Surviving as a Terminally Ill Heiress - Chapter 31

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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 31

At sunset, Ambrose Mansion.
‘I’m exhausted.’
I dragged myself back home.
Attending tea parties as a young lady was no easier than working as a maid at them.
Of course, I suspected there was another reason I felt so worn today.
I was tapping my arms—heavy from lifting something suddenly—as I stepped down from the carriage.
“……What’s this?”
The garden was in an unusual commotion.
Servants were dashing about everywhere, shouting frantically.
Just then, Tru spotted me and came rushing over in a panic.
“Oh, Miss!”
“Look, I was reasonably well-behaved—”
“Hui’s missing!”
What?
I blinked, then asked carefully.
“Isn’t she just up in a tree again? She’s always doing that.”
“No, Miss! We’ve been looking for two hours already!”
“Two hours? What do you mean?”
Only then did I grasp the seriousness and cry out.
Tru flinched at my tone.
“Well, at first—about an hour ago—we thought she might be hiding somewhere like you said, so we searched half-heartedly…… But we still haven’t found her, and I was just about to contact you when you arrived…….”
“She didn’t go outside?”
I asked urgently, and Tru shook her head.
“The guards at the front gate said no one left.”
“Then she’s still inside—so why haven’t they found her in two hours?”
I stopped muttering to myself.
Even twice that time wouldn’t be enough to search this entire estate thoroughly.
At least she hadn’t gone outside. I took a deep breath and rolled up my dress sleeves.
Then I joined the search for Hui.
To be honest, I wasn’t too worried at first.
After all, she was inside somewhere, and as large as the estate grounds were, finding one hidden child couldn’t be that hard.
But as the sun set quickly and darkness fell, anxiety began to creep in.
The expansive garden and back garden were already beginning to look like an abyss in the fading light.
“Hui! Hui Flang……!”
I could taste blood in my mouth.
My voice had been hoarse for a while now.
Where on earth had she gone?
I’d called enough times that she should have burst out laughing mischievously by now.
Had she actually left after all? What if the guards at the front gate had dozed off for a moment? What if that little thing had slipped right out?
All manner of thoughts crowded my mind.
Finally, true night fell, and as servants moved about with torches, a suffocating terror seized my throat.
Clouds half-obscured the moon, dimming even its light. If it started raining on top of this, what would I do?
“Hui……!”
Please, where did you go?
‘I want to see Mother.’
Then it suddenly came back to me.
Those words she’d been whining about so much lately—words I’d been ignoring all this time.
So where could she have gone?
I’m her older sister.
I tried to imagine what she might be thinking, what she might be feeling.
The answer came easily.
Hui was actually a very perceptive child.
Clever, she hid it well, and was quick to pick up on things—absorbing and remembering the scattered conversations around her.
She must have overheard every pitying whisper from the servants throughout the winter.
So when spring came, did all that accumulated longing and sorrow finally burst out?
Was she blaming me for being too busy, for making it seem like searching for Mother was too difficult, for leaving her alone?
Was she hiding herself away like this as a way of punishing me?
“Hui.”
I searched for you to ask her that.
In the shadowed back garden, where thickets were woven so densely that adults couldn’t pass through, among the sharpest brambles, I found a small child curled up tight, hiding.
Hui, covered in scratches, didn’t even look at me.
She just stared up at the moon that had somehow come out full and clear, and spoke.
“Mother went to Heaven.”
“…….”
“Hui knows. I’m not stupid.”
Then she buried her face in her knees and murmured something.
“So Hui’s going to Heaven too.”
“Don’t say things like that.”
Please, don’t say that.
I spoke softly and reached out my hand.
“You’re hurt. Come here.”
But it wasn’t easy to pull her out of the tangled brambles that held her.
“……Hui.”
“No!”
I’d managed to grab her hand, scraping my palm in the thorns, when she suddenly wrenched free.
Hui jumped up and ran somewhere else.
“I hate you! I want to go to Mother……!”
“Hui!”
I was chasing after her quickly when
she turned around, tears streaming down her face, and picked up a stone from the ground.
“Go away! I hate you!”
Thwack……!
The stone flew at high speed and struck my forehead.
A hot, throbbing pain and the warm sensation of liquid flowing down.
And my vision began to tint red.
‘It hurts…… It hurts.’
I clutched my aching forehead and my mouth fell open slightly.
I was more worried about Hui, who must be even more shocked than I was.
There she was—my poor little sister, gone pale as a ghost and trembling.
‘You’re scared. It’s okay. I’m fine.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘I’ll do better.’
‘I’ll work harder, much harder…….’
“But your sister is struggling too.”
“…….”
“I’m struggling too……!”
The moment I shouted, regret came flooding in.
I didn’t want her to see me like this—so pathetic.
I’m her older sister. I’m the head of this household.
Mother never once showed weakness.
Yes, Mother always smiled…….
Mother.
The truth is, I can barely remember your smiling face anymore.
“I miss Mother too……!”
Tears burst forth along with the truth I’d kept so carefully hidden.
Whether three years old or five, whether pretending to be grown at ten, or even if I’d become a full adult.
In Mother’s presence, everyone was an eternal child.
Plink-plink.
It wasn’t just the sound of tears mixed with blood falling.
From the clouded sky came thick rain, at last.
If anything, it was a relief.
Crying like a child and being soaked by rain somehow cooled my burning head bit by bit.
“Sister, sister! I’m sorry! Don’t cry……!”
The real problem was the actual little child in front of me now, sobbing breathlessly.
It snapped me back to my senses, at least.
I took a deep breath, wiped my ruined face with my sleeve, and opened my arms.
“Come here.”
“Sob……!”
“Let’s go home.”
Hui hesitated only briefly before throwing herself into my embrace.
So warm.
No matter how hard or exhausted I became, this warmth was always my refuge.
Soon the servants heard Hui’s loud crying and came to find us.
That part was fine.
“Oh no! Miss’s face……! Emergency! It’s an emergency!”
I was whisked away noisily by their fussing hands.
The injury being on my face made it especially dramatic.
Morgan rushed over and gave me quick treatment, and then I shooed everyone out.
I was tired, and all I wanted was to lie down and sleep with my younger siblings.
Hui and Dido, lying in a bed together for the first time in a while, gently touched my forehead.
“Does Bebe sister hurt a lot……?”
“Owie?”
“It hurt. It’s fine now. You must never throw stones at people again.”
“Yes……. Hui was wrong.”
“But our Hui, you have a real gift for throwing things. Your reflexes are impressive.”
I spoke solemnly for a moment, then found myself chuckling despite everything.
“……No, never mind. Whether you have talent or not, let’s just find what you want to do.”
“Huh?”
“From now on, your sister is strong enough to raise you both like this.”
Do what makes you happy. Do anything. Just be happy.
I held both of them close with warmth.
But still.
“You two would excel at anything you chose to do……!”
Deep into the night, my rambling thoughts and the breathing of my sleeping siblings, turned toward the wall, mingled together a long time.

* * *

[The Audacious Debut of Ambrose’s Daughter! Overturning Tables…….]
“What, they even print this stuff?”
I threw down the newspaper.
Philip Ridley really knows no restraint.
I settled back onto the sofa and without thinking, scratched at my forehead.
“No, Miss! It’ll leave a mark!”
I was stopped immediately.
But really, complaining about scars on the face? In my previous life, I had several.
Getting injured while working in the kitchen was routine.
More than that, though.
‘It really won’t heal…….’
I found myself missing Scott’s Green Ointment from before.
Of course, it was just the ointment I missed. Objects have no sin.
I sighed and stood up from the sofa.
“Where are you going, Miss?”
“For a walk. Alone. Don’t follow.”
I said it curtly and walked out quickly.
Behind me, Tru stared as if wondering what was wrong.
What’s wrong?
“……Wait, what?! Miss, did you flip the table over?!”
I’m running away.

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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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