Candy and Prince on the Hill (Part 7)

Thanks again to my friend, the admin of the Facebook page, William Albert Andrew (el príncipe de la colina), for providing another idea. One of its photo albums showed this picture from the Artbook produced by Kyoko Mizuki & Yumiko Igarashi and published by Kodansha/Nakayoshi in 1978.

I believe the poem was written by Mizuki, titled “Dear Prince”, and it was about Candy’s dreaming of Prince on the Hill from time to time still. This time, she dreamed of her prince coming on a white boat to pick her up, but they encountered thick fog when the boat got near the shore. She became sad and woke up.  Candy wished that her dear prince would one day come to take her out for a boat ride.

For the complete translation of this poem, please click this page.

Note that this Artbook was published before the manga officially ended in March 1979. Those who are familiar with the manga version know that Albert actually took Candy for a ride on a white swan boat (one of Stear’s inventions) soon after Candy reunited with Albert in Lakewood (before she knew he was her prince). ❤ ❤ ❤ I wonder if Mizuki had this scene in mind already when she was writing the poem mentioned above. 😉 The difference this time was that when they were near the shore, the swan boat suddenly malfunctioned and got them both soaking wet. 😀 😛

This particular scene and the following scene to dry themselves in front of the fireplace show that Candy no longer cried for Stear and Terry. Not only that, she was genuinely happy for Terry to return to Broadway to start over (also back to Susanna). I won’t repeat myself here why Candy had evidently got over Terry already by then. 😉

Anyway, in the manga, after Candy discovered Albert was actually the great uncle who had adopted her, these two spent more than a day alone with each other amiably and happily, yet not without nostalgia. Even though Albert didn’t tell Candy why exactly he had kept his true identity a secret all these years, she seemed to be content just to have reunited with him.

For example, though he had vanished in her life quite some time ago on a winter night, she didn’t blame him whatsoever, nor did she tell him anything about how much she had missed him. In the manga strip shown here, Candy said ひさしぶり to Albert’s pet skunk, Pouppe, which means that it’s been a long time of not seeing each other (due to absence or separation). Note that Candy could say that to Pouppe but not to Albert. 😉 Moreover, neither of them mentioned anything about her trip to Rockstown, and she didn’t ask him about the parcel he had sent to her from that town.

Don’t you find this a bit odd? 🙄

I wonder if Mizuki intentionally kept all that unanswered. As my friend Antlay had pointed out, even in Candy Candy Final Story (CCFS), we don’t see Candy or Albert mentioned Rockstown to each other. As Antlay said, it was a sensitive topic, and perhaps Albert had chosen to wait till he was ready to return the diary to Candy. What about Candy? I guess she couldn’t bring up Rockstown without being emotional, so she’d rather avoid it altogether.

In fact, in CCFS, Candy was seemingly angry at Albert for a long time ever since she had discovered his real identity in Lakewood. 😮

On P. 241, CCFS Vol 2, the moment all mysteries about Albert had been resolved, Candy felt quite frustrated, vexed, mortified, etc. She used the past tense of the verb, 悔しがる, which is a strong word, to describe herself. Not only that, she blamed him (責めた, another harsh word because it also means scold, reprove, criticize, etc.) with exasperation (indicated by the highlighted words below):

「もう、心労でいっペんに年取った気分だったんだから!」
“Grrrrr, I was so worried that as a consequence, I felt I had completely aged!”

Smiling, Albert put on a serious look and told her that

「妹だと思われるより、少し大人に見えるくらいがちょうどいい……」
“It’s just right that you look a bit more like a grown-up rather than being thought as my little sister…”

Having said that, he narrowed his eyes teasingly at her. Candy then concluded this scene by saying that Albert was really skillful at baffling her and changing the subject (煙に巻くのが、ほんとうにうまい。).

Although another friend of mine and I both agree that Albert and Candy seemed out of character in this scene, the above conversation is undeniably a solid proof that Albert was not a father figure to Candy. Despite being fully aware that he was her adoptive father and above all the powerful family patriarch, she didn’t show him her gratitude or respect. What a contrast to the equivalent scene in the manga! 🙄 😆

In short, he was her equal, someone whom she could say something harsh to. Though he teased her back, he accepted her outburst without retaliating. It isn’t clear in CCFS when exactly this exchange took place. Do you think this happened while they were still in Lakewood? Then what happened next? It’s not written in CCFS! Sigh… no boat ride no touring around Lakewood? 🙁 There’s no detail how Albert rescued Candy from the forced engagement either. We just know that the two of them didn’t hang around Lakewood together until many months later, when Albert drove Candy to Lakewood as her Prince on the Hill (CCFS epilogue). Which version do you prefer? 🙂 😀

Nonetheless, Candy’s anger had lasted for a period of time. Have you ever wondered why?

Yet, can you see the love behind her anger? 🙂 I’ll elaborate more in Part 8.