Chapter 1

“I’m dying without ever really enjoying life.”

At my mother’s dry, brittle voice, I swallowed hard.

It was a bitterly cold winter day.

A fierce snowstorm raged outside the window, while my younger siblings slept soundly, unaware of anything.

It was a sacred moment of farewell.

“Mom…”

Holding back my tears, I tightly grasped her hand.

Then I said firmly,

“If Dad had three children with three different women, I think he enjoyed life plenty.”

“Hmph. That’s why I’m disappointed. I could’ve enjoyed it even more.”

Honestly, she was impossible.

My tears instantly disappeared, and I dropped her skinny hand as if throwing it away.

She had flirted with every decent-looking man around before she fell ill, so what regrets could she possibly have left?

“Can you stop obsessing over handsome men already?!”

“It’s not that I chased them. They were the bright ones!”

“Ugh. That attitude is exactly why you never got anywhere.”

“Bebe. Men are all useless anyway. So if you’re going to choose one, at least pick the most handsome one.”

Well…

She had a point.

As I found myself reluctantly agreeing, Mom glanced toward my siblings sleeping beside the bed.

“And thanks to that, all of you turned out beautiful. How did you manage to inherit only the best features from me and your fathers…?”

Seriously. What was the point of being attractive when we were dirt poor?

I’d probably end up with the same miserable fate as Mom.

As a ten-year-old girl from a rough neighborhood who already knew far more than a child should, I merely snorted.

Meanwhile, Mom happily started reminiscing.

“Shawn was so kind. Hui may seem cold on the outside, but he’s soft-hearted inside. He definitely takes after him. If that accident hadn’t happened, he would have remained a wonderful father to you. My time with Charles was short, but it was fun. Same with Mickey. Ah, I wonder how Liam is doing. The one who gave our Dido those lovely curls…”

“He’s still gambling.”

“That bastard. I should’ve cut his hand off completely.”

You already broke a few of his fingers before kicking him out.

Still not satisfied, Mom ground her teeth while thinking about my youngest sibling’s father.

He was especially terrible despite his good looks.

Gambling, cheating, drinking…

He ruined our household and eventually stole even the emergency savings Mom had set aside for us.

‘…At least this survived.’

I touched the worn cord hanging around my neck.

Though honestly, it probably wouldn’t have been worth stealing anyway.

As I shook my head, Mom suddenly muttered,

“And your father… I don’t even know whether he’s alive or dead.”

“I hope he’s dead.”

I let go of the necklace and answered coldly.

It was better than imagining my father living comfortably somewhere after getting a young woman pregnant and abandoning her.

Mom looked at my frowning face with warm eyes.

Although her body had become stiff and immobile, her golden eyes were still full of life.

“Bebe, your father was different from the others. He was like…”

“A prince?”

I had heard it so many times my ears practically had calluses.

That prince again.

What kind of fairy-tale prince plays with a young woman’s heart and then disappears without a trace?

Unlike my indifferent reaction, Mom smiled brightly.

“Yes, really! He sparkled!”

She looked exactly like a young girl in love with her first crush.

I let out a tired sigh, but eventually smiled too.

Silly Mom.

I knew she had never forgotten that prince-like first love.

I knew she had tried to grow attached to one man after another because of him.

And I knew every attempt had failed.

Bang.

The window rattled from the raging blizzard.

I glanced outside, looked up at the ceiling, scratched my cheek, and finally spoke.

“…Thank you.”

“Hm?”

“For giving birth to Hui and Dido.”

At that moment, I knew Mom felt guilty for leaving such a heavy burden to me.

But honestly, I was only grateful.

Because I had siblings to care for.

Because she wasn’t leaving me completely alone.

“Thank you. Really.”

For loving me.

Mom weakly lifted the corners of her mouth.

It was the smile of someone who could no longer cry.

“…What should I do? My Bebe is still just a baby.”

“I’m all grown up. Ten years old is old enough to work as a maid. I can earn money. Teacher Morgan says I’m good with my hands and speak clearly, so people will like me wherever I go. Besides, Hui and Dido are good kids. They’ll definitely help me a lot.”

As I deliberately bragged and rambled on, Mom slowly closed her eyes with a faint smile.

I continued speaking clearly until the end.

“So don’t worry.”

“……”

“I’ll live well.”

It was a vow.

A promise that absolutely had to be kept, Bebe Plang.

But what was this situation now?

“Haah…”

Exactly ten years later.

At the age of twenty.

I was dying.

From the very same disease that had killed my mother.

Even the reason was identical.

“What a pity. If only you had continued taking Black Death Grass regularly…”

Because I had no money.

Lying there like a corpse, I gave the physician a hollow smile.

“One root of that costs as much as several pounds of meat.”

“But still…”

“It wouldn’t cure me anyway.”

The disease had no cure.

Black Death Grass only slowed its progress.

Which meant spending the cost of several pounds of meat every single day until I eventually died.

‘…How horrifying.’

I was already behind on rent.

Staring at the moldy ceiling with dry eyes, I spoke.

“Teacher Morgan, I have a favor to ask.”

“Tell me.”

“Please sell this.”

I gestured toward my neck.

More specifically, toward the ring hanging from the old cord.

It was a shabby keepsake my mother had carefully tied around my neck when I was born.

“It probably won’t sell for much, but use the money to pay the rent… and with whatever remains, buy your daughter Ginny a new pair of shoes. Her current ones are really worn out.”

The kind-hearted widowed physician looked like he was about to cry.

“But that ring was left behind by your father…”

“Exactly. I don’t need it anymore.”

Maybe I had never needed it in the first place.

Why had I stubbornly kept it all these years despite being so poor?

I laughed bitterly.

Like mother, like daughter.

Maybe I inherited her foolishness too.

“…There’s no reason to wear it around hoping someone will recognize it. Please sell it. The living need to survive.”

If it could provide my siblings with a home to return to and buy Ginny a new pair of shoes, then the ring had fulfilled its purpose.

Even speaking a few sentences left me gasping for breath.

The end was approaching quickly.

Images of my siblings wandering the country flashed before my eyes.

My beloved Hui and Dido.

Do you resent this cruel older sister who drove you away?

When I shouted at you to grow up and earn your own living, I didn’t mean it.

I simply couldn’t bear to let you watch me die from the same disease that killed Mom.

Nor could I bear to see you sacrifice yourselves trying to save me.

Please forgive your pathetic sister.

And…

‘I’m sorry, Mom.’

Not only did I fail to live well.

Now I couldn’t even live at all.

With a bitter smile, I urged Morgan.

“Teacher Morgan, hurry.”

After a long silence, Morgan finally took the ring.

The absence of the crude object I had carried my entire life felt more relieving than empty.

“Phew… just hurry and sell it…”

“Right!”

Suddenly, Morgan jumped to his feet as if he had made a decision.

“I’ll use the money to send a magical message to Hui and Dido! Just wait a little longer!”

Then he rushed out of the house.

He was probably planning to sell the ring and use the money for a magical communication device.

Watching him disappear, I silently moved my lips.

No. Please don’t.

‘What a waste of money…!’

Do you know how expensive long-distance communication is?!

Use that money to buy Ginny’s shoes already, you foolish old man!

I’m dying right now anyway!

The moment I fumed inwardly, my vision spun.

Ah.

How miserable.

Money, money, money.

Even at the very end, my life was ruined because of money.

“I’m dying without ever really enjoying life.”

Ah, Mom.

Those words should have been mine.

As my consciousness slowly faded away, a commotion erupted outside.

“B-Bebe would never steal anything…!”

“Then all the more reason to verify it!”

Morgan’s desperate explanations clashed with the excited voices of strangers as the front door burst open.

And then I heard the last words of my life.

“That ring belongs to the missing Young Master Ambrose!”

The ring.

The Ambrose Ducal House.

That family?

The wealthiest family in the entire Empire?

Then that means…

I was…

At last, the mystery of my birth was solved.

A single hot tear rolled down my cheek.

Ah, Mom…

‘You should’ve told me to sell the ring years ago!’

And with that,

I died.