Let’s Make Saving a Habit - Chapter 64

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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 64
The Duchess appeared to have finished her mental calculations, and she opened her mouth to speak.
“Thank you for telling me. It will be tight to secure funds before the harvest season, but at least I can prepare in advance.”
“Ah. You don’t need to procure such large quantities of food. Just enough for one year. By the year after next, the Magic Tower’s newly introduced farming methods will restore everything to normal.”
“…Can recovery truly happen that quickly?”
“Yes. To be precise, it’s not the farming methods themselves, but rather a fertilizer. That fertilizer will cause the Empire’s food production to increase dramatically.”
An agricultural revolution was unfolding before us.
“Poor people will still exist, of course… but at least people won’t starve to death anymore.”
Through the agricultural revolution sparked by the Magic Tower, births would skyrocket and the economy would experience explosive growth.
I had no intention of missing this pivotal moment.
“I see…. But Tania, before we discuss this in more detail, I have something to ask you.”
“Yes. Please, ask away.”
“Is your lifespan alright?”
“Oh….”
My head felt heavy.
In fact, I’d been bracing myself to be scolded for why I’d only mentioned such an important issue now.
But I never expected the Duchess to worry about me first.
I recalled how Aiden had worried first when he learned my ability was “foresight.”
It was a strange feeling.
Aside from Aiden, the Duchess was the only person who had ever worried about me first.
The part about my lifespan decreasing each time I used my ability was merely an excuse I’d fabricated.
Watching the Duchess genuinely concerned made me feel embarrassed.
“Ah…. That was a future I saw long ago, so please don’t worry. Since I learned that my ability reduces my lifespan, I’ve been careful not to use it much.”
“Good. It’s best if you use your ability as little as possible. From now on, help us only with facts you already know.”
The Duchess smiled with relief, though she couldn’t hide a hint of disappointment on her face.
“I wish I could use your foresight ability in your stead.”
After the Duchess had attempted to replicate my ability before and failed, she’d tried a few more times before eventually giving up on replication.
I shrugged my shoulders.
“But even if you used it, your lifespan would decrease just the same.”
Since it was a copied ability, the penalty would be identical.
“Still, wouldn’t it be better for me to make the sacrifice rather than my child?”
The words she spoke so matter-of-factly struck a chord deep within my heart.
…What if the Duchess were my mother and Aiden my father?
Was there truly no possibility between them?
As I quickly began reconsidering their compatibility, the Duchess’s voice pulled me back to reality.
“Tania, you said it’s already been a month since you arrived at Papiope?”
“Yes.”
“It seems it’s time for you to visit the Emperor to receive his seal.”
“What kind of seal?”
As I tilted my head in confusion, the Duchess slid a document across to me and showed it to me.
It was an adoption certificate.
“I mean to officially register you as my daughter. When nobility adopts a child, we must receive the Emperor’s seal of approval.”
The requirement for imperial consent in noble adoptions likely stemmed from concerns about bloodline purity and abilities.
“I’ve already arranged tutors to instruct you in various disciplines. After you learn the basics of etiquette for a few days, let’s visit the Imperial Palace to pay our respects.”
“Yes! I’ll study hard so I don’t make any mistakes before His Majesty!”
At my spirited response, Duchess Papiope laughed warmly and ruffled my hair.
“When the adoption documents are sealed, I shall formally announce to all that you have become my daughter.”
Now I would truly live as the New Maid of Papiope, as my daughter Tania Papiope.

✦ ✦ ✦
Several days later.
As Duchess Papiope had promised, I rode in a carriage toward the Imperial Palace.
It seemed she had processed the documents through the night for today, as exhaustion was evident in her eyes.
While Duchess Papiope showed no particular emotion, accustomed as she was to visiting the Imperial Palace, I found myself genuinely excited.
In my previous life, I’d had many opportunities to meet various nobles on business matters, but this would be my first audience with the Emperor.
No matter how wealthy I had been, as a mere commoner, an audience with the Emperor would have been impossible.
There would have been no reason to seek one out anyway.
“What sort of person does Duchess Papiope think His Majesty is?”
“Hmm. How should I put it… a rather pathetic man.”
“…I beg your pardon?”
“Explaining this would take quite a story. Would you mind?”
“I was bored on the way anyway. Please, do tell!”
Duchess Papiope closed her eyes as if searching her memory, her lips moving thoughtfully.
“Your mother was actually close to the current Emperor since childhood.”
Wow… what remarkable connections.
Indeed, as the sole daughter of Duke Papiope’s Household, she would have had countless opportunities to encounter him, whether she wished it or not.
“But once he grew older and his head got bigger, he suddenly asked me to court him.”
“Really? Truly?”
My eyes widened at this revelation.
A romance between the Emperor and my mother was utterly fascinating.
Especially since the current Emperor has two children and is known to have quite a harmonious relationship with the Empress.
I asked with sparkling eyes.
“So what happened? Did you accept his courtship?”
Duchess Papiope’s face twisted as if the very thought repulsed her.
“No. I refused immediately. How disgusting—courting between friends? Absolutely not.”
In that moment, remembering Elysion, I coughed awkwardly.
*Cough cough!*
“Well… I suppose friends can become lovers sometimes…”
“Besides, I had to inherit the Duke Papiope title. Becoming Empress? That would have been a step down for me. His pursuit was utterly unreasonable.”
Ah, I see…
It seemed it wasn’t a romance at all, but merely the Emperor’s one-sided infatuation.
Duchess Papiope shook her head as though the mere thought of those days made her sick.
“But once you’ve rejected someone, that should be the end of it. Yet he kept pursuing me relentlessly. It was utterly pathetic.”
“Ah. So that’s why you called it pathetic….”
Duchess Papiope suddenly took my hand and spoke with a grave expression.
“Tania, be careful with the friends you’ll make going forward. A male friend you thought was close might suddenly launch a confession attack on you, after all.”
“That… yes. I’ll be careful, in any case.”
As someone who had already once prevented Elysion from confessing to me, I had no room to lament.
“Duchess Papiope, have you never dated another man?”
“It just happened to turn out that way.”
She must have received countless marriage proposals during her marriageable years.
To say it “just happened to turn out that way” was contradictory.
Was her taste too refined? Or did she prefer natural meetings?
Recalling how Aiden had said Old Gentleman was too much to her liking and caused her trouble, it seemed she wasn’t entirely disinterested in men.
“Do you have any intention of meeting someone in the future?”
As I showed deep interest in Duchess Papiope’s romantic history, she asked with a subtle expression.
“Why do you ask such things? Are you hoping I had a father figure?”
I, who harbored the sinister hope that things would work out between her and Old Gentleman, startled and shook my head hastily.
“Oh, no. I was just curious.”
“If there’s a good person, my heart is always open. But truthfully, considering my position and age, it’s not easy.”
In the Empire, the marriageable age ranged from eighteen, when one came of age, to the early twenties, so she was somewhat late.
It meant there were difficulties in meeting new people.
It wasn’t that Duchess Papiope lacked anything—decent men were likely already taken.
…No matter how I thought about it, only Old Gentleman seemed suited to Duchess Papiope.
Were Duchess Papiope and Old Gentleman the same age?
I was gazing at her while entertaining these sinister thoughts once more.
As Duchess Papiope and I exchanged various conversations, the carriage came to a halt—we had arrived at the Imperial Palace.

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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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