“I’m sorry.”
The only words the countess could say were these.
“I’m truly sorry.”
Even if Seraphie had changed into someone else, she was partly to blame. Without changing, Seraphie wouldn’t have been able to endure this hell.
“…”
Seraphie was taken aback. The countess’s apology was unexpected.
No, what did you do wrong? She was entirely a victim, so what more could she have sacrificed for her daughter?
Seraphie fully understood the countess’s position. But despite that, the genuine apology from the countess stirred something deep in her heart.
Why is this happening…
It was just a mother who had suffered a lot, apologizing to her daughter who had been through so much. Yet this apology was the first one Seraphie had received since waking up in this world.
“Ah…”
Seraphie, who was about to say that she was fine and that her mother shouldn’t bow her head, felt her eyes start to quiver. The countess’s thin hands, still carefully holding hers, were full of scars and marks. Seeing this, Seraphie’s eyes began to sting, and tears threatened to fall.
“Sera.” The countess’s voice was gentle in her ear. “Are you okay, Sera?”
How could she not be? Seraphie instinctively wanted to reply. She had won the trial, was on her way to making a lot of money, and had the means to find a way back to the world she originally came from.
“Of course I…”
Seraphie tried to say she was okay. But she couldn’t.
“…Huh?”
Seraphie was startled by the warm moisture gathering under her chin. She wiped under her chin with her free hand, only to find her hand drenched with tears. Startled, she hurriedly wiped her face.
“W-Wait!”
Seraphie was bewildered. Why was she crying on such a good day? But no matter how much she wiped away the tears, her face only grew wetter.
“Hic, i-it’s not like I want to cry, hic…”
Before long, Seraphie’s voice was choked with tears.
“I… I…!”
Seraphie’s chin trembled. The words ‘I’m okay’ just wouldn’t come out. And she had to admit that things were far from okay. This belated realization only made Seraphie’s sobbing worse.
“Hic, hic…”
In the end, Seraphie collapsed. She sank to her knees on the floor, resting her forehead against the countess’s hand. Despite her hand getting soaked with tears, the countess did not pull it away. Instead, she held on even tighter.
“It’s not okay.” Seraphie forced the words out as if expelling them. “I’m not okay.”
How could she be okay? In this strange world, in a land she once believed to be fictional, made of nothing but words.
“Not for a single moment!”
From the moment she woke up as ‘Seraphie Vallidus,’ she had never been okay. She had only been suppressing her fears and anxieties, desperately trying to push through.
The trial was merely a preparation, a step toward building a foundation. Now, Seraphie had to face terrifying tomorrows, relying only on the faint hope provided by the original story, with no certainty that she was on the right path or that she even knew where it would lead. She didn’t even know what awaited her at the end.
Would she ever truly return? What happened to her from her original world? Was she doing the right thing? Was even this moment the right choice? Her mind filled with endless questions, but Seraphie found no answers. Even the title she had gained today might not be of any help. Her plans might have been all wrong.
“Hic, hic…”
The endless stream of tears and sobs were the fears Seraphie had been ignoring and hiding from herself.
“Sera, my baby.” The countess embraced Seraphie. Having stepped down from her chair, she knelt before her daughter and wrapped her in a tight hug. “You will be fine.”
The countess gently stroked Seraphie’s hair. She couldn’t even remember the last time she did this, but back then, Seraphie’s hair had been longer than it was now.
“You’re different from me, Sera.”
“Hic, hic, hic.”
“Look at what you’ve accomplished with your own hands.”
With trembling hands, the countess lifted Seraphie’s head. Seraphie’s face, drenched in tears and snot, looked like a pitifully patched-up glass bottle.
“Now you can live your own life.”
Seraphie had achieved something no one had thought possible. The countess believed, no, she was certain that whatever Seraphie did in the future, she would succeed.
“You are strong and wise,” she said, wiping away Seraphie’s tears. “You can do anything.”
“What if I fail…?”
“Then you can cry again, just like today.” A single tear fell from the countess’s eye as she spoke. “And I’ll be here to comfort and support you like this.”
“…”
“This is all I can do for you now. Even though it’s too late…”
“Mother…” Seraphie sniffled as she asked, “What did you want to do?” She wiped her damp eyes with the back of her hand as she asked. It was a rather abrupt question, and Seraphie, realizing this, shyly avoided her mother’s gaze. “I just thought you must have had something you really wanted to do too…”
Countess Vallidus, who had been quietly watching her daughter, gave a soft smile. Her clouded eyes glimmered faintly as she recalled a dream long buried.
“I just…” The countess’s voice was still weak. “Liked studying.”
For a conservative and not-so-wealthy countryside noble family, it had been impossible. Moreover, the countess’s family was deeply patriarchal. Her father had married her off to a capital noble, almost selling her for a dowry instead of fulfilling her modest wish.
Seraphie, who had been silently listening, finally spoke up. “Then why not start now?” She said as she finished wiping her tears. “Start again, even if it’s just now.”
The countess’s eyes widened.
“There’s no reason you can’t.”
There was no longer a father to oppose her dreams or a husband to oppress her life. Instead, she had a daughter who would soon become one of the wealthiest nobles, with enough money to build as many study rooms and libraries as she wanted.
“It’s better to do what you can.” Seraphie sniffled lightly. Despite her tears, a strange calmness seemed to settle over her face. “To avoid regret.”
“…Sera, you too,” the countess said. “You too, do everything you can.”
She didn’t know what her daughter was striving and struggling for. But if Seraphie was willing to endure suffering for it, the answer was clear for the countess as well.
“If there’s no reason not to, and you want to avoid regrets.”
The mother and daughter exchanged these heartfelt words of encouragement.
…But I won’t be here. Because what she wanted was to return to where she originally came from. With that earnest wish in mind, Seraphie leaned a little more into the countess.
Thus ended the first day of Seraphie inheriting the title of countess.
* * *
The outcome of the forced succession trial sent shockwaves through the Ortus Empire. More precisely, the focus was on the newly revealed Countess Vallidus’s feats during the trial and the incredible treasures she possessed.
“Her Majesty couldn’t take her eyes off her.”
“She owns the Land Abandoned by God, after all.”
“The Vallidus family must be blessed by the gods.”
The nobles constantly talked about the land Seraphie owned.
“When the divine gifts are released, the Magic Tower and the Temple will be delighted.”
Mana Stone, Healing Stone. The divine treasures mined from the Land Abandoned by God hadn’t appeared on the market for some time. Even in the illegal auctions in the dark alleys, they hadn’t been seen for quite a while. So, the soon-to-be-released divine treasures would fetch a high price, bringing immense wealth to the Vallidus family.
“Plus, Vallidus has solid backing.”
“Did they say they were partnering with the Felicia family?”
“The duke is really lucky.”
The nobles envied the Felicia family for their joint venture with Vallidus.
Whenever they gathered, Seraphie was the main topic of conversation, especially among the children of the nobles. Seraphie was a hot topic for various reasons. There were both positive and negative remarks.
“It seemed like she was too close to someone who already has a fiancée.”
“And why did she tear her clothes? Surely that wasn’t necessary…”
“Did you see how Sir Orkis even took off his cloak to cover her?”
“Was she really that sick to begin with?”
Hmm. Seraphie’s expression showed a hint of amusement. The malicious conversation between the young noble ladies in the boutique, which Seraphie overheard by chance, was clearly in the latter category.
“It wasn’t that I was sick, just that my stamina was weak,” Seraphie muttered regretfully to herself while sipping tea. Recently, she has been taking frequent walks in the garden and strengthening her body with various healthy foods.
“How can they say such things!” Even though Seraphie, the subject of the gossip, seemed indifferent, Marine couldn’t hold back her anger and stomped her feet. “And they say such things with Master right here!”
“They don’t know, so they say it,” Seraphie responded while scribbling something in a notebook.
The two had come to the boutique to have new clothes made. They could have summoned someone to the mansion, but Seraphie wanted to explore, having hardly seen the outside world.
Going out wasn’t so bad. She had also confirmed her position to some extent.
There’s still a long way to go.
Even though Seraphie had become a countess and made her presence known, it seemed that she wasn’t fully recognized as a proper noble yet.
“Master has worked so hard…” Marine was still fuming.
“My dear Marine is really upset.”
Seraphie casually tossed aside the booklet the boutique staff had given her. It was supposed to feature the latest fashion designs, but none of them appealed to her.
“But what have you been writing since earlier?” Marine asked.
“Curious?”
Marine nodded eagerly.
“Want to see?”
Before Marine could even answer, Seraphie stood up from her seat.
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