Surviving as a Terminally Ill Heiress - Chapter 65

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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 65

Forest cleared his throat with a soft cough before asking.
“So what brings you here, then?”
“…Well, it felt like someone was calling me.”
It was just that feeling.
I’d been curious about it for a while, and I wanted to pray for Jeremiah’s health, but—
It felt strangely like someone was calling my name.
Forest smiled warmly.
“Faith always begins that way. With a strong, undeniable calling and drawing.”
Hmm. I don’t think that’s quite what I meant.
I tried to brush it off with a smile, but Forest tilted his head.
“Though there’s something I seem to sense from you, Miss…”
Thump.
My heart responded to his words.
“I mean, there’s a kind of feeling—a sense of something, maybe—that I might be sensing, or perhaps not…”
What sort of feeling could it be?
In any case, I found myself looking forward to it.
‘Maybe the secret of my regression really will come to light?’
It was worth the trip—I’d even met the High Priest.
Forest asked permission, then extended his hand toward me, releasing white light.
Soon wind swirled around us, and I felt a mysterious force seeping into me—
“Your Spiritual Power…!”
He cried out in surprise.
“You have none at all.”
Like that.
Really?
When he’d made it sound like there was something tremendous?
“Truly, not a shred. Not even a mote. I’ve searched with eyes wide open and found absolutely nothing. Like Sky’s future. It’s completely absent. A void.”
“…I see.”
The way he kept emphasizing it was rather off-putting.
I hadn’t particularly wanted Spiritual Power anyway, but that’s human nature.
“Though something does seem strange…”
Forest continued muttering to himself, then folded his hands together toward the divine.
“It seems to be a task sent down by the Divine. Even questions without answers unravel like thread in time. Even bonds stained with enmity will eventually do so…”
A kind sentiment.
Then.
“In that case, you should reconcile with Sky too.”
The servant of the divine simply swallowed those fine words.
* * *
The change came abruptly.
As always, Hui was at the Training Ground, Dido was at her sculptor’s private lesson, and I was lazily enjoying the afternoon—
That peaceful quiet shattered suddenly.
Tru came rushing in breathlessly and shouted.
“…Someone came to call?”
I couldn’t help but ask again.
“The Duke’s other child!”
He dashed out immediately.
The lobby had become a stage.
‘This is pure theatrics.’
That was my first impression of them.
A woman weeping pitifully.
And a boy at her side.
‘He looks exactly like Ambrose Duke.’
He seemed like a miniature version of the portrait I’d seen.
“My goodness… he really does look just like the young master was as a child.”
“Even his voice sounds similar, doesn’t it?”
The longtime servants were beside themselves.
So what about Ambrose Duke?
I glanced at him.
His expression was unreadable.
But his gaze seemed fixed on the boy.
The woman—formerly the Olson Earl’s Daughter, as it was said—spoke.
“I wanted to live quietly, hidden away in shame… but…”
The woman glanced at me.
Her teary green eyes looked somehow bitter.
“But he is the same child and grandchild, and it grieves me that one bears the name Ambrose while my son does not… I finally gathered the courage to come. Please, I beg your forgiveness.”
The woman’s tears fell in thick drops.
It was a melodrama worthy of any stage—
Especially with a young son comforting his mother, calling her “Mother.”
I observed them without feeling.
I was curious how the story would run in tomorrow’s papers.
‘No doubt about it—the headline will be “Ambrose Duke’s Disgrace.”‘
Two illegitimate children appearing? Even the cheapest street theater wouldn’t go that far.
Especially when Ambrose Duke was a hero.
A renowned knight who’d earned glory in the Demon War, vanished, honorable and faithful—the Empire’s greatest swordsman.
‘At this rate, they’ll be calling him a Casanova.’
I laughed softly, then gradually grew serious.
And my fists clenched tight.
This man… he’d been stringing two women along?
* * *
“How could this be…”
The servants didn’t dare approach my darkened quarters.
The sofa leather, scratched by my fingernails, lay ruined.
Tru looked equally sad, joining in my sorrow.
She thought I was dispirited by the arrival of a rival, but she was wrong.
I didn’t care if Ambrose had more children.
I only felt sorry for Mother’s love.
‘So that precious first love was two-timing, Mother.’
A son born to another woman—my same age, apparently.
It was infuriating. I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.
Then Tru crept close and whispered.
“…But Miss, don’t you think something’s off? Couldn’t it be a lie?”
I glanced at Tru and replied.
“Go look at that boy again, then tell me.”
Tru let out a thoughtful hum.
Of course she’d have nothing to say.
From every angle—front, back, rolling around—that boy looked exactly like Ambrose Duke.
His hair and eye color, his features, even his bearing—all of it.
To me, it seemed like he’d been physically copied.
‘If the timing weren’t suspicious, I’d believe it.’
He’s been quiet all this time, and barely after I arrived, a second illegitimate child appears?
But the Olson Earl’s Daughter’s words weren’t unrealistic.
In Atera, illegitimate children are sin.
Especially for a noble lady to bear one?
It was social death—worse than disgrace.
To have resigned herself to a lifetime in hiding, only to gather courage when she saw I’d adapted well and survived—that much made sense.
‘It’s plausible. Narratively speaking.’
And what completed that narrative was the child.
A boy who perfectly resembled Ambrose Duke.
Unlike me.
Even as illegitimate children, we were quite different.
Not just in appearance, but in sex and even our mothers’ stations.
‘…Far less shameful, I’d imagine.’
Born to a street dancer from a fallen nation versus a noble lady.
Apparently the Olson Earl’s Daughter and Ambrose Duke even knew each other.
If he’d returned from the war alive, wouldn’t they have married?
Thinking it that way, it was almost embarrassing to compare ourselves.
I’m not ashamed of Mother, of course.
I mean the gaze of others that Ambrose would feel.
So perhaps Ambrose Duke offered her a room in the west wing right away for that reason.
That’s when it happened.
A knock came, and someone announced:
“The Olson Earl’s Daughter and young master would like to take tea. What do you think?”
Young master, already.
A wry smile escaped me unbidden.
Tru and the servants watched my reaction carefully.
“Tell them to meet in the Reception Room.”
At my brief word, everyone moved quickly.
I didn’t want them in my room anyway.
It wasn’t their fault—my own heart was too narrow.
‘I can’t hit a man who’s disappeared.’
Forgive me this small spite.
I sighed, tidied my appearance, and headed to the Reception Room.
The guests were already there.
“I seem to be a bit late.”
“Not at all. Come, sit.”
Her voice was gentle.
Unlike the Olson Earl’s Daughter, who smiled beautifully, the boy had no particular expression.
“Terion, you should greet her.”
At his mother’s urging, he only nodded slightly.
He looked like a well-crafted wax figure. Or a marionette being pulled by invisible strings.
The Olson Earl’s Daughter apologized on his behalf.
“I’m sorry. He lived hidden away for so long… he doesn’t quite know how to get along with children his age.”
She gazed at Terion with a sorrowful face.
Her eyes held affection and regret for her pitiful child.
Then she turned to me and asked.
“Now that we’re siblings, will you two get along well?”
“If you’d like.”
I answered readily.
And I looked past the Olson Earl’s Daughter, who was smiling brightly, to Terion.
“Do you want to?”
“…”
“I asked if you want to.”
You. Do you want to?
At my steady gaze, Terion’s brow furrowed slightly.
Hmm. He doesn’t seem to want to at all.
I picked up my teacup and shrugged.
“It seems your son doesn’t wish to befriend me.”
“Oh, no, that’s not it. As I said, he’s clumsy and shy…”
“I see. I’m clumsy and shy too, but I’m pushing through my discomfort to ask. That’s the point.”
“Um…?”
The Olson Earl’s Daughter’s expression wavered.
I cupped my cheek with my hand and let my voice grow forlorn.
“I’m sorry. I don’t have the luxury… honestly, I’m envious of you two being together. I can’t do that… *sniff*!”
Poor little me, attacking from behind.

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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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