In Candy Candy manga, the readers can tell that the three Ardlay boys, Anthony, Archie and Alistair (Stear), had all fallen for the orphan girl, Candy, even though none of them had ever kissed her on the lips. Only Anthony had given Candy a peck on the cheek, and neither Stear nor Archie had ever got to that stage. The story only shows us how much they cared about her feelings and well-being; for example, when she was missing, they were so worried that they couldn’t fall asleep. Each went out to look for her everywhere, only to run into one another. Right then, the boys realized their feelings for the same girl. Needless to say, our beloved heroine must have known that too, but she had chosen Anthony (love at first sight) due to his striking resemblance to her Prince on the Hill. ❤ ❤
Yet, do you know that some people insist Candy was merely a sister or a family member to Albert just because he had never kissed her like Terry did? 😕 😆
Come to think of it, if we simply rely on kisses as the only solid evidence, then how do we explain the love Stear and Archie had for Candy? 🙄 In fact, some believe neither Stear nor Archie could really get over Candy, but in Candy Candy Final Story (CCFS) I believe they had eventually moved on. Though Stear had invented a music box for Candy before leaving the country to enlist himself in the war, that was actually a gesture to wish her happiness with Terry in New York. It’s a proof that Stear had truly moved on with Patty, whom he had missed while he was in France.
What about Archie? He and Annie got engaged even though Candy was not in a relationship. He didn’t try to pursue her anymore, and I guess he had finally accepted that Candy would always be his friend. Or, do you think a sensitive guy like Archie could sense that something was happening between Albert and Candy? 🙂 😉 After all, in CCFS Archie knew how anxious Candy was after Albert had mysteriously disappeared. Archie even told her they (he, Annie and Patty) were also looking for Albert and urged Candy not to worry too much (CCFS Vol 2, p. 243). Albert was a big guy and more than capable to take care of himself, and Archie probably wondered why Candy was this restless (Candy and Prince on the Hill (Part 5)). 😉 😛
No matter how you look at it, the friendship between Candy and Albert had evolved after he had become amnesiac. The author Mizuki had written a poem about them for the Volume 2 of the Candy Candy Novel (released in November 1978), using an existing illustration 
For your interest, I’ve already discussed the poem in my post The day her life changed (Part 3), in which Candy referred Albert as 大好きなひと. ❤
My admin fan showed me that a Terry fan site has translated this to “favorite person”… this sounds nice 😛 but it’s not the correct interpretation. 😉 This simply means that Candy liked Albert very much, and yet it doesn’t necessarily make him her favorite. As explained in A love declaration, Candy liked Anthony and Terry very much as well, using 大好き too. Remember, they are Candy’s three loves. 😝❤ ❤
Back to the poem, near the end Candy referred Albert as なつかしいひと. This means that Candy had missed Albert, or that she felt nostalgic because he reminded her of their good times in the past. For instance, Candy was a なつかしいひと to Terry as well. In the manga, whenever her image appeared in his mind, he remembered their good old days at St. Paul’s Academy. 🙂
Anyway, the Terry fan site clarified that this poem had nothing to do with romance. Yes, I agree. 🙂 However, Mizuki wrote this poem for a reason. She wanted to tell her readers that Candy had always liked Albert, and she had shared fond memories with him. It’s true that the poem wasn’t about romance at that point in time when Candy was taking care of her amnesiac friend, but who said that Candy and Albert would forever remain good friends and nothing more? 🙄 😕
Don’t you know that Mizuki herself said that Candy’s deep love/affection for Albert would grow into romance? 😀
Candy might have regarded Albert as her big brother before, but her feelings had undoubtedly changed as time had passed. She first risked her reputation and career by living with him for a very long time. After getting fired, her resolve to take care of him until his recovery didn’t waver, but she had never expected that it was him who would walk out of her life later (CCFS Vol 2, p. 239). Probably around that time, she became aware that though she and Albert had pretended to be brother and sister while living together, she gathered it was somewhat different when living with a real family member (CCFS Vol 2, p. 241). Besides, she admitted that Albert held a special place in her heart (see my post, Argh, he’s driving me crazy …).
Now, this is my wild guess… while seeing Albert everyday, having dinners together and sharing the bunk bed day in and day out, Candy probably began to see him in a different light. He was a very handsome guy after all, and it’s only natural that she found him attractive. ❤ ❤ I’ll elaborate more about this in Part 3 by using her letter to Vincent Brown and other letters in CCFS. 🙂
Now, what about Albert? Did he find Candy beautiful? 😊
As discussed in Candy and Prince on the Hill (Part 2), Candy complained in her letter to Albert that he hardly had time for her, not even when she had accepted his invitation to travel all the way to Chicago from the Pony’s Home to celebrate her birthday. Therefore, she jokingly asked if she should call him 父上さま (the old-fashioned and super respectful way of addressing one’s father) and later signed the letter as his 美しき養女 (beautiful adopted daughter, using the archaic adjective of “beautiful”). Overall, we sense that Candy was a little grumpy, teasing Albert because he hadn’t spent enough time with her (CCFS Vol 2, p. 309). 🙄
Guess what? Albert replied quickly. He began with 取り急ぎ (which means, in haste), a typical opening phrase used in letters of urgency. Then almost right away he wrote (CCFS Vol 2, p. 310):
一言、不満を述べておく。(In a few words, let me express/explain my displeasure for a while.)
The way he phrased it had a slight demanding tone, and for the rest of the short letter he continued to explain why he was upset. First, he reminded her of her earlier promise to him, that she wouldn’t let him bear anything (see my post, Candy and Prince on the Hill (Part 8)). After repeating the old-fashioned terms she had used to call him and herself, he admitted that she was beautiful. ❤ ❤ However, he immediately added たぶん (probably). Then he asked if she put up a pouty face 😣 reading this. 😛 😉
In other words, he had possibly sensed that she was fishing compliments from him… Perhaps she wanted to know if she was beautiful to him… 😆 Note that he could have said she was かわいい (cute or pretty), the adjective he had used many years ago as her Prince on the Hill. 😃 Yet, he wrote 美しい (beautiful), not the archaic adjective Candy had used earlier.
Anyway, Albert then acknowledged their adoptive relationship. In Japanese, he did use the terms adopted daughter (養女) and adoptive father (養父). No, she wouldn’t have inherited his family name, Ardlay, if he was merely her legal guardian. However, Albert told Candy that he had forgotten about the matter. そのことを忘れていた。
How could he forget that? I wonder. 😌 😂
I have a feeling that by the time Albert decided to confess to Candy that he was Prince on the Hill, he had “forgotten that the adoption had taken place”. That is, he had managed to get it out of his mind or resolved not to think about it anymore. 😉 Nevertheless, it’s something he couldn’t escape; in this letter he said he himself, being a bachelor at this young age, was astonished to have an adopted daughter.
After that, he wrote that the term “adopted daughter” sounds unbearable to me (i.e. I can’t stand the sound of it). 😣 If you still think that’s not enough to prove that Albert had never treated Candy as his “daughter”, he explained “Although I don’t look like it, I’m actually sensitive (don’t laugh)” 😞
“養女”も僕には耐えられない響きだ。 これでも繊細なんだから(笑うな)
Note that the way Albert phrased that implies that Candy wasn’t aware of him being a sensitive guy, and it was a confession on his side to support/explain why he couldn’t bear the sound of “adopted daughter”. 😓 Can’t you see that he was essentially letting her know that she had hurt his feelings? 🙄 I figure this is why in the beginning of this letter he re-stated her promise of not letting him bear anything. Sigh… 🙁
Last but not the least, near the end of this letter, he addressed himself as the “adoptive father”, 養父, that an adoptive father had to work (for he was leaving for a business trip to São Paulo). Then he repeated his own words like this:
養父ーーー!? (Adoptive father—!?)
しまった、自分で言ってしまったか……。(Damn it, did I just say this myself…?)
When I first read this in Japanese, I actually burst out laughing. 😀 🙂 I think Albert wanted to emphasize how much he hated this term as well, and he used a strong word, しまった (click the link to see the equivalent meanings in English). 😁 No doubt Albert desperately wanted to forget that he had ever adopted Candy in his life… LOL 😆 His message to Candy can’t be more obvious. If you’re unconvinced, that you insist Albert and Candy had a relationship like a family, then please read this short letter over again. 😛
Some time later, Albert kept his promise and wrote a long, long letter to Candy one early morning (2 AM) in a São Paulo hotel room when he could be alone finally. This signifies how busy he was, but he knew she missed talking to him and had some questions unanswered. In response, she wrote back to him (I wish you were here…), honestly telling him that she’d rather talk to him in person than write another letter. I think she had lots and lots to say to him, now that she was more certain than ever that she was his adopted daughter in name only. In reality, she was someone highly special to him, that he would sacrifice his rest in order to write a heartfelt letter to her, in which he promised to investigate what truly made her happy. 💕💓
Therefore, when Albert suddenly appeared to Candy at Pony’s Home one day after the business trip, asking her to go to Lakewood with him, if you were Candy, how would you have reacted and felt? You think Candy was so dumb and insensitive that a man had to kiss her on the lips before something “clicked” in her mind to know that he loved her? 😆
Of course not. 😋 I figure by then she must have sensed his deep feelings for her. 🙂 What’s more, he could spend his holiday with her, fulfilling her birthday wish at long last. 😍 Is that why she was overwhelmed with emotions during the ride to Lakewood? ❤ ❤ ❤
It’s Valentine’s day this Sunday, and I’d like to share 10 Signs a Guy loves you though he doesn’t admit it yet. I’ll write my next post based on some parts of this article. Happy Valentine’s day, my friends! Thanks for reading such a lengthy post!
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