How to Manipulate Impressions
And then, that evening.
I was in my room, engaging in some good old reality avoidance under the guise of “rechecking the stats I gained today,” when…
―Bam!
With barely a knock, the door to my room flew open.
“Alice!!”
The one who burst in, face pale with urgency, was Father.
Behind him stood Guork-san and Rusker-san, lined up stiffly at attention, and Sera as well.
All three wore grave expressions, staring fixedly at a single spot on the floor.
… Ah. Yeah. He told him, didn’t he?
I grasped the situation instantly.
Knowing how rigid Guork-san is, after we returned to the manor he must have agonized over it, and in the end, chosen knightly loyalty and reported everything.
If you’d just kept quiet, it would’ve all blown over. You’re way too honest, I thought wryly.
But this is no time to admire him.
If I mess this up, the worst possible bad end, an “absolute ban on going out”, is waiting for me.
If it was reported accurately that I’d been missing for a long time, my freedom would be even more tightly restricted.
This is it.
I have no choice but to twist the facts with everything I’ve got.
Father grabbed my shoulders, his face etched with agitation.
“I heard, Alice! You got separated from your guards in town!?”
Anger and panic were mixed into his voice.
Guork-san and the others must have reported the facts plainly, without hiding anything,
the unforgivable failure of “losing sight of the protected target.”
With Father this worked up, if things continue as they are, not only will they be punished, I’ll be sent straight back to my gilded cage.
So I contorted my face and threw myself into Father’s chest.
“… W-waaaah! Fatherrrr!”
“A-Alice!?”
“I’m sorry…! I, it’s my fault…!”
Strike first.
A storm of apologies to shift Father’s thinking away from “how serious the incident is” and toward “his daughter’s distress.”
And now comes the real part.
The replacement of facts.
“I found a really pretty little shop… and I just let go of their hands for a tiny bit… just a moment…! Really, just a moment…!”
A moment.
I emphasized that word, shrinking the scale of the incident.
“And then Guork-san and the others came right away…! They found me right away…!”
Not a lie… probably?
Well, everyone’s definition of “right away” is different, right?
At my words, I felt the three standing behind us jerk their heads up.
One second? Right away?—their wordless confusion stabbed into my back.
They knew. They knew full well that the time I’d vanished into the alley was not something that could reasonably be called “a moment.”
As expected, the earnest Guork-san couldn’t take it anymore and stepped forward.
“… N-no. However, my lord, we were… at the very least, nearly five minutes…”
Ah, there it is. He really was going to say it.
Honestly, what an awkward knight who can’t lie to save his life.
But I’m not letting you.
Before Guork-san could finish, I raised my voice even louder and soaked Father’s clothes with my tears.
“I was so scared…! It was just a moment, but… the time I couldn’t find everyone felt so long…!”
By crying out, I physically cut off Guork-san’s words.
At the same time, I shifted the point of contention…
From “the actual length of time” to “how long the fear felt to me.”
This is an applied use of what psychology calls the anchoring effect.
By hammering in the strong impression of “it was a moment, but it felt long,” I fixed Father’s frame of reference at a position favorable to me.
Besides, what would happen if, right here in front of Father, someone denied this sobbing child and calmly corrected her with, “No, it was actually about five minutes”?
Pointing out a difference of mere minutes and further cornering a frightened child isn’t something an adult should do.
Humans are emotional creatures.
We prioritize the “pitiful girl in front of us” over logical correctness.
Hey, Guork-san.
Can you call this sobbing “angel” a liar?
I shot him a glance through my tear-soaked eyes.
Guork-san choked on his words.
He opened his mouth, closed it, then clenched his fist with a tortured expression.
Inside him, “the facts” and “his feelings for Alice” collided, and the victor was decided.
“…!”
He let out a deep breath and lowered his head, as if giving up resistance.
“… Yes… As the Ojousama says… it was our inadequacy that caused her such fear…”
Alright. Got him.
The fact of “we lost sight of her for about five minutes” was rewritten as “we looked away for a moment and frightened her.”
I turned back to Father and delivered the finishing blow.
“So…! If you’re going to be angry, please be angry only at Alice…!”
A small body, desperately trying to protect the adults around her.
“No one did anything wrong…! Everyone saved me right away…! So please don’t scold them…!”
A heartfelt plea.
Father looked as though all the venom had drained out of him at the sight of his beloved daughter trembling against his chest.
“I-is that so… If it was just a moment and you were found right away…”
The severity faded from Father’s expression.
This was the moment when a “serious missing-person incident” was overwritten as “a brief case of a child getting lost, something that happens all the time.”
“I see… I see… Thank goodness. I’m truly glad you’re safe…”
Father let out a sigh of relief and gently patted my head.
Then he turned to the knights and the maid standing behind him.
“Guork, Rusker, Sera… As Alice says, in light of your swift response and Alice’s safety, we will let this matter rest.”
“… Yes!”
“Thank you very much…!”
“But there will not be a second time.”
“We will take it to heart!”
The three bowed deeply.
They’d avoided punishment.
Still, faint traces of was this really the right outcome? lingered on their faces.
Pretending to wipe my tears, I looked toward them… and gave them a crumpled little smile.
As if to convey, from the bottom of my heart, I’m so glad… I’m really glad everyone is safe.
Perhaps they understood my intent, because I saw the three of them relax their mouths just slightly, looking somehow relieved.
That clears the knot in their hearts, too.
Alright! Case closed!
… is what I’d like to say, but.
Burying my face in Papa’s clothes, I was calmly thinking things over inside.
The fact that Sera and the others weren’t scolded works in my favor. If this had escalated to the point of replacements, my supervision would only have grown stricter.
In that sense, maintaining the status quo was a big win.
… That said.
Even if the “damage was minimized,” there’s no doubt Father’s alert level has gone up.
For a while, it’s going to be hard to even suggest “going out.”
I swallowed the urge to click my tongue and, in Papa’s arms, put on the most adorable daughter’s smile in the world.
Looks like I’ll need to think of another method…
――――――――――――――
[Sera ch.] Live Commentary: Alice-sama’s First Market Stroll, Part 4 [An Angel Descends]1 Anonymous Diver
It’s started!
Market day today? This is gonna be a god-tier episode for sure.
—
2 Anonymous Diver
Alice-sama’s outfit is commoner-style, but the elegance just won’t stay hidden.
Honestly, this “incognito” vibe is irresistible.
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3 Anonymous Diver
Skewers are hereeeee!!
She’s blowing on them! Alice-sama with a cat tongue is too precious!
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4 Anonymous Diver
I wanted a life where I get fed like that...
Sera, switch places with me.
No, please, I’m begging you, switch.
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5 Anonymous Diver
Watching Alice-sama munch is enough to down three bowls of rice.
I wanna wipe the sauce off the corner of her mouth.
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6 Anonymous Diver
[Tragic News] Too precious, my heart has stopped.
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7 Anonymous Diver
!?
Hey, isn’t the crowd getting kinda bad?
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8 Anonymous Diver
Huh, Alice-sama?
She’s not there?
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9 Anonymous Diver
W-wait, seriously!?
Lost!?
No way!?
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10 Anonymous Diver
Sera’s actually panicking...
This is bad, this is real bad.
Alice-sama, where are you~~~!?
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11 Anonymous Diver
If anything happened to our angel, I’ll curse the world.
Please find her, hurry!!
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12 Anonymous Diver
Ah!!!!
I heard her!!
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13 Anonymous Diver
She’s heeeereeeeeeeee!!!
Thank goodnesssssss (crying)
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14 Anonymous Diver
“… Seraaa!”
Her voice is shaking... she must’ve been really scared...
I wanna pat her head.
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15 Anonymous Diver
Thank goodness she’s safe... I thought my heart was gonna stop.
Her clothes are still clean, and she doesn’t look hurt.
So she was just frozen in place, trembling... too brave.
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16 Anonymous Diver
The air inside the carriage is heavy…
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17 Anonymous Diver
Huh, Alice-sama?
Why is she crying?
“I’m a bad girl”…?
—
18 Anonymous Diver
She’s not worried about herself, she’s worried Sera and the others will get scolded!?
What kind of saintly six-year-old is this…
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19 Anonymous Diver
“Please keep it a secret from Father.”
This isn’t just a cover-up.
She’s begging, taking all the blame on herself so the knights don’t lose their heads…
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20 Anonymous Diver
I get how you feel, Boss Guork, but please just nod...!
Please don’t make Alice-sama cry anymore...!
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21 Anonymous Diver
Knightly loyalty, or love for Alice-sama.
That’s way too ultimate a choice.
But honestly, I don’t hate how upright Guork is for refusing.
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22 Anonymous Diver
So… did he end up reporting it to Father...?
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23 Anonymous Diver
Oh man, looks like Guork-san reported it to Papa.
They called Sera in too!
This is the absolute worst-case scenario.
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24 Anonymous Diver
Alice-sama~~~!!
She jumped at him while crying!!
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25 Anonymous Diver
…Uwaaaah (crying)
Alice-sama, you’re trying so hard...!
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26 Anonymous Diver
She’s doing it so the knights won’t get scolded...!
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27 Anonymous Diver
What a good child...
She must’ve been the most scared of all, and she’s still desperately trying to protect everyone…
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28 Anonymous Diver
“If you’re going to be angry, be angry only at Alice!”
That line broke my tear ducts.
There’s no way you’ll find a six-year-old like this anywhere in the world.
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29 Anonymous Diver
Papa totally melted lol
Well yeah, anyone would if such a cute daughter clung to them crying.
He’s soft, but that’s exactly how a father should be.
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30 Anonymous Diver
Nobody got punished!
Thank goodness... really, thank goodness...
Alice-sama’s pure kindness saved everyone.
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31 Anonymous Diver
Did you see Alice-sama’s last smile!?
After wiping her tears, that crumpled, relieved smile!
That face that says, “I’m glad everyone’s safe,” from the heart…
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32 Anonymous Diver
Ghhh... too precious...
I can see the halo...
I hereby convert to the Church of Alice.
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33 Anonymous Diver
That smile... I wanna protect it...
Her face is still a mess from tears, and she’s smiling with everything she has to reassure everyone...
Too precious, it hurts.
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34 Anonymous Diver
In the end, Guork and the others were saved.
Way too merciful... I’d swear lifelong loyalty.
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35 Anonymous Diver
Conclusion: Alice-sama was an angel, a saint, and a god today too.
What do you think about this chapter?
