Side Story 23
(Alice’s Story 10 Years Later)
Alice handed over a medicine packet to the noble in front of her with a lifeless expression.
“Here’s your digestive medicine.”
“Can I eat more food after taking this?”
Could you? Alice forced herself to hold back her anger and slightly raised the corners of her mouth. Then she asked, emphasizing each word.
“Didn’t you say you were having indigestion?”
“That’s what I’m saying. I want to eat more but I can’t digest.”
“In that case, you should just take the medicine and go to bed early.”
“What? The banquet’s just started and you’re telling me to sleep?”
Alice clenched her teeth. He was as stupid as Matthew, someone who couldn’t understand basic conversation. Even a five-year-old would be better than this.
“If you insist, do as you please. But don’t come looking for me complaining about indigestion.”
Alice waved her hand dismissively and showed the man out. He left the infirmary expressing his displeasure, constantly muttering about how he should have known better when he heard a woman was the doctor.
Though his voice was too clear to be considered a mumble, Alice pretended not to hear and ignored it. After all, she only had about a month left of this.
She had already made her request to Robert. She asked him to send her somewhere far from the capital if possible.
It wasn’t that she was running away because she hated the Imperial Palace.
She simply thought she needed to meet more people and gain diverse experiences to do the work she desired. Preferably somewhere far from the capital, where help was more needed.
As she built up her abilities that way, perhaps there would be fewer people who dismissed her for being a woman. Though that likely wouldn’t be easily accomplished.
Incidentally, she hoped she could also sort out her unsettled feelings that arose whenever she thought of Antias, since she wouldn’t have to see him.
“Excuse me…”
Following another knock, another patient carefully opened the door.
“Come in.”
She thought it might be another patient asking for digestive medicine, but it was Grand Duke Perna who appeared.
“Did you eat bizz berries again?”
“No. Today I came to see you.”
“I’m sorry but I’m busy. If you’re here to socialize, I’d appreciate it if you leave as quickly as possible.”
Thanks to Robert being temporarily away, Alice was working alone and was quite busy. Even if she had free time, she had no desire to spend it with him.
“Could I stay until another patient arrives? I won’t interfere with your work.”
You’re already interfering plenty.
If it were Matthew, she would have thrown him out immediately, but the other person was a Grand Duke from a neighboring country. Though she knew she should maintain proper etiquette, receiving such blatant attention wasn’t particularly pleasant either.
“Why did you come to see me again?”
Alice asked, unable to hide the frown between her brows.
“I wanted to apologize for my previous rudeness and express my gratitude to my savior.”
“I’ve heard enough of that already.”
Alice’s response remained consistently cold. Perna understood, of course. His first impression had been quite poor after all.
“Actually, that was just an excuse. Today I came because I wanted to get to know you better. If that’s alright with you.”
Though it would be difficult to change his impression all at once, Perna was second to none when it came to persistence. So there was no need to rush.
However, the Duke had overlooked one fact: Alice’s grudge-holding ability was no less impressive than his persistence.
Alice cut off the Duke’s polite request with a sharp rejection.
“I appreciate the sentiment, but…”
“That won’t do.”
Well, she tried to. If someone hadn’t interrupted, the words ‘that won’t do’ would have come from her mouth.
Thinking she should at least thank whoever had said what she was going to say, Alice looked at the man who had burst through the door.
“Your Majesty?”
She didn’t expect it to be Antias though.
“She is… that won’t do.”
What exactly won’t do that you came in so abruptly? Question marks kept popping up in Alice’s mind.
Perna was the first to understand the situation. He looked back and forth between Antias and Alice before bursting into laughter.
“I see. I understand what misunderstanding you’ve made. Don’t worry. I didn’t come to Miss Alice with any romantic intentions.”
“Misunderstanding?”
Antias asked with a blank face as he looked at Perna.
“I was impressed by her excellent skills and came to make a recruitment offer. I wanted to ask if she would work in the Kalmar Kingdom after her training period ends.”
“And I refused.”
Alice clearly expressed her intention once again, lest it be missed.
“There’s still plenty of time, so please think about it some more.”
Of course, Perna pretended not to hear. How many times would she have to refuse before he understood?
“By the way, it seems the rumor I heard wasn’t wrong.”
“What rumor?”
Alice asked, looking at Perna. His green eyes curved mysteriously as they gleamed.
“That’s something you should hear directly from the person himself.”
Perna stood up, saying he didn’t want to interfere with the two of them.
After he left, the atmosphere grew increasingly frosty, and Alice unconsciously fidgeted with her fingers.
Thinking it might have been better when Perna was here.
Though she shouldn’t say this as a doctor, she wished a patient would appear. She could give out digestive medicine as much as needed.
“I have no intention of going to Kalmar. So you don’t need to worry.”
Her voice, stiff with tension, was harder than expected.
“That wasn’t what I was worried about.”
Antias couldn’t lift his head, feeling like he wanted to find a mouse hole to hide in. It seemed he had been completely fooled by Ravenne. Though thanks to that, he had been able to face his true feelings.
“Your Majesty, you don’t need to speak formally with me.”
“It’s been so long since we’ve talked alone like this, couldn’t you let that much slide?”
Instead of correcting his speech at Alice’s point, Antias asked for her understanding. He didn’t want to waste this rare opportunity for the sake of maintaining appearances.
But Alice didn’t feel confident about talking with him like they did in their childhood.
She thought it would be better to end the conversation quickly rather than prolong an uncomfortable situation, so she opened her mouth.
“If you don’t have anything else to say…”
“Aren’t you curious?”
“Pardon?”
“About why I came here.”
Well. Alice thought for a moment before asking.
“Did you come for digestive medicine?”
Antias smiled awkwardly.
Though it would be natural to be curious, she didn’t ask for the reason. Well, even if she had asked, he wasn’t confident he could honestly tell her.
How could he say that he didn’t like her being alone with the Grand Duke?
“Yes, please give me some digestive medicine.”
Antias finally nodded and sat down in front of her.
Though she didn’t expect him to actually come for digestive medicine, Alice prepared the medicine without any suspicion.
“How do you find working at the Imperial Palace?”
“It’s manageable.”
“You don’t look well though.”
Alice closed her mouth for a moment and pondered. Perhaps because of his changed way of speaking, it oddly felt like having a conversation with Anton. Because of that, she felt she might accidentally reveal her true feelings. Well, they were the same person anyway.
“I’m still adjusting. Here, I’ll give you the digestive medicine.”
Alice said as she handed him the medicine packet. Though it meant he should leave now that he had what he wanted, Antias showed no sign of getting up from his chair.
“Miss, why did you want to become a doctor?”
“Is that a personal question?”
“Would your answer change depending on that?”
“Well, I do have an interview-ready answer prepared.”
Antias couldn’t help but smile at Alice’s answer. Her densely curved eyelashes caught his attention.
Along with his brief laughter, the tense atmosphere softened a little.
“I’d like to hear both, but right now I’m personally curious. There were many other positions available at the Imperial Palace besides being a doctor.”
In terms of possibilities, it was actually harder to work as a doctor in the Imperial Palace. There were so few positions available.
“I didn’t particularly want to work at the Imperial Palace.”
Alice scratched her nape awkwardly, hesitating whether to continue speaking.
“Actually, I thought what Your Majesty did was admirable. The way you cared for your people and worked to create a better country. So… I wanted to do that too.”
Alice often went on volunteer work with Ravenne and saw children who couldn’t receive treatment because they had no money. The expensive medicine costs equaled a week’s worth of food for commoners, and poor parents could only pace anxiously worrying about their sick children.
That’s why she decided to become a doctor. Dreaming of a world where people could receive treatment without worrying about money.
“But look at me now.”
Alice pointed to herself and laughed self-deprecatingly.
She entered the Imperial Palace without a choice and was working while being disrespected daily. She boldly declared she would become an impressive woman, but it seemed she just became someone unremarkable.
That was probably why. Why she disliked facing Antias. She wanted to avoid him because she wasn’t confident in herself.
“That’s not true. What’s wrong with how you are now?”
Antias asked with wide eyes. Alice quietly answered.
“…You don’t need to comfort me. It’s the truth.”
“It’s not comfort. I’ve always thought you were impressive. Your confident and dignified manner has always made me proud on one hand, and envious on the other.”
Antias’s blue eyes gazed at Alice, trying to convey his sincerity. She suppressed her desire to keep staring into those eyes. Now, Antias was the Emperor and she was just an Imperial Palace doctor. Getting swayed by nicely packaged words would be unseemly.
“Ah, I had just made up my mind to leave here, why do you keep making me think of the past…”
Alice sighed as she tried to calm her emotions. At this rate, her resolution seemed likely to crumble.
“Don’t be nice to me if you don’t mean it. People will misunderstand.”
Most of all, Alice herself would misunderstand. Both in the past and now.
“What if I do mean it?”
“Pardon?”
“What if I’m doing this because I do have feelings?”
It was an unexpected response. Alice looked at Antias with a surprised face. With the smile gone from his lips, he was no longer the boy she remembered.
“What about you, Miss?”
“Wh-what about me?”
Alice answered nervously, unconsciously tensing at Antias’s gaze.
“You said you would take me as your concubine.”
“When did I ever…!”
“Of course, there’s no law yet that allows taking an emperor as a concubine, but if you’re willing, I can start working on creating one. Though it might take some time.”
Alice couldn’t tell if his words were a joke meant to tease her or if he was serious.
Why was she even wondering about this? Obviously, it must be a joke.
“You make jokes sound so serious. You don’t need to do that. Who would say such nonsense about taking an emperor as a concubine?”
Alice repeated her own words and added like she was making an excuse.
“Except for me ten years ago. I didn’t know better then.”
“Then what about now?”
“What?”
“Has your heart changed now?”
His question had returned to where it started.
Antias now knelt on one knee and gently took Alice’s hand.
Alice looked at him and couldn’t easily open her mouth.
She couldn’t decide whether it was right to first point out his attitude of kneeling before a mere count’s daughter, or if she should answer his question first.
“Has your heart changed?”
Facing her silence, Antias asked the same question once again.
Where did he learn to be this persistent?
“Does my heart matter? Your Majesty has the princess…”
Alice noticed Antias’s trembling fingers. The words that were about to leave her lips stopped naturally, and only then did she notice his face clearly showing tension.
Alice unconsciously raised her hand to cover her mouth.
“I-I’m only working at the Imperial Palace until next month.”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know when I’ll return. It could be three years, or it could be five years.”
“I’ll wait.”
“I-I’m saying my feelings might change by then!”
At those words, Antias lowered his eyes slightly, clearly disappointed, and answered.
“Are you going to look for someone else instead of me? I don’t like that.”
“No, that’s not what I…”
How did the conversation end up like this? Alice somehow felt this wasn’t the first time Antias had pressed her for an answer.
They were no longer children who knew nothing. Many things had changed since the time when she believed Antias would naturally always be by her side.
A romance with the Emperor… it should have been laughable. But Alice wanted to make an uncharacteristically impulsive decision. No, she wanted to finally express the feelings she had held for years.
So, what could she do? Even if he was pressing her for an answer, there was only one answer that could come from her lips.
Alice lowered the hand covering her mouth and looked at Antias.
“It hasn’t changed. So… wait a little. I’ll come to take you.”
Antias finally smiled as he met Alice’s reddened face.
“Yes. Gladly.”
[I Am More Sincere About Breaking Off the Engagement Than Anyone, Side Story (End)]
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Pitidri
Ele já tem 25 ou 26 anos… ela tem 20/21 … esperar mais o que? Sejam felizes .eus amores, a vida é curta e esses são os melhores anos que vocês estão perdendo…
Obrigada pelo trabalho duro, a tradução estava ótima ❤️