The Abandoned Prince’s Ghost Bride - Chapter 58

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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 Specter Bride — Episode 58

Hah, hah…….
Ragged breath tore from his lips, and a sensation so intense his toes curled rippled through him in waves.
It was strange and unfamiliar, yet carried a peculiar, addictive thirst with it.
Especially with his eyes closed, the sensation became all the more obscene and thrilling.
When the endless kiss finally broke, he opened his eyes. The first thing that filled his vision was hair like silk—jet black.
Next, his gaze was captured by fierce amethyst eyes. Those eyes, which usually held a cold light, were now heated and aflame, shining with something entirely different.
He liked that very much. After all, it was only he who had brought about that change.
‘……Lia.’
He buried his lips against the transparent, snow-white skin of the woman before him. As he brushed his lips against her neck and face, a sweet, lovely voice spilled from her mouth.
He softly kissed her trembling eyelids, then met her gaze again, and her eyes curved like a crescent moon.
Soon she wrapped her arms around his neck. Heat surged through his entire body at her touch.
‘……Lia.’
‘Hehe, you’re being particularly clingy today. But……Odell…….’
He wanted to listen to every word she spoke, but noise cut through the middle, and he couldn’t catch it all.
‘……Lia, say it again.’
He whispered low, and a faint smile tugged at her lips.
‘Lucian.’
[Lucian.]
Suddenly, a voice overlapped with hers. He stared at the woman he held in confusion, but she had already lost her feverish expression and now wore a cunning smile.
‘Now, you’re dreaming about me like this?’
[Now, you’re dreaming about me like this?]
‘What? Wh-what……?’
The background began to shift. Starting with the bed, objects around him vanished one by one.
Soon only he and the woman before him remained in a dark void.
‘L-Lia! What’s happening?’
‘What’s happening? You’re waking up, that’s what.’
The woman’s form grew increasingly translucent, and his hand, which rested on her shoulder, found only empty air. His hand had passed straight through her.
‘Lia…… your body…….’
‘I was always like this, wasn’t I? You’re back to normal too.’
‘What?’
Lucian looked down at himself. There he saw hands—smaller, slighter, childish. Lucian frantically touched his cheeks, confirming his own body.
‘I—I’m a child again!!’
Realizing he had reverted to an eight-year-old, Lucian let out a wail.

.
.

“No, no, this can’t—!”
Lucian, who had been thrashing against sleep paralysis, jolted upright with a shout.
Breathing hard, he immediately checked his own body. His hands were long, callused with training in places.
His arms, legs, and the angular cut of his face—all unchanged from yesterday.
“Hah…… what kind of brutal dream was that?”
A pleasant time, then suddenly becoming a child again. Cruelty had its limits. He let out a long sigh.
“I’m losing my mind. Really…… how many times is this now?”
Whenever he dreamed of Lia, it always went like this. The Lia in his dreams wasn’t a specter like in reality—she had a body and was far more mature. And in the dream, with that Lia, they would…….
“Ahem! Ahem! Pure thoughts, pure thoughts.”
It was fine in the dream, but waking up left him unbearably embarrassed.
“I should wash my face.”
Lucian got out of bed to clear his head and headed for the bathroom. Or he tried to.
[Lucian! What’s wrong!]
Lia suddenly materialized from the floor.
Startled beyond measure, Lucian froze in place. Then, remembering the dream’s contents, his face flushed crimson.
“I told you not to pop out like that!”
[Why are you angry? You suddenly screamed, so I was worried…….]
Lia whimpered and slowly sank downward. She peeked out with only her eyes, studying his expression.
[Is there something I can help with……?]
“Just get out of here!”
Only after he shut his eyes tight and shouted did Lia hastily vanish.
Lucian, still seething, buried his face in both hands.
“……Damn it. Why did I have to dream that?”
Lucian, cheeks flushed, looked toward the full-length mirror.
In the mirror stood not an eight-year-old child, but a young man soon to turn eighteen.
Nearly 180 centimeters in height, the softness gone from his face leaving it angular and sharp, a lean, muscular frame built by consistent exercise and training. Even he had to admit he was a reasonably good-looking young man.
The problem was that the person he cared for still treated him like a child.
“Hopeless. Just hopeless.”
Lucian turned away from the mirror and headed to the bathroom.

* * *

Thunk-thunk-thunk…… thunk-thunk…… thunk…….
The rhythm of knife cuts kept stopping and starting again.
Thunk-thunk…… Clang!
[Oh!]
Lia startled badly, looking down. The knife had skipped past the cutting board and lodged itself in the counter.
Only then did she notice the cabbage on the board had been sliced at awkward, uneven angles.
She set down the knife and covered her face with both hands, releasing a silent scream.
[I’ve lost it, I’ve lost it! What exactly did I see!]
She had merely been about to enter the kitchen to prepare breakfast when Lucian shouted, startling her, and she’d gone to check on him.
[And why does that fool sleep completely naked every single time? Does putting on clothes somehow injure him?]
Though she saw his face every day, there were moments when Lucian felt strangely unfamiliar to her.
Like when he woke up and his voice dropped low, or when he furrowed his brow because a problem wouldn’t solve, or when he became absorbed in practicing Swordsmanship without a shred of self-awareness…….
“What’s for breakfast?”
……or, like now, when Lucian appeared with wet hair.
Without thinking, Lia swallowed hard and stared at him. Whether he’d bathed this morning or not, he was letting water drip from his hair as he dried it.
And he still hadn’t put on a shirt.
Right. Because of that body.
The defined abdominal muscles and the taut sinew reminded her that the figure before her was no longer merely a child.
But his face was still so……young.
“I said, what’s for breakfast?”
Lost in thought, she only snapped back when he suddenly thrust his face closer. Lia reflexively stiffened and stepped back.
Child? Ha! When exactly did all that baby fat disappear?
Just six months ago, traces of youthfulness remained. Now there was none to be found.
She felt irritation at finding herself nervous around the little one she’d raised from childhood, so she bit her lip and glared at him for no real reason.
Then Lucian’s gaze drifted lower than her eyes. What was he looking at? When she wondered, he suddenly flushed at the ears and pulled back.
“Ahem! I’m hungry.”
[……Wait. I’m not finished yet.]
“Can I help?”
Lucian shambled closer and leaned toward her shoulder. She pushed him firmly away.
[Dry your hair. Water’s dripping everywhere.]
“Tch.”
Lucian pouted and roughly dried his hair with a towel.
Before he could do anything else foolish, she hurriedly prepared breakfast. Once she’d dished everything onto plates and set them on the table, she noticed Lucian still wasn’t wearing a shirt.
[Aren’t you going to put on clothes?]
“It’s hot.”
[Hot? It’s still morning, it’s actually cool.]
“Don’t you know my body runs hot? Besides, you’re a specter—you have no idea how stuffy it feels.”
[Ugh…… you always have an answer.]
By now, Lucian had become better at bickering than she was, and she found herself always losing.
Watching him grow into a person with his own will and dignity, equal to her own, struck her anew.
[What are you planning to do today?]
“No idea.”
[Won’t you go down to the Village? It’s been a while since you last went.]
“There’s no reason to. Dio’s been busy preparing for the Imperial Knight Corps entrance exam lately, and Harry and Leopold have been so occupied with their Coming-of-Age Ceremony preparations that we hardly see each other.”
[A Coming-of-Age Ceremony…… you mean the Birth Celebration Ceremony, right?]
“Yeah. Our birthday’s coming up soon. Since we’ll become adults right after, it’s more of a Coming-of-Age Ceremony than a Birth Celebration.”
[He said he’d become emperor right away. Will he really become emperor?]
“When I saw him last time, he was nearly finished preparing to inherit the Imperial Throne.”
Three years ago, Leopold had discovered the hidden secret about Lucian and decided to become emperor to reveal him to the world.
Since then, he had been diligently preparing to become emperor.
For nearly three years, he’d been actively involved in politics and national affairs, quietly working to eliminate the old taboos surrounding twins.
According to what she’d heard, he’d brought foreign-born twin brothers into the Imperial Family.
She knew better than anyone that all of this was solely for his twin brother Lucian’s sake.
Once Leopold successfully inherited the throne as planned, what would become of Lucian?
[……will you return to the Imperial Palace?]
“No.”
[What?]
She turned to Lucian in shock, and he was chewing bread sullenly.
“He suggested we live together at the Imperial Palace, but I refused.”
[Why, why?! You should be compensated for everything! Go to the Imperial Palace and enjoy your authority as a prince, meet a nice woman, fall in love, get married…….]
Clang—
Lucian set down his fork. His gaze had grown cold.
“Lia, I told you never to bring up women again.”
[Ugh…….]
“How many times do I have to say it before you believe me? I have no intention of meeting another woman, and no desire to either.”
She knew. Ever since he’d made that fervent confession three years ago, there was no room in his heart for any woman but her.
But that couldn’t be allowed.
[……Lucian, I’m a specter. A dead person. So how can you say you want to live with me? How can a living person and a dead person possibly spend a lifetime together?]
“We’ve lived together for ten years—there’s nothing we can’t do.”
It was always like this. No matter how much she tried to push him away with pleas and threats, Lucian would step forward again.
[……I don’t see you as a man.]
Finally, Lia resorted to her last resort. Even Lucian furrowed his brow at that and stared at her.
Lia clenched her fists and tried hard not to avoid his gaze.
[You and I have lived together for ten years, like you said. But in those ten years, wasn’t I the one who raised you?]
“……Do I still look like a child to you?”
[Yes. Think about it yourself. If a child you raised from infancy suddenly confessed feelings for you—how would you feel?]
Lucian’s brow grew tighter. She could see he was angry, but there was no other way.
This was the only method that could push Lucian away.
Creak—
Then Lucian rose from his seat. He circled the table and approached her. She started to step back, but he beat her to it, trapping her between the table edges.
Lucian met her eyes with a cold, lowered gaze. Lia found herself unable to meet his stare and looked away.
“Do I still look like a child to you?”
[……What are you doing? Get back.]
“If I look like a child, why won’t you meet my eyes? Are you nervous?”
[Lucian!]
She turned her head away with a loud cry, but he had somehow drawn closer. One more inch and their noses would touch.
“See? Your eyes are wavering. Lia, why not be honest?”
‘Honest? No—I won’t let him see what’s in my heart.’
If she did, hell itself would open before her.
Lucian reached out and stroked her cheek. Lia immediately released the Mana she habitually kept wrapped around her form at all times.
His hand passed through her cheek, and she slipped free from his embrace.
[We can never touch. Yet you still hold feelings for me?]
“If that were a problem, I’d have given up long ago. I…….”
Bang-bang-bang!
“Lucian! I brought supplies!”
Lucian couldn’t finish his sentence. He had no intention of hearing what came next anyway, but the interruption left him feeling oddly relieved despite himself.
As she composed herself, Lucian glanced at her before leaving to greet the visitor.

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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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