t match the bright afternoon sunlight still flooding into the reception room. Olivia’s fingertips, while holding the jam jar, trembled slightly.

“Why are you in such a, mmh, bad mood again today……”

“I’m in a very good mood right now. Because I’m with you.”