Let’s Make Saving a Habit - Chapter 86

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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 86
The Marchioness flinched before I could even respond, hastily apologizing.
“Oh! I-I’m so sorry if I was forward. Tania is just so beautiful and adorable that I couldn’t help myself….”
“It’s fine. I’m happy to embrace you.”
I shrugged once and readily embraced her in return.
But then.
…Why won’t she let go?
Just as I was preparing to pull away from what I’d intended as a light embrace, I felt her hands firmly gripping my waist, and I froze.
The Marchioness showed no sign of releasing me.
A deep embrace on a first meeting was rather disconcerting.
For a moment, several articles about stalking crimes that frequently appeared in the newspapers flashed through my mind.
Cold sweat began to bead on my skin.
I deliberately shook my head and carefully opened my mouth.
“Um… Marchioness, would you mind letting me go now?”
At that, the Marchioness startled and released me at once.
“I’m sorry. I was terribly thoughtless, wasn’t I? You must have been quite alarmed.”
As she stepped back, I noticed her eyes had turned red.
…Could she have been crying?
The Marchioness quickly dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief and composed herself.
“I suffered a miscarriage once, and ever since, whenever I see young noblewomen around that age, I find myself tearing up.”
“I see….”
“So when I heard that Tania had been registered with the Papiope Household, I became even more concerned about you.”
Now I was beginning to dimly understand why she had consistently sent me invitations over the past six years.
Though I couldn’t fully comprehend it.
There were so many noble daughters my age—why had I been the object of her attention? It seemed odd.
“But never mind that, please sit. I’ve kept our honored guest standing far too long.”
She led me to the tea table and seated me there.
It was the finest spot, where warm sunlight streamed in beautifully.
She then sat across from me, her eyes sparkling as she gazed at me intently.
“Actually, I’m quite curious about many things regarding Tania.”
“There’s nothing particularly interesting about me. Don’t expect much.”
Despite my discouragement, the Marchioness smiled softly and asked anyway.
“Are you doing well at Duke Papiope’s Household these days?”
I wondered what she found so curious about, but it turned out to be an ordinary question.
“Fortunately, everyone in the Papiope Household is kind, so I’m doing wonderfully.”
“Does the Duchess treat you well? And that knight she’s been seeing?”
“Of course. Both of them are like parents to me.”
“I see…. I’m relieved that Tania has found happiness with such good people.”
The Marchioness’s smile somehow felt tinged with sadness.
“I heard you awakened a precognitive ability. May I ask how old you were when you became an Ability User?”
The memory of awakening my ability flashed through my mind, and my body flinched involuntarily.
That moment when I stumbled while fleeing from a monster’s grasp.
When those viciously protruding fangs were about to devour my fragile body.
That was when I gained the Save and Load ability.
“When I was five years old. I awakened rather early, actually.”
“Then perhaps….”
The Marchioness opened her mouth as if to ask something serious, then quickly closed it again and shook her head.
“Ah, no. It’s nothing.”
Watching her perform this one-sided act, I rolled my eyes in exasperation.
The conversation continued, yet it didn’t feel like a proper exchange—something about it was distinctly awkward.
“Before you entered Duke Papiope’s Household, where were you and how did you live? I know you came from the Talent Cultivation Institute.”
“Ah… I find this topic rather uncomfortable. As you know, my origins aren’t particularly respectable.”
The Marchioness’s eyes widened noticeably. She fumbled about and apologized to me once more.
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking carefully enough.”
How many times was this now?
It didn’t seem intentional, but the carelessness was unbecoming of a woman who held a position in high society.
I deliberately omitted the usual reassurance and opened my mouth instead.
“The conversation has been rather one-sided so far. Would it be alright if I asked some questions now?”
“Ah, that’s my fault again for being rude…. Please, ask whatever you’d like.”
[Overwriting current viewpoint with Viewpoint 1.]
The moment I saved the viewpoint, I wiped away the forced smile and asked with a serious expression.
“What’s your real purpose?”
“…Pardon?”
The Marchioness’s eyes trembled visibly. With her beautiful face and delicate frame, I somehow felt like the villain in this exchange.
“If you’re trying to exploit my foresight ability for something, don’t waste my time—just say it outright.”
Her face went deathly pale. She waved her hands frantically as if denying any such thought.
“No, that’s not it at all. I never had any intention of using you, Tania.”
“….”
“I’m, I’m sorry. I really am sorry…. I’ve put you in an awkward position, haven’t I? I didn’t mean to interrogate you like this.”
The Marchioness’s eyes contorted.
Without even blinking, tears welled up rapidly and soon streamed down her beautiful cheeks.
“I don’t have any ulterior motive. I simply… I just wanted to know more about you, Tania.”
At this point, I couldn’t help but ask.
“…Why?”
Wasn’t it strange?
She hadn’t sent me an invitation in six years. The moment we met, she suddenly asked if she could embrace me, and then wouldn’t let go.
I thought we were finally having a conversation, but it was just one-sided questioning.
“Why me specifically among all the young ladies of my age? Or is it that you do this with every young lady, and I’m just being unusually upset about it?”
The Marchioness hung her head like a criminal.
“Can you promise me you won’t be angry at what I’m about to tell you?”
“Listen to me.”
She took a short, deep breath and slowly opened her mouth.
“…Six years ago, I first saw Tania at the Imperial Palace.”
I had only been to the Imperial Palace a handful of times.
Could it have been when I went to receive the Emperor’s seal on my entry documents?
“The moment I saw Tania, my miscarried child came to mind.”
“….”
“It felt as though my child was alive and breathing right before my eyes. As you can see, Tania and I have similar hair color…?”
“Then you mean to say….”
“Yes. I was projecting my lost child onto Tania.”
The Marchioness wiped her tears away with a handkerchief.
“I’m truly sorry. Projecting a dead child onto you must have been unpleasant, wasn’t it? That’s why I couldn’t bring myself to tell you.”
I pressed my forehead and exhaled a deep sigh that seemed to emerge from the depths of my chest.
I detected no malice in the Marchioness as she painfully laid bare the truth.
Her tears didn’t appear false either.
Which meant what she said was genuine.
Otherwise, there would be no way to explain all her peculiar behavior up until now.
It didn’t matter to me that the Marchioness was projecting her miscarried child onto me.
How deeply must she have grieved for the child she lost in her womb?
When there were so many who didn’t deserve to be called parents, someone like her was actually welcome.
The reason I sighed deeply was purely because I had trampled on her sincere desire to get along with me.
Even knowing that turning back time would erase it all, my heart felt heavy.
“I apologize too, Marchioness. I’m sorry for lashing out at you so abruptly.”
“Ta, Tania….”
At my apology, she seemed flustered and averted her eyes from mine.
“Since you were honest with me, Marchioness, I’d like to answer your earlier question in return.”
“Your earlier question…?”
“You asked where I was and how I lived before entering Duke Papiope’s Household.”
Since she wouldn’t remember anyway once I turned back time.
I decided to answer honestly.
“I was raised by my Uncle without parents. But that Uncle abandoned me in the Monster-Filled Forest when I was five years old.”
What still puzzled me was that my Uncle had treated me well until the moment he abandoned me.
Why did he suddenly abandon me?
Had his circumstances become difficult?
“I died dozens of times. I kept dying and being forcibly resurrected until I finally reached a small village nearby.”
A place surrounded by the Monster-Filled Forest the moment you ventured beyond its borders.
“Trapped in that inescapable village, I survived by scavenging discarded food scraps that others had thrown away.”
I spoke slowly, blinking my eyes deliberately.
“That was my life before entering Duke Papiope’s Household. Does that answer your curiosity?”

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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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