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 38-39

Chapter 38: I Just Wanna See Alicia’s Smile

*knock knock…*

“Yeah?”

“…Huh? Ah… S-Setsuna-sama… You’re awake…!?”

“Is that you, Alicia-san? Yeah, I just came to a little while ago. The door’s unlocked, so you can come on in.”

“O-Okay… Um, then…”

*click*

“E-Excuse me…! Ah, aah, thank goodness… Setsuna-sama’s awake…! R-Really… I’m so, so glad…!”

Alicia stepped into my room and immediately started tearing up as she said that. Looks like me passing out had worried her a ton.

“Yeah, I’m back to normal now. Judging from how you’re acting, I must’ve really scared you, huh? Haha, sorry about that if I did.”

“N-No, Setsuna-sama doesn’t have to apologize at all! If anything, it’s my fault to begin with… so really… I’m so, so sorry… I put Setsuna-sama in danger because of me…”

“It’s totally fine. As long as I’m still breathing, no big deal. But hey, speaking of which, why were you in that back alley anyway? And why were you wandering around the city all by yourself?”

“Um, well… actually… *sniff*…”

Alicia kept sniffling while she told me why she’d been out alone in the royal capital.

She’d wanted to buy me a present, but since Gilbert wasn’t around, she couldn’t get permission to go out, so she wasn’t allowed to leave the mansion.

Still really wanting to go shopping, Alicia ended up sneaking out of the house without telling anyone and heading into the city by herself.

“…I see. So you slipped out of the mansion without telling anybody and went into town alone.”

*sniff*… “Yeah… that’s right… I was being selfish and went out by myself… and because of that, I put Setsuna-sama in danger… so really… I’m so, so sorry… *sniff*…”

“Haha, don’t worry about it. I mean, I’m kinda an adventurer, y’know? I’ve been in plenty of dangerous spots before, so I’m used to this kinda thing. I’m good.”

*sniff*… “But… because of me… because of me, Setsuna-sama got… hurt this badly… all because of someone like me… *sniff*… ugh…”

I kept telling her it was no big deal, but Alicia just kept crying, looking super guilty and miserable.

Watching her like that, I…

“Alicia-san. Can you turn your face toward me for a sec?”

*sniff*… “Huh? Y-Yeah… like this…?”

“Yeah, thanks. Okay then… here!”

“Huh… f-fweh?”

* squish…! *

I grabbed both of Alicia’s cheeks with my hands and pushed them up, forcing her mouth into a big grin… basically making her look like she was smiling even though she wasn’t.

“F-Fweh… wh-what are you doin’…?”

“Haha. Alicia-san, sad faces and teary faces just don’t suit you at all, y’know? So just smile like you usually do, okay?”

“F-Fweh… b-but… even if you say that… I hurt Setsuna-sama because of me… how am I supposed to just smile like normal… after causing you so much trouble… that’d be way too rude to you…”

“Rude? No way. It’s actually the opposite. I want you to smile, Alicia-san. ’Cause whenever I see your smiling face, I get this warm, happy feeling inside, y’know?”

“…Huh? Happy… feeling?”

“Yeah, exactly. You’re always showing me that bright smile no matter what, right? I mean, you were sick and in pain, rehab must’ve been rough… but even so, you kept smiling and looking happy every single day, didn’t you?”

“Y-Yeah… I guess I was always smiling, huh…”

“See? Watching that amazing smile of yours every day… somewhere along the way, just seeing Alicia-san smile started making me feel really happy. And I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one. Your dad Gilbert-sama, your little sister Estelle-san, your big-sis figure Rufus-san, and all the servants too… I bet they all feel the same. We all… really love your smile, Alicia-san. That’s why I wanna see it.”

“S-Setsuna-sama…”

I told her exactly how I really felt. I—no, all of us—really love Alicia’s smile, and I made sure she knew it.

—

Chapter 39: Promise with Alicia (End)

I looked right at Alicia’s face while I told her that. And then I went ahead and gave her a little heads-up too.

“Oh, but y’know, just so we’re clear. The fact that Alicia did something bad is still a fact, okay? Sneaking out of the mansion all by yourself without telling anybody—that’s definitely not okay, right? So you gotta let everybody at the mansion scold you properly, got it?”

“Y-yeah… that’s true, isn’t it. Everybody’s definitely gonna be mad at me…”

“Exactly. I bet your dad, Gilbert-sama, is gonna be furious beyond belief. And all the servants are probably gonna be super pissed at you too. You might even get scolded so hard you end up crying buckets, y’know.”

“U-ugh… yeah… I’ll accept that properly as my punishment…”

“Right. There’s no getting around that part, so just brace yourself and take the full scolding from everybody. Buuut… I figure it’s gonna be really tough on you if you have to face all that anger and yelling alone, so… okay, I’ve decided! I’m gonna get scolded together with you, Alicia! So whenever they start chewing you out, just say the word! I’ll come running to you anytime!”

“…Huh?”

When I said that, Alicia just stared at me with this totally blank, wide-eyed look.

“What’s up? Something wrong, Alicia?”

“…Um, n-no, it’s just… Setsuna-sama… you’re not mad at me…?”

“Haha, nah, I’m not gonna get mad at you. No matter what happens, I’m always on your side. Remember the promise we made before? I told you I’d help you no matter what.”

“Eh? Ah… th-that’s…”

“So whenever everybody’s yelling at you and it gets too rough, I’ll come running. We’ll get scolded together. If we take the heat as a team, it might not feel half as bad, right? So let’s get yelled at together! Haha.”

“T-together… getting scolded…?”

“Yup, exactly. Okay, sure, getting yelled at together might still suck. But y’know what? When that happens, we can just go eat something sweet and the happy vibes will come right back! So when you’re feeling totally wrecked and miserable after getting blasted by everybody… that’s when we’ll head back to the chiffon cake shop together again, okay, Alicia!”

“…っ…”

I smiled gently while I said that, and Alicia seemed to freeze up for a second like the words got stuck in her throat.

And right after that… a single tear slid slowly down from her eye.

“Ah, huh? S-sorry! I didn’t mean to make you cry…! Did I say something bad?”

Since Alicia started tearing up again, I panicked a little and said that.

“…Eh? N-no, it’s not… I’m not crying because I’m sad… s-so… it’s okay. Please don’t worry about it…!”

“R-really? Well, if that’s the case, then good…”

“Y-yeah… B-but! Um… th-thank you. Thank you so much for saying you’d get scolded together with me, and for saying we can go to the chiffon cake shop together again. It makes me really happy. But… it’s okay if I’m the only one who gets scolded. It’s my fault, so I’ll take the punishment by myself. But…”

“But?”

“But… I’m absolutely gonna feel super miserable when everybody scolds me… so I’ll probably really want something sweet… I’d like to go to the chiffon cake shop again… with Setsuna-sama. So, um… would you please… go to the chiffon cake shop with me again…?”

“Of course! Let’s definitely go together again soon! It’s a promise, Alicia!”

“Y-yeah… thank you…! O-okay then… it’s a promise, Setsuna-sama. Let’s go to the chiffon cake shop together again soon… hehe!”

“Got it!”

And just like that, Alicia and I made a brand-new promise. Finally, she turned and gave me a little smile.

Her eyes were still bright red from crying earlier, and the smile was kinda awkward… but even so, that smile was the exact warm, wonderful smile of the Alicia I love so much.

(Aaah, I’m so glad. I got Alicia’s smile back.)

Alicia still has that whole curse thing hanging over her, but right now that doesn’t matter. Right now I just wanna be honestly happy that I managed to save her safely.

I kept looking at Alicia and thinking how relieved I was that I could bring back the smile of someone who’d been so sad for so long.

And if possible… I hope from now on… forever and ever… the world can stay kind enough that Alicia can keep smiling like this.

While I wished for that… I kept laughing and having fun together with Alicia from then on. (End)