The Abandoned Prince’s Ghost Bride - Chapter 158

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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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Ghost Bride of the Abandoned Prince
Side Story 8. The Empress Selection (4)

“She is quite different from the rumors. Her sociability is modest, yet she doesn’t arbitrarily divide people into castes, and you can feel how she views everyone with equality. Though some do regard her with discontent about this…….”
The moment Lirlis came up in conversation, Juliet, without realizing it, grew animated—and in that instant regretted it.
She had forgotten it, caught up as she was in remaining at his side as a fellow candidate, but wasn’t Lirlis originally the Emperor’s longtime fiancée?
Moreover, from the rumors she’d heard, it seemed they hadn’t parted on particularly good terms.
‘If I’ve offended His Majesty’s mood…….’
Seized by premature dread, Juliet cautiously studied Leopold.
And her eyes widened at the unexpected reaction.
“……Lirlis?”
Far from taking displeasure at her mention of Lirlis, he seemed surprised.
‘No, that’s not all—there’s something subtly…….’
Though he listened to her story with a smiling face and continued the conversation kindly, Juliet sensed an invisible wall emanating from the Emperor.
But the moment Lirlis was mentioned, that wall crumbled, and it was as though she caught a glimpse of the real Leopold, however briefly.
“……Ah, forgive me. Where were we?”
Leopold, who had been caught in considerable shock, suddenly came to his senses and tried to continue the conversation.
But to Juliet’s eyes, it looked like an attempt to change the subject.
‘Perhaps…….’
Recalling one particular hypothesis, Juliet continued the conversation as though nothing were amiss.
After that, the topic of Lirlis never came up between them again.

* * *

“……If only I’d had more time.”
Lirlis gazed down at the Embroidery she had completed, her eyes holding a note of regret.
Though others would have marveled at the exquisite craftsmanship on display, the artist herself saw only its shortcomings.
The thought that this work might find its way into Leopold’s hands, that he might use it, stirred in her a hunger for more.
But as she now faced the need to receive her evaluation results at once, Lirlis set aside her ambition.
Just then, she caught sight of Juliet, being guided by an attendant from across the way.
The moment Juliet spotted Lirlis, she approached with a bright smile of greeting.
“My lady, are you headed to receive your evaluation results?”
“Indeed. Your turn was just before mine, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Watching Juliet beam at her, Lirlis imagined she could see a puppy’s tail wagging behind her.
‘Just what does she see in me?’
When the other candidates whispered behind her back and made her the target of gossip, Juliet alone had approached her warmly, speaking to her consistently.
Even though there were two other candidates superior to her own prospects.
She was still mulling this over when Lirlis noticed that Juliet had not left, but remained standing before her.
“Is there something you wish to say?”
“Well, if I speak of it here, it might bring me disadvantage…….”
Juliet was keeping watch on the nearby attendants. Lirlis couldn’t understand why she was being so cautious when it was merely an ordinary examination.
“This much should be fine. My lady, I would very much like for you to become Empress.”
“……What?”
Taken aback by such unexpected words, Lirlis was confused. Moreover, hearing such a thing from a fellow candidate—surely there was some hidden agenda behind it?
“So please, in this evaluation, reveal your honest heart. Then I’m certain something will come back to you.”
“I haven’t the faintest idea what you mean.”
“Hehe, because I don’t believe you’re participating in this selection merely for power. If anything, aren’t you better suited to it than someone driven purely by personal greed?”
The words remained cryptic, but an attendant cut off their conversation before Lirlis could ask further.
“……I truly cannot fathom her thinking.”
Lirlis wondered if Juliet might be harboring some ulterior motive, but from everything she had observed of her thus far, that seemed out of character.
She was far too innocent and guileless to harbor such cunning.
“Please proceed through here.”
Before she could think further, they had reached their destination. Lirlis swept the memory of Juliet’s words from her mind and straightened her bearing to make a favorable impression in the evaluation.
And so she entered——
“Welcome, Lady Sebance.”
For the first time in nearly half a year, she could face Leopold directly.
Startled beyond measure, her body went rigid—but only for a moment. Then, recalling Juliet’s words, she quickly composed herself and raised the hem of her skirt.
“I greet the great sun of the Empire.”
Save for that initial moment of surprise, her bow was flawless.
Though Leopold heard such greetings countless times a day from anyone and everyone, this moment felt profoundly strange to him.
‘Is it because I’m receiving such a bow from Lirlis for the first time?’
This was indeed his first time meeting her in person since regaining his body.
All this time, he had ignored the earnest appeals from both her and Duke Sebance, refusing to grant her an audience.
Seeing his former fiancée at close range after glimpsing her only from afar for so long……
‘She is still beautiful.’
Perhaps because the afternoon was still bright, sunlight streaming through the window illuminated her features all the more.
Leopold emerged from his brief reverie and, as he had done with the other candidates, approached Lirlis and extended his hand.
Her eyes flickered uncertainly for a moment before she took his hand.
It was merely an escort of a few steps, yet for them both it was time enough to stir memories of the past.
“I shall be your examiner for this trial. May I see the Embroidery you have prepared?”
Lirlis’s hand trembled. It was the first time since childhood that Leopold had addressed her not by name, but as “lady.”
In that moment, she understood: things between them were no longer as they had been.
‘No—truly, I already knew.’
She had known from the moment she entered this room and met Leopold, from the first day of the selection when she glimpsed him from afar, and even from when she first heard that the Empress Selection would be held—all along, she had known.
She had simply refused to acknowledge it. Still harboring a small hope that if they could meet face to face and speak, perhaps things could return to how they were.
But the moment they met and she saw Leopold treat her with such formality, Lirlis felt the flower of that hope wither and crumble.
With a weary expression, Lirlis handed over her Embroidery. Then, with anxious heart, she watched Leopold examine her work.
‘I should have refined it more.’
Beyond mere regret came a wave of self-loathing at her own inadequacy.
“……Exquisite. Truly beyond reproach.”
At those words, Lirlis felt tears threatening to spill.
“You pass. I trust you will show yourself equally well in the next trial.”
“……It is an honor.”
“Now that the examination is concluded……shall we speak privately for a time?”
When Leopold himself proposed the very thing she had longed for, Lirlis’s eyes widened.
“Do not be concerned. This is not an examination venue—it is merely a chamber I have prepared privately, for I wished to know what manner of people have risen this far as candidates.”
“I see…….”
Only then did Lirlis recall Juliet, who had come from across the way. She had certainly entered the examination just an hour and a half before.
Realizing this was no special treatment reserved for her alone, she concealed her desire to hope.
“……How did you come to participate in this selection?”
Leopold had not asked this question when meeting the previous three candidates.
For one, his information about them came only from documents; for another, asking such a direct question on a first meeting might prevent him from hearing the truth.
So at first, he had posed various personal questions to ease their tension, learning about them gradually.
But with Lirlis, it was different.
They had been betrothed since childhood and knew each other far too well—including the fact that in the past, she had enjoyed meeting with other men behind his back.
“……I could not bear to give up like this.”
Leopold’s fists clenched.
“I committed a terrible sin, and because of it, our betrothal was broken. Only now do I understand how much more than I deserved Your Majesty gave to me.”
Leopold felt a bitter laugh welling up inside him.
By “more than deserved,” did she mean power and the Emperor’s favor?
“I thought my task was to acknowledge my sin, to live in self-reflection…… but regret kept gnawing at me.”
“I see. That answer is sufficient.”
Sensing that Leopold was cutting her short, Lirlis studied his face.
Unlike the businesslike tone from moments before, his expression had taken on a tinge of emotion, his brows drawn slightly. Prompted by this, Lirlis continued.
“If I end things this way without conveying my true heart to you, I fear I will regret it for all my life.”
“Enough. I said that was sufficient…….”
“I love you, Leopold.”
A confession slipped past Lirlis’s lips before she could stop herself. In that instant, Leopold stilled, turning the words over in his mind.
“What did you just say…….”
“The person I love is not Lucian Odelion—it is Leopold Odelion.”
“And you expect me to believe that now? Or are you weaving lies because everything has been taken from you and you wish to reclaim it?”
Leopold finally lost his composure, half-rising from his seat as he leaned forward toward Lirlis. Yet her gaze remained only sorrowful.
“……What I believed to be affection for Lucian Odelion was only because he wore Your Majesty’s face and showed me the image I desired.”
“…….”
“I mistakenly thought that, unlike other men, he saw me as I truly am. But the one who truly saw me was Your Majesty. I simply failed to recognize the love that was right before my eyes…….”
“……Then why come to me with such words now? Are we to become betrothed again, is that it?”
Leopold’s brow furrowed as he watched Lirlis shake her head.
“I merely wished for you to understand my heart. I could not bear to end things in misunderstanding.”
She seemed to have abandoned all hope, yet there was a strange lightness to her bearing. She did not sound like she was lying.
Leopold sat back down and ran his fingers roughly through his hair.
“Lirlis.”
The person before him now was not Emperor Leopold, but the Leopold she had known since childhood.
“Yes.”
“You know I loved you very much, don’t you?”
“……Yes.”
“When my body was taken, I witnessed everything you did. How you accepted the First Emperor’s proposal and chose Lucian instead of me.”
“Leopold, that’s……!”
“I even considered simply burying it all and continuing our betrothal as though I didn’t know.”
Lirlis’s eyes wavered.
“But if I buried it that way, I knew I could never trust you again. Now, whether you call it a misunderstanding or what you will, my love already ended then.”
At Leopold’s firm words, Lirlis bowed her head. Tears had begun to gather at her eyes, and she desperately hid her weeping from him.
Yet Leopold already knew she was crying.
“……I loved you without reservation. And so, I will never love anyone as I loved you again.”
“I…… I’m sorry. I was so wrong…….”
“You love me?”
“Yes…… The person I love is you.”
“Then show me. Prove it.”
Lirlis lifted her head. Through her tears, she saw Leopold’s face, hardened with resolve.
“If you hate the thought of me with another woman, if you hate the idea of another taking the Empress’s throne, then strive with all your might to be selected as Empress.”
“…….”
“The Empress I desire is one who will build the Empire alongside me, who knows to point out when I have strayed from the righteous path, and who shows trust without betrayal. But you have already broken that trust.”
Lirlis’s heart raced.
This was not Leopold pushing her away—this was him giving her a chance.
“The Empress will be chosen not by me, but only by those who pass until the final trial. And I have no intention of taking any woman other than an Empress, so this will be your last chance to claim me.”
Light bloomed in Lirlis’s formerly clouded eyes, and a fierce determination took root there.
“But even if you become Empress, rebuilding the trust you have shattered will be difficult. I may never love you again. Still, will you attempt it?”
“……That holds no threat for me, Leopold.”
Lirlis smiled radiantly.
“Until now, I have only received your love. Now it is my turn to give it back. Wait for me—I will find my way back to your side.”
Leopold deliberately furrowed his brow before departing first.
As he hurried down the corridor in a near-escape, he suddenly stopped and turned back to gaze at the room where Lirlis remained.
‘I did my very best.’
Yet the reward for love given with all his strength was betrayal, and the wound from it seemed to mean he could never love anyone again.
No matter who that person might be—even if it was Lirlis.
“So then, I await it.”
Now it is your turn, Lirlis.
Leopold walked down the hallway with somewhat lighter steps.

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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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