The Abandoned Prince’s Ghost Bride - Chapter 127

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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 — Episode 127

As all the pieces fell into place, the sense of frustration dissolved, yet the ruin of their relationship caused by Leon alone felt truly tragic.
Lucian finished his thoughts and turned his head.
Lia remained frozen in shock.
‘This is too harsh on her.’
Only days ago, she hadn’t suffered from the memories that surfaced—particularly when she realized that Odel might have died by her brother’s hand.
But conjecture had become fact, and knowing now that this entire catastrophe had unfolded because Leon harbored affection for Aria, Lucian couldn’t begin to imagine what Lia’s heart must endure.
Lucian tightened his grip on Lia’s hand.
Only then did Lia turn to face him. Her eyes wavered aimlessly, like someone standing on the edge of a precipice.
“Lia, this isn’t your fault.”
Lia’s lips trembled faintly.
“Don’t carry guilt. This happened because of Leon’s twisted love—and that’s a word that doesn’t even fit. You’re the victim here, truly.”
“Is it really…… like that?”
“Yes. If I were Odel, I wouldn’t blame you for my death. No one who loves wants to see their beloved suffer because of them.”
Lia’s eyes reddened with tears.
“Even when it hurts and I don’t want to remember, I hate myself for not recalling such an important memory.”
When she’d first recovered her memories, the impact had been overwhelming.
The bonds of her past had felt more precious than the present could ever be, with the past threatening to bury the present entirely.
That’s why learning that Odel had been her lover terrified her.
‘If I recover all my memories, what becomes of Lucian?’
Her feelings for Lucian now held not a shred of falsehood—they were utterly genuine.
But the moment she recalled the memory of loving Odel, she feared she’d long for him more, love him more deeply than she loved Lucian.
Conversely, now that it was clear why Odel had died, it disgusted her that she shrank from facing her past simply out of fear.
Whether she remembered or not, hell lay waiting before her eyes.
“Two of them are already dead. Odel and Karserine…… they died because of me…….”
Though she’d tried so hard not to drown in the past, the thought that two people had died for her sake overwhelmed her with despair she couldn’t control.
Fresh tears welled in her eyes. Lucian wore an expression of anguish as he patted her shoulder gently.
Age watched the scene with a heavy heart.
After reading through all the letters, Age had debated whether to convey them to Lia by word alone or show them to her directly.
Believing it would be better for her to read the letters herself in order to recover her memories, Age had brought them along……
‘Nothing is ever easy.’
Even a White Dragon indifferent to human affairs found their heart unsettled watching the suffering witch.
“No, Lia.”
Then Kaiser’s voice broke the silence.
Everyone turned to look at him, and Lia gazed up at Kaiser through tear-blurred eyes.
“We willingly gave our lives to protect you.”
“……Kaiser?”
“Odel asked me to look after you. He said his brother seemed to be scheming something, and begged me to please save you.”
Everyone stared at Kaiser in astonishment.
In this moment, he bore the appearance of Karserine, not Kaiser at all.
Lia especially widened her eyes in shock as Karserine’s visage seemed to overlap Kaiser’s form.
Fragments of unfamiliar scenes began surfacing in Kaiser’s mind one by one.
They were clearly memories from his past life—Karserine’s memories.
The most vivid among them was the image of Odel, a blade lodged in his abdomen, coughing blood.
Kaiser—no, Karserine—had discovered him in that state and rushed to his side.
‘Odel! Odel! Snap out of it! Who in the hell did this to you……!’
Karserine had wanted to heal Odel’s wounds immediately. But no matter how many times he pulled out the blade and cast Healing Magic, the wound refused to close.
Fearing excessive bleeding would claim him, Karserine pressed desperately against the wound site.
Odel, breathing shallowly with fading eyes, looked at Karserine.
‘Kar…… serine.’
‘Damn it all! Don’t speak! I’ll save you, I swear it—just hold on, keep your wits about you!’
‘……I’m already lost. I’ve been cursed. I can’t be healed.’
‘What? You’re saying those Black Mages did this to you? Those bastards—I’ll……!’
‘Leon.’
The agitated Karserine froze at the familiar name that lodged in his ears.
‘……Leon did this to me.’
Karserine’s green eyes wandered without direction.
‘Leon? How can that be…… why would he? He cherished you more than anyone……!’
‘Aria is in danger.’
Karserine, who had been venting his fury, felt his lips tremble. Odel, breathing his last, managed to speak.
‘He…… he might put Aria in danger. Please, go save her.’
‘Here you are, barely clinging to life, and you worry about others?!’
‘……Please. Aria is more precious to me than my own life.’
Karserine knew. No matter how desperately he clung, he couldn’t save Odel.
Odel himself understood this well, which is why he entrusted Aria to Karserine’s care.
In the end, Karserine couldn’t hold back his tears.
‘Damn it! I’ll save Aria and punch that bastard Leon in the mouth, I swear it! Don’t you dare move from here! If you die, I’ll kill you myself, you hear me?!’
‘……Thank you, Karserine.’
Odel smiled at the weeping Karserine.
And so Karserine had no choice but to abandon the dying Odel and rush toward Aria.
After that…… the memories connect to the visions he saw in the Underground Chamber.
Kaiser, having recalled Karserine’s memories clearly enough, approached her as he saw her violet eyes wet with tears.
“Until his dying breath, Odel thought only of you. Even in a moment when he might die at any second, he thought only of you. How pleased he’d be to see you blaming yourself now.”
“…….”
Lia realized that the one before her was not Kaiser, but Karserine.
She didn’t know why he appeared so like Karserine, but his words brought her profound comfort.
“Really…… it wasn’t because of me?”
“Knowing how we felt about you, how could you not understand?”
Lia rose from her seat and embraced him tightly. Soon after, she broke into sobs, tears streaming down her face.
“Why did you do it? How foolishly you gave your life! You should have lived. Then someday we would have met again……!”
“Is that what you’d say to your benefactor?”
“……But still!”
“……The fault was partly mine too. It happened because I foolishly trusted Leon. I should have doubted him when he suddenly asked me to create a Sealing Magic circle for him.”
When relations between him and Leon had grown awkward and Karserine sought a way to grow close to him again, Leon approached first and asked him to create a Magic Circle.

‘Make the most powerful sealing Magic Circle for me. Something humans can’t easily break, even if not quite a Dragon-tier seal.’
‘Of course! Leave it to me!’

At that time, he had only felt joy that Leon sought him out again.
Had he known that Magic Circle would be used as a means to trap Aria, he would have refused that request absolutely.
“Aria.”
Lia, her garment dampened by tears, lifted her head.
“All we want is your happiness. You don’t need vengeance for the past, you don’t need to long for us. If you can simply live in the present and build yourself a happy, new life, we would be happier than words could say.”
“……Karserine.”
“Now you have someone new by your side.”
Kaiser wiped away Lia’s tears and gestured toward Lucian.
Lia pressed her lips firmly together and nodded. Following Kaiser’s lead, she reached out and took Lucian’s hand.
Lucian smiled to reassure her and gently touched her face, ruined as it was by tears.
“I don’t want to hurt you anymore…… but my feelings overwhelm me. I’m sorry, Lucian…….”
“You needn’t apologize. Go ahead—remember, mourn, love. That’s something only the Lia of now can do. There’s no need to separate past from present. They’re both you.”
Whenever Lia recalled her past and suffered, grieved, and was consumed by it, Lucian’s heart ached.
It pained him that he couldn’t bear her suffering for her, and it saddened him that she couldn’t fully process her memories because she was watching his expression.
It would be a lie to say he didn’t feel jealousy toward the bonds of her past, but he felt an overwhelming gratitude toward those who had cherished her before.
Because they had cared for Lia, she was now here, shedding tears.
Let her grieve countless times. Let her weep until she collapses. All of it would become a stepping stone for Lia to move forward into the present, built upon the foundation of her past.
If she didn’t properly remember them here and now, she would fall back into place countless times over.
Then shouldn’t he step forward first and support her?
Lia felt Lucian’s heart clearly in that moment and smiled faintly.
“I’m glad the person I fell in love with is you.”
Had she never met Lucian, she would have spent her whole life bound as a spirit to the Mansion, never reclaimed her body, and never known of her own past.
Everything that makes her who she is, her very presence here now—all of it became possible the moment she met Lucian.

* * *

“That makes four locations confirmed now.”
Habier drew an X through one of the marked locations on the Capital map.
He was currently investigating the underground tunnels constructed beneath the Temple on Lucian’s orders.
He was methodically noting every detail—checking whether anything unusual lay among the painstakingly obtained tunnel blueprints, marking any newly constructed passages, and more.
As a result, he had confirmed four entrances to the underground tunnels so far, and he had discovered new passages not shown on the original blueprints, marking them on the existing map.
“At least the Old Faction hasn’t been using these tunnels much—that’s fortunate.”
“It appears they’ve only used them when moving to the Mansion.”
Though they’d been investigating the tunnels for days now, they hadn’t encountered any Black Mages.
Everything suggested no one had passed through here in some time, so they could only infer that the faction didn’t frequent these tunnels regularly.
“We’ve confirmed about half now.”
Reviewing the path they’d covered and the locations they’d checked, they had only the upper reaches of the Capital remaining—the area near the Imperial Palace.
“Since barely half is left, let’s all hurry up a bit.”
Everyone nodded at Habier’s words.
They walked through the unchecked tunnels, carefully examining their condition.
Then Habier, who had been leading while studying the map, came to an abrupt halt.
“……What is this?”
The map clearly showed a straight passage ahead, yet a side passage had opened in the wall.
“Might it be a more recent addition, like last time?”
One of the Priests offering his observation as he examined the map with them. Habier nodded in agreement and studied the side passage. When he checked the direction of the new passage against the map……
“It leads toward the Imperial Palace.”
It was heading toward the Imperial Palace.
‘……Now that I think about it, they said Leopold’s body might harbor the Spirit of the First Emperor.’
They still couldn’t say with certainty whether the awakened Leopold was truly Leopold himself or the First Emperor.
‘If the First Emperor truly has been alive all this time, he definitely would have tunneled his way to the Imperial Palace.’
Habier was certain this passage led to the Imperial Palace and stepped forward into the side tunnel.

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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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