Let’s Make Saving a Habit - Chapter 38

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 38
Of course, I hadn’t revealed it without reason.
The monster war that Raspi had triggered.
During that catastrophe, the Duke had replicated various Abilities to save people’s lives and deployed them across multiple fronts.
A true Ability User worth a hundred soldiers.
Because no other Ability User possessed such versatility, she had played a crucial role wherever needed.
The Duke valued human lives more than her family’s secrets.
But this time, no monster war would occur, so there would be no reason for it to be exposed.
[Saving current viewpoint to Checkpoint 1.]
Having saved my viewpoint out of habit, I asked with an innocent smile, pretending to know nothing.
“What should I foresee?”
“Anything.”
“Hmm. Then I’ll predict your expression fifteen seconds from now, Duke.”
“Hm? My expression? Can’t you show me something else? Something that would truly prove your ability….”
I’d lost count of how many times I’d had to prove my Ability since returning to seven years old.
Growing weary of it, I decided to prove it recklessly.
“Then, I’ll use it now!”
“Child, wait…!”
Regardless of her confusion, I pretended to use my ability and spoke in wonder.
“Oh, your expression fifteen seconds from now will be ‘astonishment.'”
At my words about using my ability, she let out a small sigh as if hastily activating her replication power.
Then, belatedly recalling what I’d said, she expressed doubt.
“…Astonishment? Well, I don’t think that will happen.”
Astonishment out of nowhere—even I had to admit it was grasping at straws.
“More importantly, Tania, did you really use your ability just now?”
“Yes.”
“…That’s strange.”
Watching suspicion deepen across the Duke’s face, I suppressed a smile.
Of course it was strange.
She had ‘replicated’ an Ability, yet couldn’t use it.
Replication was such a broken power that it came with numerous restrictions.
After her Ability became public knowledge, analysts had uncovered the constraints of the Papiope Ducal Family’s replication power.
Only when both conditions were met could she make an Ability User’s power her own.
1. Physical contact must occur at the moment the opponent uses their Ability.
2. She must know exactly what the opponent’s Ability is.
But the Duke hadn’t satisfied all the conditions, so this was the inevitable result.
She hadn’t even used an Ability in the first place, and my Ability wasn’t foresight anyway.
The fifteen seconds I’d predicted were nearly up.
To turn my foresight into reality, I whispered softly into the Duke’s ear.
“…Duke, your Ability replicates your opponent’s power, right?”
For a moment, the Duke’s pupils dilated, and shock flooded across her face.
She seemed to realize it was already too late to deny what her expression had revealed.
She furrowed her brows slightly, then asked with an air of resignation.
“…How did you know that?”
“Through foresight, of course. I didn’t just discover your ability now, Duke—I’ve known about it all along.”
As I answered while rolling my eyes, she nodded as if urging me to continue.
“I’m aware your ability is a closely guarded secret of the Papiope Ducal Family. But in the future, you reveal it yourself.”
“…Me? Reveal it with my own mouth?”
“Yes.”
The Duke shook her head firmly, as if she didn’t believe it.
“Tania, no matter how reckless people say I am, I’m not foolish enough to reveal something like that with my own lips. Be honest—where did you hear this information?”
Suddenly faced with a foolish mother, I hastily added to avoid becoming an unfilial daughter.
“Truthfully, you don’t think it matters if it becomes public, do you?”
“…What?”
“Because you’re going to end the inheritance of the ability in your generation anyway. If anyone’s life hangs in the balance, you’d reveal it without hesitation, wouldn’t you?”
After all, the ability was an inheritance passed only through blood….
If she never had children, the power would not pass to future generations—it would simply disappear.
If anyone else had heard this, they would have pointed and called it nonsense.
But faced with my unwavering conviction, the Duke’s eyes, which had been filled with suspicion, trembled.
No noble would reveal a family secret to save a handful of commoners.
It was obvious.
Unless, of course, that noble was someone like Viviana Papiope Dilum—an eccentric with an unusually kind heart.
“Ha!”
The Duke let out a hollow laugh and roughly swept her hair back.
And finally, she opened her mouth and admitted the truth.
“…That’s exactly the kind of thing I would do.”
“Isn’t it?”
Her eyes, which had been watching me, softened.
I smiled gently and added.
“What I foresaw was your expression, after all. So, has my ability been proven?”
“It’s ambiguous. Isn’t this just like foreseeing that your face would be completely bruised and then punching it anyway?”
“But I was right, wasn’t I?”
….
She stared at me blankly, at a loss for words, then suddenly pulled me into her embrace.
“The more I see you, the more I like you! Will you be my daughter?”
“…Wasn’t I already your daughter, Duke?”
“But what kind of daughter calls her mother so stiffly as ‘Duke’?”
The Duke placed her hands on my shoulders and urged me with a face full of anticipation.
“Come on, call me mother~.”
“U-um….”
All I needed to say was “Mom” or “Mother”—just one word—but my lips wouldn’t obey.
When I couldn’t even call the Old Gentleman “Dad,” how could I possibly call the Duke “Mom”?
Besides, Duke Papiope was Elysion’s mother from the previous timeline.
It felt like I was committing something I absolutely shouldn’t.
After a long hesitation, I blurted out something completely different.
“M-Mom… Did you sleep well last night?”
“….”
Disappointment flickered across the Duke’s face.
Unable to bear the awkwardness any longer, I squirmed out of her embrace.
Then I fled toward the door as if my life depended on it.
“I’ll… come back later.”
At that, one corner of the Duke’s mouth curved upward with mischievous delight.
“Run all you like. The more difficult the prey is to catch, the more fun the hunt becomes.”
Wait, did she really just compare her own child to prey?
Trembling as I prepared to flee, I suddenly remembered something and stopped before closing the door completely, peeking through the gap to ask.
“Um… before I go, there’s something I’m personally curious about. May I ask?”
She graciously permitted the question with an elegant expression.
“Go ahead.”
“The reason you didn’t want to marry and have children wasn’t just because you hadn’t met someone you loved, but…”
“But?”
“You actually thought the ‘Duplicate’ Ability itself was inherently dangerous, didn’t you?”
“…Truly, you’ve seen right through me completely.”
The Duke rested her chin on her hand and examined me with evident fascination.
“If I put you in my mouth and rolled you around, would I be able to tell what you’re thinking?”
After delivering that unsettling jest with a chuckle, the Duke spoke with candid openness.
“Yes. No one can know if my children and descendants would desire peace as I do. It’s a power far too dangerous for one person to possess.”
So even though her choice appeared thoughtless at first glance, it was actually rooted in her own unwavering philosophy.
“Daughter, are all your questions answered now?”
“Yes, thank you. And…”
Before closing the Office door, I voiced a thought I’d harbored while observing her all this time.
“No matter what society says, I truly admire you for being able to make such a choice.”
For a moment, the Duke’s eyes widened considerably.
As if she hadn’t expected those words at all.
“Then I’ll be going now. Duke, let’s both have a great rest of the day!”

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