81: The Path to Follow
Many young people aspired to join the Eustasia Royal Medical Corps.
Sonia had been one of them.
She must have been proud to wear the white coat with black trim, the corps’ trademark.
It was an organization that saved lives… even if there were corrupt elements, it wasn’t all bad.
There were physicians, both young and old, who, despite the contradictions, despite the struggles, continued to support the Medical Corps until the Chief Physician’s reforms, holding onto their ideals, striving to bring medical care to everyone in this country, rich or poor.
She had taken off the coat.
…She had wept silently, ashamed of her own helplessness, that she had no other choice.
“…Back to the Medical Corps…”
“If leaving the Medical Corps… was not your wish. If you are willing to retrain and walk this path again, I will help you.”
I was half-impressed, half-appalled by his audacity, trying to recruit a highly skilled individual employed by another ducal family, right in front of the head of that family.
However, his reasoning was sound.
The Royal Medical Corps held authority second only to the King in medical matters.
And recruiting physicians could be considered part of that.
Sonia glanced at me.
Her bright brown eyes, behind her glasses, were filled with uncertainty—naturally.
It would be easy to stop her.
“…Do as you wish. It’s your path to choose.”
Even so, I left the decision to Sonia.
――She had come to me because she had lost hope in the Royal Medical Corps.
I had approached those who were dissatisfied, those who were considering other options, tracing them back from those who had already left the corps.
I didn’t regret it.
I couldn’t ignore such an exodus of talent. If they simply left the corps, it would be one thing, but if they went to other countries, it would be a disaster. A loss for the Kingdom of Eustasia.
However, I wasn’t sure if it was truly the right decision.
…There were many who, if I hadn’t intervened, might have remained in the Medical Corps, despite their dissatisfaction, until the reforms.
They might have become a larger force during the Chief Physician election.
Perhaps—they could have reformed the Medical Corps without Louis.
Perhaps the reforms would have been faster, more effective, after Louis’s arrival.
Discarding such ‘what ifs’ was what history was all about.
But I couldn’t help but wonder.
And if she wished, she could return.
I couldn’t forgive the Medical Corps of the past.
They had driven someone like her to such despair.
Sonia was different from me.
She wasn’t blessed by birth. She didn’t have tutors, and her education was far from ideal.
And yet, she had earned a position in the Royal Medical Corps.
This world wasn’t equal.
Lines of class were drawn, creating unequal starting lines, yet we were judged, supposedly fairly, based on results.
Sonia had produced results.
Without succumbing to arrogance, through hard work… she had achieved her dream.
And yet, she was so…
…But the Medical Corps had changed. It wasn’t the same as before.
It was a loss for the Vanderwaals family.
But not for the Medical Corps.
――No one knew which path would ultimately benefit the Kingdom of Eustasia.
Therefore, only she could choose.
“Regrets about the Medical Corps… I have them. Of course I do…”
Sonia murmured, putting her feelings into words.
Yes, of course she had regrets. Many aspired to join the Eustasia Royal Medical Corps, strived for it, and failed.
It was a position that couldn’t be attained through talent or hard work alone.
…Some of those who had left the corps and come to me had returned after the reforms.
While I felt a pang of loneliness, there was no point in restricting those who had made up their minds.
I had earned their loyalty by offering them a ‘place’ when they had none.
Doing the opposite would make me the one who crushed their spirits.
“Chief Physician, thank you for your generous offer.”
She clasped her hands, bowed, and then straightened up. …For a moment, I thought she was going to accept.
Sonia looked up.
“However, I have found my path. —A path to save people. I will walk my path here.”
I was taken aback.
She smiled brightly and gave me a small bow.
Just like she used to, when she wore the coat of the Medical Corps.
“I see… That’s… unfortunate.”
“While I have regrets about the Medical Corps, I don’t intend to return. However, as someone who once wore the same coat, I wish you well. …Perhaps our paths will cross again.”
――They would.
Our family also interacted with the Royal Medical Corps.
And in those situations, people like her were invaluable.
With medicine, not poison.
Through my sister, not me.
The day would come when the power cultivated by the Vanderwaals family would be needed.
“…I’ve been rejected.”
Louis laughed.
The serious atmosphere dissipated.
“I, too, believe there is more than one way to save people. The Royal Medical Corps and the Vanderwaals’ herb gardens. Though our paths are different, we both strive to heal those who are suffering.”
“…Thank you, Chief Physician.”
Among the three Capture Targets and myself, Chief Physician Louis had the most ‘normal’ sensibilities.
Prince Konrad and I, the head of a ducal family, had been raised to be at the pinnacle of the ruling class—and its tools.
Knight Commander Felix, though a commoner by birth, had chosen the path of the nation’s blade.
I glanced at Leticia.
My sister, born in the “back alley,” now learning the perspective of a noble as a ducal lady… but who hadn’t forgotten her commoner’s perspective.
I had ‘learned’ those common sensibilities.
I was a noble, a member of the ruling class, a part of the nation’s machinery. I was a cog, meant to serve a larger purpose.
Having been raised that way, I couldn’t be too wrong.
As the head of the family, I received reports on the businesses operating in our territory through the business taxes paid by the guilds and the farmland use taxes.
By paying the poll tax, the people were guaranteed the right to life and property by the lord. Permanent residency was a requirement for being recognized as a citizen, excluding licensed merchants, so I also knew the flow of people.
The lord held judicial power within their territory. While I didn’t have to preside over the court myself, usually leaving it to Acting Lord Judith, I reviewed the records of major cases, and the decision to grant pardons rested with the lord.
I had an “Acting Lord.” I had an “Assistant Head of the Family.” I had bureaucrats who advised me and handled practical matters, guards who sometimes reported the complaints they heard, and “shadows” who gathered information from the city, sometimes through perfectly legal means, like listening to rumors in taverns and markets.
So, as a lord who listened to her people, I couldn’t be too wrong.
But I could never truly understand the feelings of those I ruled.
I could only imagine.
――Because I was a noble.
Because I was born that way.
Because I couldn’t live any other way.
I looked at my sister intently.
Her noble education wasn’t limited to ladylike pursuits like dancing, horseback riding, and etiquette. It also included territorial management.
While still a novice, with the full support of Ciel, the Assistant Head of the Family, and Judith, the Acting Lord, she was competent enough to manage the territory.
Well, with those two, and their subordinates, it would be difficult to mismanage the territory.
The Vanderwaals family controlled about one-tenth of the Kingdom of Eustasia, possessed considerable economic power, and commanded a strong territorial army.
And then there was the information network we had built and the “shadows” we had trained.
I, the head of the family, who controlled all of this, was a valuable… ‘tool.’
And yet, the ‘me’ in [Moonlight Liberium] would be sent to the guillotine.
What had the ‘me in the game’ done wrong?
Perhaps she had made a mistake somewhere along the way, by being mean to her sister.
I often wondered why I was being mean to such an adorable sister.
My sister, unable to withstand my silent stare, averted her gaze.
Leticia blushed slightly and fidgeted with her hair.
…It seemed she had misunderstood.
Could she do it?
Could my sister?
The girl born in the “back alley,” welcomed into the ducal family, receiving a noble education… could she?
I couldn’t help but smile.
My sister possessed something I could never have, no matter how much I desired it.
While ‘Adelheid von Vanderwaals’ had probably made a mistake somewhere along the way… While I still didn’t quite understand what I was doing wrong…
…perhaps ‘Leticia von Vanderwaals’…
The [Protagonist], blessed by fate…
…perhaps she wouldn’t make any mistakes.
Leticia looked back at me.
And, for some reason, meeting my gaze, she smiled.
“…Elder Sister and I… are walking the same path.”
…It seemed she had misunderstood.
