Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 261
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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261. Sibling Fight
Did he suddenly become aware of his sister’s gaze upon him? Seraph glanced over with annoyance.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
‘He gets angry even when I show interest.’
Serena clicked her tongue inwardly at his fickleness—getting angry even when given the attention he wanted.
“Let’s talk about us.”
“What nonsense is that? Is now the time to leisurely chat?”
Seraph glared at Serena with an incredulous expression.
“You want to have a conversation when monsters could pop out from anywhere?”
Serena felt slightly repentant at her sibling’s words.
‘Even I find that ridiculous. I’m really showing my regressor tendencies here.’
Knowing she could start over if she died inevitably dulled her sense of crisis. Serena didn’t want to honestly admit her mistake, so she deflected.
“If not now, there won’t be another chance for just the two of us to talk. You keep refusing to have conversations.”
“Speak properly. I’m not the one refusing conversation—you’re the one dismissing what I say.”
“Anyway, this is important information, so I’ll tell you now. You probably suspect it too, but there’s a high possibility that all of Heuji City has been caught up in the labyrinth.”
She would have been quite disappointed if her sibling had widened his eyes as if hearing this for the first time, but fortunately Seraph frowned and nodded.
“I heard it from High Priest Hazel.”
“Right. And while you haven’t seen anyone other than me and Richard caught in the overlapping labyrinth, I’ve discovered several people and am protecting them in the lobby.”
“I heard that from Count Alpha too.”
“Those who can move around are still better off. Even the elderly and weak have been caught in the labyrinth, just waiting for rescue or death. Right now, the most important thing is finding an escape route, rescuing those trapped in the labyrinth, and dealing with this unprecedented disaster that’s struck Heuji.”
“That would be the case. So?”
Serena confronted her sibling, who showed no empathy despite this being about the nation and citizens he would rule.
“Don’t you think there are more urgent and important matters than revenge?”
“Tsk.”
Seraph clicked his tongue with a face full of dissatisfaction. Serena couldn’t understand what exactly her sibling found so disagreeable.
“So what? Give up revenge and save people instead?”
“If you die here, the situation will become even more chaotic. Revenge can wait until after we escape the labyrinth. I’ll help you then.”
Even if Seraph succeeded in his revenge, he could never actually kill Richard in the labyrinth. Richard would regress, making all of her sibling’s revenge meaningless, and her sibling would just gnash his teeth in anger again, not even knowing he had already taken his revenge.
No matter how she thought about it, Seraph’s revenge was a waste of manpower, resources, and time.
After their mother’s death, her sibling had shown such disappointing behavior that she had given up on him becoming king, but if he showed potential for growth like now, she needed to redirect that growth toward becoming a good ruler rather than pursuing revenge.
At Serena’s words about helping with revenge after escaping the labyrinth, Seraph raised an eyebrow.
The Prince of Heuji didn’t trust his sister and looked at her with suspicious eyes first.
“How can I believe that? Aren’t you just lying to placate me?”
“Have you lived your whole life being deceived? Well, you did have many lying flatterers around you.”
“Suspicious.”
Seraph glared at his sister.
“You’re hiding something from me, aren’t you? I’ve watched you my whole life—do you think I wouldn’t know?”
“Everyone has secrets. It’s not a secret that would harm you.”
“How can I believe that?”
Serena furrowed her brow. They were blood siblings, with kinship being the strongest alliance. If you couldn’t trust a blood alliance, who could you trust?
“Seraph. I’m your sister.”
“That’s exactly why I can’t trust you. You gave up on me.”
Seraph ground his teeth. Strength entered the still-thin jawline of the young boy.
“You gave up on supporting me and fighting Richard, planning to just stand by as long as I stayed alive.”
It was true. Fortunately, Serena had plenty to say.
“Haven’t you ever thought about how desperate I must have been to do that? Fine, I’ll accept that you avoided studying and wandered around in shock after Mother’s death. I’ll even accept the drinking and gambling since they were just harming your health and wasting your wealth. But when you lose your temper in public places against a competitor who’s already overwhelming even when dealt with soberly, when you don’t listen to my advice and surround yourself with lying flatterers—what exactly was I supposed to do?”
“You didn’t come! You deliberately avoided seeing me! After Mother died, you openly turned away from me!”
All of it was true. Again, Serena had much to say, but she couldn’t speak and bit her lips instead.
When Crown Princess Melang died, Seraph was only 10 years old. The pure young soul, not being a reincarnated one, was violent due to illness but couldn’t accept the fact that his beloved mother had tried to kill him.
When Seraph woke up after fainting, his memories were jumbled and confused. Sometimes he mistook Serena for Crown Princess Melang, sometimes he thought Serena had killed their mother, and he would obsess over Serena who had saved him, then cry in terror.
The prince would have seizures and faint several times a day. Unable to distinguish between mother and sister, he would revere Serena like a savior, then tremble in convulsive fear repeatedly.
The doctors determined that Serena’s presence was a burden on Seraph’s mental state. So Serena stopped her daily visits to her sibling.
Then her sibling’s condition improved remarkably. Whatever was rotting inside, at least his outward appearance became normal.
When Serena heard that her sibling was sleeping and eating regularly, she had only one choice.
Not to meet with her sibling.
After all, Serena wasn’t the protagonist of this world. There was nothing she could do that only she could do from the beginning.
Since she had been reincarnated as a princess anyway, she could just enjoy the royal life. What if her family was a bit unfortunate? Half the assets of a family that had ruled a kingdom for a thousand years belonged to Serena.
With money, she just needed to spend and enjoy it. With power, she just needed to grasp and wield it.
A sudden competitor appearing to fight over the throne? Serena had no intention of being king, so what did it matter? It was her sibling’s business, so giving up would be comfortable.
The diamond spoon life was so comfortable that she regretted the time she had spent trying due to protagonist syndrome.
It would have continued to be comfortable if a labyrinth hadn’t suddenly appeared and swallowed the entire kingdom’s capital.
“Hmph. Nothing to say when hit right on target?”
When Serena, lost in thought, said nothing, Seraph arbitrarily declared victory.
Her head ached as if someone was playing with her brain like slime. Serena pressed acupoints good for headaches while calling out the source of all tragedy.
“Richard…”
“That vile traitor doesn’t even deserve to have his name spoken.”
Though he spoke like that now, when Richard first returned, Seraph had followed his newfound cousin well.
It was useless even when the adults around him said Richard would steal what belonged to Seraph. For a child that age, family love was more important than the throne.
Children and animals are most sensitive to affection among various emotions.
The prince, who craved blood kinship, felt the unconditional goodwill his cousin harbored toward him—family love.
As people with orange eyes increased in the royal palace and their mother’s condition worsened, Richard filled the void. Though it was a brief peace, Seraph looked happy then.
‘He hates him more because he liked him.’
Serena leaned against a wall without traps. The past kept coming back to her and her head throbbed. Her stomach felt queasy, probably from recalling unpleasant things.
She wanted to scold her triumphant sibling, but couldn’t think of appropriate words. When she opened her mouth, instead of a formless dagger, formed vomit flowed out.
“Urgh.”
“Wh-what? Are you okay?”
Startled, Seraph approached his sister, not knowing what to do. Seraph grabbed Serena’s head and patted her back, just as servants had done when he was drunk and vomiting. Though vomit got on his hands as he held her head, he didn’t care.
“Serena, are you okay? Did you eat something wrong?”
“Urrgh.”
Serena did her best to check her physical condition.
‘My head hurts and I’m dizzy! Did I injure my head? I took a potion just in case, but maybe that wasn’t enough?’
Seraph restlessly removed Serena’s helmet and poured a high-grade recovery potion he had. The precious potion soaked her hair and scalp and flowed down.
Even after using the potion, the headache persisted. Serena moved away from where she had vomited and leaned against the wall.
“Hey, you’re really sick. A doctor, someone.”
“No. It’s dangerous alone.”
Serena grabbed her sibling who was trying to leave the trap field she had carefully created. The anxious prince got irritated.
“Then what am I supposed to do!”
“If I rest a little. I’ll get better.”
“You talk nonsense even when sick. Shh!”
Seraph, who had been raising his voice in anger, put his index finger to his lips and turned around. Seraph drew the House of Huaim’s treasured sword (mk2).
“Who’s there! If you’re human, reveal your identity!”
‘Idiot. You should hide and assess the situation first.’
Her head was already throbbing, and her sibling’s stupid action made it hurt more. Serena narrowed her drowsy eyes and quietly chanted an ice arrow spell.
Seeing ice arrows form in the air, Seraph’s face contorted, but then a familiar laugh was heard.
“Heh heh heh. Are there people over there?”
A slightly deflated laugh. It was the High Priest of Effort, who couldn’t overcome his baldness despite trying, so even the deity he served was called bald.
Seraph relaxed his tense shoulders and sheathed his sword.
“Stop. There are traps, so I’ll come to you.”
‘This fool. You can’t trust someone is human just from their voice!’
Serena blamed her trusting sibling but couldn’t follow after him. Stepping into a trap field while unable to properly control her own body would be suicide.
Fortunately, the owner of the voice was indeed the Bald Priest. His hairless head without even fine hair and his poor face were particularly welcome today.
“Hehe, the Princess is ill. Bindo will take a look.”
The High Priest of Effort flipped Serena’s eyelids, examined her head from various angles, then smiled blandly.
“Hehehe. Your head was struck and your brain is shocked. You’ll be fine with a little rest. Bindo will help you recover quickly.”
The High Priest gently stroked the Princess’s thick, abundant hair, so different from his own.
“You’ve worked hard during this time. Since you’ve made effort, rest is also necessary. Rest well.”
It would have been good if he had stopped there. But unnecessary words followed.
“Store up energy to make such efforts.”
He said he’d help her recover quickly, but even when resting, a sermon-like speech poured out telling her to rest diligently. Serena was about to protest what “rest diligently” even meant when she raised her head and blinked.
‘My head doesn’t hurt!’
The headache that had been tormenting her disappeared, and the dizzy symptoms were completely gone. Perhaps the change was noticeable to others too, as Seraph asked the Effort Priest.
“Is she completely healed?”
“Hehe. Wasn’t it worth resting diligently?”
Whatever the divine magic casting method was, the effect was certain, so it was good. Serena received the water bottle her sibling handed her and rinsed her mouth.
Meanwhile, Seraph informed them there were more injuries.
“Her ankle was broken, but I attached it with a potion.”
“Bindo will take a look. Let me see.”
The Bald Priest who examined the Princess’s ankle squinted his eyes.
“This is not good. We need to break it again and attach it properly.”
At the expected answer, Serena asked seriously.
“Is it possible?”
She expected an answer about making effort, but the Effort Priest gave an unexpected response.
“Bindo has never made the effort to break human bones, you see. It would be better to ask someone who has made efforts in that area.”
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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