chapter 29
People weren’t just saying she looked unwell — they were whispering she might die within a few years.
When the boy first heard that, it didn’t bother him at all. He thought it was just another bit of gossip to brush off.
So maybe that’s why it hit him so hard to see the woman who always seemed so resolute suddenly lose her strength and collapse.
“She was actually sick even at lunch,” Melanie thought.
Melanie, as the company head, avoided showing up at lunchtime because she didn’t want staff to feel awkward eating with her. At first Damian had thought that made sense and didn’t pay it much mind — just a sign of someone considerate enough to avoid making others uncomfortable.
A week earlier everything had seemed fine…
“Isn’t Representative Clotilde inside?”
“Yes. She definitely went into her room and hasn’t come out…”
They knocked several times, but Melanie — who’d been supposed to meet her — got no answer. Something about it felt ominous, and Melanie, not wanting to be rude, flung the door open.
Worried that Clotilde might have passed out, Melanie found her lying across the desk — asleep, perhaps?
Is “asleep” the right word? Her eyes were closed, but there was no steady breathing to be heard. And Clotilde’s fingertips were trembling. It wasn’t the numbness of pins and needles; it was a clear muscle spasm.
Damian frowned.
“Is it okay to be pushing herself like this?”
Unsure whether to wake her, he reached out and gently held the trembling hand.
The shaking stopped for a moment, but only temporarily.
“She wouldn’t listen even if I told her to stop. I don’t have the right to make her stop anyway.”
All he could do was add a little to the cafeteria budget. Because they used better ingredients than before, even Melanie — who normally ate little — had been eating more. But that wouldn’t stop the fact she needed increasing amounts of painkillers.
Frequent use breeds tolerance to pain relievers. The illness itself is hard enough; her body was too fragile to cope with the drugs’ side effects as well.
“They say she’s a terminal lady who might die anytime,” Damian remembered. He had seen Melanie break down like this before.
“The side effects of the painkillers must be severe.”
“I’m fine.”
And what she had said then:
“I won’t regret this.”
She was far too young to crumble. Yet the steady look in her eyes did not waver. Perhaps because every remaining hour mattered so much to her, she sought to live more fully and intensely than anyone else.
“I hope your dream comes true,” Damian thought, and looked again at the people who’d gathered under the name “Black Moon Troupe.”
Regardless of age, everyone worked nonstop with shining eyes. Overflowing vitality, boundless enthusiasm. Melanie was the reason these people dared to dream.
“So I should work hard too,” he resolved. Damian wanted to help Melanie’s dream.
Word of the Black Moon spread by rumor and their clientele steadily increased. So did the chatter about them across many places.
Because of that, business ran much more smoothly than before.
“One of my contacts said they have a fantastic script that was set aside, not for the stage but scrapped….”
I was given many chances to read various scripts.
“Wow, the story’s great, but I don’t know if there’s anyone who can play these roles. Hmm, direction will be crucial here.”
A place that had contacted me, aiming to adapt the stage play into a video series, agreed to proceed. It was thanks to the Black Moon’s rising reputation.
But good fortune never comes without complications.
“Miss… the Duke urgently asks that you come to his study.”
As the Black Moon grew, something I’d been trying to hide had apparently been discovered by my father.
“The Duke looks serious. You should be careful.”
Lately, he seemed less prickly about Polius’s behavior, so he listened to my warnings. “Thanks for worrying. I’ll go to the study.”
“Miss…”
Putting on a worried face, I headed for my father’s study.
I breathed out a long sigh. I tried to act composed, but I wasn’t okay. I had planned to get the debts paid off and explain things properly, but my father had noticed sooner than I’d expected.
I hesitated for a moment, then knocked and entered.
“Father, I’m here.”
He kept his cold expression even when he saw me. He must have heard my voice and seen me come in, but he did not raise his head.
“You took out a loan against the trading company as collateral? Is that true?”
Usually, even with his severe features, my father’s face softened whenever he saw me. He used to smile gently at me no matter when. But now his expression was so frosty you could find no trace of that warmth.
“How could you do something so risky? Didn’t you know you could lose the company?”
“I’m sorry, Father.”
“Not just anyone — how could you, Melanie! Touch the company that Yvonne left you!”
I bowed my head deeply. I couldn’t even guess how betrayed he felt.
‘You used our family’s trading company as collateral for a loan…’ I bowed even lower.
Though his voice was sharp and cutting, I felt less anger in it than pain.
‘After Mother died, I begged you to give me the position as head of the company so I could run it properly.’
Of course, Polius pressured me to hurry and manipulated things so he would buy it. But ultimately it was my decision to buy the mine. No excuses.
‘It’s natural that Father is hurt.’
If we sold all the magical stones mined from the vein, perhaps we could pay off the debt. But I hadn’t done that.
‘The interest rates aren’t sky-high. I thought it’d be better to invest more into Black Moon’s business than pay back the loan immediately.’
Now, the usurious loans have all been replaced by safe, low-interest bank loans. It was possible because I, once dismissed as an ignorant noblewoman, had become a respectable business leader as head of the Black Moon.
‘Still, the fact remains that I used Mother’s legacy as collateral.’
Even before I realized this world was inside a novel, it seemed like madness.
“You, the head of the trading company, changed my life!”
Mother was admired by everyone. Not simply because she headed the trading company or because she was a duchess — she was dazzling by any standard.
She had taken a small trading company and turned it into one of the empire’s leading merchants. She said that what mattered most in building it was people, and she devoted herself to helping others.
‘Compared to her, what am I?’
Am I truly fit to be head of the trading company? Or did I just inherit it because I was her daughter and then ruin it?
Crack!
Father slammed the table down.
“I am truly disappointed in you.”
Disappointment — a word I’d never heard directed at me in my life.
“What on earth were you thinking? I’ll take the headship back. I trusted you too much.”
That was actually a mild reaction considering. I felt too ashamed to protest; I couldn’t bring myself to.
“Explain yourself. Don’t just say you’re sorry.”
Perhaps because of my ill health, Father held himself back for a while.
‘If I try to explain now it’ll sound like an excuse. I was crazy; I did a crazy thing.’
But to remain silent would be to dismiss his question. I forced my unwilling mouth open.
“I thought… I should always please Polius, who grants the fairy’s blessing.”
“…”
“But now I am broken off from Polius, and instead of receiving the fairy’s blessing I will be taking painkillers. I’m truly sorry for putting Mother’s legacy in jeopardy.”
If I hadn’t remembered my past life, I would have continued hurting my father. I might have even committed the unfilial sin of dying before my parents.
“I will give the headship of the trading company to you, Father.”
