63
Candice widened her eyes at the unexpected
answer.
「When I was young, my cough wouldn't
get better, you see…… A doctor from the Blue Palace secretly cured the
cough that praying couldn't cure.」
「……!」
「At that time, I thought I wanted to
become like a doctor too. But I am absolutely not permitted to advance down
this path.」
「……!」
Luca is the child of the Pope's daughter
and also the Second Imperial Prince. Even if he doesn't become Emperor, there
is a possibility of him becoming the Pope or a priest.
（How unexpected…… To think that
rather than wanting to cause people to suffer, the Luca-oniisama of this
time wanted to save people.）
Candice had almost never met Luca
around this time. She had arbitrarily despised the timid Luca, and she
had no interest in him, only seeing his face at large ceremonies.
（Illnesses cannot be cured just by
praying…… He is quite realistic, isn't he.）
Luca is seven years old, two years older
than Candice. And yet, he has clearly set his own goals and dreams. Candice
was starting to hold a favorable impression of this unexpected inner side.
「But I just couldn't give it up no
matter what, so I thought I at least wanted to put the knowledge into my head
like this.」
Luca said so with a serious face. Candice
listened to his story in silence.
（To think Luca-oniisama would
say such things……）
As
he grew up, his atmosphere became gloomy, and perhaps because she only had a
dark image of him doing poison research, Luca talking about his dreams
with sparkling eyes looked like a different person. The young Luca is a
quiet and shy beautiful boy.
Perhaps
because he is learning many things from books, he is mature and realistic. It's
unimaginable that a few years from this state, he would shut himself in his
room and completely stop coming out. However, with the appearance of Louise,
he gradually opens his heart.
（I wonder what happened to Luca-oniisama……）
Candice had used Luca to corner Maxence,
but the paths they had walked up until then never crossed, remaining completely
unknown to her. Candice had been so desperate to be loved herself that
she perhaps couldn't see her surroundings.
「You possess a wonderful dream, Luca-oniisama.」
「……Eh!? Y-You're not going to make a
fool of me?」
Candice tilted her head at Luca's
words. After hearing his feelings, there was no way she would even think of
making a fool of him. Candice could not bring herself to hate a figure
trying to push forward for the sake of their goal.
（Because, I was the exact same way……）
Until
she was twelve, Candice had worked hard solely to meet her mother. After
her mother passed away, she had single-mindedly sought love from her father. If
she were to make a fool of that, it would mean denying her past self.
Luca too was chasing a dream that
couldn't be fulfilled due to his position. There was no way she could make a
fool of him.
Besides,
even now Candice was working hard for her own goals.
「I would never make a fool of you. I
too was saved by doctors the other day. That gratitude has permeated to my very
bones.」
In
reality, it was probably thanks to the doctors that the paralyzing drug wore
off quickly without any aftereffects. Before time rewound, Candice had
looked down even on doctors, but now she looked at things with different
feelings. In the first place, she had just never caught a disease and thus
never had anything to do with doctors.
The
fact that Candice became able to think this way might also be thanks to Arthur,
Eva, Rose, and Jeanne.
Luca was deeply moved, saying, 「As I thought, you are amazing, Candice.」 However, he immediately dropped his shoulders as if
realizing reality.
「But…… I cannot become a doctor.」
At
those words, Candice tilted her head.
「Oh my, why is that?」
「You know of my birth as well, don't
you!?」
「Yes, I know about that, but.」
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