Alicia tried to be as calm as possible to look like she was actually asleep. But the girl started to panic because she had never lied. Unconsciously it made her heart beat fast because she did it to people she had just met.
She could feel that Belle was crawling on the bed and approaching her. Belle getting closer made her even more restless. She didn't know how so that when Belle woke her up, she could convince Belle that she was really asleep.
'I haven't figured it out yet! I hope she wakes me up the usual way.' She was worried that Belle, who was the assistant healer, had a surefire way to check if someone was really sleeping or not.
Since Belle was already beside her, she ran out of time and couldn't think straight. She just resigned and would probably come up with a stupid excuse to cover up her lies. But before Belle touched her, she felt that Belle suddenly drifted away from her.
'Eh?! Why did she suddenly walk away?!' Alicia was happy that Belle had canceled her intentions. Still, on the other hand, she was getting more and more worried about what was really going on behind her. Should be with that close distance, Belle can easily reach and wake her up. But why did she choose to return? Or maybe she's doing the surefire method!
"W-what are you doing, Mr. Rufus?!" Belle was heard protesting Rufus' actions again.
Hearing Belle's scream, her worries about the surefire method disappeared and shifted to the purple-haired healer. She was sure Rufus did that for a good reason. 'Could it be that Belle was pulled over because Mr Rufus already knew my lie?!'
Alicia tried not to move an inch and intended to continue her camouflage despite thinking like that. She still hadn't heard what Mr. Rufus was actually aiming for in pulling Belle away from her.
Rufus is indeed a person who seems to be quiet. Still, every time Belle asks a question, he will answer right away, as if they already have a close relationship. Alicia just needed to be quiet and wait until Rufus answered Belle's annoyance.
"Do you want to surprise her?!" In an annoyed tone, Rufus scolded Belle.
'Eh? So he doesn't know I'm pretending to sleep yet?' Different from Alicia's exaggerated thoughts, it turned out that Rufus pulled Belle away because he wanted to save her from Belle's attack.
"This is my way of waking someone up. Since she's just finished eating I'm sure she'll be as hard to wake up as you are." Belle innocently answered as if that was the only way she would wake someone up.
Hearing Belle's explanation, she was very grateful to Rufus, who had saved her from that innocent girl's attack. Alicia felt guilty for her evil thoughts towards Rufus.
She knew that Belle had good intentions to wake her up, but she didn't know why Belle always used the wrong way and deviated from usual.
Alicia didn't know what method Belle wanted to use to wake her up. Still, seeing Rufus' reaction, she was sure it was a dangerous thing.
"Haah, this is why I didn't let you deal with Miss Alicia any further. Young Master can be furious, moreover he also advised that we are not allowed to have much physical contact with her outside of the medical check up." Rufus sighed and lowered Belle from the bed.
"Eh!? Didn't you ask to wake her up?!" She was surprised and questioned his previous command again.
"Waking someone up suddenly is dangerous! Her pulse rate will increase, chest palpitations, headaches and various other health problems. You'd better remember that or I'll ask Young Master to find me a new assistant!" Rufus sounded threatening Belle.
Hearing Belle's defense, she was sure that Belle was a carefree, innocent girl. She didn't even think that Rufus wanted to fire Belle as his assistant because of her actions.
"S-so you prefer another woman over your own sister?!" Belle stuttered with a pitiful tone when Rufus wanted to find a new assistant.
"If you still want to be my assistant, stop your sword practice and learn more about how to treat patients." With a firm tone, Rufus scolded her.
"O-okay, I'll try my best!" Belle's voice immediately became cheerful while Rufus was still giving her a chance.
"Hmm, that's just my sister."
'No wonder why the two of them are so close.' Alicia could imagine how Belle pleaded with Rufus without needing to see Belle's expression. But she didn't think that the two of them were siblings.
"Should we just wait until she wakes up?" Belle asked after her initiative was thwarted by Rufus.
"That doesn't seem necessary, because I'm sure she's awake." He confidently said that.
Alicia was taken aback by Rufus' guess. She didn't know if he was just guessing or acting stupid to cover up what he had learned from the start. Whichever one didn't matter because her lie had already been exposed?
"Eh! How do you know? Did you use your magic?" Belle was surprised when Rufus seemed to know that Alicia was awake.
"Who wouldn't be bothered if a chatty girl like you kept talking loudly beside a sleeping person?!"
"Ehe... I'm sorry, Miss Alicia. I disturbed your rest."
She had no reason to continue her charade. With the anxiety still remaining, Alicia ventured to sit on the bed. She didn't know what kind of reaction they would show.
Alicia, who was changing her position, immediately caught Belle and Rufus' attention.
Not wanting her lies to become a problem, she had to speak up and change the topic immediately. If she kept quiet and let them discuss her lies, the risk would definitely be more significant.
"No problem, Miss Belle . . . I'm ready for a medical check-up, sir." Alicia stared at Belle for a moment, then turned her gaze to Rufus.