The Abandoned Prince’s Ghost Bride - Chapter 150

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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 Ghost Bride — Episode 150

One hour before Lucian’s peerage ceremony began.
Lia had left the Imperial Palace with Kaiser at dawn and come to the Ghost Mansion.
Though she had stayed here for several days now, her feelings at this moment were somehow different.
She was here to bid farewell to the past once and for all.
Lia began to walk through the Mansion, starting from its outer reaches.
It was a place she knew so well she could navigate it with her eyes closed, but now that she had recovered all her memories, everything felt different.
For now she understood that this was a Mansion Odel had built imagining a life with her.
“I couldn’t even cook back then.”
Now she could prepare all manner of dishes for Lucian, but during her days as Aria, she had managed nothing more than the simplest meal preparation.
That was why, when she traveled with Kaiser, Odel, and Leon, Odel was the one responsible for cooking.
Perhaps the kitchen had been designed for Odel’s own use.
“So that’s why the counter felt subtly high.”
During her time as a spirit, she had drifted weightlessly through the air, so it had fit perfectly. Now, it was just a touch too tall.
After touring various other rooms, Lia found herself in Lucian’s chamber.
Before Lucian arrived, it had been the largest room with a bed in it, and during the time humans lived here, most had used it as a bedroom.
The thought that she might have slept and woken in this room alongside Odel instead of Lucian stirred something strange in her chest.
There was something about it she didn’t quite want to imagine.
“If it pains you, I’m sorry, Odel. But the person I love now is Lucian.”
Yet the affection she had felt for Odel had not faded.
The present had simply become more important than the past.
In truth, the only lingering presence felt in this room was Lucian’s.
Not just the impressive figure of her current lover, but his mischievous, adorable self at eight years old, his tempestuous spirit at fifteen, and even the eighteen-year-old Lucian they had quarreled with just before parting. So many different versions of him flooded her memory.
Before she knew it, Lia had moved to the next room, a smile playing at the corners of her lips.
“Ugh, dust.”
The moment she opened the door, thick clouds of dust billowed forth, and Lia’s face twisted in disgust.
She used magic to sweep the dust away, then surveyed the cramped room.
“This is strange. He made me a spacious room but left it untouched—why did he insist on making this into mine?”
She had entered the room where, during her time as a spirit, she had gathered all her belongings.
A truly tiny space—five steps would take you from one end to the other. More of a closet, really.
But the narrow walls were lined entirely with shelves, and upon them sat a diary and all manner of objects she had slowly collected.
A worn doll on the verge of disintegrating, beads that had lost their luster, assorted odds and ends.
Whenever she discovered something new or found something that caught her eye, she would enshrine it carefully in her room and treasure it.
“Back then, I spent my days with things like these.”
They were worthless now, but in the past, these very objects had given her strength to live each day.
Grateful though she was for them, they had now become the past, and as Lia tidied the room, she found she could organize her own history as well.
Before long, she had toured both the first and second floors.
There was only one place left that she had not visited. The Basement.
Standing at the entrance to the Basement, Lia recalled her state of mind the last time she had descended—before she was sealed.
“……I mistook Leon for Odel back then.”
Though Leon had used Black Magic to subtly alter his appearance to resemble Odel, Lia had been so flustered by the knowledge that Odel was about to propose that she had failed to notice anything amiss.
Lia took a deep breath and descended.
Illuminating her surroundings with magic, she saw Karcerin’s Sealing Barrier where she had been sealed, the chamber of sacrifices that had claimed so many innocent lives, and the Underground Tunnel through which Leon had come and gone.
But the true purpose of this Basement had been……
“My laboratory.”
A young witch. Three hundred years ago, Aria had been an Orphan.
Until she was ten, she lived with her mother, a witch, but the plague of that time had taken her life, leaving Aria alone.
To survive, Aria had used her talent as a witch to scrape together a living, piecing together meals as she could.
By the time she met Odel and Leon, she had grown enough to support herself, so things were manageable. But was it because she had grown up in such harsh conditions during childhood? Or was it because of memories spent in her mother’s laboratory?
She had always wanted a laboratory of her own.
“Ahem, I did say something about wanting my laboratory in the Basement when I was young, didn’t I?”
Odel had confessed his feelings first, but Aria had harbored affection for him as well. So when they spoke of this and that, wanting to seem impressive, she had mentioned that if she ever had a laboratory, she would want it in the Basement.
“I never thought he would actually make it for me.”
Though the Basement’s purpose had become terribly distorted in later years, she could feel clearly enough the depth of Odel’s affection for her.
Lia! Where are you! We need to get going!
Kaiser’s voice called to her from above. Lia gazed upon the Basement one final time and climbed back up.
“Sorry, shall we go?”
As Lia emerged into the living room, she offered an apology and approached Kaiser. But his gaze was fixed on one spot.
“……So he left this here.”
“Odel built this house, after all.”
What he was looking at was the Portrait of Odel and Aria that Henri Leyple had painted.
“At first Lucian was bothered by it, but he told me he wasn’t the type to be jealous of things like this—that I should do as I pleased.”
Perhaps it was possible precisely because he did not deny the love that Odel and Aria had shared in their past life.
“With this Portrait, the Mansion finally feels complete.”
Odel’s house, built because he wanted to build a home with Aria. And there, the beautiful Portrait of a couple.
Though it was her own image, Lia gazed at it as if viewing a stranger’s work, her smile warm and content.
“Still, you two really were bound by fate.”
“Hmm?”
At Kaiser’s words, Lia turned her head.
“Have you ever thought about why only Lucian and I could see you when you were a spirit?”
“Now that you mention it……”
Now that she had reclaimed her body and grown accustomed to it, she had forgotten entirely.
In the beginning, hadn’t she tested repeatedly whether other people could see her?
“It was because of my spell.”
“……What?”
“Right before the sealing, I was afraid Leon might reach for your spirit, so I separated your soul from your body in advance.”
In the process, Karcerin had woven a prayer-laden incantation into the departing spirit.
“So that you would only gain freedom when you met someone who truly cherished and loved you.”
Those very words were inscribed upon the Sealing Barrier that bound Aria.
But the spell’s influence extended to Aria’s spirit as well.
Only Odel, who had loved her sincerely, and Lucian and Kaiser, who were Odel and Karcerin reborn, could ever see Lia.
Learning this new truth, Lia’s eyes widened. And in the face of their love, which she could still feel lingering, she smiled softly.
“Don’t tell Lucian about this.”
“I won’t. That guy hates talk of past lives anyway. I know what’s behind that, so there’s no need to bring it up.”
Their eyes met, and the two of them laughed mischievously. They gazed at the Portrait of Odel and Aria for a moment, then turned without hesitation and walked away.
“Well then, shall we go overturn the Empire?”
“Let’s go see the humans’ faces twist in shock!”
As Kaiser stepped outside, he released his Polymorph and returned to his true form.
Lia laughed brightly at the magnificent sight of the Dragon and climbed onto his back.

* * *

And so, they returned.
Everyone in the Imperial Palace froze at the sound of a cry that seemed to tear open the very sky, frantically looking around to understand what was happening.
“W-wait…! Above…!”
Then someone pointed to the sky. In that same instant, the clear blue heavens were blotted out by something red.
“A-a Dragon…!”
Shrieeeeeeek!
The Aristocrats were seized with panic at the sight of a creature they had never before beheld. The Royalty were no different.
“Lucian! What are you doing! We need to escape!”
Leopold seized his arm and tried to pull him away, but Lucian only tilted his head with a look of bewilderment.
“Kaiser?”
“……What?”
At the familiar name, Leopold was dumbfounded. Before long, the massive Red Dragon, vast enough to blot out the sky itself, descended safely onto the now-empty space where the Aristocrats had fled in panic.
Crack—bang!
Though of course, the weight proved too much for the chairs and tables, which shattered.
Foolish humans, do you truly have the audacity to wear such sour expressions at the peerage ceremony of my partner, Lucian?
Kaiser’s enormous cry reached those who had scattered in flight.
Not long ago, Lucian urgently asked me to dispose of the Black Mages who threatened this place. And yet you, who have done nothing, dare to insert yourselves into Lucian’s peerage? By what right?
Kaiser’s piercing gaze fell upon the Aristocrats.
Lucian, realizing Kaiser’s intent, let out a quiet laugh.
“Good grief…when did you arrange all this?”
“A new myth covers an old myth.”
Leopold muttered from beside him.
Kaiser had deliberately revealed his existence while simultaneously burying the ominous tales the Aristocrats harbored under a new shock.
And his calculation proved exact.
As the Dragon, believed to exist only in myth, manifested before their eyes, the Aristocrats trembled with both terror and a spine-tingling thrill.
Lucian Odelion is one blessed with the guardianship of a Dragon in three hundred years.
At Kaiser’s following words, the Aristocrats, as if entranced, clasped their hands together and etched his words into their hearts.
Deciding that things had settled somewhat, Kaiser snorted. At that moment, something appeared above his head.
“Lucian! Let’s go!”
It was Lia. As she reached out with a radiant smile, Lucian could not help but smile as he moved toward her.
Using Kaiser’s wings as a platform, Lucian climbed onto his back and, lifted into the sky by Kaiser, managed to escape the suffocating peerage ceremony.
“Kaiser! You didn’t forget our tour around the Empire, did you?”
“Of course not!”
At Lia’s words, Kaiser laughed and soared freely across the sky.
The cold wind brushing her cheek, the tiny figures of people and buildings below, everything felt unreal yet dreamlike.
“Now there’s no one who can pass judgment on you.”
Lucian, who had been gazing absently at the landscape, turned his head at Lia’s voice beside him.
Tears seemed on the verge of spilling over. Yet Lucian burst into laughter.
“Hahahaha!”
His bright laughter rang out across the heavens. Kaiser and Lia watched him with warm satisfaction.
As his overwhelming emotions gradually subsided, Lucian stopped laughing and, still smiling, slipped his hand into his pocket.
“Lia.”
Click—
A small Box opened, and a brilliant diamond sparkled in the sunlight.
“Will you marry me?”
Lia’s eyes slowly widened. As she stood in stunned silence, Lucian carefully slipped the ring onto her left hand.
It fit perfectly, as if custom-made, without the slightest error.
Lia gazed alternately at the ring on her finger and at Lucian. The moment she saw his smiling face, every moment they had shared together unfolded like a panorama.
Tears welling at her eyes, Lia embraced Lucian’s neck.
“Yes, I do!”
“What?! What?! You’re proposing on my back?! Have you two lost your minds?!”
Before the couple could revel in their pledged futures, the oblivious Dragon interjected.
But this was always the way, so Lucian and Lia looked at each other and burst into laughter.
Kaiser protested at having missed the proposal properly, but soon the laughter proved contagious, and he too let out a hearty roar.
Across the vast sky, the joyful laughter of bonds spanning three hundred years rang out and scattered.

The Forsaken Prince’s Ghost Bride [Complete]

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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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