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 31-32

Chapter 31: Talking with Gilbert

One day. In the office at the Elfemina family mansion.

“…So yeah, Alicia-san’s body has gotten a whole lot better. She’s eating meals properly now and she’s super full of energy.”

“Hmm, hmm. That’s great to hear. I’m really glad Alicia’s getting healthier and healthier…”

I was giving Gilbert—Elfemina family’s current head—a report on Alicia’s rehab progress.

Gilbert’s usually super busy with duke family stuff, so he’s out of the mansion a lot. Plus, he’d been away on a business trip until just yesterday, meaning he’d been away from the royal capital for a while.

That’s why he hadn’t seen Alicia in quite some time, so I filled him in on how she’d been doing lately.

“Yeah, it’s honestly amazing. Right now she can walk pretty much freely as long as she’s got her one-handed cane. We even went for a walk together in the city streets recently, and she didn’t trip or get hurt once—she just strolled around having fun.”

“That’s seriously impressive. The fact that she can explore the city like that… it’s hard to even imagine how broken-down she looked back then… I’m so relieved she’s come this far and gotten so strong… Setsuna-dono, thank you so much for helping Alicia get this healthy again. It’s all thanks to you.”

“No way, that’s not true at all. She got this far because Alicia-san worked super hard at rehab every single day. So it’s definitely not all because of me—it’s thanks to her own effort.”

“Haha, you don’t have to be so humble about it. Of course Alicia’s been putting in the work, but I really think your support made a huge difference. Oh, right—that reminds me. Estelle’s gonna hold a dinner party soon to celebrate Alicia’s full recovery and to thank you, Setsuna-dono. I’ve been invited too, so please take care of me that day.”

“Yes, same here. Looking forward to the dinner party, Gilbert-sama.”

Gilbert brought up the dinner party. Estelle’s already decided it’s happening in two weeks.

Since it’s a dinner party, I’m guessing the food’s gonna be really fancy. I’m already excited just thinking about it.

“Yeah, same to you. A dinner party to celebrate Alicia’s full recovery, huh… Which means it’s probably about time to wrap up your contract with me too, Setsuna-dono. How about we call the contract complete right around when the dinner party ends?”

“Yeah, that sounds good. At this point Alicia-san can walk totally freely with the cane, and her body’s healthy now too—so she basically doesn’t need my help with rehab anymore. So finishing the contract after the dinner party should be fine.”

“Got it. Then I’ll prepare the completion paperwork for the adventurer guild with that timing. Sorry for keeping you tied up in the royal capital for so long, Setsuna-dono.”

“No no, don’t worry about it at all. I’ve had a blast experiencing the royal capital for the first time, and I even gained a new master in Rufus-san. It’s been nothing but good stuff for me.”

“Oh yeah, I heard about that from Rufus. I was shocked when she told me herself that she was giving sword training to someone. Hehe, you really are something else, kid.”

Gilbert said that while laughing.

“Nah nah, I’m not amazing at all. Rufus-san’s just being really nice to a newbie adventurer like me, that’s all. Oh, speaking of Rufus-san… that reminds me—how’s the thing with Alicia-san’s curse magic going? Any progress or anything?”

“Ah, about the curse magic… right now, there’s still nothing at all. We’re sharing info with trustworthy groups like the knights and the adventurer guild, but since we’re keeping this whole thing top secret, the investigation’s not moving very fast…”

“I see. Yeah, I figured it’d be like that…”

I’d already heard from Rufus that they’re investigating the curse thing in complete secrecy, so it’s hard for things to move quickly.

I didn’t expect any big updates in such a short time anyway, but still—it’s pretty frustrating when the culprit’s nowhere to be found.

“Yeah… Even though you’ve given us so much info, Setsuna-dono, I feel bad that we don’t have any good news to report back…”

“No, please don’t worry about me. I think you’re the one who’s way more stressed and frustrated about the lack of progress, Gilbert-sama. And even after my contract with the Elfemina family ends, if Alicia-san ever gets into trouble with curse magic again, I’ll rush back here super fast! So if anything happens, just contact me anytime, okay!”

“Hehe, thanks for saying that, Setsuna-dono. It really makes me happy knowing a kind-hearted young guy like you is always ready to help Alicia whenever she needs it. So from now on too… if anything happens to Alicia, I’m counting on you, Setsuna-dono.”

“Yep, leave it to me!”

I answered Gilbert with a big, cheerful nod. No matter what happens, if Alicia’s ever in danger, I’m definitely gonna go save her.

—

Chapter 32: Heading Out Alone into the Royal Capital Streets (Alicia’s POV)

One afternoon.

“Hey, Sils… please…?”

“No way, my lady.”

I was in my room, asking Sils for a certain favor. I wanted her to come with me to the royal capital streets without telling Setsuna-sama.

But Sils shot it down flat. She even said that if it had to be kept secret from him, then I couldn’t go out into the city at all.

“W-why not, Sils? Why can’t I go if it’s like that?”

“It’s Master’s orders. He told me that whenever you go out into the city, you have to go with Setsuna-sama. If you suddenly trip and get hurt out there, it’d be a big problem. And so you can get healing magic right away if anything happens, he said you’re to always go with Setsuna-sama when you leave the house. So if you really wanna go into town, please do it with Setsuna-sama.”

“N-no, that’s… um… I really, really need to keep it a secret from Setsuna-sama…”

“Hmm? Sounds like there’s some kinda reason behind it, huh? But I’m an attendant of the Elfemina family, so Master’s orders are absolute. If you absolutely insist on going into the city without Setsuna-sama knowing, then please get permission from Master first.”

“B-but… Dad’s away on a business trip outside right now, isn’t he…? I can’t wait until he gets back…”

“Even so, I really can’t go against Master’s orders. I’m sorry, my lady, but I can’t give you permission to go into town. If you really have to, either go with Setsuna-sama or wait for Master to come back.”

“…Okay. Sorry for taking up your time, Sils. You can go back to your work now.”

“Yes, understood. Excuse me.”

—slam

With that, Sils left my room. And just like that, my plan to buy a present for Setsuna-sama fell apart.

“Sigh… what should I do…? Hmm… but like… I can already walk pretty decently on my own now, right?”

I lay on my bed and muttered that to myself. These days I can move around freely as long as I’ve got my one-handed cane. And last time I walked around town, I didn’t stumble or fall even once. I’ve got plenty of stamina too, so getting hurt probably won’t happen that easily.

And today Dad’s away on that business trip. All the attendants are busy with their own work, so there’s not even one of them sticking right by my side watching me. In that case…

“…Yeah. Okay then… maybe I’ll just head out into town by myself…!”

I made up my mind. I mean, all I’m doing is shopping anyway, and I’m not gonna be out for super long.

So if I hurry out, buy Setsuna-sama’s present quick, and hurry back, nobody’ll ever know.

Alright, time to get ready fast. And I’ll sneak out so none of the attendants notice.

◇◇◇◇

—Chatter chatter, buzz buzz…!

“Wow, it’s so lively. The royal capital really is amazing, huh…!”

When I reached the central part of the capital, I couldn’t help muttering that. The center was full of noise and energy—a really vibrant, nice place.

“Okay, gotta head to the weapon shop without bumping into anyone… slowly… huh?”

“Sniff… hic… uweh…”

Right when I was about to start walking toward the weapon shop, I spotted a little kid crying all alone just ahead by a roadside tree.

Maybe he got hurt or something. I hurried over to him right away.

“Sniff… ugh… hic…”

“You okay, kiddo?”

“Ugh… hic… fweh…?”

“Did something happen? Did you get hurt maybe?”

“Hic… sniff… n-no… I got… separated from my mom… ugh…”

“Ohhh, you lost your mom… that’s really tough, huh…”

Looked like the crying kid had gotten separated from his mother. That’s why he was all sad and in tears.

“Getting separated from your mom is super hard, isn’t it… Okay, how about this—if you’re okay with it, wanna come with big sis to the guard station right now?”

“Ugh… sniff… hic…”

“Your mom might be looking for you and maybe she’s already at the station, y’know? So if you want, we can go there together right now…”

“Ugh… hic… uuuu…”

I asked the kid if he wanted to head to the nearby guard station with me, but he was crying so hard from sadness that it seemed like my words weren’t even getting through.

(Hmm, what should I do… oh, wait!)

Suddenly I remembered something similar that happened to me once. Back when I was really little, Dad scolded me in the mansion and I started crying my eyes out.

Then Mom took me out into town, and she bought me something special to cheer me up while I was crying.

(Pretty sure that shop was around here somewhere… ah, there it is!)

I looked around quickly and spotted the shop that sold the thing Mom bought me back then.

“Sorry, hang on just a sec. Big sis’ll be right back, okay!”

“Sniff… ugh…”

I said that quick to the kid, then ducked into the nearby shop. I bought the thing I wanted and came straight back to him.

“Huff, huff… phew. Sorry to keep you waiting. Okay… here, this is for you!”

“Sniff… ugh… fweh…?”

I held it out to the kid while saying that. And what it was…

“Eh… i-ice cream…?”

“Yup, that’s right. I just got it from that ice cream shop over there. Do you like ice cream?”

“Sniff… yeah… I like it…”

“Nice, nice. Hehe, good then. The ice cream from that place is crazy sweet and super yummy. So wanna eat it together with big sis?”

“Sniff… hic… is it really okay…?”

“Of course! Hehe, I bet once you eat this ice cream, all those sad feelings are gonna fly away super fast! So here—go ahead if you want!”

“Sniff… okay, thank you…”

“Ooh, look at you saying thanks properly—what a good kid. Hehe, let’s eat it quick before it melts.”

“U-um… okay… itadakimasu…”

“Yeah, itadakimasu.”

So we started eating the ice cream right away. And the second the kid took one bite, his eyes lit up all sparkly.

“…Eh? W-wow! It’s so sweet and yummy! Big sis!”

“Hehe, right? That ice cream shop’s seriously delicious. I used to go there a lot when I was a kid too.”

“Really? It’s so good… super duper good! Thank you for treating me to such yummy ice cream, big sis!”

“No no, don’t worry about it. Oh, and that shop’s pretty cheap too, plus they’ve got tons of different flavors. If you like it, you should totally bring your mom next time. I bet she’d be really happy.”

“Okay, got it! …Ah… r-right… Mom… ugh…”

“Oh yeah, that’s right. About your mom—maybe she’s at the guard station nearby right now. So how about we go check it out together? It’s really close… Think you can hang in there just a little longer even if it’s tough?”

“R-really…? Mom’s close by…? U-um, okay…! I’ll… I’ll hang in there…!”

“Yeah yeah, you’re doing awesome hanging in there! Okay, let’s head to the station then. This way—follow me.”

“U-um! Got it!”

And so, while eating our ice cream together, I headed toward the nearby guard station with the kid.