I Opened an Illegal Animal Hospital in Another World - Chapter 138

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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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138

Chapter 28. We’ve Reopened! (1)

“So that’s how it happened.”

“Then nothing we prepared would have mattered anyway.”

Mother sighed with a somewhat deflated expression.

Yes, that’s right. Seth ruined everything.

“But our daughter was the biggest wild card, Anais.”

“That’s right. I wonder who she takes after with that temperament of willingly jumping into danger even when she knows it’s dangerous…”

My parents stared at each other for a moment without answering. They clearly both thought it wasn’t them. From my perspective, it didn’t seem difficult to explain my reckless temperament no matter which one I took after.

“I think I take after both of you equally!”

“…That’s not a compliment.”

Father sighed softly. However, when our eyes met, he habitually smiled warmly at me, but then seemed to become conscious of the surrounding gazes and changed his expression with a clearing of his throat.

“Let me confirm just one thing, Shana.”

“Yes! Not just one thing, but two or three things are fine too. I’ll answer everything!”

Please just ask!

“As long as that demon named Seth stays by your side, there’s definitely no effect on your lifespan, right?”

“Yes!”

Seth never said a word about providing his lifespan to me, but since he saved me of his own will, he would definitely cooperate to some extent.

When he stole Nathan’s remaining lifespan, Seth’s expression looked proud as if watching a student surpass their teacher. Who does he think he is? I reflexively rebelled, but thinking about it, since I had learned how to use power for a long time, he was, he was a teacher.

Wow, I must never acknowledge that.

Mother pulled me into her arms and kissed my cheek.

“We don’t care about anything else as long as we can confirm that. Having you alive is more important than anything.”

“It’s not that your story wasn’t interesting, but seeing you alive and breathing in front of us and being able to say anything was the most important thing.”

“Dad…”

Why did Father get the nickname “cold-blooded” when he’s like this? He’s a complete expert at sweet comments.

“Now then, what do we do about that funeral…”

“What can we do about a funeral that’s already been held? We’ll tell the truth to your parents, and we’ll conclude that the Wentworth Noblewoman has passed away as is.”

Ah.

“Shana, your corpse was too elaborate. Honestly, I still think about the moment when the priest examined your body…”

Father paused his words, unable to hide his anguished emotions. My conscience… is pricking me…

“The priest didn’t notice at all and confirmed your death. So if we announce now that you were alive, it would become noisy with talk of resurrection and such. Or they’d think we went crazy.”

“They’d say we brought a girl who looked similar and made her a substitute for our dead daughter. It’s actually a fairly common story too.”

Mother’s last words were somewhat cynical. However, she soon changed her expression and spoke to me.

“Anyway Shana, you weren’t particularly interested in life as a noble.”

“Mm.”

“It’s okay, we were the same way.”

Mother laughed cheerfully. Father also smiled bitterly.

“You told me not to run away, so I inherited the title.”

“Oh my, are you regretting it? I married you to take responsibility for those words.”

“That’s something I’m grateful for.”

“I also hated living as the heir to the Lepoer Family and tried to become independent as a mage. I didn’t want to share my research with anyone, and I had no talent for teaching anyone. I couldn’t understand at all why I had to bother teaching and leading those idiots…”

…That’s a bit different from the reason I thought…?

The fact that Mother was raised as the heir to the Lepoer Family was something I knew well. She met Father at the Academy and fell passionately in love (while fighting), and by marrying him, she earned the resentment of the Lepoer Family.

Because of that incident, Mother felt somewhat indebted to the Lepoer Family, but after I was kidnapped, they became mortal enemies.

Since she felt indebted enough, I thought she had chosen love over family.

‘She was taking responsibility for encouraging Father…’

It was right that she chose love over family, but it was subtle.

“But then who will inherit the Wentworth Family…?”

“You’ve never met them, but there are plenty of children in the branch families too, so you don’t need to worry. Instead, you need to soothe Grandfather and Grandmother’s hearts. It won’t be difficult. Just smile brightly on purpose and say ‘I love you, Grandfather and Grandmother’ once.”

Saying that, Father smiled crookedly.

“That old man changed as a person in his old age.”

“You’re being rude to Father. The child watches and learns.”

“Anais, Shana is already 18…”

“Still. Of course, Father’s personality changes so much in front of Shana that it’s disgusting.”

Mother, you don’t seem to be creepily polite enough to watch and learn from either.

Bailey, who had been listening to our conversation, spoke up.

“From our perspective, you two are no less than the previous Duke…”

“Us?”

“Us?”

The couple was in perfect sync.

“Wait, Bailey. Are you saying we’re as disgusting as Father?”

“Think whatever you want. If that’s how it sounded to you, then that’s what I meant.”

Bailey answered coolly and shrugged his shoulders.

“The fact that Lady Shana is alive is a secret except for those present here. Me, Ella, Maria, Lord Lloyd and the twins, and Evelyn. There will be a lot to prepare.”

“I’ll ask you to handle it. So Shana, when do you want to do it?”

“Huh? Do what?”

Mother sometimes omitted the subject when speaking. Especially when having conversations with Bailey, with whom she got along so well.

They understood each other so well that their conversations continued even though important parts were missing for a third party listener. This seemed to be another such case.

Father also had an expression that showed he understood, but fortunately the twins, Evelyn, and Uncle Lloyd seemed not to comprehend.

Thank goodness. I would have felt left out if I was the only one who didn’t know.

Mother kissed my cheek.

“What else. Your independence!”

What? Me?

***

-You really made quite a mess, Shana.

“What, what, what?!”

-You shouldn’t panic.

“….”

The Prince’s would-be assassin broke out in cold sweat from guilt.

-Thanks to you, I can’t move at all. A funeral for my former fiancée followed by my older brother’s funeral.

“Now that you mention it, that’s how it turned out. Isn’t anyone suspicious of you?”

-The fact that my brother came to your funeral was kept secret since he moved with Brandon, so it wasn’t known. Even if it had been known, it wouldn’t have mattered much.

“That’s fortunate.”

-What’s fortunate about it? Thanks to you, I have to go around crying.

“…Sorry?”

Having seen Raven’s actual crying face, I couldn’t laugh.

-My brother’s death was classified as natural. A priest came to confirm the cause of death.

“What about Brandon?”

-I heard he expressed his intention to step down from his position as commander, but His Majesty said he would postpone everything until after my brother’s funeral.

“He must be very sad….”

The Emperor had been particularly fond of Nathan. Even an emperor’s feelings as a parent who lost a child wouldn’t be any different. Having hastened his death by about a week to ten days, I felt a moral sense of guilt.

Just a tiny bit.

About as much as an ant’s tear.

-Well, since it was a death he’d been preparing for a long time, he seemed calm about it.

“….”

-In fact, he might have been secretly pleased since he was probably inwardly flustered that Nathan wouldn’t die for so long.

“No, no way….”

No matter how cold-hearted, he was the eldest son he publicly declared to cherish most.

Raven didn’t say more and changed the subject.

-So when is your independence?

“They said we’re going house hunting tomorrow….”

-Make it an area that’s easy for me to visit.

Where would that be.

-Ah, they’re calling me again. I can’t even sleep. Well then Shana, I’ll contact you again.

“Ah, okay….”

The connection was cut before he could even hear my response. I stared blankly at the gold ring that had lost its light, then squeezed my eyes shut.

Nathan was dead.

By tomorrow morning, this news would spread throughout the Empire.

Naturally, it would reach the beastfolk including Renate as well.

Once I became independent, I planned to focus on properly running my hospital. So I couldn’t keep it a secret forever.

I would have to give Renate the miraculous survival story briefing again. I couldn’t even gauge what his reaction would be. The last time I saw him in the underground prison, Renate had been rougher than I’d ever seen before.

The conflict with Renate hadn’t built up over just a day or two, so I had been prepared to clash with him eventually, but the problem was Lili.

“No one wanted that! And don’t put your life on a scale.”

“I can’t guarantee that.”

“Even if there had been, I would have killed them, so there weren’t any.”

She was serious about that….

When we were trapped in the underground prison, Evelyn had seriously intended to kill Lili. She had seemed unresponsive because she was quietly furious.

Originally, since Lili was also staying at the Wentworth Estate, she should have been present here as well, but as I expected, she didn’t seem to be returning.

If asked whether I couldn’t forgive Lili, that wasn’t it. There was nothing to forgive or not forgive in the first place. She had been kidnapped because of me.

I hadn’t wanted Lili to protect me, and to be more honest, I hadn’t expected her to prioritize me above all else.

You’d have to be hurt to forgive, but I wasn’t hurt at all.

Although Lili had opened her heart to me with difficulty, she still feared and didn’t trust humans. She would have wanted to save Jake. Everyone values their own life more.

If Evelyn had been like Lili, I would have been a little surprised and honestly hurt, but I would have been happy that she had something precious other than me.

But Lili, though I certainly cherished and trusted her greatly, couldn’t compare to my bond with Evelyn.

However, that was just my sentiment, and if asked whether we could continue together in the future, it would be difficult.

I couldn’t entrust the hospital’s affairs to someone I couldn’t trust.

Once broken, trust was hard to restore.

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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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