The Abandoned Prince’s Ghost Bride - Chapter 26

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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 Abandoned Prince’s Ghost Bride — Episode 26

‘Lucian is taking quite long. I hope nothing’s happened to him.’
More than four hours had already passed since Lucian left on the errand.
It wasn’t even that many errands — so why hadn’t he returned by now?
As Lia paced restlessly, Kaiser, who had been decorating the garden, spoke curtly.
“Thanks to him taking so long, we’ve managed to prepare the party without getting caught. Besides, if something had gone wrong, Lucian would’ve sent a signal.”
‘But there’s always that one-in-a-million chance.’
“What, are you trying to tell me Lucian got kidnapped and couldn’t do anything about it?” Kaiser asked.
‘Kidnapped?! No! I have to find Lucian right now—!’
“Good grief, I’m guilty as charged. I was just speaking carelessly, so calm down.”
As Lia began to drift upward, intending to rise above the Mansion, Kaiser stopped her. Lia barely managed to settle herself. Still, the unease wouldn’t go away.
Kaiser, who had been clicking his tongue, suddenly perked up his ears. A smirk crossed his face as he looked at Lia.
“It’s fine. He’s coming now.”
‘Really? Everything’s okay, right?’
“From the way he’s running, he seems fine. Let’s get the Surprise started instead.”
Hearing that he’d arrive soon, Lia turned off all the lights in the Mansion. Then she and Kaiser hid themselves in the garden.

* * *

“Lia~ Kaiser~”
Lucian opened the door with a bright face, breathing heavily as he looked for Lia and Kaiser.
“Do you know what happened in the Village? I met Dio, and—! Huh?”
Lucian looked around with a bewildered expression. He’d expected at least someone to greet him, but there was no one.
“Lia?”
He turned to the left.
“Kaiser?”
He turned to the right.
He felt no sign of anyone. And somehow, it seemed like all the lights in the Mansion had gone out — or was it just his imagination?
“This… this isn’t fun. Come out… don’t hide…!”
Silence answered instead. A strange illusion crept over him — had all these days been nothing but a dream?
“L-Lia…!”
Lucian finally began to sniffle. Before tears could spill down his cheeks—
Whoosh—
A candle on the floor ignited.
“Huh…?”
Starting with the candle right in front of him, others ignited in succession. There had been nothing on the floor before he left on the errand.
“Where do these lead?”
The candles stretched down the hallway rather than the stairs, past the kitchen, and toward a door that opened into the garden.
Lucian clutched the gifts in both his hands and followed the candles. Then armor appeared before his eyes.
“Eek!”
He stumbled backward in surprise, and that’s when he noticed a red ribbon hanging from the armor’s neck.
Clang, clank—
The armor moved and gently extended a hand to him. After a moment of wariness, Lucian took its hand.
The armor walked at his pace. And when they arrived at their destination…
Happy Birthday, Lucian!
Along with the sound of small fireworks, Lia and Kaiser suddenly appeared.
Lucian stared at them blankly, dumbfounded.
“This… is all….”
Behind Lia and Kaiser was a charming, decorated table.
A two-tiered Cake and appetizing Turkey, along with various other dishes and cookies.
That alone would have been surprising, but the area around the table was adorned with beautiful flowers and ribbons, and statues and other suits of armor moved about, clapping their hands.
“Ah! You were so surprised! The Surprise is a success!”
‘Lucian, how is it? Do you like the gift we prepared for you?’
Lucian, who had been gazing blankly at the party venue, finally turned back to look at Lia and Kaiser.
Both of them smiled and looked at him. That’s when tears began to flow from Lucian’s eyes.
‘L-Lucian! What’s wrong!’
“Hey, kid! Why are you crying!”
The ghost and the dragon hurried toward Lucian in alarm, and overcome with emotion, he began to weep openly.
Sob, sob, sob—!
Lia quickly embraced Lucian and tried to soothe him. Lia and Kaiser exchanged glances, wondering if they’d made some mistake.

* * *

“Sniff! Hic.”
Lucian had eventually stopped crying. His eyes were so swollen it was painful to look at.
Kaiser, who had been anxiously fidgeting, let out a long sigh and slumped into his seat.
“Why did you suddenly start crying, kid? Made us think something bad had happened.”
“……Sniff.”
‘Did we surprise you too much? Did that upset you?’
Lucian shook his head vigorously.
“I… I didn’t think you’d prepare a party like this….”
There was nothing special about why Lucian cried. It was simply that something he’d never expected had unfolded before his eyes.
Even until this morning, he hadn’t known it was his birthday, yet deep down he’d wanted to be congratulated by them.
The surprise gift from Dio and James had stirred his hopes even higher.
It was natural he wouldn’t know his own birthday since they’d never told him, yet he’d hoped they would fulfill his elevated expectations.
But contrary to his wishes, his reason understood reality well, and a child who had never once had his expectations fulfilled had learned to abandon hope even as it rose, burying his heart deep within himself.
Yet somehow, these two had learned of his heart and prepared this Surprise for him.
“H-how did you know… that today was my birthday?”
Lia and Kaiser exchanged glances. They couldn’t very well say they’d learned of his birthday through the Crown Prince’s date.
‘Is there anything about Lucian I don’t know? I know everything about you.’
“Really?”
‘Of course. I’m your bride, aren’t I?’
“Oh, so that’s why you sent me on that errand? To prepare this?”
‘Right. I thought you’d be back in an hour or two, but you took longer than expected. Still, it gave us more time to decorate beautifully.’
Lia wiped Lucian’s face clean and led him to the table laden with food.
‘How do you like it?’
“…Yes! Lia is the best!”
Lucian suddenly hugged her neck.
“Hmph, only Lia is the best? What about me? I laid out this table, decorated it with flowers, and made all these move, and I’m left out!”
So that’s where the complaining had been coming from — Kaiser, sulking, demanded his own praise and made his discontent known.
Unlike Lia, whose eyes had grown cold, Lucian laughed brightly.
“You’re the best too! I’ve never had such a fancy party before!”
“Tch! Ahem! Of course! Who did the decorating anyway!”
Pleased by those words, Kaiser scattered more light particles around and moved the armors and dolls in perfect unison. Lucian clapped his hands in delight.
“Come on, let’s eat before the food gets cold.”
The three sat around the table and began their meal. Of course, they didn’t skip singing “Happy Birthday” and cutting the Cake before eating.
Since Lia couldn’t eat, she portioned out food for Lucian and Kaiser and watched them eat with relish.
“Lia! It’s so delicious! Today tastes like the best ever!”
“You’ll have to do better to win me over with food, but this isn’t bad. Wait! Give me a leg too! Why are you only giving Lucian one!”
Even with all the noise, it wasn’t unpleasant. When had the Mansion, once so empty and quiet, changed like this?
When Lucian first arrived, he’d never imagined such a scene would unfold here.
Lia was grateful that Lucian had come here, and that she could see him.
Lucian and Kaiser soon patted their full bellies and filled their stomachs once more with Cake as a final dessert.
“I didn’t know Cake could taste this good.”
“You’ve never eaten Cake before?”
“No. I had cookies and muffins for the first time here too. They’re all so incredibly delicious!”
Lucian grinned happily as he savored the Cake, but Lia and Kaiser couldn’t help their hands trembling.
Especially Kaiser, who couldn’t manage his expression and tried to get angry, until Lia muffled his mouth with mana.
‘By the way, Lucian, what are those two boxes? They don’t seem to be the errand you sent him on.’
“Oh! That’s right!”
Lucian jumped up and brought over the two boxes.
“Lia! I… I made friends with Dio! Dio is—!”
Lucian explained everything that had happened in the Village.
“…And so he gave me these as a birthday gift!”
‘What a thoughtful friend. We should repay him later, don’t you think?’
“Yes!”
She’d already hoped he might have friends his own age, and to think he’d already made one in the Village — her heart felt much lighter.
“Oh, he gave you something nice. Let’s try it tomorrow.”
“That’s what I was thinking.”
‘This one’s from Dio, and this one is from James?’
“That’s right! Oh, I forgot to give James the food for Lia.”
Lucian regretted missing a good experimental opportunity, but Lia was actually relieved that James had left as he was. Wouldn’t he be quite startled if he’d suddenly seen the Mansion decorated so lavishly with food when he thought Lucian was alone?
What a shock that would have been.
“It’s a doll!”
What James had given was a Wooden Soldier Doll made of wood. It didn’t seem expensive, but it was the kind of gift where you could feel James’s heart in it.
Watching Lucian laugh and delight at both gifts, Lia and Kaiser exchanged a meaningful glance.
“Ahem! Surely you’re not satisfied with just these?”
“Huh?”
‘We prepared gifts too.’
Lucian’s eyes began to shine like jewels. Kaiser was the first to present his gift.
“Ahem! Ahem! What I’ve prepared is…”
Kaiser plunged his hand into the Subspace and rummaged for quite a while before pulling out an object.
“This!”
True to his nature as a dragon, it was a necklace embedded with a diamond nearly the size of a gold coin.
“Wow… it’s so shiny.”
“You won’t find a diamond this large anywhere else, you know?”
“Is this really for me?”
“Yes. But that’s not all. Try putting it on.”
As Kaiser suggested, Lucian put on the necklace. Then something changed about him.
‘Lucian, your hair….’
Lucian, whose hair and eyes had returned to normal when he came back to the Mansion, was transformed once again just as he’d been when he ventured into the Village.

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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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