To Those Who Regretted After I Died - Chapter 5

Alec’s shop is located in the merchant district within the castle, offering goods sourced from other countries. The shop is filled with many rare items, attracting a steady stream of customers. Occasionally, Sophia would go to the shop in Alec’s place and work alongside the staff. While at the shop, she found solace in forgetting about the two of them and retreating to her own room to read her favorite books.

Orders came from the castle as well.

“What!? You met with the Empress and her children?” Emily exclaimed, her voice rising in excitement. Sophia, who was organizing documents in Alec’s room, turned her back to maintain some distance from the two of them.

“Yes, I met them when I delivered a celebratory gift for the birth of the Empress’s third child… I couldn’t tell if her belly was big or not,” Alec replied.

“Alec, you actually looked at the Empress’s belly?” Emily teased.

“W-What? No, it’s just natural to glance when you hear there’s a child inside, right?” Alec stammered, trying to defend himself.

“Is that so? Did you hear that, sister? Alec was staring at the Empress’s belly!” Emily giggled.

“I didn’t stare! It was just a casual glance… Why do I have to explain myself?” Alec sighed.

“Hehehe, I’ll let it slide this time,” Emily said, chuckling.

“Hah…”

To an outsider, they might appear to be a loving sister and her husband.

“What are the princes like?” Emily asked, her curiosity piqued.

“Well, they seemed to be close brothers. Especially the younger one, Prince Gerald, who was running around energetically, making it hard for the maids. The older brother, Prince Alphonse, seemed very interested in the goods I brought and bombarded me with questions, which left me a bit flustered.”

Seeing Alec’s wry smile, Emily laughed along with him.

“Close brothers, just like you and me, sister!” Emily said playfully.

Sophia, who had been focused on her writing, felt her hand freeze at Emily’s words.

“You look like a sister who’s interrupting her older sister’s work,” she retorted.

“That’s so mean! After all, your workspace is Alec’s room, isn’t it? I think you should have a separate office,” Emily replied.

“…Emily, please don’t make unreasonable requests because it’s what Alec has decided.”

“…Okay…”

The next day, Sophia was shocked by what Alec revealed.

“Wait… You changed your workspace?”

“Yeah… I remembered there was an empty room. It wouldn’t be fair for you to work when Emily comes into my room, would it?”

“…Are you going to work in your office as well?”

“No, I’ll work here as usual. If I’m not in the room, Emily will come looking for me, right? If she needs something or has questions, she can come to my room.”

“…Isn’t Emily irrelevant to this?”

“Huh?”

“…It’s nothing…”

Since the time she had been working alone in her office, Sophia found that when she went to Alec’s room for something, he was often away. She received messages from the butler many times… If Alec was rare enough to be in the room, she would hear Emily’s laughter and their lively conversations, making her hesitate to enter the room countless times…

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Sophia had started using the empty room as her workspace, and sometimes Emily would come to her and talk about her days spent with Alec, which occasionally made Sophia feel uneasy. Alec had never once visited the new workspace. One afternoon, Sophia found herself dozing off and dreaming.

Knock, knock!

“Yes?”

“It’s me. Can I come in for a moment?”

“…Yes, what is it?”

“I was thinking of taking a break and wanted to invite you for a walk. How about it?”

“Huh!? A walk? Is it not with Emily?”

“No… I want to go just the two of us…”

“Understood…”

As Sophia left the workspace with Alec, she felt confused.

(…He’s never invited me for a walk before…)

“Alec!”

Emily came running down the hallway and hugged Alec with a bright smile.

(…Sigh, this is the usual scene… I had warned Emily about this, but since Alec said it was fine, I stopped saying anything… Yet, it seems the invitations for walks have vanished…)

“Alec, let’s go to the park!”

Still clinging to Alec, Emily smiled as she invited him to the park.

“I can go if my wife is with me.”

“Huh!?”

“Aww, I want to go with you, Alec!”

“I’m going for a walk with my wife now. You can go to the park alone.”

“!?!”

“W-Wait… alone…?”

Alec released Emily’s arm, and Sophia was surprised by this different side of him.

“Um, Alec?”

“That’s so cruel! Alec!”

Sophia sighed as she saw Emily’s eyes welling up with tears. She knew that the spoiled Emily would always get her way when she showed Alec her tears.

“Sigh, you should stop that habit.”

“Huh?”

“Let’s go! It’s a waste of time.”

“Um… Alec…!?”

Alec grabbed Sophia’s hand and started walking. Though she was bewildered, she was happy that her husband chose her instead of Emily.

Sophia felt tears welling up in her eyes as she thought she could hear Alec’s voice as they walked together.

“…I’m sorry… I should have been there for you sooner…”

“…Alec…”

(……)

When Sophia woke up, she noticed tears streaming down her face. Looking around, she realized it had all been a dream… She slumped her shoulders in disappointment.

“To think the Alec in my dream would apologize to me… How happy I would have been if it were real…”

Sophia wished that if only she could walk with Alec, whom she had never yet strolled with. A single tear fell from her hand resting on the desk.