Surviving as a Terminally Ill Heiress - Chapter 71

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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 71

* * *

Ah, tormenting Scott was such a delight.
Ravigne was sprawled in the small greenhouse of the Garden like a satisfied Shasha when Terion stepped past the crystal door.
His eyes drifted across the threshold.
‘A stroll? But why alone?’
She rarely ventured through the Mansion without Olivia at her side.
Ravigne studied him quietly for a moment, then spoke.
“Would you care for some tea?”
Terion’s pupils moved slowly across her face.
She’d expected him to refuse, but instead he nodded.
Once Ravigne had seated him across from her, she turned to the maids.
“Bring the Lavender Tea.”
“Yes, Miss.”
Soon the air grew thick with a fragrance sharp enough to prick the nose.
Ravigne watched the Lavender Tea fill the cups, then asked in passing:
“You enjoy lavender, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Or rather, you need it, I should say.”
At her murmur, Terion flinched almost imperceptibly.
Then he regarded her with eyes she couldn’t quite read.
But when Ravigne drank her tea with perfect composure, he too reached for his cup without a word.
He’d always been such a quiet child—reserved, utterly still.
‘How can he be like that?’
The cloying lavender scent kept circling back to Ravigne’s nose, unpleasant.
Was it the tea that didn’t suit her taste, or was it him?
She glanced at him sidelong, then spoke on impulse.
“Are you glad you came to Ambrose?”
Terion sat motionless, as if unsure why she was asking such a thing, then answered slowly.
“I don’t know.”
“I see.”
It was the answer she’d expected.
Ravigne gave a soft laugh and continued.
“I’m glad I came here, at least.”
“…….”
“It feels like I’m reclaiming something I lost long ago, like the new life I’ve always wanted is beginning—that’s why I’m happy about it all.”
She set down her cup and looked at Terion.
His still-youthful face seemed opaque, as if covered by some veil.
“I wish you felt the same way.”
“…….”
“I wish that coming here gave you something to be glad about—even just one small thing.”
Terion’s face remained perfectly unmoved.
Only his crimson eyes rippled faintly, like heat-shimmer rising from stone.
It seemed the heavy lavender fragrance seeped all the way down to his retinas.

* * *

“I’m sorry, Scott. I accidentally spilled coffee on your coat. Please understand—I’m half-blooded and common, after all, so what can you do?”
“Come to think of it, there really are people in this world who reek of cigarette smoke like a physician’s den. Oh, don’t misunderstand, Scott—I’m talking about you.”
“Why didn’t you ever marry, Scott? Oh dear, forgive me—you don’t have to answer. I understand perfectly; I was just being insensitive. I’m sorry.”
“By the way, Scott, would you mind not being in my line of sight for an hour before meals? My stomach’s rather delicate.”
“Scott, you seem like such a self-directed person, actually. Your comings and goings are so arbitrary.”
“Scott, your breathing is so loud—would you mind not breathing for a bit?”
“Does he really get the whole medical wing to himself?”
“Scott!”
For days I amused myself tormenting him like this.
The moment rumors of discord between us began to circulate across the nation,
“Scott’s gone missing?”
“Yes…….”
“My, he must have run away. Did I bully him a bit too much? Tsk. Young people nowadays have no backbone. In my day, that simply wouldn’t have happened.”
I simply sat with my legs crossed in Scott’s vacant chair, answering with perfect nonchalance.
The physicians eyed me sideways.
Their expressions said: Surely not?
I glanced around at them all.
“What? Afraid I might have murdered him?”
“N-no! That couldn’t possibly—!”
“Mm-hmm.”
I smiled at them with an enigmatic air.
And the next morning, before dawn had broken,
the Security Forces arrived.
“Ravigne Ambrose, you will submit to questioning!”
“There’s no such person here.”
Dragged from my bed wearing only a shawl, I yawned broadly at the Mansion door.
How eager they were. Had I annoyed them that much?
I was covering my yawn with my hand, eyes gleaming with mockery,
when the Security Captain at the center strode forward.
“Stop playing games—come along quietly!”
“Stop.”
Finn, standing beside me, spoke.
The Security Captain reflexively halted.
His armor and sword hilt clashed together with a metallic ring.
Just one more step and he’d have crossed into the Mansion.
“Armed guests are not permitted inside this residence.”
Finn blocked the Security Captain’s path firmly.
“We-we have investigative authority!”
“Not in Ambrose.”
I nodded, arms crossed.
Right—in Ambrose, Ambrose law applies.
Within Atera, the Ambrose Mansion held Extraterritorial Rights like those of a cathedral or parliament.
Without an imperial decree from the Emperor himself, neither the Security Forces nor anyone else could dare set a single muddy footprint within these walls.
The Security Captain’s face flushed crimson, then purple with rage.
I watched the spectacle for a moment, then stepped forward.
“By the way, what’s the charge?”
“……A Murder Charge regarding Scott.”
I burst out laughing at that heavy accusation delivered so matter-of-factly.
Honestly, I’d anticipated this much, but I thought it might proceed more smoothly.
‘Assault and solicitation would have been enough to finish me off at this stage.’
Had I been too conventional in my thinking?
Or had they decided to really stake everything on this?
Either way, it felt like I was finally dropping all pretense.
“So where’s the body?”
“……What?”
“If it’s a Murder Charge, you must have found a corpse. Did you locate Scott? I’ve been so worried since he disappeared—oh, poor Scott. To go so miserably. Who on earth could have done such a thing to him—!”
I murmured with a tearful expression.
The other Security Forces behind him flinched. They clearly felt like they were bullying an innocent, defenseless victim.
But the Security Captain leading them snorted coldly and spoke in a voice only I could hear.
“As expected of you—playing such cheap tricks.”
“My, who told you that? Was it someone who fell for cheap tricks?”
I shot back in an equally low voice, and his expression hardened just slightly.
Well, that’s enough scratching for now.
“Should I go to the Security Barracks?”
“Miss.”
“It’s fine, Finn. I’ll be back. Surely they wouldn’t fabricate a crime I didn’t commit and pin it on me?”
At that, the hotheaded Security Captain roughly wound Binding Rope around my wrists.
Ouch—that hurt. I’d have marks on my wrists for days.
Satisfied, I shrugged off the concerned Finn and the maids begging me to at least change into proper clothes, and simply followed the Security Forces away.
‘Change clothes? Why would I do that? This is perfect as is.’
As I walked, smiling, I paused briefly and glanced back.
Our eyes met—I saw someone standing at a window, curtain drawn aside.
I shrugged my shoulders and turned back, continuing on.
And so that morning, the image of me—in my loose nightclothes, indoor slippers, and hastily thrown shawl, bound with rope and dragged away—was splashed across every headline.
[An Angel’s Face, a Murderer’s Heart—The Ambrose Princess] and similar sensational titles.

* * *

I was shoved into a solitary cell at the Security Barracks.
Well, a “cell” is generous.
‘More like a decent hotel room.’
It seemed meant to house noblewomen like me, whose guilt hadn’t yet been confirmed.
I was sprawling on the reasonably soft bed when a visitor arrived in haste.
Of course—the person who should come to find me first among all others.
“Adam. I’m sorry for the trouble.”
“It’s you who should be apologizing, Miss.”
Adam, the Ambrose family lawyer, always wearing that exhausted expression, sighed.
I laughed awkwardly. I felt bad for dumping a problem on his already busy shoulders first thing in the morning.
Sitting across from Adam in the Visitation Room, I listened to what he had to tell me.
First: Scott’s whereabouts remain unknown.
He’d left the Social Club late one night where he frequented and vanished.
Initially it seemed like simple robbery, but as the investigation narrowed, there were signs he’d been the target of a Murder Commission.
And I was the prime suspect.
The capital was already buzzing with news of me by morning.
“……And the Security Forces say they’ve found evidence.”

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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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