Surviving as a Terminally Ill Heiress - Chapter 69

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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 69

She appeared finicky, but beneath the surface she was too much like Tru to be difficult—just easier to handle.
Tru cared for money; Clara cared for honor.
And what Clara was after in Atera was crystal clear.
“They say you’re the freshly bloomed flower of High Society these days?”
“Hmph. A natural result.”
Clara spoke as though it were nothing remarkable.
In truth, the title of Ambrose bloodline and Wagner princess alone was enough to command High Society.
But she wasn’t someone who coasted on that alone.
I spoke with genuine admiration.
“It isn’t a given. I know how much you work where no one’s watching, sister.”
“You…….”
Clara’s eyes widened, and she snapped her fan shut.
“Why are you being so unlike yourself?”
“I’m nothing, really.”
“If you have a favor to ask, don’t appeal to sentiment. Present the terms and compensation directly.”
“Ah, I do love how quick you are to the point, sister.”
I obliged her directness and cut straight to business.
“Don’t marry Terion.”
A flinch.
Clara’s pupils trembled.
I knew you’d react like that.
As I watched her with a faint smile, Clara spoke again with affected dignity.
“W-what on earth are you t-talking about…….”
Though her voice wavered considerably.
The freshly bloomed flower of High Society still had many gaps in her armor.
I explained gently.
“When Terion appeared, Howard and Phillip came at me like madmen, just as they had before. But you didn’t.”
“That was…….”
“I understand now. You never show your true self to a man you’ve set your sights on as a husband.”
“Ahem!”
“And the fact that you came the moment I called today wasn’t really about the carriage—it was about Terion, wasn’t it?”
“Ahem, ahem!”
She coughed so dramatically I feared for her throat.
I regarded Clara with affection despite her theatrics.
We were third cousins.
The perfect distance for nobility to arrange a marriage between families.
For Clara, forever hunting the ideal husband, there was no one more appealing than Terion at present.
But dear sister Clara.
“I don’t want to see you fall into the same pit.”
“……And if I take his hand and pull you down instead?”
Ah, I’d wounded the princess’s pride.
I soothed her ruffled composure.
“At the very least, wait until Terion’s Lineage Verification is complete.”
“What?”
Clara’s face twisted in an instant.
“You mean to verify his lineage? Do you understand what that means?”
“I do. You’re offering House Ambrose up as the world’s plaything.”
Lineage Verification, whatever the result, invited mockery.
The shame of some unknown bloodline having slipped into the House.
The very process of exposing it through the power of honored priests and mages was theater.
If the truth was revealed, the comedy reached its apex; if it was fabricated, then how laughable must the House be to harbor such a fraud?
“You’d proceed despite knowing that?”
“We can’t just leave a forgery sitting in the house indefinitely.”
Clara’s eyes narrowed at my words.
“……How can you be so certain he’s a forgery?”
“That’s just…….”
“Don’t say intuition.”
I had no words for that.
I simply shrugged.
Then Clara sighed.
“You’ve been running lucky lately, and it’s gone to your head. Think seriously. You stand to lose far more than you’ll gain.”
“I’ve already lost the honor of my family and my parents. What could matter more than reclaiming that?”
I met Clara’s gaze directly.
I had to prove that Mother’s love and its fruits were not in vain.
I had no choice but to do this.
Clara’s expression grew complicated as she asked,
“……What does the Duke say?”
“He’s said nothing.”
Silent consent, in other words.
Because he already knew what I intended.
Clara seemed to understand as well, biting her lower lip for a long moment.
Then she sighed and spoke.
“Fine, whatever. If he does turn out to be a forgery, at least I’ll have dodged a bullet.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
“So how are you planning to hold this verification?”
“First, I need to gather evidence to convince people.”
Evidence suspicious enough for the retainers, the imperial palace, and other nobles to doubt him.
Clara nodded.
“And then?”
“Sister.”
“Don’t make me anxious.”
“Clara.”
“……I’m going now.”
Clara stood up abruptly and tried to leave.
But I was faster.
“Would you like to go out with me to see the Empress sometime?”
It was an offer Clara couldn’t refuse.
For reasons I didn’t fully understand, the Empress had shown me favoritism from our first meeting.
She’d even arranged private audiences—though the palace gates were closed now due to her son’s illness.
Clara, the dozens-th princess of House Wagner who’d never had an audience alone with the Empress of Atera, suddenly gleamed with interest.
Yes, I’d bring you along too.
“So I’m leaving public sentiment to you?”
It was her specialty, after all.
* * *
The Lineage Verification finally took place.
Though much groundwork had gone into it, the crucial evidence we’d managed to uncover proved decisive.
Clara arrived promptly and approached, concealing her mouth behind her fan. “So what’s the evidence?”
I smiled thinly.
“He procured hair dye from a friendly physician and kept it hidden. He’s been obsessively locking himself in the bathroom alone with her multiple times a day. Once, I managed to steal a few red hairs he’d dropped before burning them away.”
“Really…… So he’s truly a fake?”
Clara’s brow furrowed.
Her glance toward Terion nearby was tinged with regret.
“So besides the hair dye—did he alter his face too?”
“Naturally.”
“Why are you so certain again? Is that intuition too?”
“Is a face like that common?”
“Ah.”
Clara nodded quietly.
I looked toward Olivia, standing demurely beside Terion with her hands folded.
‘Did it really have to go that far……?’
From the day I’d proposed the verification, she’d been trembling with anxiety.
She’d even rescheduled several appointments.
As her unease grew, so too did the suspicious glances around her.
Naturally, the crowd of onlookers swelled.
A Lineage Verification is a public proceeding.
Thus the Plaza soon teemed with curious faces.
Presently, the priest and mage conducting the verification emerged.
The crowd stirred with a different sort of energy.
‘……Why these two, of all people?’
I watched them in disbelief.
Sky and Forest—identically handsome twin brothers—were walking side by side.
The twin brothers stood as far from each other as possible, as though touch itself were repulsive.
And before them, a sacred relic: the Balance of Truth.
The priest’s oath: never a false word.
The mage’s power: never an error.
Together they could divine truth free of all deception and mistake.
Borrowing a sacred relic from the Grand Cathedral and marshaling two beings who despised each other was an undertaking in itself.
Which meant the matter had to be grave indeed.
Fortunately, Lineage Verification of House Ambrose was precisely that weighty.
“We shall begin.”
The two men stood skew-angled before the Balance of Truth, eyeing each other with mutual disdain as they channeled their power.
A mystical white light and black light flashed simultaneously, then faded.
I watched Sky throughout.
I started to wonder if perhaps it wasn’t him here but someone else, then caught myself and shook my head. Dwelling on impossibilities was wasteful.
Now came the next participant: Ambrose Duke himself.
He pricked his finger and let a drop of blood fall into one side of the scale.
Then came my turn.
My heart quickened just slightly.
I’d never doubted, but having it officially confirmed was different.
I pricked my finger as the Duke had done with his dagger.
With a sharp sting, a scarlet drop fell into the opposite pan.
The scale wavered briefly, tipping this way and that, before settling into perfect equilibrium.
The priest and mage spoke in unison,
“It is a match.”
Yes, of course it was. Of course.
My mouth curved upward despite myself.
Even the grandfather I glimpsed behind me wore a similar expression.
And finally, Terion stepped forward.
His face was emotionless, even lethargic.
With a slow, listless gesture, he cut his finger and let the blood fall.
‘Ugh, he cut quite deep.’
Did he feel no pain at all? Even as the flesh gaped, he didn’t so much as blink before releasing the blood.
I’d need to see to his wound before he left the manor.
“It is a match.”

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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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