The Abandoned Prince’s Ghost Bride - Chapter 16

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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 16

“Damn it. About time I got here.”
The man who’d been wandering through the forest for half a day caught sight of the Mansion in the distance and let out a relieved sigh.
He wanted nothing more than to fly there in his true form, but he knew his mother and the elders would hound him mercilessly if he did, so he gritted his teeth and held back his irritation as best he could.
“Seriously, I’m grown now. I made it all the way here without even setting the forest on fire, didn’t I?”
The man patted himself on the back and started walking toward the Mansion with a spring in his step.
“Lia…… Lia…….”
But then a young voice came from somewhere. The man stopped and looked around.
His green pupils shifted like a serpent’s as he pinpointed a boy a kilometer away.
“A human brat?”
He’d never seen humans wandering around in this forest before—and certainly not a child that small.
Curiosity sparked, and the man launched himself into the air with a sharp bound.
His red hair caught the wind as he moved in an instant to the boy’s side.
Well, to be precise, he stopped ten paces behind where the boy couldn’t see him.
“W-where am I? Lia, I’m sorry……!”
The boy the man was watching was Lucian. Weeping as he walked, he’d ventured deep into the forest and was now completely lost.
As time passed and he couldn’t find his way back to the Mansion, anxiety crawled up his legs.
To make matters worse, he’d tripped over tree roots, leaving him filthy from head to toe, and he’d cried so much that his eyes were swollen.
“It hurts…….”
Finally, Lucian came to a stop and simply sat down where he was.
His stomach ached with hunger, his body was sore, and he felt uncomfortably dirty. He wanted Lia.
Though he knew Lia couldn’t enter the forest, he kept calling her name. His voice had grown hoarse from it.
To the man, who felt nothing for mere humans, Lucian looked unusually pitiful.
Just as he was about to ignore the boy and move on, he found himself stopping in front of Lucian instead.
Lucian was so startled by the man who suddenly appeared before him that he hiccupped.
Hic!
“Hey, kid.”
“H-hic! W-who are you?”
“You don’t need to know. What are you doing out here?”
“……I’m lost.”
“Where do you live?”
“Will you take me home?”
The man watched the shine in the boy’s eyes and spoke gruffly.
“Judging by what I see. So where do you live?”
“There’s a Mansion near the forest. It’s two stories, with a black roof, and the bricks…… Oh! There’s lots of moss on them!”
As the man listened to Lucian describe his home, a strange sense of familiarity washed over him. He felt like he knew that place.
“Don’t you live in the Village?”
“No, I don’t live in that Village.”
“Then who do you live with?”
“……Why do you keep asking? Are you…… a thief?”
Lucian felt uneasy as the man continued pressing for personal details.
He remembered the fifty things Lia had warned him about before she went down to the Village.
She’d said that some people who approach friendlily are out to fleece the innocent—and their telltale sign is that they keep asking personal questions.
Lucian stiffened and took a cautious step backward, ready to bolt at any moment.
“How dare you call me a thief!”
“Ahhhhh!”
The man’s roar startled Lucian so badly that he ran on pure reflex.
The man blinked as Lucian disappeared into the distance.
“What’s wrong with him? I was just trying to help.”
It looked like he was running deeper into the forest…….
“Not my problem.”
The man promptly lost interest in Lucian and turned toward where the Mansion stood.
After walking for about thirty minutes, the Mansion appeared.
“How many years has it been?”
Four? Five? He’d been so engrossed in exploring the cold regions and holing up in the Ice Cave that time had slipped away from him.
If that irritable one hadn’t kicked him out, he might have stayed even longer.
“Still, it’s good to be back at my nest, I suppose.”
If he said something like that aloud, the ghost would definitely throw a tantrum and write all over the Slate Tablet that this was her house.
The man laughed to himself and walked lightly toward the Mansion, already looking forward to how the ghost would greet him.

* * *

[That Lucian! He’s really not coming back, is he?!]
Lia sat firmly in front of the front entrance, fuming as she waited for Lucian to return.
Two hours had passed since he ran into the forest, and he still hadn’t come back.
She told herself he’d come in once evening fell, but what if he threw a fit like when he’d hidden in the Basement? What then?
[No! I can’t lose. He’s acting out like this because I always give in.]
She couldn’t understand how Lucian could be stubborn about something he clearly knew better about.
She’d forbidden him from holding a sword for fear he’d get hurt, and he’d sobbed inconsolably and thrown himself on the floor like the world had ended.
That a kind, docile child would behave that way had shocked her all the more.
[Let him come back. I’ll give him a real scolding.]
Creak—
Just then, the door opened. Lia uncrossed her arms and stepped forward as if she’d been waiting.
[You! What time do you think it is? You’re only just getting back! You’d better apologize, if you know what’s—what?]
“Ta-da! Your boy is here!”
Lia, who’d been about to launch into a scolding, froze as an unexpected figure emerged. Her eyes went wide.
[Kaizar!]
“Ha ha! Happy to see me, right? I know, I know. I brought all sorts of things this time. So hurry and give me a proper welcome.”
Kaizar. He was someone who had started visiting the Mansion about fifty years after Lia came to live there, dropping by every four or five years to tell her news from the outside world.
As expected, he was not human.
[You little lizard! What are you doing coming out of there!]
He was a lizard—no, a Red Dragon. The very kind that had vanished from the world so long ago that it was now said to be extinct.
Kaizar, his red hair flying, was lost in self-admiration. Lia, who had been speechless for only a moment, hurried over to the Slate Tablet nearby and began writing.
“Ooh! There you go, writing!”
For the record, Kaizar could not see Lia. But he knew of her existence, and he communicated with her through the words she wrote on the Slate Tablet.
-What brings you here?
“What brings me? I came because I figured you’d be pining for me.”
[Pine, my foot.]
-You got kicked out of another Lair again, didn’t you?
Kaizar’s shoulders twitched at what Lia had written on the Slate Tablet. He broke into a cold sweat and turned his gaze away awkwardly.
“Ahem! You think I’m some snot-nosed Hatchling? I’m all grown up now! In five more years I’ll be a full Adult Dragon!”
[You’re absolutely shameless.]
For someone not even three hundred years old, he certainly had delusions of grandeur.
“I can visit my own house if I want, can’t I?”
[This is not your house! Should I throw you out again like I used to?]
As Lia’s words came through sharp with suppressed fury, Kaizar laughed in amusement.
Still, it had been a while since he’d seen her, so he was genuinely glad. Before Lucian, she was the only one he could really communicate with.
Though their talks were limited since she couldn’t see his form, and they had to rely on the Slate Tablet.
“I brought extraordinary gifts, by the way! Look at this!”
Kaizar quickly sat down where the sofa was and opened a Subspace, dumping out a flood of objects.
There were bizarre items, jewelry, magical artifacts, and countless books.
“Seriously, you have no idea how much I suffered getting here. Don’t you feel that I’ve matured a little, just by not burning down the forest?”
-If you’d burned down the forest, you’d have been locked in your mother’s Lair until you reached Adult Dragon status.
“Ugh, you know me far too well.”
Kaizar grumbled when she praised him, asking where he’d get any extra credit for good behavior.
“Oh, that’s right. I saw some human brat on the way here.”
Lia, who had been sifting through the gifts halfheartedly, went completely still at his words.
“He seemed lost. I tried to help him, but he just ran off.”
Lia’s hands began to tremble. She started to cry out, then quickly grabbed the Slate Tablet and scrawled across it frantically.
-What did the child look like?
“What did he look like? I didn’t get a good look, so I’m not sure.”
[How could you not look properly! You should have looked properly!]
“Wait, now that I think about it, he said he lived in a Mansion near the forest. Two-story house, black roof, and moss-covered bricks…… Wait. Isn’t that this Mansion?”
[Lucian!]
Lia shot up from her seat. As her agitation spiked, the gifts nearby began floating in the air all around her. Startled, Kaizar uncurled the fingers he’d been pointing with.
-Where exactly did you see that child? Is he still in the forest?
“……Why are you like this?”
Kaizar stared blankly, utterly at a loss, while Lia’s insides burned.
-Stop talking and tell me now!
“Well…… I don’t know where he is now either. Like I said, he saw me and ran. By now, he’s probably turned into bear food.”
Crack!
A window nearby fractured. More than that, the Candles lighting the room went out and flared back up erratically, causing the entire house to flicker with ominous shadows.
Kaizar sensed that something was very wrong and his eyes went wide.
-Bring that child back. Right now.
“Why? Do you know him?”
-Yes. I know him very well. So bring him back. Quickly.
“Hmph, I don’t want to. Why should I? What a hassle…….”
Zing!
Kaizar’s mouth snapped shut as he watched a Knife whiz past his cheek.
[Do as I say while you’re still in one piece.]
-Or I’ll fold you in half.
Only after Lia broke the Slate Tablet in two did Kaizar move from his seat.
He shouted that he wasn’t scared and was only going because he wanted to, but his legs trembled traitorously beneath him.
Either way, Lia’s entire consciousness was fixed on Lucian, lost in the forest.
The sun had already set, and night had fallen.
All she could do was pray that Kaizar would reach him in time.

* * *

“Tch, why am I running errands for a ghost…….”
Kaizar groused as he entered the forest under Lia’s orders.
At this point, maybe he should just deliberately take his time and arrive late?
-Sure. So you want to die by my hand.
As if the words on the Slate Tablet had written themselves in his mind, he immediately shook his head.
Right, better not cause trouble. That ghost was nothing but a headache.
“How dare you pester me like this! You pathetic human!”
So his mother was right—there was never any good in getting mixed up with humans.
Kaizar gritted his teeth as he tried to recall Lucian’s face, which was already becoming hazy.
A sound more unsettling than any beast rang out, and sparks of fire danced at the corner of his mouth.
At the same time, his pupils became serpentine. The dark forest suddenly became as bright as noon.
Since things had come to this, he might as well search quickly and leave. Kaizar scanned the surrounding forest.
Lia……!
“Found him.”
A child’s voice echoed from afar. Kaizar launched himself from where he stood immediately.
Whoosh!
A small gust swept through as he closed the distance to Lucian in an instant.
Lucian was in grave danger—a pack of wolves had him surrounded.
If Kaizar had been even a minute later, Lucian would have become wolf food.
At Kaizar’s appearance, Lucian managed to lift his tear-swollen eyes, while the wolves’ tails dropped and they trembled.
“A mere beast dares to threaten someone?”
Kaizar’s Dragon Language pierced their brains. Half the wolves foamed at the mouth, while the other half shrieked in agony and fled in terror.
Only after the beasts had completely withdrawn did Kaizar lower his killing intent.
When he turned around, he saw Lucian—far worse off than he’d been an hour ago.
“Hey, kid.”
“……Lia?”
“Lia? Who’s that? If you’re going to address me, you should know I’m the noble Red Dragon, Kaizar—wait, hey! Hey!”
He’d been about to demand the boy bow in reverence when Lucian suddenly collapsed forward. Kaizar, startled, caught him before he could hit the ground.
“What the—you’re burning up!”
The situation was worse than he’d thought. Severe dehydration, bruising and abrasions all over, and a fever on top of it.
“……If the ghost sees him like this, she’ll go crazy.”
A bad feeling crept over him. Kaizar considered just lying and saying the kid was dead, but then he decided to hell with it and scooped Lucian into his arms.
“This is ridiculous! Who makes a dragon run errands?!”
Kaizar roared loud enough to make the forest ring, then spread his scaled wings, still in Polymorph form but shrunk down.
With a single beat of his wings, he burst out of the forest.
The forest that the dragon had left behind gradually returned to peace.

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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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