The Abandoned Prince’s Ghost Bride - Chapter 105

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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 Forsaken Prince’s Phantom Bride — Episode 105

‘Not a true love…?’
When Lirlis heard those words, her first thought was:
‘What sort of game is this?’
She was denying what Lia had said.
And for good reason — from the gossip that had circulated until now and the behavior of Lucian she’d witnessed herself, it was certain the two of them were in love with each other.
But if Lia’s words were true….
“Then why are you even here?”
“I couldn’t say, Your Majesty. How would I know His Majesty’s intentions? I could leave the palace this very moment without complaint.”
It wasn’t a lie. At least, that’s how it appeared to Lirlis.
And that made it all the more confusing.
“If what you say is true, then every rumor circulating through the palace is false.”
“…….”
Lia chose silence over an answer. Lirlis was about to express her bewilderment when she furrowed her brow instead.
Because Lia wore a meaningful smile.
“……I suppose you could see it that way.”
An inexplicable revulsion and anger surged up. Lirlis felt her patience growing dangerously thin as she barely managed to suppress the trembling at the corners of her mouth.
“Well, at least it’s fortunate the rumors aren’t true. It must be a relief for you as well — bearing the solemn sun of the Empire alone would be too much of a burden.”
“Hmm, yes, that’s rather true.”
She’d clearly just insulted her, saying ‘His Majesty doesn’t suit being by your side,’ yet Lia showed no sign of being wounded.
‘This is what happens when people are untaught.’
Looking at Lia failing to catch even such a simple insinuation, Lirlis felt a sneer rising in her throat.
“Well, you said you could leave the palace freely. If there’s some reason you’re unable to go, I’d be happy to help.”
“……Me, Your Highness?”
There was a flicker in her eyebrows at Lia’s look that said ‘But why you?’, but Lirlis continued her performance with a benevolent expression.
“Even if those rumors aren’t the truth, if others see you here, it won’t stop being mere gossip. No matter how much you deny it, people won’t believe you. It seems you alone can’t bear this burden. Am I wrong?”
“It’s true that controlling people’s mouths is beyond my ability. And the misunderstandings are annoying.”
Just as she’d suspected. There were irritating parts here and there, but it seemed she could drive Lia from the palace without much effort this way.
Honestly, before coming here, she’d thought that if Lia met her, she’d strut about on the Emperor’s favor or act arrogantly.
‘Of course, that approach wouldn’t have been bad either, but this works too.’
“Even as I am, I’m the Princess of Sevants. While not quite as influential as His Majesty, I wield considerable power within the Empire. Removing one woman from the palace is simple enough.”
“Are you asking me to leave here?”
“I’m merely offering you a choice. Honestly, isn’t it too much for you? You must be surrounded by unfamiliar things staying here.”
As Lirlis extended her hand as though bestowing mercy, Lia stared directly at it.
‘She’s really desperate to get rid of me.’
Though she pretended not to notice, she wasn’t so dull as to miss the hidden blade in Lirlis’s words.
Sure, she said she’d let her leave the palace safely, but who knew? The moment she stepped outside, she might have her killed.
‘What should I do?’
She’d played along at first to see how the other would move, but now she needed to stop the games.
“I appreciate your kindness, but I must decline.”
Just as she’d expected, Lirlis’s eyes trembled visibly.
“Why not? Are you uncomfortable? Or perhaps you don’t trust me? After all, I am His Majesty’s betrothed…….”
“I’m not concerned with Your Highness being His Majesty’s betrothed.”
Though it was meant to provoke, Lia struck back instead.
“After all, the betrothal is built on various interests, is it not? Besides, I hear you were engaged when you were very young. I wonder whether Your Highness and His Majesty truly willed this betrothal.”
“……Do you understand what you’re even saying right now?”
Watching Lirlis finally drop her repugnant mask, Lia let out a cold laugh.
“Besides, I’m declining your proposal for your own good. Please understand my consideration.”
“How insolent! You mock me and expect me to believe such words!”
Unable to contain her rage any longer, Lirlis slammed the desk and stood abruptly, finally alerting the librarians to her presence.
Confirming that the librarians were leaving to summon others, Lia turned her gaze forward with a composed expression once more.
“But it’s true. The moment Your Highness takes my hand and leaves the Emperor’s Palace, you’ll become an enemy to His Majesty.”
“What do you mean by that? You just said moments ago with your own mouth that you’re nothing to each other.”
“That’s correct — we are nothing. However, I never said His Majesty’s feelings for me were false.”
“What……!”
“He confessed to me, after all.”
Lia drove the final nail in, leaving her no room to deny it. Lirlis’s eyes widened as she staggered backward.
“You’re telling me to believe that? What could the Emperor possibly lack that he’d confess such a thing to someone like you!”
“Indeed. I cannot fathom why the Emperor who rules the Empire would hold such feelings for me, but a man — when not an emperor — I understand such emotions quite well.”
“Ha! So now you’re boasting of His Majesty’s favor before his betrothed!”
“As I’ve said before, I don’t concern myself with Your Highness being His Majesty’s betrothed.”
“Enough of these word games——!”
“That’s what I wanted to say.”
Before Lirlis’s voice could rise further, Lia cut off her words.
The sudden shift in atmosphere made Lirlis flinch. Lia’s violet eyes now gleamed ominously as she bore into her.
“You’re the Emperor’s betrothed, not Lucian’s.”
Lirlis’s eyes widened as her hands trembled. But her shock was brief — she opened her mouth.
“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about. Who is Lucian…….”
“I know. I know who the current Emperor really is, and I know you’ve caused this trouble despite knowing His Majesty’s true identity. Lucian told me himself.”
It was a statement beyond any excuse. With shame, Lirlis finally understood Lia’s relentless composure.
But that understanding didn’t make her want to forgive this woman for trampling her pride.
“If you knew all this, why expose it here? There are certainly ears listening. You’re trying to put Lucian in danger?”
“Ah, that’s something I’ll handle myself, so don’t worry about it.”
From the moment she dropped the formal speech, Lia was already weaving a Barrier Magic around the area, preventing sound from escaping.
“And you — I know Lucian warned you before. What nerve brought you to meet me? Do you really think Lucian would stand by quietly knowing we’re in the same space?”
Hit where it hurt, Lirlis clenched her fists.
The reason she’d approached Lia and tried to get her out of the Emperor’s Palace by any means was simple: there was no other way to separate her from Lucian except if Lia left the palace of her own will.
For days now, Lirlis had bribed one of the servants attending to Lia, receiving reports of her every movement.
As she heard of her daily routine, Lirlis came to understand instinctively.
That Lucian cherished Lia desperately.
Lia’s world was confined entirely to the Emperor’s Palace. Save for the Emperor and his closest attendants, she had contact with no one.
‘She first stayed in the Empress’s quarters. She’s moved rooms now, but…….’
And what the bribed servant had told her — the moment she heard it, jealousy seized her, and she wanted to erase this woman from the world.
But a future Empress could not commit such vulgar acts.
Lirlis loathed any stain upon her life and legacy — whether it became rumor or the subject of others’ gazes.
As the Emperor’s betrothed and future Empress, she could not lose her virtue in public perception. That’s why she’d cultivated this virtuous image since childhood.
Using this image to put others in difficult positions and create favorable circumstances for herself — that had been her way.
‘Why won’t anything go my way!’
Lia was a type of person Lirlis had never encountered before.
Lucian, too, had never met such a type, which is why he’d developed feelings and fallen in love, but Lia was the opposite. Lirlis was wrapped in an intense revulsion.
After a storm raged through her mind for a brief moment, Lirlis arrived at one conclusion.
‘She has to die.’
She could think of no other way to separate this woman from Lucian.
Lirlis erased her expression and looked down at Lia with eyes cold as ice. Her gaze fixed on her slender, pale neck.
Just as she automatically reached for that neck——
Bang——!
The Library doors burst open as someone rushed in. Of course, it was:
“What in the world is happening here!”
Lucian, fury radiating from the crown of his head.
Behind Lucian stood Dio, Harry, James, and Kaiser.
Lirlis felt her heart sink. In her rage, she’d failed to stop the librarian from slipping out.
Lucian’s eyes widened when he saw Lirlis standing awkwardly with her hand extended toward Lia sitting across from her.
In the next moment, he strode forward to the two women, pushed Lirlis aside, and pulled Lia into his embrace.
“……I was certain I ordered that no one approach the Library. Dio!”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Investigate this situation thoroughly.”
“Your command will be obeyed.”
Cold golden eyes fell upon the knights stationed before the Library. Dio bowed his head in submission.
Presently, Dio’s face hardened coldly as he glared at the knights who’d been keeping watch.
The bribed knight wore an expression of dismay, while the innocent knight caught up in this suddenly turned deathly pale.
The matter of the two would be investigated by Dio later — what mattered now was something else.
“Princess of Sevants.”
Unconcealed bloodlust overflowed. At the momentum that made one’s limbs shake, Lirlis couldn’t bear to meet his eyes.
“Did my warning last time amuse you?”
“…….”
“I made it clear. If you touched my patience even once more, I would break the betrothal.”
At his voice — devoid of mercy or warmth, filled only with hostility — Lirlis felt a sudden injustice.
And at the same time, she found him cruel for facing her with hostility while holding Lia so precious.
“……I don’t see what I’ve done wrong.”
“……What?”
“I am His Majesty’s betrothed. A betrothed cannot even meet the one people gossip about as His Majesty’s lover? What have I done that warrants this? Did I strike her cheek? Did I mock her? Or did I pull her hair?”
“Lirlis Sevants!”
“Your Majesty, rather than reproaching me, you should comfort me — one who has suffered nothing but humiliation before your betrothed’s rival.”
“Ha! And what right do you have to say that, when you were the one trying to meet in secret to hide from people’s eyes?”
“……And does Your Majesty truly find that lover more important than a betrothed of thirteen years?”
In a situation where neither would yield, the atmosphere grew increasingly tense.
Yet the flow of the conversation was subtly being controlled by Lirlis.
Only Harry and Lia noticed this.
‘This is dangerous.’
‘There are too many watching eyes.’
Those who knew Lucian’s circumstances would understand this was Lirlis’s fault.
But publicly, the Emperor was Leopold, not Lucian. In other words, Lirlis’s words were aimed at the Emperor, not Lucian.
Sure enough, the librarians and servants lingering in the corridor began murmuring as they watched Lucian holding Lia.
Unable to bear it any longer, Harry stepped forward.
“Your Majesty, please compose yourself. The Princess’s words aren’t entirely unfounded.”
“Harry…….”
As Lucian furrowed his brow, Lirlis smiled.
“However, that doesn’t mean the Princess is right either.”
But the words that followed reversed the situation once more.
“Your Majesty has forbidden external access to the Emperor’s Palace, including the Imperial Library. None but the authorized may enter, and guards have been posted to ensure it. So how did Your Highness come to be here?”
“I am His Majesty’s betrothed. You would count me among outsiders?”
“Not an outsider, perhaps, but neither are you among the authorized. You didn’t happen to slip in by chance through this heavily guarded place, did you?”
Harry struck at the fundamental problem — Lirlis’s presence here where she shouldn’t be. By his logic, she was someone who had no right to be in this place.
While he couldn’t erase the entire image Lirlis had tried to paint of Lucian, at least Lucian alone wouldn’t have his reputation destroyed.

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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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