The Abandoned Prince’s Ghost Bride - Chapter 116

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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 Phantom Bride of the Forsaken Prince — Episode 116

217th year of the Imperial Calendar, January 4th.
To the one who visited periodically, I expressed my wish to return to the Imperial Family. Surely, they were someone from the Palace.
If they report my words as is, the Emperor will think I’ve had a change of heart.

The thought alone makes my hands tremble, but this is the only opportunity I have to exact revenge.
I’ll return to the Imperial Palace and uncover every secret she failed to dig up. And I’ll comfort the souls who died so unjustly.
Damn the Emperor. Wait just a little longer. I’ll expose the identity you were so desperate to hide.

217th year of the Imperial Calendar, May 26th.
He said there would be a good answer soon, so why has there been no word for over four months?
I know I should maintain composure in times like this, but I can’t help the anxiety.
Or perhaps he’s trying to cover his tracks?
True enough — if he’s lived for decades, it would take time to erase all those traces.
I’ll wait. The fact that he couldn’t kill me means he must covet my abilities.
If I wait long enough, an opportunity will surely come someday.

“His identity? Lived for decades……?”
It seems Dadan Groot wrote something similar — that because the Emperor is a spirit who’s lived over a hundred years, side effects have occurred.
“Ah! Age, remember what you told me before?”
Kaiser suddenly recalled something and asked Age.
“What are you talking about?”
“You know, back then when you told me something about imperial authority. Around a hundred years ago, something about the Second Princess, wasn’t it?”
“What on earth are you——”
Age, answering dismissively, suddenly stopped and opened his eyes wide.
He then began examining their records once more. Before long, Age opened his mouth quietly.
“……Kaiser, get up right now.”
“Huh? What?”
“Get up this instant, you fool!”
“W-what’s wrong all of a sudden?”
As Kaiser, bewildered and at a loss, stared at him, Age thrust his neck forward and bellowed.
“The Founding Emperor committed all these crimes!”
“……What?”
“The Second Princess claimed the Founding Emperor has been changing his appearance using Dark Magic this whole time, posing as the Emperor!”
Only after hearing Age’s words could Kaiser finally grasp the nature of the unease he’d felt all along.
And as he understood Age’s meaning, Kaiser’s complexion turned ashen.
If the Founding Emperor had been living a near-immortal existence by continuously moving his soul through his descendants’ bodies,
then sending humans here as sacrifices with gaps of decades, the Imperial Family’s collusion with the Temple from the beginning until now, and the side effects from consuming Dadan Groot’s Elixir that caused him to cough blood — it all fit.
‘Moreover, when Aria was sealed was Imperial Calendar year 7. The Temple’s period for making periodic offerings was also “year -7.”‘
Everything pointed to the Founding Emperor as the culprit.
“Wake Lia up right now!”
If it were merely an ordinary spirit clashing with Leopold’s spirit, there would be some chance of winning.
But if their opponent was not an ordinary spirit, but the Founding Emperor’s spirit — one who had survived for a long time by wandering through others’ bodies——?
‘There’s no way we can win!’
Do you know why Dragons are called the strongest race?
Because their lifespans are longer than any other race. The longer the lifespan, the more one can experience, and naturally the higher the Spirit Rank grows.
The Founding Emperor was merely nineteen when he built the Empire. Given that the current year is Imperial Calendar year 330, his spirit has lived for three hundred forty-nine years.
Compared to Kaiser, who is three hundred ten years old, his Spirit Rank is higher still.
When a spirit three hundred forty-nine years old clashes with one only twenty-three years old, isn’t it obvious which one will be dominant?
“What are you doing! Wake her up at once!”
Age rebuked the dazed Kaiser.
Kaiser snapped to his senses and shook Lia.
“Lia! We’ve got a crisis!”
“…….”
Lia remained silent, as if dead.
“The boy’s older brother is going to die at this rate! You’re the only one who can help him! Wake up!”
Desperate, Kaiser shook Lia with all his strength.
But with each shake, only Lia’s hair scattered through the air.

* * *

“……I care for that child Lirlis and am fond of her, but I never imagined she would betray Leopold in this manner.”
“…….”
“I understand your feelings as a father. This incident will be a great blow to the Duke’s daughter. But I, too, have no choice but to think of my own son.”
At Ruber’s measured words, Duke Sevans squeezed his eyes shut.
‘It’s over.’
Not only Lucian but Ruber as well had learned the entire truth. With this, he’d lost any grounds to prevent the engagement annulment.
Seeing the desolate expression of Duke Sevans, Ruber spoke in a sigh-laden tone.
“I will make some effort to ensure the Duke’s daughter’s marriage prospects aren’t ruined……but you should also restrain your daughter quickly. This wasn’t the ending you wanted, was it?”
“……Yes, I shall bear that in mind.”
Duke Sevans staggered to his feet, left the room in a daze, and wandered out.
He walked as if he’d lost everything in the world, stumbling forward.
No matter how badly Lirlis had erred, she was still his daughter. The daughter he’d treasured and raised with affection since childhood.
Who was he supposed to blame?
His daughter, who ignored his advice and acted as she pleased? Or Lucian, who cast her aside without a shred of mercy? Or Leopold, who suddenly collapsed and caused this catastrophe?
His thoughts spiraled endlessly, driving him toward madness.
“Ah, Lirlis…….”
“Duke Sevans.”
The hollow-faced Duke Sevans, heaving sighs, turned at the sound of his name. It was Serena.
“How did your conversation with His Majesty go?”
“…….”
Instead of answering, Duke Sevans wore a gloomy expression.
“I see. He truly went too far. How could he take the side of that child instead of Lirlis!”
“……Your Majesty?”
Seeing Serena take his side, Duke Sevans was caught off guard.
“Don’t worry, Duke. I am on our precious daughter-in-law’s side. These two are foolish — they don’t understand how devastating an engagement annulment is for a woman.”
At first confused, Duke Sevans soon glimpsed a sliver of hope. As he watched Serena speak ill of Lucian and Ruber while defending Lirlis, he thought,
‘……Her Majesty doesn’t seem to know.’
If she knew the full situation like Ruber did, she could never respond that way. Given Serena’s nature, concealing the truth was understandable.
‘This is an opportunity.’
No matter how much Lirlis was at fault, what parent wanted to see their child ruined?
“I’ll do whatever it takes to prevent the engagement annulment.”
“Oh, th-thank you, Your Majesty! I am truly grateful!”
As Duke Sevans expressed his gratitude profusely to Serena, the surroundings suddenly grew chaotic.
Summon the Palace physicians at once!
At the ringing cry, Duke Sevans and Serena exchanged confused looks before heading toward the commotion.
Dio was hurrying urgently toward somewhere.
“……What is all this commotion?”
As Serena frowned and muttered, a servant who’d learned of the situation leaned in to whisper to her.
“His Majesty Leopold has awakened……!”
“What……?”
Serena’s mind went blank for a moment, and Duke Sevans, overhearing, was greatly startled.
“Your Majesty, you must go at once!”
“……Y-yes! Let us go quickly! Duke, something urgent has come up, so I shall take my leave!”
“……Yes, Your Majesty.”
Serena forgot all propriety, gathered her skirts, and ran. Duke Sevans watched her disappear, clenched his fists, and turned back.
His pace quickened, and he soon hurried out of the Imperial Palace.
“Get me to the Mansion at once! Quickly!”
The moment he climbed into his carriage, he urged the coachman forward, making haste to the Duke’s estate. The instant he arrived, he searched for Lirlis.
“Lirlis! Where are you, Lirlis!”
“The Duke’s daughter is in her room at present.”
Following the servants’ direction, he headed to Lirlis’s room.
The door flew open—!
“Lirlis!”
“It can’t be……His Majesty couldn’t possibly cast me aside…….”
Duke Sevans paused for a moment.
Lirlis had drawn all the curtains in her room, making it feel like midnight.
Not only that — the room was in complete chaos.
Broken things, torn things, destroyed things covered every surface, and Lirlis sat huddled on her bed, muttering to herself like someone mad.
He’d heard that after she was cast out of the Imperial Palace and declared an engagement annulment, screams and all manner of commotion had been coming from her room.
‘Truly, this child……!’
He couldn’t fathom that she’d come to this state over just one man.
But that wasn’t what mattered now.
“Lirlis!”
Duke Sevans called his daughter’s name again. Lirlis, who’d been muttering, paused and turned her head.
“A-Father……!”
As if she’d found a lifeline, Lirlis broke into a brilliant smile and reached out her hands toward Duke Sevans.
As she tried to step down from the bed barefoot, Duke Sevans hastily stopped her. There were shards of broken glass beneath the bed.
“You went to the Imperial Palace, didn’t you? Did you meet with His Majesty? What did he say? Surely he said the engagement annulment is being revoked……!”
“Wait! Calm down for a moment.”
“How am I supposed to calm down!”
Lirlis screamed like a madwoman. While Duke Sevans stood dumbfounded, she tousled her hair and spoke.
“From childhood, I was raised to be Empress. Mother and Father said from the time I was too young to understand that you would make me Empress. So how can I be expected to give up my position because of some woman!”
Duke Sevans found his daughter’s appearance not just unfamiliar but chilling.
Despite his repeated warnings, she had gone ahead and caused this scandal herself.
No one else had incited her from the side — she’d planned it and deliberately approached the Emperor’s beloved of her own volition.
And she’d done so when relations between the Emperor and Lia were already badly strained.
“I absolutely cannot give up. Not the Empress throne, not my love, not my power! I cannot give up, I tell you! So Father, please do something about this, yes!?”
“Ah, Lirlis…….”
Who had destroyed his daughter like this?
‘No, this isn’t anyone’s fault in particular.’
Lucian had understood Lirlis’s feelings and had long made his intentions clear to her.
And yet it was Lirlis who crossed the line.
Perhaps she had never imagined things would come to this?
‘Because she’d never once failed to get what she wanted.’
He felt a twinge of regret — perhaps he himself, as her father, had some hand in making her this way.
Duke Sevans patted the agitated Lirlis’s shoulders, sat her down, and gently took her hand.
“I did go confront His Majesty.”
“……Really?”
“But we didn’t manage to have a proper conversation. Or rather, I ended up speaking with the Previous Emperor instead. It seems even he knows whose heart you’ve set your sights on.”
Hope, which had been rising steadily, crashed in an instant.
“Then I am truly……to remain as I am?”
“But Her Majesty said she would help you.”
Lirlis lifted her bowed head.
“Unlike the Previous Emperor, she didn’t seem to know what was in your heart.”
“Ah, ah……! So Her Majesty didn’t abandon me after all!”
Seeing Lirlis overjoyed, Duke Sevans felt a bittersweet emotion stir within him.
And recalling what he’d heard just before leaving the Imperial Palace, he opened his mouth slightly.

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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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