Chapter 34
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: The Young Lady Who Wants to Make a Baby (4)
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[To my daughter Abera, more precious than anything in the world.
Forgive your mother's rudeness for jumping straight into the main topic without even asking how you are.
But Abera, please don't be too shocked when you hear this.
Your father's condition has taken a severe turn for the worse. I thought it was improving since he could manage daily life without much difficulty, but in truth, his physical state has only deteriorated further.
With his body in pain and unable even to move properly, how desperately he must miss his daughter. That's why I want you to return sooner than planned.
Is the second daughter's condition a bit better?
At some point, checking on your little sister's state has become one of your crucial daily duties. You already have so much on your plate, and it weighs on me that it feels like we're shoving our parental responsibilities onto you.
Who could we blame for that child ending up like this? It's all our fault. It's not your burden to bear. You don't need to take on that pressure.
I just want you to keep focusing on your own path and live that brilliant life of yours, shining as you always have.
If I write any more, I'll end up rambling on about other things, so please hurry back to the main house.
Your mother, who always loves you.]
As always whenever she received one, the handwriting was neat and the content warm.
Yet even after reading the letter brimming with heartfelt care, Abera could only pull a dissatisfied face, a touch of anxiety flickering in her eyes.
"...Too soon."
She crumpled the letter without a thought for hiding her irritation. No matter. After all, she was the only one in the room.
It wasn't solely the demand to return home that had soured her mood.
'Ganeghan.'
The Lady recalled her sister's personal physician.
It was a man's name she didn't dislike—in fact, it skewed far more toward favorable.
As much as she hated to admit it, Ganeghan was the source of her foul temper.
'I'm fine.'
'Thank you, but I'll pass.'
'I'll manage on my own without help. If I truly need it, I'll let you know.'
She could recite his replies by heart now.
At meals, during shared walks, even subtle hints at dates—he'd turned down every single overture with impeccable politeness.
That very courtesy made it sting all the more, wounding her pride. She couldn't even latch onto a single flaw to call him out.
Abera de Menesil, eldest Lady of the Menesil Family. She could've leveraged her name to force the issue, but sadly, her pride forbade it.
...So she'd planned to take it slow, like steeping tea, molding him into her man bit by bit.
"Come back now? Of all the timing...?"
Just picturing Ganeghan, Dia, and Asbidal left alone in the mansion made her head pound.
A prickling displeasure, like thorns jabbing her brain.
"Snap out of it. Who am I? Abera de Menesil."
She slammed back the coffee she usually nursed sip by sip and strode out of the room.
"Vast mansions like this... such a pain. Heh heh."
Not in crow form but walking on two human legs, hunting down rooms hither and yon—it was no small hassle.
Annoying enough to just bail. That thought had barely crossed his mind when Asbidal froze.
He felt eyes boring into him. The owner? Abera.
"Hello. Asbidal. Or should I call you Sua?"
"What's it matter? It's just us."
They exchanged ritual greetings, but neither face lit up. Abera's expression was far too grave.
Asbidal, reading it plain, asked,
"Something wrong?"
"Why are your hands shaking like that?"
She ignored his question, pointing instead to something else.
Her hands trembled violently. The cause? Obviously Ganeghan's injection.
"Heh. Junkies gonna junkie, what can ya do."
"Isn't it a bit obvious?"
"A good hit'll fix it. Might take a lot, though."
"You sound like some terminal case. You could shrug off deadly poison without flinching."
"Yeah. Supposed to be. Heh heh. Hee hee."
A grotesque smile spread across Asbidal's face.
He naturally felt rage toward Ganeghan, but his curiosity burned even hotter.
He wanted to see that impassive mask crack. Dissect him. Brew new drugs.
"Hee hee. Hee hee hee..."
In the middle of the hallway, Asbidal started giggling oddly again—until Abera jammed her index finger against his lips.
"Enough. Asbidal. Like I said before, tone down that creepy vibe as much as possible? You're good at it—why slip? On purpose?"
She grumbled while trying to button his chest.
But of course, no maid uniform shirt could hope to cover those absurdly massive breasts, no matter how hard she tugged.
"Give up. Won't button. Hee hee."
"...This makes you look less like a maid and more like some harlot. What even is this?"
Abera prodded his chest with her index finger, as if in reproach.
Her own bosom was hardly small, but against Asbidal? It shrank to insignificance.
"Wouldn't mind posing as a harlot. Heh."
"The Menesil Family wouldn't bring a whore into the mansion! Can't you at least shift into a proper, tidy maid? You're a crow—make yourself look the part!"
"Nah, opposite. Being human and able to turn crow? That's the fun. Heh heh heh."
"...Unbelievable. The terrifying Plague Physician Asbidal... a woman? Makes no sense."
"Hee hee."
"Anyway, one more time: be careful in the mansion. We barely hushed up the servants' suspicions about us all passing out together. Wait... now that I think about it, it was your drug—why'd you conk out?"
"Hee hee. Hee hee hee hee. Hee hee hee hee hee."
Asbidal just snickered at the head-tilting Lady.
The thrill of getting slapped by Ganeghan and forcibly injected until blackout—it all came flooding back. To Abera, though, it just looked bizarre.
The Lady glanced around frantically, flustered.
"What's with you! Quiet down!"
"Heh. Heh. So, what's up?"
"Oh. Right."
Abera straightened her posture, reclaiming her ladylike poise.
Finally, they could get to the point.
"I think we have to head to the main house today. Father's taken a turn."
"Ah."
"...That's it?"
Abera blinked in mild bewilderment, but Asbidal looked even more puzzled.
"Nothing special, right? Hee."
"Nothing special?"
"Means you inherit sooner. Isn't that what you've been after? Heh heh."
"Sure, but... that means leaving Dia and Ganeghan here alone..."
"Don't sweat it. Just kill 'em. Won't even take a day if I set my mind to it. That's why I'm here."
Asbidal cut her off bluntly.
Abera fixed her golden eyes on him for a beat, then blurted,
"No way!"
"No way? You begged me to off your sister nice and slow. Hee hee. Already set the stages. Just gotta snip the last thread. Doc covers the crime, right? That the script?"
"Yeah. It is, but..."
"It is, but what? Sister dear too pitiful now? Hee hee. That'd be rich."
"No. It's not that..."
"Ohhh. Lady Abera... don't tell me..."
Abera stammered incoherently.
Asbidal's snickering stopped cold. His face wiped blank, he thrust it right into hers.
"...You're not into that doctor, are you?"
Abera shuddered at the words.
Asbidal's eyes, mad with frenzy. A vision flashed in her mind: herself, shriveled and dying from his forced injection.
Terrifying even imagined. She shook her head vigorously.
"N-no."
"Thought so. He's fun, y'know. Wanna crack his skull. Slice his gut. Yank his veins, line 'em up neat. Pluck his teeth one by one. Eyeballs too."
Terror flooded Abera's face. Legs quaking, she pleaded,
"O-okay... okay. Stop. Please stop."
"If you've got eyes for that doc, say the word. We're not master-servant. You need quiet sis-death, I need cash and kicks. Interests align, that's all."
"C-can't you calm down? Asbidal."
"...One last warning. Noticed something off."
With that, Asbidal grabbed her skirt hem and yanked it up. Abera yelped in shock.
"What?! What are you doing?!"
Silent, Asbidal rubbed his face against her rear.
Only after a moment did he emerge from under the fabric.
"Wh-wh-what the hell!"
Abera was nearly in tears. Asbidal rubbed his nose, vindicated.
"Yup. Lady. Lately? Virgin scent's gone AWOL."
"Wh-what?!"
As Abera flushed crimson and whimpered, Asbidal strolled off casually.
"Hope you didn't give it to that doc. First time with a dead man walking? Kinda creepy."
Muttering, his steps turned toward Dia's room.
The door burst open without a knock.
Dia whipped her head around, expecting Ganeghan—only for disappointment to cloud her face.
"Who're you?"
The intruder was a green-tinted maid radiating gloom.
Dia had asked out of unfamiliarity, but got no reply.
Instead, the maid thudded toward her, snatching the book from Dia's hands.
The title: The Lady's Secret Hobby. Dia, baffled by pure love, was rereading it.
"Whoa... you read this stuff."
Kee hee. Hee hee hee.
The maid flipped pages wildly, giggling as if it were hers. Absurd behavior.
"Pretty fun, huh?"
And just like that, she asked.
Dia and Asbidal met for the first time.