I Opened an Illegal Animal Hospital in Another World - Chapter 131

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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131

Chapter 26. The One Without Me (3)

Apparently, a whole week had already passed.

“What, a week?! Why didn’t you wake me up!”

“Not content with demanding my bundle, now you’re complaining about getting your clothes wet?”

Seth snorted as if he found it absurd. Well, when he puts it that way, I don’t really have anything to say back…

“You do realize you almost died, right?”

“But still, you could have woken me up sooner.”

I was about to say that, but I wisely shut my mouth. Seth was smiling brightly, but he was the bastard who had driven me to the brink of death with that very face. What a grinning psychopath.

‘Fifteen years minus one week makes 14 years and 358 days…’

It’s not like lifespan means you just drop dead when the exact date comes, but when there’s a set limit, you inevitably start doing calculations.

I spent a week of my remaining 15 years with my eyes closed. Sob sob…

“Now you’re worried about wasting time?”

“It’s instinct…”

When you can’t gauge your lifespan, you don’t know how much is left so you don’t even think to calculate, but once you know, you’re bound to start doing the math.

It’s like when apples are piled up like a mountain in front of you, you don’t bother counting them, but when they’re lined up neatly on a table, you naturally count how many there are.

Especially when the gauge bar representing your life force is glowing red, it’s natural to be concerned.

When Seth asked for more lifespan in exchange for saving Maria, I should have just given him 20 years. I shouldn’t have tried to bargain it down, I should have given him more. If I had known that would become savings, I would have given him about 30 or 40 years…

…No wait, then I would have died while treating Nathan…

“Stop frowning and listen.”

Seth moved his hands with great skill.

He dabbed powder from an elegant, antique case onto a fluffy pad, tapped it lightly, then gently brushed it off with a soft brush.

“Why on earth do you know how to do makeup…?”

This wasn’t the skill of someone who had only done it once or twice.

“When you live long enough, you can do pretty much anything.”

“…Sorry for being cheeky, Grandfather. Just how old are you exactly?”

“Hmm…”

Seth just smiled wickedly without answering. It was scary.

“Sorry for teasing you…”

“Huh? I don’t mind. I just can’t tell you because I stopped counting exactly how old I am.”

That was even scarier.

If he’s lived through countless years, it wouldn’t just be a few hundred years, right? Could it be that he’s lived for over a thousand years? The Joseon Dynasty had 500 years of history, so…

…I decided not to be a smartass.

Seth seemed to know exactly what I was thinking, bent down to meet my gaze, and smiled sweetly.

If only he would keep his mouth shut, he’d really be in the top three most beautiful people I know, but it’s such a waste that inside there’s a frivolous, cheerful, grinning murderer.

Under his long, dense eyelashes spread like a fan, his black pearl-like eyes sparkled with a deep color. This must be what they mean by eyes that could draw you in. I found myself staring at him without realizing it.

“What? Fallen for me?”

“You almost succeeded if you hadn’t opened your mouth.”

“What a shame.”

“I almost ruined my life…”

Imagining myself falling for Seth, I squeezed my eyes shut in dizziness.

It wouldn’t just be ruining my life, the gates of hell would have opened. Seth was beautiful poison on the outside. Unpredictable, untrustworthy, standing me up would be routine and he’d probably ghost me regularly too.

Responsibility? I doubt he even knows what that word means.

Future? There would be one. A future burning in the fires of hell with suffering…

If I inserted Seth as the male lead in any trashy drama, there would be no sense of incongruity with any storyline. Anything’s possible. He might even cheerfully introduce his girlfriend or boyfriend to his wife…

“There, all done.”

Seth smiled with satisfaction and placed a hat on my head. It was a hat with a narrow brim but thin, light black mesh fabric that covered down to the tip of my nose.

“Look!”

Where did he get that fancy hand mirror that looks like something a noble lady would use?

In the mirror, my pale golden hair was neatly combed and pinned up, and the mesh draped from the hat covered everything down to below my nose. I don’t know why he bothered to carefully dab and apply makeup if he was going to cover it all up anyway.

“Pretty, right?”

“Well, of course I’m pretty.”

I lifted my chin proudly. I’m a bit pretty because I take after Mother.

Honestly, the covering made me look just a little more mature. I’m very proud of my green eyes that I inherited from Mother, but even with them covered, it was quite surprising that I looked pretty with just my lower face showing. That’s totally self-praise.

Seth had also prepared a black dress that covered up to my neck. Unlike the dresses I usually wore, it was a seductive design that revealed the lines of my figure. Seth stepped back two paces, looked me over, and smiled with satisfaction.

“Are you satisfied with your work, artist?”

“Well, passable. At least no one would recognize me as Shana Perry Wentworth.”

“With just this?”

At my funeral, there would be my parents, of course, as well as Bailey and Ella who had cared for me since I was a newborn, and Evelyn, the acknowledged obsessive fanatic. The twins who always stuck around would be there too.

‘Raven would be busy, but… he’d still come, right? Probably…’

Even though we were in the process of breaking off our engagement, I was still his former fiancée, and aside from that relationship, we had been childhood friends for a long time.

Raven had a track record of recognizing me even when I was in Sena’s form. This time it wasn’t even a completely different body, just a change in style – surely he wouldn’t fail to recognize me.

Come to think of it, Raven had recognized me instantly when we met after 11 years, even when I was wearing a mask. I had been wearing glasses with cognitive reduction magic on them at the time too.

‘This isn’t normal, is it…?’

This world doesn’t have photos or videos, so how did he know? At the time I was too flustered from meeting him after so long, but saying he recognized me at first glance didn’t make sense.

Of course, it wouldn’t just be family coming, so if I mixed in with the crowd, there was a possibility they wouldn’t recognize me.

Anyway, even people who weren’t acquainted with me would come if they had connections with my parents… it would be terrible if Nathan came.

“The atmosphere is different. And I’ll cast cognitive reduction magic too. Now, lastly, perfume.”

Seth was thorough.

“I’m telling you in advance, Shana. If anyone else discovers your identity, your lifespan will be reduced by 2 years.”

“…”

He was also merciless.

***

Shana Perry Wentworth’s funeral was held at the Wentworth Estate, not at the Temple.

Usually they’re held at the Temple, but I had never been to the Temple even once in my life for fear of my healing power being discovered, and it was the result of my parents’ strong insistence. Or so they said. Seth seemed to hear both day and night conversations.

‘If it were held at the Temple, the beastfolk kids wouldn’t be able to come freely.’

In fact, most of my connections were beastfolk, so if the funeral were held at the Temple, the very people who would mourn me would end up peering around outside the Temple doors.

The gates of the Wentworth Estate were wide open.

The gatekeeper was checking identities at the front gate, but seemed to be letting people in regardless of their status. Uncle, it’s me… Hello, it’s me…

I can’t say it’s me!

But since I couldn’t show my face or give a name I could speak, I needed Seth’s help just to enter the estate.

To think I’d be sneaking into the house where I was born and lived my entire life.

‘And at my own funeral, no less.’

It was certainly not an experience one could have easily.

“Well then, I’ll come later with Nathan! Kill some time until then!”

So he is coming after all, that bastard Nathan…

After Seth disappeared, I was left alone and breathed in through my nose. It smelled like our familiar home.

‘What am I even doing?’

If I had miraculously survived, I should quickly run to my parents and apologize, but 2 years out of 15 was, well, too much to give up so easily.

‘But he said he’d send me back. If I just attend the funeral and come back.’

Then would I become someone who died and came back to life? That would be really awkward…

I briefly imagined that scene. What would I say? Hello, I’m back. I said I’d be back soon, didn’t I? At the time I said it so you wouldn’t be hurt, but it became real…

The prodigal child who returned after a week!

A runaway teenager who never rebelled!

A spectacular return! No wait, an awkward return…

‘Whatever I say would be strange.’

Honestly, if I said any of the words I just thought of in front of my parents, I’d be guaranteed a 1-hour lecture. Mother and Father had never gotten angry at me, but this time they might be very angry.

This is all Seth’s fault! It’s not my fault.

…My heart didn’t feel any lighter.

Since I now believed that Seth’s actions had no malicious ‘intent’ at least, I didn’t have the same resistance as before to doing what he told me.

I decided to go see for now. I started walking.

The empty coffin would probably be placed in the largest dance hall. Because everyone was heading toward the hall. I quietly joined the line of people. All familiar faces…

“Shana, Lady Shana, huu, huuk…”

“Lady Shana…!”

…I really do seem to have committed a mortal sin…

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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