Abandoned Empress's Survival Manual Beside the Male Lead - Chapter 28

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 28
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The journey to Gonet Castle was anything but easy.
True to Gabin’s word, we barely stopped, and I remained trapped inside the constantly swaying carriage.
I suffered from motion sickness the entire day.
‘Oh no. Someone help me.’
Meanwhile, as we drew closer to Gonet Territory, I could feel winter pressing in.
The trees had shed nearly all their leaves, their bare branches trembling, and the few leaves still clinging to them had turned a dark crimson, on the verge of crumbling away.
Puddles were beginning to film over with thin ice. The air, drained of moisture, bit cold and dry—a harsh, withering chill that lingered at the tip of my nose.
And then, at last, Gonet Grand Duchy Castle!
I stepped through the gates in high spirits, laden with countless gifts.
“Your Grace!”
“Welcome home, Your Grace!”
“What a journey you must have had!”
They all gazed at the carriage, barely suppressing their smiles.
“Prepare a bath at once!”
“Yes, ma’am!”
* * *
“I’m alive…….”
The tub was still that old oak barrel. Somehow, it felt endearingly familiar now.
The maidservants laughed merrily as they scrubbed me down with care.
Fluffy, fluffy.
Clouds of soap bubbles rose up around me.
Days of accumulated dust and the acrid smell of dried rations washed away in the hot steam. A few drops of fragrant oil scattered the scent of field flowers throughout the bathhouse.
Once the bath was finished, drowsiness crept over me. But the maidservants wouldn’t let me sleep just yet.
“You must eat before resting, or you’ll find yourself truly famished.”
“Please eat well, Your Grace.”
I was sick of dried fruit and didn’t want to see it for some time.
After emptying a bowl of broth to settle my stomach, real hunger came flooding back, and I absent-mindedly devoured bread and steamed chicken.
Once I’d finished even the warmed milk, I let the maidservants help me to bed.
“Sleep well, Your Grace.”
“Sweet dreams.”
The maids’ gentle voices. Soft quilts. Solid, unmoving ground!
Everything I’d missed so dearly.
I honestly thought I could sleep for a full twenty hours…….
I closed my eyes slowly and drifted off.
“……Rel! Rel……! Rel!”
But then some voice disturbed my sleep.
“……Sherkan?”
“Rel!”
‘That’s not right.’
Sherkan would never speak to me in that manner.
More than anything, the voice sounded completely childlike, nothing like Sherkan’s at all.
This was strange.
There were no children in this castle.
I finally grasped the situation and snapped my eyes open.
“……Huh?”
This wasn’t my bedroom.
Everything around me was a vivid blue, but I understood the situation in three seconds flat.
“Oh. I’m dreaming again.”
I muttered this indifferently and closed my eyes once more. Then…….
“Like this! Like this!”
“……?”
“Walk like this, I’m telling you!”
I opened my eyes and flinched in surprise.
A small, blue fluffy thing was bounding toward me on plump little legs, moving at full speed.
“……A puppy?”
The only thing that set it apart from an ordinary dog was that its entire body was bright blue…….
“Yelp!”
In an instant, the tumbling puppy rolled head over tail before settling into my arms as if by magic.
Splurt!
A mysterious creature threw itself into my arms, rubbing its face against mine. Its round little head nestled perfectly beneath my chin.
“…What are you?”
“Me baby spirit!”
“A spirit?”
I asked, hardly believing it.
“Are you the Sun of Pasa?”
“That old name, yeah.”
‘Old name…’
My eyes widened.
“That right! Me got new name — the Noble Sun!”
Huh!
Excitement surged through me.
“I get it now! I must be your master! That’s why you appeared — because I gave you a new name, so you came to obey me, right?”
“What saying. Head hurt, yes?”
“…”
Hoo. Hooo.
“…”
“Head not hurt anymore now, yes? Rell thought head all broken!”
“…”
The round creature’s entire body tilted to one side — if you could call it a head.
“Me name Ratku!”
“Ratku?”
“Ratku!”
“Then what’s the Noble Sun?”
“That pet name — Rell give to me, yes!”
So the pet name was the Noble Sun and the real name was Ratku?
It seemed backwards somehow…
“Your naming sense is a bit odd.”
“But cute, yes? Ratku?”
As Ratku spoke its own name, it pressed both front paws to my cheeks.
Sparkling, enormous eyes and soft, trembling fur.
Anyone could see it was striking a deliberately cute pose.
“It is cute, I suppose…”
Hehe.
Ratku wriggled out of my arms and pattered a short distance away, pointing at something with its stubby little feet. Whether it was actually pointing or just flailing about was unclear.
“There flower! Use magic!”
Where Ratku was pointing, a single pink flower appeared — though I couldn’t say where it had come from. It was a peony.
The petals were completely dry and withered, curled inward, as though it might wilt away at any moment.
Ratku whimpered insistently.
“Use Reproduction Magic on it! Use!”
“What magic?”
“Just use!”
“…?”
As I stared bewilderedly at the dying flower, meteors suddenly began to rain down from the sky.
“…?!”
Crash!
Accompanied by a sound that felt like my eardrums were tearing, what looked like hellfire plummeted from above and struck the flower dead-on.
I reflexively shielded my eyes, then found myself utterly baffled.
What was happening?
“What’s going on with it?”
It was as though someone had hit fast-forward on a time-lapse video of a flower blooming. The withered petals unfurled layer by layer, and in an instant, the flower burst into full bloom.
Ratku puffed out its chest with satisfaction, belly bulging prominently.
“Rell really good at Reproduction Magic!”
“W-what are you talking about?”
“Rell use Reproduction Magic so good!”
Was that what breeding spirit art was?
“I did that?”
“Yes! Rell do it!”
“…?”
That was the moment.
“Gasp……!”
I woke from the dream as though someone had slapped my cheek.
My entire body was drenched in cold sweat, and more than that…….
“Why is this flower here?”
The pink peony that had bloomed in my dream moments before was resting in my hand.
To exaggerate, it was nearly as large as my face.
“This isn’t just any flower…….”
Once I recognized what it was, I muttered to myself with an urge to cry.
Would you believe this single bloom costs over ten million won?
This pink peony, called the Bakara Peony, bore vivid white stripes across its petals.
Distinctive and beautiful yet difficult to cultivate, only the Empress in Pasa could grow this flower.
That precious bloom which famous gardeners could scarcely coax into bloom after dedicating twenty-four hours of labor…….
Was now in my hands…….
If I were in the Imperial Palace right now, I would have received twenty slaps by this point and gone without dinner for a week.
It didn’t feel real.
“You’re pretty good at the Reproduction Magic!”
I startled and lifted my head.
“Ratku?”
“Ratku!”
Ratku hung from my hair by both paws, swinging back and forth like on a swing.
“Weren’t you supposed to only appear in dreams?”
“Ratku can go anywhere!”
Ratku spoke with triumph, then drooped as the paws came together.
“B-but I can’t wander around all the time or I get sleepy……. I have to go back to the Spirit Realm constantly to recharge my strength…….”
I nodded in understanding. Ratku immediately squeaked with delight and nuzzled against my cheek.
“Ratku got a gift from Rel!”
“……A talent?”
“Yep! A gift for using the Reproduction Magic well!”
“You mean a talent, right? But what exactly is this Reproduction Magic?”
“How can you not know!”
Put simply, Reproduction Magic was the power of spirits.
‘So it’s something like the spirit energy you see in martial arts novels.’
This world had many things like recovery Spirit Stones and instant-transport Spirit Stones.
However, once a Spirit Stone was used, it shattered into dust.
“But Ratku is different! Rel is different too! Ratku and Rel made a direct contract!”
“A contract?”
“Ratku!”
That was the moment. As though knowledge was being poured into my mind, three clear lines appeared in my consciousness.
First. Reproduce anything.
Second. Make any reproduction succeed.
Third. You’ll understand once you try.
‘……What’s the third one about?’
I tilted my head in confusion.
No matter how much I turned it over in my mind, no answer came, and I quickly grew weary.
“I’ll figure it out when I try. For now, let me go back to sleep…….”
I hesitated briefly over where to set the peony, then placed it on the nightstand. I was about to burrow back under the blankets when…….
“No way!”
“Hm?”
Ratku suddenly grabbed my pajama sleeve with his teeth and hung from it.
“Kitchen! We gotta go to the kitchen!”
Putting all his strength into it, his round body quivered, but my arm didn’t budge an inch.
This tiny thing wasn’t even a real puppy.
“Why the kitchen?”
“I’m gonna show you my power! I’m gonna make the pudding Rel wanted to eat before she died!”
“……What?”
I went completely still. I thought I’d misheard.
“Before she died? What do you mean suddenly?”
Ratku tilted his head.
“Rel was sick, wasn’t she? She wanted to eat pudding back then, so I’m gonna make it for her.”
“……!”
I was taken aback.
You know about my past life?
How could you possibly know?
“Why so surprised? Ratku knows everything!”
“Good heavens…….”
“Ratku is the best! Ratku is amazing!”
“…….”
My mind had gone blank, and yet at the same time…….
‘That’s right. Ratku isn’t just any spirit — he said he was the Spirit of the Sun itself.’
A treasure of a fallen empire, imbued with such tremendous symbolism that it could sway the fate of an entire realm!
A named spirit would certainly be able to sense the circumstances of a mere vessel like me, wouldn’t he……?

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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