Surviving as a Terminally Ill Heiress - Chapter 61

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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 61

“…but you see, I’m doing exceptionally well.”
Even my mother’s gravestone was paid for with my own allowance.
I said it with a touch of boastfulness.
“Hui, Dido, and I all live in the grandest house in the Capital, eating delicious meals and wearing expensive clothes. We do whatever we want, and we have whatever we desire. And….”
I paused mid-sentence, breaking into a smile with a wrinkled nose.
“Now this land is mine too.”
This was one reason I hadn’t brought Orka to the Ambrose Territory this time.
I’d known this land would soon be put up for auction.
Now that I’d inherited a substantial estate, I’d instructed them to begin purchasing from this place immediately.
‘…it was oddly funny even when I was telling them to buy land.’
Land. A vast inheritance.
It was so abundant I couldn’t have imagined it in my past life.
Yes, I had far too much. I felt joyful, and the future seemed even more promising.
Yet standing here now, why did everything feel so hollow?
My laughter faded, and silence settled in.
Whoosh.
Winter’s bitter wind rustled through my hair.
It was cold like this that day too. My last birthday with Mother.
Mother, lying motionless in bed, had spoken to me.
‘It’s our baby’s birthday, and Mother can’t even buy you a gift….’
‘It’s fine. I don’t want anything anyway.’
I massaged Mother’s arm with indifference.
Despite her fragile, skeletal forearm, Mother was still Mother.
She lavished love and affection with every moment.
‘But today is the anniversary of the birth of my second first love!’
So that meant it made the meaning of “first love” meaningless anyway.
Instead of quibbling as I usually would, I pressed my lips together and stayed silent.
Just days ago, her shoulder would move slightly when I kneaded it hard enough, but now it lay completely still.
I slowly shifted my gaze.
From my hand to her arm, to her shoulder, and then….
At that moment, I thought of something.
For a birthday gift, I wished Mother would embrace me like before, taking my breath away—just once, only once.
So I could feel my heart pounding within her arms.
But it was impossible.
At the time, I didn’t want to voice it and hurt her.
“…It’s my birthday today. You don’t have a gift for me?”
After making such a grand occasion of it.
Now behaving childishly, I mumbled something between smiling and not smiling, then whispered:
“I want to see your face. Come visit me in my dreams.”
Since Mother passed away, she had never appeared in my dreams—not even once.
How heartless of her, really.
I muttered listlessly and stood up.
I’d lingered too long; there were people waiting for me, just as Mother waited here.
I’ll come again.
I turned and left with that farewell.
The cemetery was quiet, and only the sound of my footsteps following behind disturbed the silence.
* * *
Once we entered the Capital, the journey to our destination became nearly instantaneous.
This was because of the Magical Train.
We had reserved first-class seats and were led to a waiting area with translucent glass windows.
‘For now it’s mainly short distances within the Capital, but they’ll likely begin test operations in other regions soon.’
As I looked around the bustling station, I recalled that same period in my past life.
The excitement surrounding the Magical Train, which appeared almost simultaneously with the communication network, had been remarkable.
A far more accessible means of magical transportation than the rare and limited portals.
People who had never even seen a mage rejoiced that we could now travel swiftly from one end of the nation to the other, fueling its explosive popularity.
Yet truly connecting from one end of the nation to the other was still impossible.
‘Not until at least my death, anyway.’
Laying railroad tracks wasn’t an easy task.
The southern regions especially lagged behind, from what I remembered.
Everyone had thought the railroad would be laid faster there than anywhere else, since the Ambrose Territory sat at the southern tip, but people’s expectations were thoroughly confounded.
Though I’d invested in this Magical Train venture early myself and made a tidy profit.
“Miss, you may board now!”
Tru hurried over with the tickets in hand.
One first-class ticket.
There was little danger within the Capital, so only Alec and Pepper accompanied me now; the rest of our party would travel slowly to the mansion by carriage with the luggage.
Once our group and Shasha boarded together, the train soon began to shudder as if preparing for departure.
Perhaps Tru sensed my spirits had been dampened since visiting the cemetery, for she deliberately pointed outside with forced brightness.
“Look, Miss. The small Head Dress you favor is still fashionable.”
“Hmm….”
I’d only started using it as a compromise because wide-brimmed bonnets were heavy and bothersome.
Why should such things be essential accessories for upper-class women anyway?
Propriety? For the sake of one’s complexion? Neither held any interest for me.
Yet my behavior set off all the newspapers, with Snearji leading the charge.
“First they were railing about how unrefined it was. Now they flip-flop just like that.”
“Well, the fact that the entire nation stirs over just one hat shows your influence and notoriety, Miss!”
That was true. And not for the first time either.
I observed the similarly dressed young women moving about the station.
They reddened the corners of their eyes with rouge, straightened their naturally wavy hair until it gleamed smooth and straight.
Some even carried cats in their arms.
I exhaled a weary sigh.
“Ah. The hardships of being a wealthy and beautiful heiress.”
“…Miss, that sounds true, but horribly tactless.”
“And that’s precisely what I enjoy.”
Surely it was time to grow accustomed to this. Don’t interfere with my small pleasures.
Tru murmured something like, “Miss truly is exceptional.”
I snorted.
Well, if one weren’t exceptional, one couldn’t survive in this position.
As the Ambrose Princess, I received plenty of criticism and considerable attention.
That very thing was, as Tru said, my notoriety and influence.
However….
‘Most of those imitating me are Commoners, not Nobility.’
No matter how much the Ambrose Princess stirred things up, the Nobility would never follow the whims of a controversial bastard based on pride alone.
Observing such things, various thoughts arose.
I had, in any case, followed the elite path of the Social Circle.
Before my Debutante presentation, I frequented the Queen’s Salon, and I had cultivated a strong relationship with the Juliad Marquis House, who held considerable sway in the central Social Circle.
Even among the Nobility, factions naturally divided.
So I had suddenly become the Ambrose Princess, aligned with the Queen and the Juliad Marquis House.
In crude terms, I had nothing to lose regardless of whose side I took.
Which Nobility disliked me? Well, let them continue disliking me—that was my attitude.
In short, I simply lived without constraint.
That suited my temperament. Just as Howard was suited to living as a rake.
And because I lived that way….
‘I became popular among Commoners….’
Uniquely popular.
But why?
When I thought about it seriously, I couldn’t say.
Was it because they both admired and resented the Nobility?
Did they gain vicarious satisfaction from a bastard born in the slums delivering a carefree blow against the order?
Whatever the reason, it was strange and amusing. And I certainly didn’t dislike it.
Atera is a hierarchical society. There is royalty, and there are hereditary Nobility.
‘Absurdly few in number.’
The Nobility comprises one percent.
They regard this as tremendous distinction, yet it remains merely one percent—a pittance.
No matter how much individual wealth and power they possess, the vast majority remains the vast majority.
Their sheer numbers contain a force that cannot be dismissed merely by existing.
Why should I dislike the fact that all those people stood with me?
And as a trend among all those people, how much wealth would circulate?
Just how far could the power of money—not class—extend?
Clack.
The train departed.
Loudly and powerfully, as if it could travel endlessly.

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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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