Surviving as a Terminally Ill Heiress - Chapter 51

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

Chapter 51

Clara stepped forward first.
The young ladies hurried after her.
They looked so stiff now that it seemed they would never mock Ravigne again.
Tsk. Clara clicked her tongue internally.
Not entirely pleasant, but she had decided not to clash with Ravigne.
Her instinct was screaming that it was the right call.
Clara’s greatest strength was her sharp intuition.
No wonder—she carried Ambrose blood, after all, and her judgment was just as quick.
That girl was Ambrose’s future.
Irritating as it was, she couldn’t deny it.
And there was one more fact Clara herself had overlooked.
‘Hmph, so what if she is. She’s rather adorable-looking, isn’t she?’
She was, despite herself, someone who cherished family—that was Wagner.

* * *

“My, what a charming older sister.”
I laughed, gazing out the carriage window.
I’d pegged Clara from the start as someone who enjoyed riding in the Ambrose carriage for all to see, but she turned out to be surprisingly practical.
‘A princess and practicality… not exactly a natural pairing.’
Still, a practical person would never dream of falling out with Ambrose.
I could relax around Clara from now on.
She wasn’t inherently wicked—her sulks were almost endearing, really.
“Hm?”
Had I been seeing things?
I had the distinct feeling I’d just witnessed something I shouldn’t have.
As the carriage pulled up to the main gates of the manor, I rubbed my tired eyes.
Had I been reading too hard lately? My eyes weren’t functioning properly.
“Grandfather, faster!”
“Whee!”
Perhaps my head was simply off today.
But no matter how many times I looked, the scene before me didn’t change.
I descended from the carriage with a bemused expression and approached, and only then did Ambrose Duke notice me and stop what he was doing.
He’d been spinning with Hui and Dido clinging to each of his arms.
“…What are you doing?”
“Ahem.”
“Sister!”
Hui and Dido scrambled down from the Duke and clung to me instead.
The Duke now attempted to look stern.
“Return early.”
Then he vanished in a flash.
What? As I stared after him with bleary eyes, Fin appeared at my side with a chuckle.
“The two young masters came down to the lobby looking for you in tears, and they happened to run straight into His Grace just as he was arriving home.”
Ah. So instead of me, they’d encountered the frightening Ambrose Duke.
Naturally they cried even harder, and the Duke—having somehow become the one who’d made them cry—ended up coaxing them in an awkward sort of way.
“It’s a rare treat, I might add. He’s afforded Ansley far less indulgence.”
After a long moment of disbelief, I burst into laughter.
Then, clearing my throat with a cough, I teased Hui and Dido.
“That’s hilarious. What happened to him being too scary?”
“Not scary anymore!”
We climbed the stairs hand in hand.
There truly were many different shapes a family could take.

* * *

“Dido, wake up! The tutor’s arriving!”
“Don’t wanna…”
I was wrestling with the sleepy Dido while diligent Hui was already up, when there came a knock.
Knock, knock.
I told whoever it was to enter, and it was Maya.
“What is it?”
“His Grace requests your presence.”
I blinked and followed her out.
It was unusual for him to summon me like this in the morning. What could it be?
“I’m here.”
“You’ve arrived.”
Naomi was in the study as well.
I exchanged a respectful greeting with her before spotting the Duke seated in a chair.
He looked expressionless as always, yet strangely subdued.
Why did he seem that way?
Naomi spoke.
“An urgent report has arrived from the Territory.”
The Territory? Ambrose Territory?
Before I could fully process the situation, the Duke spoke abruptly.
“You’re to go.”
“I refuse.”
“…Why.”
“Hui and Dido would struggle. Ambrose Territory is all the way at the southern tip—it’s too far.”
He was asking something obvious.
As I shrugged, Ambrose Duke gave the expression of someone pointing out something equally obvious.
“Leave the children behind.”
“I’m sorry—how can you say such a thing?”
Shameless. Coldhearted.
Hui and Dido separated from me in a different region entirely?
A bitter laugh escaped me. He must know they cry and search for me at the slightest half-day outing to town.
“They’ll be fine left behind.”
There’s no way that’s happening.
The Duke and I locked eyes, each watching the other.
Naomi observed from the side, wearing an expression like she wanted to chew on something.
Fine. Let’s see you try. Not that I need confirmation, but.
Soon Hui and Dido were called in as well.
I asked the two of them.
“Sister has to go very far away for a while. Will you be alright?”
I’d prepared over twenty different ways to soothe them when they cried and threw tantrums.
“Yeah. Go ahead.”
What?
Hui and Dido seemed perfectly fine.
They looked utterly composed. I couldn’t believe it.
I asked again with a trembling voice.
“Are you really sure? You won’t see Sister for over a month…?”
“It’s okay. Grandfather’s here.”
What?!
I staggered at the blow.
Ambrose Duke could replace me? When did they become so close?
The Duke wore a subtle smile of victory.
I’d never felt anything quite so infuriating.
“So… what exactly is the matter?”
I pressed my palms to my forehead.
Let me at least hear what this is about.
“Someone is ill, they say.”
“Ill? Who?”
“…You’ll understand once you see for yourself.”
Naomi, unusually, dodged the question.
Sensing something amiss, I looked at her, but she averted her gaze.
Why was I suddenly so uneasy?
If I simply agreed to go now, I’d be a fool. I waved my hand dismissively.
“If someone is ill, shouldn’t we send a physician instead? What good would it do to send me…?”
“Then depart at once.”
What?
Before I could protest further, servants had already dragged me along.
What?
Before I knew it, I was dressed and my things were packed.
What?!
Before I could finish the thought, I was being hoisted into a carriage.
What is this? Am I really going like this? To see some sick… whatever it is?
Still bewildered, I sat there as Hui and Dido waved cheerfully from outside the carriage window.
Not a single tear from either of them.
If they’d cried, my heart would have ached, but this felt like outright betrayal.
Was I the one with separation anxiety, not my younger brothers?
“…It’s only you, Shasha. Raising younger brothers was utterly pointless.”
“Meow.”
I pulled the drowsy Shasha close and held her tight.
My precious youngest, who always followed wherever I went.
As I praised and peppered her with kisses, a voice came from across the carriage.
“I’m following along as well.”
“Orka, that’s your job.”
Salary-earners should stay quiet.
Orka fell silent, looking forlorn.
The hastily assembled Ambrose Territory expedition was modest.
Apart from myself and Orka, it was just five knights including Alec and Pepper, and perhaps three servants.
Who exactly was so ill, and to what degree, that Ambrose would move so urgently?
On that note…
“It seems the Duke doesn’t visit the Territory often.”
When I asked Fin, who was loading luggage into the carriage, the answer came immediately.
“He’s far too occupied with matters of business.”
Right—that vast Ambrose Trading Company revolves around him.
I nodded knowingly.
“So who manages the Territory, then?”
“A deputy appointed by His Grace maintains it.”
“Who might that be?”
I tilted my head in puzzlement.
Ordinarily, the Duke’s brother Howard would have taken charge.
But he’d chosen to be a voluntary layabout and full-time drunkard instead.
I assumed it would naturally be someone else, but Fin looked away.
“…You’ll find out when you meet them.”
What exactly is this?!
I set out with a strange sense of unease.
Southward, to Ambrose Territory.

* * *

‘Ugh, my back.’
No matter how well-made the carriage, prolonged travel made your spine ache.
I learned this unwelcome truth as I continued southward.
Why was Atera so impossibly vast? Ritz was barely a third of a third of the kingdom.
But whenever I played with Shasha and bickered a little, the ache would wash away.
Truly, cat therapy was miraculous.
With no physical ailment to occupy me, my mind grew restless.
Playing word games with Orka in Ritzian inside the carriage lasted only a day or two.
“Miss, we’re staying at a hotel tonight!”
“Really?”
Good—we’d been camping rough continuously since we left.
Tru announced this with great excitement.
“At Hill Hotel, no less!”
“Is it a nice place?”
“Of course! In Atera, when you say ‘hotel,’ you mean Hill. When you say ‘Hill,’ you mean hotel!”
I nodded along for now.
But what really intrigued me was this.
“What about the Ambrose Trading Company? Don’t we have a hotel?”
“The Company has one, but the direct house doesn’t have one currently.”
Orka’s answer made me tilt my head.
“Currently? You mean there used to be one?”
“Yes.”
“Did it fail?”
“Yes.”
Ah.

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