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Join the ServerAlice Liddell, supported by Jeanne Decker’s hand, walked slowly along the sidewalk.
Initially, she felt a flicker of nervousness, but as she grew accustomed to their gentle pace, a sense of calm finally settled over her.
By now, the Snow Princess should have already passed that route, ensuring the area remained temporarily safe.
Her unexpected reunion with Jeanne Decker was indeed a surprise, yet Alice Liddell had always intended to see Jeanne Decker again at the academy. Meeting a little earlier was of no great consequence.
It would be sufficient to simply avoid acknowledging each other and to refrain from deepening their acquaintance in this guise, precisely as the Duchess Liddell had cautioned.
Alice Liddell discreetly glanced at Jeanne Decker’s profile.
‘After all this time, you are still the same,’ she thought. ‘That’s truly wonderful.’
‘It’s just a pity that I, however, am no longer the person I once was.’
“Isn’t that Miss Jeanne Decker?” As they approached the street corner, a sudden greeting made both of them turn their heads in unison.
A pancake stall stood nestled at the corner of the intersection, run by two girls clad in aprons. The elder one waved enthusiastically towards them, her voice ringing out, “Hi!”
“Miss Martha,” Jeanne Decker replied, a familiar smile gracing her lips. “Leah is here too.”
The other young girl, Leah, nodded somewhat reservedly towards Jeanne Decker. “Hello, senior.”
‘Senior?’ Alice Liddell observed the young girl.
‘Is she also a student at Holy Temple Academy?’
The two girls bore a striking resemblance, undoubtedly sisters, and both appeared to have immigrant ancestry, likely mixed-race.
“I just saw you in the carriage; you looked absolutely dashing!” Martha gave Jeanne Decker a thumbs-up.
“Why are you setting up your stall here today?” Jeanne Decker asked with a smile.
“On Saint’s Edict Day, of course we set up where the parade passes! We’ve sold over two hundred pancakes today. Miss Jeanne Decker, would you like one?” Martha exclaimed happily, then shifted her gaze to Alice Liddell, lingering on her hand resting on Jeanne Decker’s shoulder. A mischievous grin spread across her face. “Your companion, this young lady, is truly beautiful! Hehe, what exactly is your relationship?”
“I accidentally bumped into this young lady on the road and injured her knee. Now I’m taking her to find her family,” Jeanne Decker explained.
“Is that so? Then all the more reason to buy her something as an apology! Young lady, do you like pancakes? They’re ten copper coins each,” Martha chatted with Alice Liddell in a friendly manner.
‘Pancakes… what a coincidence,’ Alice Liddell thought.
This street food was common across the empire. Alice Liddell recalled the first time she had met Jeanne Decker outside school; she had given Jeanne Decker directions, and in gratitude, Jeanne Decker had treated her to a pancake.
‘This is a rare opportunity. Perhaps I should treat her in return.’
With that thought, Alice Liddell spoke before Jeanne Decker could. “Actually, the collision was my fault. Let me treat you instead. I’ll have two.”
Before Jeanne Decker could react, Alice Liddell had already found two ten-copper coins and handed them over.
“Oh, I couldn’t possibly…”
Jeanne Decker was about to protest, but Martha had already deftly taken the money and, with her sister, began preparing the order. “Thank you for your patronage! What flavors would you like?”
“One candied apple, one chocolate…” Lost in memories, Alice Liddell ordered without much thought.
She remembered Jeanne Decker once telling her that candied apple was her favorite, and chocolate was Alice Liddell’s own preferred flavor.
It was only after she spoke that she realized her casual order seemed somewhat amiss—both Martha and Jeanne Decker looked at her with a hint of surprise.
Candied apple was indeed Jeanne Decker’s unwavering choice, but Alice Liddell, supposedly meeting Jeanne Decker for the ‘first time,’ shouldn’t have known her preferences.
“I just think these two flavors are the best for pancakes! Um, Sir Knight, which flavor would you like? I’ll have the other one,” Alice Liddell quickly tried to salvage the situation.
Jeanne Decker blinked, then offered a polite smile. “I’ll have the candied apple, then.”
Alice Liddell inwardly let out a sigh of relief.
‘Thank goodness,’ she thought. ‘They don’t seem to find it particularly unnatural.’
The two sisters busied themselves. Martha was a remarkably warm vendor, chatting with them continuously as she worked.
During their conversation, Alice Liddell learned that the sisters were each other’s only family. Martha, the elder sister, supported their household by running the stall and funded Leah’s education. Leah, in turn, studied exceptionally hard, having earned admission to the capital’s Holy Temple Academy from the Holy Academy of Tianmen District, located in the imperial city’s outskirts. Though only an external student, for someone from a humble background, her future seemed boundless.
Leah was an external student majoring in law. Given her ethnic heritage, entering the judicial system might present some difficulties, but with a degree from Holy Temple Academy, becoming a private lawyer should pose no problem.
Alice Liddell seized the opportunity to mention that she was also a student at Holy Temple Academy. Since the topic had come up, deliberately concealing it now would make future encounters with Jeanne Decker at the academy feel unnatural.
“Oh, you’re a new student at Holy Temple Academy?!” Martha exclaimed, covering her mouth in surprise. “What an amazing coincidence!”
Jeanne Decker also cast a surprised glance at Alice Liddell.
“Yes, I’m quite surprised myself,” Alice Liddell said with a smile.
“That’s wonderful! Please support my stall more often in the future—I usually set up near the academy, you know,” Martha grinned broadly.
She refrained from making any foolish suggestions, such as introducing Alice Liddell to her sister for mutual support at the academy.
Alice Liddell’s attire clearly marked her as belonging to the upper class, a world entirely separate from their own. Such was the way of the world; one’s social circle was dictated by their class. Jeanne Decker, with her common origins yet having ascended into aristocratic circles and capable of interacting with all manner of people, was truly an exception.
Alice Liddell noticed this, once again feeling the irony of reality, for her actual background was not so different from Leah’s.
“Here you go! One candied apple, one chocolate, with extra portions just for you!” Martha said, handing them the freshly made, warm pancakes wrapped in thick oiled paper.
“Thank you,” Jeanne Decker and Alice Liddell replied, accepting them.
“Please come again soon!” Martha waved them off with a radiant smile. In contrast, Leah appeared much more introverted, merely offering a silent wave.
Holding a pancake in one hand and Jeanne Decker’s arm in the other, Alice Liddell turned and departed.
As they left, she could still hear Martha and Leah’s conversation:
“Alright, Leah, hurry on back now. Have you done your academy homework?”
“I finished it ages ago! Stop worrying so much.”
“I told you I can manage the stall by myself; you don’t need to help. Shouldn’t you be reviewing…?”
“Sister, you’re so naggy!”
****
Two minutes later, the Duchess Liddell, having returned to their meeting point, stared in confusion at the empty bench.
‘That foolish student,’ she thought. ‘She said she’d wait here. Where on earth did she go by herself?’
Instinctively, she scanned the street, hoping to spot her nearby.
And indeed, she found her at first glance.
She saw Alice Liddell, hand-in-hand with a tall girl, each holding a pancake, slowly walking towards her, chatting and laughing.
That girl… she was unmistakably the one who had been holding the church banner on the carriage earlier.
With a stunned expression, the Duchess Liddell froze in place like a statue, her purse slipping from her grasp and falling to the ground.
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