Surviving as a Terminally Ill Heiress - Chapter 57

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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 57

Then Percy fell silent for a moment, gazing toward some distant place.
“I’d be content if Zadkiel would just behave himself. I wouldn’t mind living like an old man for the rest of my life…….”
Though it was a wish that would never come true.
The sorcerer’s estate was, from every angle, a verdant hillside of eternal spring green.
A place where vibrant life flourished in every direction.
Yet the only things withering to yellow there were Zadkiel’s slaves.
A heavy silence settled between Percy and Sky.
Shuffle, shuffle. Clink, clink.
For a time, only the sound of heavy footfalls and chains carried on, until they came to a stop before a bronze door.
Famously known as the Gates of Hell.
The entrance to the Pandium Underground Prison.
Those demonic carvings reaching out their hands—every time one glimpsed them, it sent chills down the spine.
Percy grasped the creaking door and pulled it open with obvious distaste.
All the while, Sky’s legs kept wobbling unsteadily.
Percy asked as if she understood perfectly well.
“Did Zadkiel give you quite a beating recently?”
Though truthfully, she hadn’t escaped his fists entirely.
Sky let out a pained groan and spoke.
“No, it’s more that my magical power got drained completely…….”
“What? Why?”
“Who knows. That madman suddenly started establishing Portals from the Southern End all the way to the Capital.”
And as she spoke, she mimed how her magical power had been siphoned away like juice through a straw.
Sky ground her teeth.
It was pure harassment, nothing more.
After all, Zadkiel could simply use a brief incantation to perform Instant Teleportation anywhere he wished, from the Southern End to the Northern End.
Even if he truly wanted to establish a Portal, his own magical power alone would be more than sufficient—with plenty left over.
In fact, it would maintain itself easily for about a week; only afterward would it require regular maintenance and magical infusions like any other Portal.
‘A monster.’
In truth, that word suited the power better than “demon.”
“Right. I heard about it. He was just filing a report with headquarters about suddenly establishing a Portal. Hmm, I wonder why? Did he suddenly need spending money?”
“I don’t think he’s planning to charge for Portal usage.”
“What?”
Zadkiel would never offer free service without compensation.
Percy muttered in shock.
“Something’s wrong with him lately…… He even spared someone who cursed him and tried to teach him a lesson.”
“What did you say?”
This time it was Sky who was startled.
That made no sense. How could such a thing happen?
Now that she thought about it, there had been something odd about him.
“Wait, now that you mention it, that was suspicious. A man who’s obsessively neat—why would he be dragging around a young girl at his side?”
“Oh! The girl Zadkiel spared—she was young too!”
Percy and Sky exchanged astonished looks.
Good heavens, surely that demon isn’t……!
‘Playing with her until he kills her……’
Both thinking the same thought, the two of them trudged down into the underground prison.
Their master was a genuine madman who showed no mercy even to little girls.

* * *

“Thank you so very much!”
The day I was finally heading home.
I’d attempted escape several times, only to fail every time and end up caught by Evan, so those past few days blurred together in my memory.
I just ate a lot of honey. A tremendous amount. Whenever I tried to eat less, Evan would thrust a freshly harvested Beehive at me whole, making it impossible to refuse.
That Evan saw me off, hanging bundles of energized honeybees across both his shoulders.
Well, as long as you’re happy, that’s enough.
I bid him farewell with a faint, uncertain smile to the very end.
“Take care, Evan.”
Let’s never see each other again.
I swallowed the cruel thought, and Evan returned the goodbye with a dejected expression.
“Travel safely. And do visit often. The bees will miss you too, my lady.”
Why would you say something so cruel at the moment of parting?
I clambered into the carriage without answering.
The carriage began to move slowly, and Evan came running after us with a small Beehive in hand.
Ah, now I understood why he was the Ambrose Duke’s proxy.
A man who treasured and preserved Ambrose traditions above all else.
I was grateful such a person watched over the Territory.
I smiled brightly and waved my hand out the window.
“For your journey, some honey as a snack……!”
No. I don’t want it.
And I shut the window firmly.
The journey back from Ambrose Territory to the Capital was far shorter than I’d expected.
A Portal had suddenly been installed in the neighboring Peta Territory, right along our route.
‘Aren’t Portals usually more common in the northern regions?’
That was because sorcerers were stationed there, and the weather and terrain were harsh.
Besides, Portals were said to require tremendous high-level magic. I’d heard you needed several veteran mages working together to create one.
Yet here it was. I wouldn’t have to spend weeks in a weary, tedious carriage—I was simply grateful.
‘And it’s free?’
I’d heard mages never acted without some profit in mind.
It was strange, but compared to the mage I’d met, nothing seemed odd anymore.
Yes. If there exist madmen like that in the world, there must be mages crazy enough to suddenly want to build free Portals too.
In any case, riding a Portal for the first time was wondrous and……
“Urgh…….”
I got motion sickness.
Still, returning to the Capital felt like coming home.
Hui and Dido had grown a bit, and they seemed to have grown closer to Ambrose Duke. Why was that?
And the Duke had openly admitted to foisting me off on Evan.
As payment, I’d squeezed a substantial reward out of him.
I’d hoped it would end with never showing my face in Ambrose Territory again, but……
“Miss! Miss Ravigne!”
“What!”
“……has been completed!”
What are you saying? I can’t hear you over the bees. I told you to speak up.
I removed my bee veil and stepped away from the apiary.
Tru came rushing from far off and shouted again at the top of her lungs.
“Your Inheritance proceedings are complete, Miss! Now you’re rich and don’t have to work!”
Oh, I see.
But that’s not important right now.
“There’s another wasp!”
“Aah! Die!”
As I pointed out the massive wasp, Evan came rushing after it in a frenzy.
His movements—striking at empty air with his palm—were almost manic.
To catch such a terrifying wasp barehanded was truly unhinged.
“Oh no, there’s a wasp behind you too, Miss!”
Crack!
At least use a tool like I do.
I spun the Broom I’d used to strike the wasp and settled it across my shoulders.
“You’re getting more and more frightening…….”
“What did you say?”
Evan turned his head away as if he hadn’t said anything at all.
As I glared at him sideways, Tru approached and handed me a palm-sized pendant.
It was a portable Communication Device that had become commercially available a couple of years ago.
“First, please take Orka’s call.”
“Right.”
I took the Communication Device from Tru and handed her the Broom.
Tru then swept the unconscious wasps on the ground toward the incinerator.
Those wasps would now be incinerated without leaving even a corpse behind.
At first I’d thought it a bit cruel, but it was unavoidable in the apiary world.
Besides, watching those creatures attack the small, precious honeybees made my blood boil inside…….
I kept my attention on the Beehives as I spoke into the Communication Device.
“It’s me, Orka.”
-Miss Ravigne.
His voice had dropped slightly, but it remained soft as silk.
Orka had just reached adulthood last year.
-I’ve just completed all procedures with Attorney Adam.
“Good work.”
I rolled my stiff shoulders as I heard reports of Adam’s activities—the lawyer who still couldn’t resign.
Since this was a matter that had been dragging on for years, I felt oddly composed.
Truthfully, the family lawyer Adam had been the busiest, and I’d dumped all the inheritance tax concerns and such on Orka anyway, so even more so.
While I was receiving formal reports, a single wasp flew in.
With no weapon in my empty hands, just as I was thinking how unfortunate that was, a white blur burst out from behind me.
“Mew-owww!”
It was Shasha, grown tall and strong.
Standing boldly before the wasp, Shasha unleashed a barrage of strikes from both front paws at invisible speed.
Against that valiant assault, the wasp fell helplessly.
Right. I nodded with satisfaction.
Three years as an apiary cat, and even wasps fall before you.

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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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