Let’s Make Saving a Habit - Chapter 56
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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 56
I needed to make my earnings at the Horse Racing Ground before my abilities became known to the world.
Once people learned my name was Tania, I’d be banned from entry.
A hundred percent accuracy rate in gambling? That wasn’t gambling anymore—it was theft.
Of course, with my foresight ability, I could always find loopholes by sharing results with others.
But at the very least, those close to me wouldn’t be able to visit the Horse Racing Ground.
I opened my mouth in a deliberately light tone to ease his fears.
“It’s legal, so there’s no need to feel guilty about it. Besides, we’re minors—we can’t place bets ourselves. Someone else will do it for us.”
“Who would do that?”
“Well…”
The servants who attended to Lucian and me.
“Anyway, I can handle the money, so just tell me honestly. What’s going on?”
“Just forget about it! I can solve this on my own.”
When Lucian refused to open up, I decided to resort to my final tactic.
[Overlaying current perspective onto Viewpoint 1.]
What I called the “crazy woman technique.”
I slammed my hand on the desk with a bang and spoke in an expression and tone completely unlike my usual self, as if possessed by a malevolent spirit.
“You lunatics! Don’t tell me the escort knights or servants have dirt on my brother and are blackmailing him?”
“…T-Tania?”
“Should I tell the Duchess right now and have her behead them?! Hey! Who’s outside?!”
As I rolled my eyes back as if ready to kill on the spot, a panicked Lucian frantically waved his hands.
“No, no! They’re all good people, I swear!”
“So it’s your father, then.”
“…”
The moment he’d rushed to defend the servants, he fell silent and hung his head.
Hmm. So the root cause was indeed his father.
After identifying the problem, I quickly dropped the act.
But I’d already shouted loudly asking who was outside, so the door burst open.
It was the servants and escort knights who had been waiting outside.
“Young lady!”
“Young master!”
I glanced at them and waved my hand.
“Ah, it was nothing serious, so please all withdraw.”
Having discovered that his father was the cause, I quickly rewound the timeline.
[Loading Viewpoint 1.]
I calmly turned back time and then grasped his hand with a serious expression as if nothing had happened.
“Actually, I know that you lent your name to swindlers and ended up buried in debt.”
“Huh…?”
Question marks appeared on Lucian’s face as he looked utterly confused.
“Tania, what misunderstanding are you having right now? It’s true I need money, but swindlers? I never lent my name to anyone…”
“Huh? This isn’t it either? So you haven’t reached the stage of being deceived by a scammer yet.”
That’s a relief.
If you’d already lent your name to a scammer, it would have been difficult to clean up, but I’m glad we can resolve this beforehand.
Lucian seemed to think I was dismissing him and spoke up indignantly.
“Tania, no matter how desperately I need money, I’m not stupid enough to fall for a scammer.”
“I know you’re not stupid. You’re just a little… naive.”
“I’m telling you I don’t fall for cheap tricks!”
“Save your excuses for your future self.”
[Loading to Checkpoint 1.]
This was already my third attempt.
Once again, as if nothing had happened, I took Lucian’s hand and spoke calmly.
“Actually, I already knew that you were being demanded money by your biological father.”
“H-how did you….”
Know beforehand? Not at all. I’d simply run through every possible scenario like a guessing game.
But I reassured him with an expression of complete certainty.
“I have foresight, remember? I’ve seen everything, so tell me slowly. I want to hear it directly from you.”
“Ah, you saw it through foresight….”
Lucian hesitated for a moment before finally opening his mouth.
“Actually, ever since I was adopted into Papiope, my biological father has been demanding money from me every month.”
“So he’s demanding money in addition to the allowance from Papiope?”
“What, you said you already knew everything…?”
I shrugged my shoulders and answered shamelessly.
“I was just confirming. Think of it as me playing along.”
“Oh, I see.”
“So?”
“So I’ve been giving him my monthly allowance for maintaining my status… but this time he lost a lot of money gambling and demanded more.”
He sold his own son to another household and received compensation, yet that wasn’t enough—he had to extort more money?
He was an inconsiderate and wicked man, hardly deserving of the title “father.”
Now I understood why Lucian had reacted so strongly when I mentioned making money through gambling.
“But why have you been faithfully giving that bastard money?”
Lucian’s expression filled with subtle suspicion, as if questioning whether I truly knew everything.
“Ah, this part I genuinely don’t know. My ability comes at the cost of my lifespan, so it has limits.”
Only then did he drop his distrustful expression and answer honestly.
“Actually, that bastard is blackmailing me using my dead mother’s keepsake as collateral.”
“…What?”
“It’s a pendant with a portrait of my mother painted on it. I just couldn’t bring myself to give it up.”
Lucian finally confessed everything, tears streaming down his face like drops of chicken droppings.
“Tania, the reason I entered the Talent Cultivation Institute was to escape from that man.”
“….”
“That bastard racked up gambling debts and drank every day, constantly raising his hand against my mother. Those were terrible times.”
“…How did your biological mother pass away?”
“She tried to escape with me, but we were caught. He beat her senseless, and afterward she wasted away from her injuries until she died.”
It was murder in all but name—he never laid hands on her directly, yet her death was his doing.
“Tania, I thought if I could just be adopted into Papiope, I’d be able to take revenge on him. So why am I in this pathetic state?”
Lucian’s voice trembled with indignation as he wiped away his tears roughly.
“Brother, why didn’t you tell the Duchess or anyone else?”
“How could I speak of such shame? If they learned that wretch was my biological father, they’d all point and call me tainted blood.”
“That’s ridiculous…!”
I’d thought it was a trivial concern, but for Lucian, it was clearly a grave matter.
His entire body trembled at the mere thought of it.
“They’ll wonder if I’ll grow up to become like him. What if I’m branded with that stigma for the rest of my life?”
Lucian’s face contorted as he grasped my hand tightly, as though I were his only glimmer of hope.
“…I’m really scared, Tania.”
A small shock pierced through me. To see proud Lucian reveal such vulnerability was unexpected.
At the same time, a bitter feeling washed over me.
Parents were something I’d yearned for my entire life, yet for him they were worse than nonexistent.
“Brother, listen carefully. If the Duchess were the type to think that way, she never would have adopted commoners like us in the first place.”
I made a firm resolve then—I would inflict unbearable suffering upon the wretch who had made Lucian this way.
“First, let’s go earn some money tomorrow. We’ll need it to bait the trash.”
✦ ✦ ✦
The next day, I took Lucian to the Horse Racing Track.
Lucian looked around nervously, clearly not expecting to actually come here, and asked with anxious eyes.
“Tania, are you sure about this?”
“Yes. I’m sure.”
I’d already explained the situation to Aiden and Lena yesterday, so they followed without complaint.
In fact, learning that Lucian’s father was such a man only filled them with rage, making them more passionate about this than I was.
But Lucian seemed to feel differently.
His attendant, upon realizing we’d arrived at the Horse Racing Track, scrunched his face in protest.
“Miss Tania, what is the meaning of this? I must ask that you not corrupt our young master with such vice gambling.”
“Vice gambling?”
I tilted my head and countered.
“Vice gambling is wrong, certainly, but how can it be gambling if we win with 100% certainty and pocket the money?”
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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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