“Why haven’t you told Alicia?”
“…Alicia is a bright young lady who will most likely figure it out in due course of time.”
Saying this, Gramps glanced at the window.
Everyone was thinking about Alicia in the Ravaal Kingdom. Even if they did not want to think about her, they could not get Alicia out of their minds.
Liz Cather was the same way. In the end, she was bound to Alicia for a time.
“But I don’t think she’ll come back here for that reason.”
“Why not?”
“Because she knows better than anyone that I don’t want that.”
Gramps smiled, his eyes gently narrowed. It was the kind of look one would give to a beloved grandchild.
“But Alicia? She’s a compassionate person, why wouldn’t she come back?”
“She’s not coming back.”
Gramps said it clearly, as if he was covering my words.
I couldn’t figure out how he was so certain Alicia would notice something was wrong with him and still not come home.
She respected Gramps more than anyone else. He was like family to her.
Alicia would definitely come back to see Gramps because that was the kind of person she was.
Maybe she could save Gramps. She might be able to cure this disease.
I held out a faint glimmer of hope. Gramps then spoke up, perhaps sensing what I was thinking.
“Gilles, Alicia may indeed be a saint. But just because she is a saint doesn’t mean she can do everything. You can’t save a dying person.”
“But…”
“Alicia understands what she must do. There is no longer time for me to be cured. There is nothing else I can do for her.”
“No, there is! What about me? I still have a lot to learn from Gramps.”
“Gilles, you no longer need me. Look around you. Alicia is not the only one, Duke, Henry, there are many people you can trust. Right?”
I felt as if he was really going to pass away soon. It sounded like a farewell conversation with me.
…It would be alright. I told myself desperately that Gramps would never leave until he had finished his work.
“It’s been an interesting life, nevertheless.”
Gramps’ eyes reflected the rising sun. I just kept my mouth shut and listened to him.
“I never imagined that I would lose my magic, lose my eyes, be exiled to the impoverished village, meet Alicia, raise Gilles, rebuild the impoverished village, and return to the world. Meeting Alicia and Gilles inspired me to do everything in my power to stay alive.”
“Stay alive?”
“It is extremely difficult to define what it means to be alive. Do we live when we can breathe and move our arms and legs? Or is it when we set a goal and are selflessly working toward it? Interestingly, the definition of life is different for each person. One person may find the meaning of life in falling in love, while another person may find the meaning of life in working.”
Gramps’ words make me reflect for a moment.
I was about to die in that impoverished village, and I would have been dead for a long time if I hadn’t met Alicia.
Gramps was most likely the same way. When he was exiled to the impoverished village, he had to have given up everything. It was a place where the concept of “life” had been erased.
Not long ago, everyone there was just waiting for their death.
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