The Abandoned Prince’s Ghost Bride - Chapter 3

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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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Forsaken Prince’s Ghost Bride — Episode 3

—Observation Journal, Day 10.
Since the fire broke out in the Kitchen, Lucian hasn’t set foot anywhere near it.
He’s clearly frightened of cooking now. But there are no more Potatoes or Sweet Potatoes left for him to eat.
In the end, Lucian settled for a Carrot—the only thing he could eat raw.
He crunched the Carrot between his teeth and began to cry.
I don’t feel particularly good about this.

.
.
.

—Observation Journal, Day 14.
With each passing day, Lucian’s cheeks have grown hollower. Now that he’s finished the Carrot, there’s nothing left for him to eat raw.
Moreover, more than half the remaining ingredients have rotted away.
The gurgling from Lucian’s stomach doesn’t stop.
Filling his belly with water alone, Lucian tried to eat a raw Egg and cracked one open.
……Good heavens. An Egg left out at room temperature for so long had begun to hatch—a half-formed chick carcass tumbled out.
Lucian gagged and fled the Kitchen.

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—Observation Journal, Day 16.
Lucian hasn’t eaten a single meal today.
At this rate, he’s going to starve—

[Argh! Damn it!]
I hurled a shriek and abandoned my writing.
I couldn’t focus on the journal anymore. Setting down the pen I’d suspended in the air, I flew toward where Lucian was.
Passing through the wall, I saw him curled up on the bed.
Growwwwl~
A belly’s complaint echoed loudly through the silent room. The small mound that had risen on his middle trembled, curling in on itself even more.
He was desperately trying to endure the hunger.
Lucian hadn’t eaten a single meal since yesterday at noon, and for the four days before that he’d eaten only once a day, and only raw famine crops devoid of any nutrition.
The only reason he’d managed to survive at all was that he was a child—an adult would have collapsed long ago.
[Damn it, how many days has he been here?]
I returned to my room and checked the Observation Journal.
I started writing the day after Lucian arrived, so today is the seventeenth day.
More than half a month has already slipped away. The supplies are supposed to be delivered once a month, which means I have thirteen days left—roughly two weeks.
[Damn it all, why hasn’t a single soul come to check on him?!]
I was furious. They clearly knew the boy couldn’t cook, yet they’d abandoned him alone in this great Mansion.
Watching them leave him behind on the wedding day itself made me wonder, then wonder again.
I’d told myself they’d at least come by once a week to see if he was dead or alive.
That wondering had caught me—a ghost, not even human anymore.
[What if he starves to death?!]
This won’t do. I’m going to end up arranging a funeral.
If it were an adult, I wouldn’t care whether they lived or died, but this is Lucian—he can’t even read.
If some little child starved to death and became an Earth-Bound Spirit like me, I’d just find myself worrying about him forever.
[This absolutely is not me helping him.]
I just don’t want the Mansion to have another Earth-Bound Spirit like me haunting it.
I hurried down to the Kitchen and checked what ingredients remained.
[I can probably make bread or Oatmeal.]
It was good that I’d tidied things bit by bit while Lucian was away.
I’d organized the seasonings like Salt and Sugar in glass jars long ago, and arranged the other ingredients in their proper places.
Since Lucian hasn’t eaten anything decent in days, I need to make something easy on his stomach.
[Oatmeal will have to do.]
I quickly gathered oats and Salt and the like. I lit the stove, brought over a pot, and began toasting the oats.
[Never thought I’d be the one cooking.]
Of course, ghosts don’t feel hunger. Since I can’t eat, I’ve never had reason to cook.
Yet I’d watched the humans who once lived in the Mansion cook in passing, and I’d memorized every book in the Library, so cooking methods were stored in my mind.
[Oh no! It’s burning! It’s burning!]
The problem is, without being able to smell, I can’t tell if something’s burnt unless I see smoke.
I reflexively reached for the pot’s handle, but my hand passed through it, so I awkwardly used Magic instead.
[Because of Lucian, I keep forgetting I’m a ghost.]
The reason I can pick up objects and clean the Mansion despite being a ghost is that I know Magic.
Normally, one can use Magic with the Mana within their body, but in my case, since I have no body, I use the Mana drifting around me instead of Mana within myself.
After three hundred years as a ghost, I’ve learned to do at least that much.
I carefully picked out the charred oats and ground them fine.
[Now I just pour in the Milk!]
The Milk comes from a goat that sometimes wanders into the Courtyard.
I can’t smell it, but it seems to have turned out decently enough. Still, I thought it might be a bit plain as is, so I sprinkled Salt on it.
[……How much should I sprinkle?]
The cookbook just said to taste as you go and season appropriately. But I can’t taste anything, since I can’t eat.
[Well, maybe this much? Or a little more?]
I just guessed. Once it seemed about right, I poured the finished Oatmeal into a bowl.
[Now, how do I give it to him?]
If I just leave it by his bed, he’ll start looking for whoever brought it.
I stood there wrestling with the problem for quite a while.
[Ah! I can waft the smell!]
Since Lucian is starving, he’ll definitely notice the smell of Oatmeal.
I hurried to his door with the bowl and cracked it open ever so slightly, gently blowing the scent inside.
After about a minute of this, the little mound on the bed trembled.
“……That smells delicious.”
[It worked!]
Lucian swallowed hard and got out of bed. I grabbed the Oatmeal and made for the stairs before he could open the door.
Fortunately, he followed the smell into the Kitchen bit by bit.
Just before he arrived, I set the bowl on the table and hid myself in the cupboard.
“……Is this food?”
Seeing the steaming Oatmeal, Lucian’s face lit up. Soon he was burying his nose in the bowl.
[He’s going to burn his tongue.]
“Ow! Ow! Hot!]
[Told you so.]
Unable to keep still at the heat, he eventually calmed down and began blowing on each spoonful before eating.
“Ugh, it’s salty!]
At that word, I flinched. It seems I’d put in too much Salt.
[Next time I’ll use less.]
Slurp, slurp, slurrrp! Munch, munch!
But Lucian ate the Oatmeal so enthusiastically that anyone watching would’ve felt proud. Despite saying it was salty, he must have been desperately hungry.
When he’d finished the whole bowl, he stared at it blankly.
There was more Oatmeal nearby, but when I looked closer, transparent drops began falling into the bowl.
[Why, why is he crying?]
I was completely taken aback.
“It’s delicious…… so very delicious…….”
For a moment, I was at a loss for words.
How miserable and difficult it must have been.
Married to a ghost at such a young age, abandoned alone in the Mansion without even decent meals—those must have been unbearable days.
Lucian cried quietly for a long time.
While crying, he ate another bowl of Oatmeal, washed the bowl clean, and stored the rest carefully in a corner.
After he left, I lingered in the Kitchen for a long while.
[All right, let’s stop this now.]
I threw the Observation Journal I’d kept in a corner of the Kitchen into the hearth fire. Two weeks of entries turned to ash in an instant.
Yet somehow, my heart felt lighter.
[I need to keep the boy alive first.]
After observing him for two weeks, I’d apparently grown attached. Curious about what expression Lucian—who’d done nothing but cry and frown—would show when he smiled.

* * *

“Ugh, I’m thirsty.”
Lucian woke to an overwhelming thirst. The Oatmeal he’d eaten yesterday must have been too salty.
To quench it, he drank the water that had been left by his bed in advance.
After emptying one cup, the thirst finally subsided.
“Hehe, hehehe…….”
He recalled yesterday’s events and burst into laughter.
“Who could it be? The person from that first day?”
In truth, he’d been certain he was dying yesterday.
His stomach was empty, he couldn’t cook, there was no food. He could have gone outside and eaten grass, but he didn’t have the will for it.
Rather, he’d wished he could just die then and there. Being alone in this vast Mansion seemed harder than death itself.
But when death drew close, he was afraid. He would have accepted help from anyone.
And then a miracle occurred.
“But why won’t they show themselves?”
He was curious why his mysterious savior—whose face, name, and even gender he didn’t know—refused to reveal themselves.
Was it because they’d been ordered by the Imperial Palace not to let their identity be known?
“……I just want to say thank you.”
Lucian touched the empty cup, slumped his shoulders in melancholy, then shook his head.
“Let me search for them again!”
Growwwwl~
Reinvigorated, he declared his resolve aloud, but his belly’s complaint sounded with terrible timing.
Though no one was around, Lucian blushed with embarrassment.
“Ahem, well, let me eat first, shall I?”
Thinking of the portion he’d saved yesterday, he should be able to last until dinner today.
Once it ran out, food would be scarce, so he decided to portion it carefully.
Just before leaving, his eye caught a pile of laundry that had accumulated.
“……Once I eat, I should do the washing too.”
He wasn’t sure how, but it was simple enough—soak it in water and wring it out. Right?
Before, having to do everything alone had felt bitter, but now it felt almost grown-up and made him proud.
Lucian made his way down the stairs with eager steps. So he went to the Kitchen to prepare to eat the Oatmeal…….
“……Huh?”
Lucian blinked at what lay spread across the Kitchen table.
“Bread and meat!”
A wonderful breakfast steamed on the table before him.
Fresh-baked Bread, Bacon, Broccoli, and Corn Soup. He’d never eaten such a generous breakfast, even back home.
The wonderful aroma wafting from everything made him swallow hard without meaning to.
Lucian wiped the drool from his lips and quickly took a seat. He bit into the Bread first.
“Oh, oh my…… Wow…… It, it’s delicious!”
The Bread was so fresh it steamed in his mouth. It melted softly on his tongue without much chewing, filling it with a warm nuttiness.
Lucian dipped the Bread gently into the Soup.
The combination danced on his palate in perfect harmony.
“This too, that too! Everything’s delicious!”
The thick Bacon was nothing short of heavenly. After tasting each item, Lucian discovered a verdant Broccoli. Having never seen such a thing, he couldn’t guess what it was.
“This must be delicious too, right?”
So with no hesitation, he popped it into his mouth. His smiling face gradually stiffened and then twisted.
“Ugh…… that’s awful.”
This was betrayal. How could something so vile exist among such delicious food? Lucian glared at the Broccoli for a while, then pushed it to the side.
And, treating it as though it didn’t exist, he devoured everything else. The plates were empty in no time.

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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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