Surviving as a Terminally Ill Heiress - Chapter 7

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

Episode 7

He slipped out of the room without giving me a chance to gauge his mood.
Had I misheard? Or was he dissatisfied with something?
‘But what did I even do?’
I’d only just arrived at this house yesterday and met him for the first time today.
It frustrated me more than anything, because unlike the uninvited guests where at least the relationships were vaguely clear, I couldn’t quite place where I stood with him.
I’d served under Ambrose before, and I knew he wasn’t obliged to be kind to me, but the young maids with the Yellow Badge had merely found me troublesome—they hadn’t been hostile. Not like this.
“So Miss Bebe, what do you think?”
“I… yes?”
The maids stared at me with unnaturally gleaming eyes while I reflexively nodded.
What… what is it?
I didn’t catch what you were jabbering about earlier—I was thinking about something.
Oblivious to my confusion, the maids squealed with excitement.
“Then let’s go welcome the master together!”
“Why would I?”
There—I’d hardened my expression.
But go welcome that blasted old man? Do they seriously expect me to do something so absurd?
My refusal dampened the maids’ spirits at once.
“We apologize if our words were presumptuous, Miss.”
“But the master hasn’t received a family welcome home in the past ten years…”
“Ever since our lady passed and even the young master went missing, we’ve worried that his return must be terribly lonely.”
“If such a lovely granddaughter could say even a single word—’Welcome home’—imagine how much joy that would bring him!”
“And since you lost your mother just yesterday, we thought perhaps the two of you might find comfort in each other, so we took the liberty…”
“Let us welcome him together.”
I surrendered.
Was this the price for all those emotional attacks I’d inflicted on them?
I was dragged along by the cheerful maids, both eyes squeezed shut.
They tried to bring Hui and Dido along, saying we were all family now, but the two of them had hidden away because they hated the scary grandfather.
‘Big sister hates it too. Save me…’
Whimpering internally, I descended to the Lobby, which was already packed with servants standing in neat rows.
The maids positioned me on the Staircase Landing before joining the others below.
This was far too much of a starring role. And in this filthy state no less.
Uncomfortable as I was, now that every servant’s expectation bore down on me beyond just the maids, I could only stand there in silence.
While I stared blankly ahead with all the emotion of a dead fish, a Carriage pulled to a stop beyond the open doors.
And Ambrose the Duke emerged.
“Welcome home, sir!”
He moved steadily closer, cutting through the servants who bowed in unison.
Quite the grand entrance. Infuriating, really.
With a sour expression plastered across my face, I was nudged by the gleaming eyes of the servants around me and forced my heavy lips to move.
“Welcome home.”
“…Yes.”
An awkward greeting. An awkward reply.
The disastrous ending of last night flickered through my mind.
From the look on his face, Ambrose seemed to be thinking the same.
Tsk. Disagreeable as it was, I still had to find some way to get along with him…
“I see you’ve been digging in the dirt and playing around in this humble little place.”
“I can’t hide my ignoble origins from the gutter, I’m afraid.”
Crackle!
In the electric flash of our gazes, we both lifted one corner of our mouths.
That blasted old man, just as expected.
When we exchanged smiles and words, the servants watched with looks of rapture on their faces.
Whatever they’re imagining, that’s not what’s happening. None of it.
Just then, the butler who’d been following Ambrose slipped forward.
“Perhaps the two of you could share an intimate dinner…”
“Not interested.”
“We’ve already eaten.”
We both cut him off at once, but the butler merely chuckled good-naturedly.
“Ha, don’t be like that. We’ve already prepared something, so do consider our goodwill.”
Then why ask in the first place?
Whether shrewd or shameless, the butler ushered Ambrose toward the Dining Room on the first floor as though steering him along, while the maids swiftly escorted me down from the Staircase Landing.
So you were all in on this together, were you?
I shot them a cold glare, but the maids pretended ignorance and practically dragged me along.
Thump!
And so I found myself sitting across from that blasted old man at the dinner table.
The chef appeared with a bright smile and began serving the dishes personally.
The servants attending from behind never once lost their smiles.
Everyone but Ambrose and me seemed perfectly happy.
The butler and head maid in particular looked ready to weep with joy, making it impossible for me to relax and eat.
As I scowled at the spread before me without touching it, Ambrose sighed and spoke.
“Just eat.”
“…Yes.”
I answered reluctantly and reached for my utensil.
Before taking the first bite, I whispered to the maid hovering behind me.
“What about my siblings?”
“Don’t worry. We’ve sent up their meal already.”
I nodded and finally took a spoonful of soup.
Ah, it was delicious. The kind of flavor that could melt away all my resistance.
My earlier fears about appetite proved groundless as I steadily worked my way through the food before me.
This morning, Hui and Dido’s eyes had practically popped out of their heads when they tasted what was served here.
Thinking of the two of them now, probably eating like baby sparrows, I couldn’t help but smile.
“You seem fond of your siblings.”
Ambrose asked casually, though I couldn’t say when he’d started watching me.
I swallowed the bread in my mouth and answered.
“What reason would I have not to be? They’re precious family.”
Sometimes the affection I feel for them is almost overwhelming.
While I smiled, Ambrose’s expression remained blank as he continued.
“You may find reasons soon enough.”
“…What do you mean?”
“For instance, if one of them becomes a shameless drunkard.”
I blinked in confusion.
The face of the one I’d met this morning flickered before my eyes.
“Or meddles without understanding their place. Or grows greedy.”
That face continued to shift, blending indiscriminately across all ages and genders.
“Or dares to harbor wicked thoughts.”
A jumbled mess.
The confusion passed quickly when our eyes met.
That look again from last night.
He really was a merchant through and through.
How could someone calculate so coldly?
And to his own granddaughter, no less.
Something sank in my chest, and I grumbled like a spoiled child.
“As you say, how would I know?”
…
“Whether such reasons will ever come to be. How could I possibly say?”
In the moment I sensed his genuine disappointment, I plunged my fork into a piece of meat.
And I struck back.
“The world’s greatest merchant never saw his own family falling apart, did he?”
“…Ha!”
Ambrose let out a sound—whether of fury or something else, I couldn’t say.
I snorted derisively and continued eating without acknowledging him further.
I acted unbothered, as if daring him to cast me out, but truthfully, I felt no real anxiety about it.
Because now I understood.
‘He wants to test me.’
Am I clever or foolish? Bold or timid?
What is my worth as his blood?
I watched Ambrose, his face hidden behind his hand.
Really, did the test have to take this form?
Like a wild beast hurling you off a cliff just to see what happens.
His one and only grandchild through his lost son—and rather than tearful reunion, he jumps straight to the test, all business and cold calculation.
Hateful, infuriating, and cunning all at once…
‘But I don’t dislike it, truthfully.’
In fact, I was growing increasingly fascinated.
Because his evaluation of me would determine my value.
My money.
My inheritance.
My glorious future!
‘Then I’ll squeeze every last bit from it…!’
I tilted my mouth into a cunning smile.
Ambrose lowered his hand, his own smile matching mine—subtle and malicious.
As if daring me to try.
In the distance, a provocative trumpet call echoed. Red Flags waved in both camps, flickering uncertainly.
The peaceful meal had ended.
We were now at war.
As if to declare it, Ambrose drained his Wine while I downed my Grape Juice like blood.
Clink!
We set down our glasses and rose from the peace table, walking side by side out of the Dining Room.
In the tense silence, we reached the Staircase Landing in the Lobby, and finally spoke.
“I’ll be sending invitations for a banquet in a week.”
“And?”
“I’d like you to be there too. I’ll let you know to keep your schedule open.”
“That’s poor etiquette for inviting a busy man.”
“You’re right, I’ll spare the thanks.”
And we turned our backs on each other.
As the old man and I climbed our respective sides of the Red Staircase with heavy footsteps, the servants whispered to each other in delighted tones.
“They really do despise each other…”
I pretended not to hear.

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