@kuali I was just discussing exactly that with someone on Discord... They could make it work, but it wouldn't be the same, indeed. Alicia is still going to wind up imprisoned for stabbing Yumiella. They're still going to force her to level grind as insurance against Yumiella, which she may be just as reluctant to do, but for different reasons - in the LN she detested level grinding and found it tedious. The new Alicia might be averse to it because of the reason for it - she trusts Yumiella and doesn't think her being able to stop her would be necessary.
References to Volume 4 spoilers follow:
spoiler