I Thought I Didn't Have Long To Live!

Chapter 1 (3 Month Limited Time Princess)

“I beg your pardon?” Lariette spoke quietly. The doctor’s comments made her pale fingers tremble.

The elderly doctor apologized, lowering his brows. “I’m sorry, but it was a misdiagnosis.”

“What?”

“Indeed, Lady Blanche. You have no terminal illness. You are not going to die.”

For Lariette Blanche, this was the worst news she could have gotten.

She’d spent three months acting like she was dying. Her fiancé now hated her, and her parents were threatening to strike her from the family registry. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the Duke of Kandel, the empire’s chief prosecutor, was after her.

Wherever you go, Lariette, I will find you. So don’t even try to escape.

Remembering his advice and friendly gaze, her heart melted. When it happened, she’d thought his words were just empty comfort. But now, after running away from him, she realized it was definitely a threat. The doctor, who did not know that he had just pushed her into a personal hellfire, was beaming at her.

I’d rather die! Lariette yelled in her mind, fighting back a flood of tears.

****

Everything started three months ago in the same place where it ended: Dr. Zakakov’s medical institute on the outskirts of the capital.

Recently, Lariette suffered from more physical weakness and pain than usual. Although a trip to see a doctor would tire faster than her usual routine, she only took one servant and didn’t bother telling anyone else where she was headed.

An old doctor had come to examine her. When it was over, he quietly stroked his beard and sighed repeatedly.

Lariette held her breath, anxiously awaiting the results.

After a period of silence, the doctor raised his head and faced Lariette.

She could tell something was wrong by the intense melancholy in his emerald eyes.

“Have you had trouble sleeping recently?” The doctor asked.

“Yes, I have. I also constantly crave strong flavors, but I feel sick after eating.

“Has your heart been racing? Has it been so loud that you could hear it?”

Lariette nodded. “Yes, doctor. How did you know?”

The doctor looked thoughtful. “I don’t know how to tell you this. Ugh!” His face was painted with hurt, and he covered it with his hands.

The situation seemed even worse than she’d initially expected.

“You have a rare heart condition that only a small percentage of people ever experience—those born with too much mana. It normally manifests before adulthood, but unfortunately, Lady Blanche, you are not outside the age of onset.”

“Is it terminal?” she asked.

“The Lokadura disease has a 98% mortality rate.”

“Oh.”

“Lady Blanche, you’ll probably pass away within three months.”

His words were hesitant, but they seemed to be the truth.

****

Lariette returned to the mansion with a calm expression. She did not feel like someone who was just diagnosed with a terminal illness. Everything happened so quickly—she was unsure how to react.

How do people usually respond to things like this?

With her maid’s help, she started dressing for dinner. In a daze, she thought, Should I cry? Or should I have shaken the doctor’s fat shoulders and screamed at him to save me somehow? But Lariette didn’t have the energy to cry or shake someone as heavy as the doctor. And, in the first place, she was not that greedy for life.

“You’re so quiet today, my lady. Was visiting the city exhausting?” asked Anne, Lariette’s personal maid, with a smile.

For a while, Lariette thought quietly. Then she said, “Hey, Anne. What if…”

“The What-If game starts again.”

“I’m serious this time.”

Anne gave her head a jerky nod, already bored. Lady Blanche was always asking strange hypothetical questions.

“What if you found out you were going to die soon?”

“What am I dying of? I’m still pretty young, my lady.”

“Like, just for instance, if you were diagnosed with a rare, terminal disease.”

“I don’t know.” Anne steadily combed Lariette’s hair. Her pink hair was stunning, but its length made it a challenge to style. This task, of course, fell to the maids.

“It would be sad, wouldn’t it? I’d feel sorry for the people I’d leave behind and for all the things I hadn’t done.”

“Things I hadn’t done…” echoed Lariette.

“Yes. I would make a bucket list.”

 “A bucket list?”

“A list of everything I wanted to do before I died. Things like purchasing an expensive cake and eating the whole thing myself.” Anne started daydreaming about sugary sweets from a classic dessert shop.

A bucket list was an unfamiliar concept, so Lariette continued to say the words in her head as her thoughts drifted.

“What would I do, though? I can’t even brush my own hair.”

Anne laughed playfully at her answer.

Lariette grumbled, “I’m just not confident performing tasks like that on my own.” Technically, she could comb her hair by herself, but, after all, the maids were well-trained.

At last, a well-dressed Lady Blanche appeared before her in the mirror. Her cheeks were blushed apricot, her skin was as smooth as dough, and her pink hair hung to her waist in natural curls. Her purple eyes gleamed like lovely glass orbs under long eyelashes. Her exquisite rose-red lips were painted full.

“Lady Blanche, doesn’t your makeup look gorgeous today?

“Isn’t it just my face that’s good-looking?”

“It’s fine, I guess.”

Lariette exited the room giggling. She thought about Anne’s response to her “What if” as she made her way to the dining room. In contrast to what Anne supposed, Lariette was not depressed by her diagnosis.

But Lariette had never accomplished anything in her life, and she regretted that. She had never lived for her own pleasure.

A bucket list…What should I do?

As Lariette walked the mansion’s spacious and luxurious hallways, she tried to think up some desires but couldn’t come up with anything. Only dreamers experienced greed and desire. People like her, who had no expectations, simply lived their lives.

Servants waited on either side of the dining room’s entrance.

The duchy had a rich and grand past.

Even though its customs are outdated, Lariette thought cynically, smiling sourly. Here, she was a totally different person from who she was with Anne.

“You’re late. Sit down,” her mother ordered.

Her father sniffed. “You just arrived after your parents? You must be out of your mind.”

“Yes, mother and father. I apologize.” Lariette politely responded as she sat. Actually, she was still early, but she knew better than to talk back to her parents.

“Is everything going well with the Marquis of Segreb these days?” The duke’s question broke the tense silence.

Lariette forced a smile and pretended to be an obedient daughter. “Yes, Father.”

“That’s fine, then. Rumor has it he’s planning to purchase a rather large mine soon.”

“Yes, it would seem so.”

“Very good. Remember: This marriage is the only way for you to establish your worth.” Of course, her father’s main concern was her worth. Lariette elegantly sipped her tea and swallowed a sharp answer. Lord Segreb had already been married twice. He was fourteen years older than Lariette but still picky—he didn’t like ugly women. Not, of course, that His Grace the Duke of Blanche cared about such things. He only cared that Lord Segreb had many assets—and would pay a hefty sum to the Duke of Blanche for Lariette. The Duke and Duchess were well-known public figures, but Lariette’s father, the Duke of Blanche, had backed a failing business, so money had become an issue.

Consequently, Lariette was forced into a terrible engagement with the Marquis of Segreb. As a daughter, it was her role and duty to uphold the family’s name.

The family’s name. The word echoed through her mind.

A loud noise suddenly snapped her out of her thoughts.

Someone roughly slammed the door as they entered the dining room. Such a rude gesture went against the norms of high society. The Duke and Duchess raised their heads and gave the newcomer brighter smiles than they’d ever shown Lariette.

Raon—Duke Blanche’s lone heir and Lariette’s brother—was home.

“Raon, my boy! You’ve arrived so quickly—you must be hungry!”

“Go warm the food for my son. This one is too cold.”

“Ah, don’t bother,” Raon responded hastily, scratching his red hair. Although he wore casual clothes, he carried an aura of pride and shamelessness.

Lariette sat intentionally, with superb posture.

“The company is doing well. I’ll probably sell it shortly. Anyway, since when do we do family dinners?”

“If you have that much free time, why don’t you take an heir class?”

Lariette’s eyes were gently curved, and her lips turned upwards with teasing. Raon was educated by the exclusive wizard of the Blanche family. Lariette had also been educated in her youth. At least, she had been until Raon and their mother interrupted her studies, claiming that girls did not need to learn magic.

The Ducal House of Blanche was blessed and loved by a wonderful spirit. Many of the greatest wizards of all time were from the Blanche family. Duke Blanche had high expectations for Raon, but unfortunately, he did not receive the gift of magic.

Raon’s face reddened with anger at Lariette’s reminder of his lack of magical skill. He reacted quickly, without thinking, and Lariette’s body froze like ice.

Something dripped down her face: sauce from the appetizer she’d been eating.

It oozed over her head, coating her pink hair and beige dress. The head of the unidentified fish, which had garnished the dish, flopped off her head onto her knee. Its empty eyes were looking up at her mockingly.

“Raon! Please be respectful.”

“I don’t want to eat with her, Mom. How am I supposed to sit here with her acting like this?”

Lariette slowly lifted her napkin and wiped her head. The thin fingers holding the napkin trembled.

She wouldn’t find any comfort from anyone here.

“Why were you so mean to your brother? Go up to your room, Lariette.”

Lariette called out to her mother in an earnest voice. “Mother—”

The gaze Duchess Blanche returned to her was cold, and so was her father’s when she turned her head to look at him. The Blanche Duke and Duchess only cared for their son.

Lariette had worked so hard to develop good manners and tried so hard to be obedient to win their parents’ approval. But it was always Raon who soaked up recognition, respect, and attention despite making no effort.

There was no happiness in store for Lariette.

I’m going to die in three months. Her lips trembled, and she just let out a little breath. But you don’t care at all.

Lariette stood and wiped off the fish and sauce.

The Duchess only reacted when the sauce hit the carpet.

Lariette ignored her mother’s remarks as she left the dining room. Blood-red sauce ran down the beige dress.

She was determined. She was finally going to take action.

“I won’t die like this,” Lariette promised herself in a low voice. Death was approaching, which meant she had nothing left to dread.