The Abandoned Prince’s Ghost Bride - Chapter 75

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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 Phantom Bride — Episode 75

‘What is he calling me out here for this time?’
A woman muttered to herself, brushing her windswept hair shyly over her shoulder as a faint blush crept across her cheeks.
She stood twisting her black hair between her fingers as she waited for *him* to arrive.
‘He said he had something important to tell me today, didn’t he?’
In truth, she could guess well enough what he wanted to say.
They’d been dating for about a year now, and the last time he’d casually asked what she’d think about them becoming a family.
But on a day like this, the courteous thing was to play innocent.
‘I wonder how much he’ll manage to surprise me.’
Though the appointed time had passed by a little, her restless pacing held an undercurrent of excitement. She struggled to suppress the grin threatening to break through.
Rustle—
She heard a sound from behind.
Turning her head casually, she saw her beloved boyfriend approaching with soft eyes that gleamed with golden light.
‘You’re late!’
She was about to greet him with a smile, but just as quickly she suppressed her excitement and turned her head away sharply.
At that, the man gave a small laugh and drew closer.
‘Sorry. I was held up getting ready.’
‘…This time I’ll let it slide. But don’t be late again next time.’
‘Of course not. So, shall we go?’
‘Hmm? Go where?’
She tilted her head in confusion, and the man smiled widely.
‘I have something to show you. Come this way.’
The man led her to a forest behind the palace. After climbing for a while, a two-story Mansion appeared before them.
‘What? This place is…’
She’d heard something about it before, vaguely.
His dream was to live peacefully with his family in a two-story Mansion like this.
Though now that he’d become true Royalty, he could easily afford something grander, yet to think he’d build a Mansion in a place like this…
The woman was given a tour of the Mansion by her boyfriend.
After viewing everything from the second floor down to the Basement, she found herself moved by the spaces he’d clearly prepared with her in mind, lost in tender emotion.
‘This is our new nest, love.’
When she turned back with a heavy heart, her beloved was smiling softly.
‘So then… this is ours…?’
‘I won’t be able to visit often, but it should work well as a retreat when I need to rest.’
Her joy was short-lived when she sensed something wrong.
A retreat? If that were the case, she’d suggest they make it their actual home instead—
‘This may be sudden, but my brother has agreed to pass the Throne to me.’
‘What?! Rion?’
Even as she stared at him in confusion, the shocking words that followed turned everything upside down.
‘Yes. He says he’s exhausted and wants to rest peacefully now. He’s planning to travel far away.’
‘So Rion said that…’
She hadn’t known he was thinking such things—he’d always been so ambitious and eager.
If she’d known he was suffering, she could have helped. Did Karserin know about this?
‘Since my brother went to such trouble to hand over the Throne, I have to do my best.’
‘Will you be all right?’
‘Of course I will. It’s something my brother did before.’
Her breath caught.
Another strange answer. Words kept coming from his mouth that shouldn’t have been there. It was as if not him but Rion were speaking…
Thump—!
Her heart sank in an instant.
She stepped backward, her eyes wide with terror as she stared at the man before her.
‘What’s wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?’
‘You… who are you?’
‘What are you talking about? Obviously, your beloved—’
‘Rion! You’re Rion, aren’t you?!’
The man who had been smiling so tenderly and gently stopped in his tracks. Then, still wearing that smile, his eyes opened slowly.
His golden eyes were filled with avarice—an emotion her true lover would never harbor.
‘…How did you know? I used Dark Magic to change my appearance. I thought there was no way you’d catch on.’
He muttered that it hadn’t been part of the plan, frustrated at being discovered so quickly despite the transformation wrought by Dark Magic.
But the woman was too shocked to think clearly.
Rion had been impersonating her lover.
And not as some playful jest—he’d been acting as if he truly were her lover, as if they were building a life together…
Her real boyfriend suddenly came to mind.
‘Where is Odell?! Why are you impersonating him?!’
‘…Aria, the one standing right in front of you is Odell.’
‘Rion! This is not the time for games!’
‘I’m not playing games either. I’ve been casting aside myself to impersonate Odell—so why are you searching for him instead?’
‘What do you even—’
‘Aria, my beloved witch.’
A chill ran down her spine; her skin erupted in goosebumps.
What… what was he saying just now?
‘Why did you choose him instead of me?’
Rion’s eyes widened as he seized Aria’s shoulders with a hard grip.
His gaze—brimming with obsession, avarice, and a twisted love—pressed against her like something viscous and suffocating.
His stare alone made her skin crawl.
‘Let me go! What are you doing?! I’m not—’
‘The woman who will be my future bride.’
‘This is madness! How can you say such things! What is Odell to you?!’
This couldn’t happen. This should never happen.
Rion was Odell’s only—
‘How could you, his brother, covet his woman!’
His brother.
Yet Rion showed no guilt, no shame—only the blank, indifferent gaze of one unmoved by her struggle.
‘I came first.’
‘…What?’
‘I loved you first. Not that damned Odell—me! I loved you first! And you two just went about your lives without knowing how I felt, speaking your comfortable words!’
‘That’s—’
‘Where is Odell? Who knows? Try to find him. You won’t be able to meet him in this world anymore.’
Aria’s violet eyes grew wide with shock, then swiftly transformed into despair and horror.
‘What have you done to Odellllll?!’
Crash—!
Violet Mana erupted from Aria’s form, surging violently out of control.
It was the desperate thrashing of a witch who had lost her beloved. Not just the Basement, but the entire Mansion shook, and Rion simply watched Aria in silence.
There was a glimmer of sorrow in his golden eyes—faint, very faint indeed. But it passed quickly, and as if he’d foreseen her reaction, he spoke calmly.
‘Aria, I’m giving you a choice. First: accept my proposal, take me as your husband, and spend your life with me. Or, if you wish, I can erase your memories and have you treat me as Odell instead.’
‘Riooooon!’
‘Second: you can remain sealed as you are. I’ll release the seal whenever you change your mind and accept me.’
Thud-thud-thud!
Someone rushed down the stairs in panic, and suddenly the Basement was filled with Dark Mages. With Rion at their head, they began casting Dark Magic.
A high-level Magic Circle, already set in place beforehand, materialized and wound around Aria’s entire body.
She tried frantically to break the Magic Circle, but when it wouldn’t yield easily, panic seized her. Then she recognized something familiar in its structure.
‘Karserin! How could you betray me like this…!’
Only Karserin could craft Magic of such a high order that she couldn’t break it.
Karserin too had betrayed her, had killed Odell—and thinking this, Aria lost all composure.
And so Aria screamed, wept tears of blood, and cursed Rion.
Imperial Calendar Year 7.
A tragedy that had occurred three hundred years ago, forgotten and unwritten in history.

.

Lia opened her eyes slowly.
She looked around hazily. Checking the time, it was about 11 in the morning. The current season was…
[…summer?]
Too clear to be spring, the sunlight too bright and vivid, and the distinctive chirping of summer insects echoed all around.
When she stepped outside the Entrance Hall, she saw overgrown grass that had gone untended.
Judging by the height of the grass, not much time seemed to have passed.
[About a season, perhaps.]
Her last memory was from the end of winter, so roughly three months had passed.
[A letter—has one come?]
Lia recalled a memory held foremost in her mind and made her way to the Entrance Hall.
Beside the Entrance Hall sat a small Side Table.
She’d instructed Dio beforehand to place Lucian’s Letters there when he came.
Though she looked at the Side Table hopefully, only dust lay settled upon it—nothing else.
The light that had gleamed in Lia’s eyes faded in an instant. She reached out and touched the Side Table longingly.
[The last Letter came… last summer.]
Had a full year passed already?
Winter ended, and early summer came—so this year is Imperial Calendar Year 330.
It had been five years since Lucian left the Mansion and entered the Imperial Family.
For the first two years, they maintained a good relationship, exchanging Letters several times a month.
But gradually Dio’s visits grew less frequent, and before the Letters stopped altogether, she was receiving them only every two or three months.
The Letters contained only formal pleasantries about being well, with no other information.
As if he had nothing to say but felt obliged to write anyway.
She had vaguely sensed that she had become Lucian’s past, but having it confirmed this way made her chest ache.
No—even without the capacity to feel pain, her chest seemed to ache.
[Lucian, I hope you’re doing well.]
But she bore him no resentment. Wasn’t it only natural, when one thought about it?
Living in the Imperial Family, encountering a wider world, meeting many people—he had come to understand that there was no need to cling to someone like her.
[That’s exactly what I hoped for.]
For him not to be trapped by a Specter, but to live in the real world—that was what she’d wished for him.
So she harbored no resentment. Rather, she hoped he would forget her and live an ordinary life like anyone else.
[But, Lucian… just once more, I’d like to see your face.]
Lia looked down at her hands.
The translucent hands of a Specter, through which the other side was already visible, had become far more transparent—their form no longer even holding a steady shape.
[Am I really going to Disappear like this?]
She was dying. Or rather, she was vanishing from this world.
She had first noticed the change three years ago, when the cycle of “–7” came around again.
Then, as before, her mind and body became unstable for about a month, and her memories blanked out for half a day before she returned to her normal routine.
Kaiser had assured her that he’d already taken precautions in advance so the Temple and the Imperial Family would be powerless to interfere.
Since Lucian wasn’t here anyway, there was no real danger, and she only lost consciousness for half a day before returning to normal—so she thought nothing more of it.
But from that day three years ago, her body had been intermittently growing hazy, and lately, like now, she’d been losing consciousness more and more often.
At first, it was just for a few hours, like during the “–7” cycle.
But the periods grew longer, and now she’d lost consciousness for nearly three months.
Her end was drawing slowly near.
Perhaps the next time she lost consciousness, she would vanish from this world entirely.
Having lived over three hundred years, she harbored no attachment to this life. She simply wished to see Lucian once more before she Disappeared.
[Since I don’t know when I’ll Disappear, it’s best to prepare.]
She needed to say goodbye to Kaiser, and she should write a Letter for Lucian in case he ever came looking for her.
Lia moved to arrange the final chapter of her existence.
On the Side Table where she lingered sat a Picture Frame holding Lucian’s childhood portrait.
Unlike the other places where dust had settled thickly, his Picture Frame alone was spotless and clean.

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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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