The Abandoned Prince’s Ghost Bride - Chapter 103

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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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The Ghost Bride of the Forsaken Prince — Chapter 103

“It is an honor to meet Your Majesty, the noble jewel of the Empire.”
“Come now. I hope I haven’t inconvenienced you with this summons.”
“How could there be any inconvenience when it is Your Majesty’s call? I am honored to have been invited.”
“How lovely of you to say. Come, sit with me and have some tea.”
Serena, Lucian’s mother and the Dowager Empress, received her guest with a benevolent smile.
As she did, the face of the visitor came into view. Pink hair cascaded down as a pure and beautiful woman smiled with evident joy—the sort of beauty anyone would naturally love.
She was Lirlis Sevans.
Lirlis had first entered the Imperial Palace at the tender age of five, accompanying her parents.
She had met the Crown Prince and formed a bond with him as a playmate and childhood companion.
By age ten, following the decision of the adults, she became engaged to the Crown Prince.
And now, at twenty-three, eighteen years had already passed since she became deeply connected to the Imperial Palace.
Having grown up as the Crown Prince’s playmate and fiancée since childhood, she maintained a rather close relationship with the Dowager Empress.
More precisely, Serena cherished Lirlis as a future daughter-in-law.
Lirlis was keenly aware of this fact.
She smiled as she normally did and played along with Serena’s preferences. After eighteen years of doing so, there was nothing difficult about it.
“……Sigh.”
Their pleasant conversation was interrupted when clouds gathered across Serena’s face.
Noticing this, Lirlis’s eyes sharpened.
In fact, over the past few days, she had discreetly inquired and observed Serena’s behavior. And she had obtained one unexpected discovery.
‘The Dowager Empress dislikes His Majesty’s concubine. She was so bold that she held her head high even before Her Majesty.’
Coming from none other than the Dowager Empress’s own maidservant, this information carried weight.
Since the Birth Celebration Ceremony, Lirlis had pondered how to meet the Emperor’s concubine while evading his notice.
The security was so stringent that she could not approach carelessly—but now, at this very moment, an important key to reaching the Emperor’s concubine had presented itself before her eyes.
Lirlis began her signature act, arranging her expression into one of genuine concern.
“Your Majesty, is something troubling you? You seem burdened by worry.”
“Ah… I’ve caused you concern. It is nothing to worry about.”
“Keeping such worries bottled up will make you ill. While I may not be of much help, if you have something on your mind, please allow me to lighten that burden.”
“Lirlis…….”
“Though I hold only the title of fiancée, we shall soon be family, shall we not?”
Serena’s expression grew touched. Not only she, but the maidservants and attendants waiting nearby wore subtle smiles—Lirlis’s performance was working perfectly.
And yet, Serena still hesitated to speak.
“……It is something rather difficult to confide in you about.”
‘Ah, truly.’
Unnecessary consideration, that.
It was almost unbelievable that she had been an Empress—her nature was so gentle and yielding.
Lirlis understood why Serena was reluctant to bring up that matter with her.
‘Because I am his fiancée.’
She could hardly tell her son’s betrothed that he was dallying with another woman.
Lirlis exhaled softly and composed her expression to evoke sympathy.
“……Is it perhaps because of His Majesty’s concubine?”
“Ah—! How did you…!”
“While everyone keeps quiet about it, rumors circulate nonetheless. That His Majesty has taken a concubine.”
“No, dear child. It is not what you think. You need not concern yourself with such matters.”
“And yet…… *sigh*. How could I possibly dismiss such a rumor?”
As her eyes glistened with tears and she appealed to her emotions, Serena and the servants around her visibly wavered.
“Moreover, His Majesty continues to postpone our marriage, does he not? If I lose my place to that woman…….”
“Lirlis, compose yourself.”
“*Sob*! Your Majesty, I am frightened. I fear His Majesty may abandon me entirely and choose that concubine instead.”
Serena, at a loss, reached out to comfort the weeping Lirlis.
“If, as others say, His Majesty were to discard me and choose his concubine…….”
“Who dares speak such nonsense! Tell me at once! I shall punish them severely!”
Seeing the usually gentle Serena raise her voice in anger, Lirlis smiled to herself.
“Lirlis, Leopold’s place beside him is yours. That is a truth which nothing can change. He may look elsewhere for now, but in the end, he shall return to you.”
“Your Majesty, what I desire is not merely a seat at His Majesty’s side. I wish for his trust and his love.”
Seeing the blue eyes appealing through tears, Serena’s heart grew weak.
“We have been engaged for thirteen years already, and I have reached the proper age for marriage three years ago. Even now, I wait for His Majesty without any assurance of when. Can you truly guarantee that he will return to me? I am so anxious that I cannot sleep at night.”
With her hands covering her face and her shoulders trembling, she was the very picture of a woman spurned—and everyone’s heart ached for her.
Serena in particular, understanding all the complicated circumstances, empathized deeply as a woman and as the mother whose heir must come after her.
Ruber had not taken other concubines because of his predecessor’s circumstances, so she herself had not suffered from worry on that account; yet whenever she saw other women approaching him, she had felt uneasy.
‘Lirlis’s anxiety is understandable. Poor thing.’
Moreover, was she not a beautiful child whom Serena had watched since infancy? It was only natural that her heart inclined toward Lirlis rather than toward Lia, who gazed boldly into her eyes.
“……Everyone, step back for a moment.”
Serena finally made her decision. At her word, the servants withdrew beyond earshot of the conversation.
Believing her plan was working, Lirlis smiled with quiet triumph to herself and lifted her tear-stained face.
“What I am about to tell you may be painful. Will you still listen?”
“I am already suffering enough. Please, tell me the truth.”
After careful deliberation, Serena resolved to confide in Lirlis—though, of course, she wove in appropriate falsehoods, carefully excluding Lucian’s true identity.
But contrary to her efforts, Lirlis already knew the whole truth.
At first, Serena had tried to speak cautiously, watching Lirlis’s reactions, but soon her emotions rose and her words became closer to a lament.
“And she is so audacious! Even before me, she does not lower her gaze. She talks back so directly…… Ahem, I have grown too heated.”
“Not at all, Your Majesty. I understand perfectly. It seems this situation was not of your making either.”
“With such a beautiful future daughter-in-law as you, how could another girl ever catch my eye?”
“Then, if I may ask—how do you regard His Majesty’s concubine?”
“Well, that woman is…….”

‘Have you ever once told Lucian that you were sorry?’

Lia’s words, which had pierced her so sharply that day, surfaced in her mind.
That had been the day she truly faced Lia—and the last day she would ever see her.
After that, Lucian had tightened security so thoroughly that she could never encounter Lia again.
And because that girl had glimpsed emotions she wished no one to see, Serena could barely look Lucian in the face anymore.
She supposed now that Lia’s words were not wrong, but that did not mean she could simply accept them as right.
Intellectually, perhaps—but emotionally, she could not.
‘Besides, she is no ordinary woman.’
Having no family name, she was clearly of common birth, and yet she showed no hesitation in how she conducted herself toward Serena and others.
She was strikingly different from other commoners who fear the nobility.
‘Could that be what captivated Lucian?’
In any case, as his mother, she found it deeply unpleasant that her son had been ensnared by such an audacious woman.
“To be honest, I find her unbearable.”
Seeing Serena speak with a furrowed brow, Lirlis quietly clenched her fists.
“But do not worry. That woman shall never take Leopold’s place beside him. And if you remain anxious, believe in me. I shall see to it that no such misfortune comes to pass.”
“I am comforted knowing you are on my side.”
“Of course. I cherish Leopold just as much as…….”
Serena broke off mid-sentence. Lirlis, still performing brilliantly, sensed the oddness and tilted her head in confusion.
“Your Majesty?”
“……Ah! It is nothing. Just as much as…… I have watched over you for so long. You are like a daughter to me, are you not?”
“You are too kind. I am overwhelmed by such praise.”
Seeing Lirlis’s delight, Serena smiled awkwardly. But soon her expression darkened slightly.
‘……I know nothing of that girl.’
Her earlier words applied only to Leopold.
Lucian had been confined to a small, distant palace the moment of his birth, and ultimately sent to the Phantom Estate.

‘Yet if both of them had offered him a sincere apology, Lucian would have accepted it gladly. That is the kind of child he is.’

Why did Lia’s words return to her now?
Unlike herself, who knew nothing of Lucian, that girl seemed to understand him so well.
As though she had filled the void that Serena had left.
Noticing Serena’s sudden shift in mood as she sank into contemplation, Lirlis narrowed her eyes.
Whatever she was thinking, Lirlis had already gathered all the keys she needed. Now she only had to set the final play in motion.
“Your Majesty, if it is not too presumptuous, might I meet His Majesty’s concubine?”
“You are so anxious? I understand your feelings, but for now, for my sake…….”
“That is not it. Just once. Truly, just once, I would like to see what sort of woman she is.”
“…….”
“His Majesty treats me as his fiancée, but that is all. There is no emotional connection beyond that. I cannot find a trace of the man he once was.”
Serena flinched.
“Even I, who have watched him for so long, have seen him grow so cold. I wish to see with my own eyes what woman could have captured his heart so completely.”
“Lirlis…….”
“I shall cause you no trouble, I promise. If you cannot arrange it, then at least tell me where His Majesty’s concubine frequents.”
With her head bowed so low that only the crown was visible, Lirlis exuded desperation. Serena, her resolve weakening, shut her eyes tight.
Lucian was her own son, yet she could not fathom him at all.
The mere fact of his meeting Lia last time had left her with an ill feeling, and she could not predict what would happen if she now arranged for him to meet Lirlis.
Yet she could not simply abandon this pitiful girl either.
After endless deliberation, Serena made her final decision.
“It would be difficult for me to arrange a meeting directly. However, if it were to happen by chance…….”
Lirlis’s face bloomed with joy.
“That would be enough! Thank you so much for granting my unreasonable request, Your Majesty.”
“No, I am the one who is sorry—that this is all I can do for you.”
Serena wrapped Lirlis in a warm embrace, apologizing. Lirlis leaned into her affectionately, her smile radiant with love.
‘Perfect.’
She did not know what audacious woman had ensnared that proud Lucian, but in any case, she would be no match for Lirlis herself.
Born into the exalted Duke House, raised as a noblewoman beyond the reach of her peers, educated to believe that ruling the Empire was her natural right—Lirlis had every confidence in herself.
She was ready to devour any woman who stood in her way.
There in Serena’s arms, she smiled a sharp, cold smile.

* * *

Deep within the Library, in the Record Storage Room—a place none but the authorized could enter.
Lia was there.
Recently, while examining Leopold’s condition, she had been unable to enter his mind further.
More precisely, when she had tried to examine his soul again—which had been divided into black and white—she found it blocked as though shielded, leaving her unable to perceive it.
Wondering if something had gone wrong, she had asked Kaiser to examine his condition as well, but he suggested it might be because Leopold was preparing to awaken.
Yet it was not certain, so an unsettling doubt remained.
Moreover, the information Habier had brought contained nothing of use…….
Lia decided she could not simply stand idle and threw herself earnestly into searching for her own past.
Perhaps if she could recover her memories, she might be able to wield higher-level magic.
‘If I truly am the witch who founded the Empire alongside the First Emperor.’

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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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