The Abandoned Prince’s Ghost Bride - Chapter 66

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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 Ghost Bride — Episode 66

“Preparations are complete!”
“Good. Now I will transfer His Majesty’s Soul.”
Deep within the innermost sanctum of the Great Temple.
There, in that place, a ritual was underway to transfer the Soul of Julius—no, the first Emperor, Lion—into Leopold.
The Temple of Infinity. The high priests of this place were not faithful messengers of god, but Black Mages.
They had maintained a symbiotic relationship with Lion for three hundred years.
Before the Odrian Empire was born, the Black Mages were persecuted by people and forced to live in hiding.
But when Lion brought a new revolution to the continent and aided him, the Black Mages gradually reclaimed their authority.
Then one day, the leader of the Black Mages discovered a rift between Lion and his companion, and wedged himself into that gap.
‘We shall fulfill Lord Lion’s desires. In exchange, allow us to settle in this land.’
And so the two clasped hands.
The Black Mages created a false god, established a temple, and lived in disguise as priests.
Lion, in return for protecting them, borrowed their power to move his Soul through successive generations and continue his life.
The infinite power of the god that the faithful believed in—this was, in truth, nothing but Black Magic.
This fact was known only to the temple’s leadership, Lion, and a select few others.
The current Emperor, Rubert, likely could not even imagine such things lay hidden beneath the Empire’s surface.
The eighth Pontiff, Pedro.
Or rather, the eighth leader of the Black Mages, Pedro.
He would faithfully execute the first Emperor’s commands to maintain the temple.
Complex Black Magic formulas traced across Pedro’s hands. The Soul had to be extracted and simultaneously transferred to another body with speed.
Pedro thrust Lion’s Soul into Leopold’s body. At the same moment, another Black Mage extracted Leopold’s Soul.
Crack—
“Hm? What is this?”
The Black Mage extracting Leopold’s Soul felt a current at his fingertips and hesitated for a moment.
Just as he thought it was a mistake, Leopold’s body began to change. An unknown force repelled the Black Magic.
“Damn it! What the hell is going on!”
“I-I didn’t do anything! A repulsion force suddenly appeared…!”
Whoosh!
Blue light leaked from Leopold’s left wrist, and soon a massive magical Circle began to engulf his entire body.
“No, this can’t happen!”
Pedro cried out in urgency.
They hadn’t yet extracted Leopold’s Soul completely, and Lion’s Soul had only been inserted halfway.
If this continued, the Soul transfer would fail, and Lion would simply die.
‘I cannot let that happen under any circumstances!’
If they lost him now, the existence of the Black Mages would soon become widely known to the world, and they would face persecution just as they had in the distant past.
“Abandon the extraction of the Crown Prince’s Soul! Force His Majesty’s Soul in, no matter what!”
“Yes!”
When two Souls inhabit a single body, a repulsion force arises and the Souls clash against each other.
Only the stronger Soul would claim dominion over the body, but at this moment, there was no other option.
‘His Majesty has lived for over three hundred years—a being of Immortality. His Soul must be equally formidable.’
Pedro gambled.
Before the magical Circle engulfing Leopold’s body could complete, he forcefully pushed Lion’s Soul all the way in.
‘Please, just a little more…!’
As Lion’s Soul was driven completely through, the blue light surged violently, repelling everything around it.
Boom—!
Pedro and all the other Black Mages were knocked to the ground.
The humming faded.
The blue light wavered and then died away.
Crack—
The Bracelet Leopold wore developed a fracture.
“…Did it succeed?”
At one Black Mage’s murmur, Pedro snapped to attention.
“Check His Majesty at once!”
The Black Mages examined Leopold, who now carried Lion’s Soul, and Julius, whose body was now merely an empty shell.
A human does not die immediately when the Soul departs. Life slowly fades, and after roughly a month, death finally claims them.
Julius’s now-useless body was of no consequence.
What mattered most was…
“He’s breathing!”
Leopold.
Sigh…
Sighs of relief escaped from every corner. Yet this was not a moment to lower their guard.
Leopold lay motionless, as if dead.
Without the faint breath escaping his lips, one would have sworn he truly was gone.
Pedro’s gaze fell upon the Bracelet adorning Leopold’s wrist. In that instant, his brow twisted.
“Who was the bastard who helped with the ritual transfer?! He was wearing a Magical Artifact!”
“I-I’m sorry, Pedro. I assigned the task to a new recruit, and…”
“Everyone, get your heads in the game! If His Majesty dies, we suffer the greatest blow! Do you think that rat Rubert will just sit idly by!”
Whether Rubert knew what he was doing or not, he had drawn true priests—not Black Mages—to his side.
If Lion, now in Leopold’s form, did not protect them, that wretched fool Rubert would extend his hand into the very depths of the temple in an instant.
‘A mere mortal, and yet… I will never allow it.’
“Usually he regains consciousness within ten minutes. We’ll monitor the situation. The rest of you, handle Julius’s body.”
The lower Black Mages lifted Julius’s empty shell.
The vacant husk could only stumble about with unfocused eyes.
“Ah, aah…”
Like a child, he could not form coherent speech. But such a state could be managed easily through Black Magic control.
Pedro swiftly lost interest in Julius’s hollow form.
So they waited for Leopold to regain consciousness. Ten minutes passed.
“…Why is nothing changing?”
Yet there was no sign of change.
Wondering if something was wrong, they waited five more minutes, then ten, then twenty—but Leopold remained unconscious, as if dead.
Pedro hastily placed a hand above Leopold’s head. He closed his eyes, straining to read the Soul within.
Bang! Bang-bang!
Deep within Leopold’s body, two Souls collided ferociously.
“Surely… His Majesty isn’t losing…?”
“Pedro! Someone from the Imperial Palace has arrived!”
As if misfortune piled upon misfortune, the Imperial Palace sent someone. The appointed time for the Coming-of-Age Ceremony had long passed.
If this continued, the temple would be held responsible for Leopold’s unconsciousness.
There was no way Rubert would let this opportunity slip away.
“Pedro! What do we do…? Ugh! Cough!”
Pedro twisted the neck of a nervous priest beside him.
As the man lost his life on the spot, silence fell over the place.
“The Crown Prince and the late Emperor were attacked by a malevolent sorcerer. We were wounded while defending them. You understand, yes?”
In short, they would sacrifice one to save the situation.
Everyone present swallowed hard at the sight of the corpse, nodding in understanding.

* * *

“Leopold!”
“Your Highness! Your Highness! Please, come to your senses! Your Highness!”
News that Leopold had collapsed spread swiftly through the Imperial Palace.
Rubert and Serena rushed to examine Leopold. He lay there like a corpse, and Julius’s condition was no better.
Why had such a thing occurred on a day so filled with joy?
“Summon the royal physician at once!”
Rubert moved to handle the crisis with as much composure as he could muster.
Serena accompanied Leopold to another chamber, and Rubert, left standing amid the chaos, could only wipe his haggard face.
“…An attack, you say?”
“Yes, that is correct. When the Holy Grail was being presented, a perpetrator hidden among the priests assaulted both the Crown Prince and the late Emperor. We suppressed them, but they had already taken their own life…”
“So you’re telling me that now you’ve found no leads, and you could only stand by and watch as my son and father were harmed?”
“I beg your pardon, Your Majesty.”
Looking down at the crown of Pedro’s head, Rubert ground his teeth.
“By any means necessary, see to Leopold’s recovery! If you fail me in this, I will never forgive you!”
“…I shall do my utmost.”
With Pedro at their head, the priests hurried toward Leopold’s chambers.
So Rubert prayed and prayed for Leopold to awaken.
But no matter how the physicians treated him or the priests prayed, Leopold did not open his eyes.
Sensing crisis, Rubert summoned people from various fields to examine Leopold’s condition.
Among them, a court mage of the sixth Circle uttered something shocking.
“It appears Your Highness has fallen victim to Black Magic.”
“Is that truly so!”
The priests, actually Black Mages in disguise including Pedro, tensed and watched them carefully.
“Yes. It has been long since Black Magic disappeared from the world, and this is the first time I have witnessed it directly. However, within Your Highness’s body, there exists something similar to Mana, yet so peculiar that I hesitate to call it Mana.”
“Is there no way to treat Leopold?”
“I apologize. With my current abilities, it is impossible. Only another Black Mage or a mage of eighth Circle or higher could heal him. Otherwise, we must simply hope that Your Highness overcomes this through his own strength.”
“Ah… aah…”
“Your Majesty!”
Shaken by the revelation, Serena clutched her forehead, staggered, and lost consciousness.
The attendants rushed to support her, while Rubert, gnawing at his lower lip, reached out to wipe the face of his son lying deathlike before him.
“Your Majesty… the Coming-of-Age Ceremony will begin in three hours.”
“What should we do?”
He could not simply despair and sit idle while his son’s fate remained unknown.
‘Must I announce that Leopold has collapsed?’
Part of him wished to uncover whoever had done this to his son and obliterate them across three generations.
But if news spread on this day—the Coming-of-Age Ceremony—that he had been harmed, it would fuel speculation from every corner.
‘Some would call it an ill omen, and the reality is that we don’t know when Leopold will awaken.’
“If only we had someone who could act as his proxy…”
Then, one servant’s murmur caught Rubert’s ear.
A proxy? A proxy, you say…
Rubert recalled another son he had long ago erased from his mind. And at the same moment, self-loathing rose within him.
‘How shameful—discarded so readily, yet thinking of him only now in desperation…’
Yet in this moment, there was no better solution to be found. At last, Rubert bit his lip and opened his mouth.
“I command all assembled here.”
At Rubert’s words, all present—attendants, maids, priests, court mages—turned to face him.
“Today, nothing happened to Leopold. The fact that he was struck by Black Magic and has collapsed must not leak beyond these walls.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Dain, I have a task for you.”
Rubert whispered something into the ear of Dain, his chamberlain. Dain’s eyes widened in surprise as he looked at Rubert.
“You have been looking after that child, haven’t you?”
“Yes… he has certainly grown, and he does resemble the Crown Prince…”
“The Great Aristocrat Council has already proclaimed that I will hand the Throne to Leopold within five years. We cannot afford disturbances at a time when our position must be consolidated. This is all for Leopold’s sake.”
“…I understand. I shall bring him at once.”
Dain immediately set about executing Rubert’s orders. He led the commander of the Imperial Direct Knight Order and several knights out and away.
‘To think I would meet the young prince this way…’
It was Dain, the chamberlain, who had cared for the forsaken prince in the Ghost Mansion all this time.
For five years, ever since Rubert had ceased to ask about or seek out Lucian, Dain alone had seen to his needs.
He had ordered James to resupply provisions periodically, and had made secret inspections once or twice a year to ensure Lucian was well.
Just days ago, he had commanded James to deliver what he thought would be the final supply, believing they would have no further use for it.
‘How cruel fate truly is.’
Dain felt pity for Lucian as he turned to regard the knights following him.
“He is of noble birth, so we must ensure he comes to no harm. Let all remember this well.”
“Yes!”
Dain led the knights toward the Ghost Mansion.

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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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