The World Mistakes Me for Terminally Ill - Chapter 18

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The World Thinks I’m Terminally Ill Episode 018

The Gray Wolf Knights, Lunein’s first and only knight order.

They often followed the Duke to patrol the border fortresses and the entire Northern Region.

“Hey there! Move it carefully! Do you know how much this one piece of material costs!”

“Heave-ho! One more time!”

“Delicious soup here! So good that two people could eat it and die without knowing!”

“Uncles, have a cool cup of spring water to wash away your sweat.”

“Oh, thank-“

“That’s 1 copper.”

“Geez. This kid’s got some nerve.”

Having returned to the Duchy after a long time, they crossed the bustling capital city with curious faces.

“There are a lot of people.”

“Right. It looks like there’s even a small market formed. What are they building over there?”

“I’ll go find out.”

The youngest knight quickly went to ask people and returned.

“They say they’re building a train station?”

“A train station?”

“Does the Duchy have money for that…”

One tactless knight said that, then shut his mouth after receiving harsh glares from the other knights.

That knight glanced at the Duke who was silently leading his horse at the front, then made a zipping motion over his mouth.

Considering the reputation and scale of the Lunein Ducal Family, it would be appropriate to have at least three regular knight orders.

Even that wouldn’t be enough to properly solve security issues – that was the absolute minimum calculation.

The problem was that this estate lacked the resources to make even that possible.

So everyone couldn’t help but be amazed by the current vitality circulating in the city.

“Madam, they say new fabric has arrived!”

“Careful, very carefully! This is fabric for making clothes for the Duchess and Bella. You must treasure it more than yourselves!”

“Of course! I’ll treasure it more than my own life.”

From one side, women’s voices could be heard.

“Did you hear? Bella has called in another merchant guild.”

“What is it this time? Daily necessities? Or leather?”

“No, wheat! And the price is half of what it was last year!”

“What?! I need to go right now!”

The laughter of those rejoicing at the new news could also be heard.

“The Grand Duke’s Castle is recruiting workers again.”

“The competition will be fierce this time too, right?”

“Still, let’s apply. Last time I helped with sewing and got paid, thanks to that my child ate white bread to their heart’s content for the first time in ages.”

Even sounds of joy over their more comfortable living conditions.

“…”

“…”

The knights who had unconsciously been looking around like country bumpkins fell silent.

Something had changed.

The city that had been quiet like the unchanging serene snowy plains for hundreds of years was now overflowing with vitality.

Not knowing that all of this was the result of Elisia’s money, they could only be amazed at the city’s transformation.

At the fact that Lunein, which seemed like it would never change, had changed even if just a little.

“Your Grace.”

Then, Luke Elliot, the commander of the Gray Wolf Knights, approached Jerkhal and spoke.

“Bella is currently staying at the main castle.”

“…”

“It seems she’s been building the train station and calling in merchant guilds since then.”

The Duke’s gaze turned toward the merchant guild’s flag as they bargained with the estate’s people.

Seton.

A name he knew well.

After all, it was the most famous merchant guild in the current empire, and his only daughter-in-law’s surname.

“What shall we do?”

Luke asked whether they should return directly to the castle.

The place where the Duke and knights had been was the remote northern frontier called the border region.

It was a place where battles with monsters continued for 24 hours, and powerful snowstorms blew periodically.

Due to the near impossibility of contact with the surroundings, communication with the Grand Duke’s Castle had been cut off, and they only learned of Elisia’s affairs after returning to the capital city.

The return of the daughter-in-law who had declared separation even before marriage.

Not knowing what purpose she had come for, it might be better to reorganize briefly before returning.

“Let’s go directly.”

However, the Duke chose direct confrontation instead of reorganization.

Luke, who always prioritized his lord’s opinion, bowed respectfully and withdrew.

Jerkhal gazed at the Grand Duke’s Castle, which somehow felt unfamiliar, with deeply sunken eyes.

‘Daughter-in-law.’

[But exactly how are you going to butter up the Duke?]

Kaiseus asked while clinging tightly to an apple.

Looking just like a black cat hugging red yarn, when I flicked his forehead with my index finger, the baby dragon tumbled backward and squeaked in protest.

I smiled softly and answered.

“Simple. For winning favor, gifts are the way to go.”

[Like what you did with the other humans? I don’t think that’ll work on the Duke. That human is incredibly stubborn.]

“Drop the inflexible thinking that gifts are limited to material things.”

[Then what else could it be?]

I was silent for a moment before speaking.

“Honor. And glory.”

[Huh?]

“It’s a family that was honorable for a thousand years. That crumbled helplessly over the past hundred years. The surroundings collapsing day by day and the fear that the family line might end in his generation… For someone like that, wouldn’t past honor and glory be more precious than anything?”

Kaiseus, who had barely managed to sit back up by flapping his small wings, spoke in a sullen voice.

[But you human said you can’t give honor to others.]

“Right. Anyway, reclaiming that is something they have to do themselves. However, I can give them opportunity and hope.”

Just as Lunein had done for me.

I didn’t voice that last thought aloud, but Kaiseus, who could read my inner thoughts, would have heard it.

I smiled mischievously and slowly pulled the red fruit from Kaiseus’s embrace.

Kaiseus struggled desperately to keep his apple from being taken, whimpering.

Watching that scene, I added.

“But Kai, you. Why are you afraid of Shubel?”

[Huh?]

Thud, roll.

Kaiseus dropped his apple.

“You run away every time you see Shubel.”

[Wh-when did this one ever do that!]

“You always do that?”

[…]

This time he couldn’t bring himself to argue back and Kaiseus hemmed and hawed.

I narrowed my eyes.

“Did something happen by any chance?”

The covenant rings made from Kaiseus’s horn are a pair.

Just as I can communicate with Kaiseus, couldn’t Shubel do the same?

[That’s not it.]

“Then?”

[…I can’t tell you.]

Kaiseus crawled around and sat with his back turned.

I clicked my tongue at the sight of his cute little head.

“Well, if you don’t want to talk about it, don’t.”

[Really?]

“I don’t have a hobby of prying into other people’s private lives. But.”

Kaiseus sneakily turned around to look back.

I curved the corners of my mouth deeply.

“If you’re hiding something related to me, I won’t let it slide.”

[Hiccup!]

“Where did I put my collection crystal hammer again.”

When I pretended to look for the hammer, Kaiseus trembled all over.

[Evil human….]

Like the evil human I was, I appropriately scared the baby dragon, then handled the final tasks needed to welcome the Duchess’s return.

‘But surely, I won’t cough up blood in front of Father too, right?’

That thought suddenly occurred to me.

I had forgotten about the ‘possession side effects’ since I’d been fine after coughing up blood that one time.

Already, because Bella, Shubel, and the servants saw me in that state, they’re going crazy trying to overprotect me even though I’m fine now.

I didn’t want to show myself coughing up blood to Jerkhal or the ash-colored wolf knights I hadn’t met yet either.

[Why? They’re just worried about you.]

“I hate showing such a weak side to others.”

I answered Kaiseus’s question firmly.

I had been accustomed to doing everything alone since childhood.

My parents were kind and affectionate, but separately from that, both of them were extremely busy.

After my parents passed away, I had been proving my abilities in everything to be recognized not just as a simple heiress but as a manager of the Merchant Guild.

Therefore, I wasn’t used to someone seeing me not as a capable businesswoman, but as a fragile and delicate being who needed endless worry and protection.

“Even if I do cough up blood, he’s supposed to be extremely stoic. He won’t overprotect me.”

I felt somehow ominous but pretended not to notice that intuition of mine.

Forgetting that a merchant’s intuition is sometimes as sharp as a priest serving the goddess of fate.

Finally, the Duchess and the knight order arrived at the Grand Duke’s Castle.

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