The Abandoned Prince’s Ghost Bride - Chapter 77

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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 Phantom Bride, Episode 77

Chirp, chirp-chirp-
With the sound of birds singing, dawn broke in the distance, and the sky grew steadily brighter.
Seven hours had passed since Lia began waiting for Lucian and Kaiser to arrive.
Most of Lia’s body had already vanished. Now all that remained of her was her upper torso.
Whisper, whisper-
Bit by bit, her body scattered like dandelion seeds caught on the wind, dissolving into fine dust.
‘My left arm has disappeared now too.’
She had stretched out both hands, yet all she could see was her right hand. But even that hand’s fingertips were turning into particles of light, scattering into the void in real time.
The picture book she had been holding slipped from her grasp and fell to the ground. She couldn’t pick it up, just as she couldn’t see the faces of the two of them one last time.
The hour of death was drawing slowly near.
Now she likely had less than an hour remaining.
At this final moment, her only feeling was… strangely indifferent.
‘It’s as if I close my eyes just like always, and when I open them, Lucian and Kaiser will be there.’
So she felt neither fear nor dread. She only wanted to shake off the piercing longing that gripped her heart—and truth be told, her longing to see them both was far greater than any fear of death.
Just as she gazed at the brilliant sunrise appearing before her.
Beep- beep- beep-
The Crystal Orb began to respond.
Lia, who had been listless, suddenly trembled and reached toward the Crystal Orb.
But all her fingers save her index and thumb had already vanished.
Unable to maintain her body’s form, she couldn’t properly use magic.
After a full minute of struggle, she managed at last to receive the call through the Crystal Orb.
‘…Kaiser?’
-Lia! Why haven’t you been answering me?!
What appeared in the Crystal Orb was Kaiser’s furious face.
Normally she would have snapped back at him for raising his voice, but since it was the face she most wanted to see one last time, she could only laugh.
-Do you know how many times I’ve called? Every week for the past month, and you wouldn’t answer! Are you ignoring me now?!
‘You called?’
-Called?! Of course I did! I’ve lost contact more than seven times by now, you hear me?!
‘Hahaha…’
-You’re laughing right now?
‘Kaiser, I wasn’t ignoring your calls.’
-Then what do you call it.
‘I was unconscious for more than three months until yesterday.’
-…What?
Kaiser, who had been indignant, suddenly fell silent, his eyes widening.
‘Actually, I’d been losing consciousness in spurts before that, but this time I lost an entire season. It’s the year 330 of the Imperial Calendar, right?’
-You… you really were unconscious? If something like that happened, you should have told me sooner! Why are you just telling me now?!
‘Well… I should have told you, but I didn’t think it was a big deal.’
-I had no idea… Wait! Are you alright now? Are you okay right now? But what on earth caused this to happen? Three years ago, there was nothing like this.
Kaiser muttered anxiously, wondering if there was something he was missing. But Lia didn’t want to waste time on such talk.
-Stay right there. I’ll prepare anything I can and come soon enough…
‘Kaiser.’
Kaiser, who had been moving busily, paused and pressed his face to the Crystal Orb.
Lia’s voice was different from usual.
‘You know I depend on you a lot and that I care about you, right?’
-W-what are you suddenly saying!
Embarrassed by her words, Kaiser’s face flushed red and he yelped loudly.
‘Your curiosity may have faded, yet you’ve kept seeking me out, kept trying to talk to me. You didn’t show it, but I’ve been grateful to you all this while.’
-Ahem! Well, it’s not… that’s nothing much…’
‘Kaiser, you’re my only friend and the dragon I can rely on. Thank you for always thinking of me, for always caring.’
-Ugh-huh! Saying things like that doesn’t, well, it’s not like I’m happy or anything!
Though his words were dismissive, Kaiser’s voice was plainly delighted. His grin had reached his ears long ago.
As he giggled, he suddenly felt something amiss.
‘I’ve left a gift for you at the Mansion, so check it later. Don’t get angry when you see it, alright?’
-…Lia.
‘Yes?’
-Is something wrong with you?
At his subdued tone, Lia struggled to open her eyes and couldn’t help but smile wryly.
‘Kaiser…’
-…
‘I think I’m going to dissipate today.’
Kaiser could muster no response. His heart simply sank, leaving him with wide, staring eyes.
It was exactly what they said—too much shock rendered one speechless.
‘By now, most of my body has already vanished. In about an hour, I’ll be gone from this world forever.’
-Lia, you…!
‘I thought I’d be your friend for your entire life, but it seems that won’t be.’
The voice coming through the Crystal Orb was so calm that it sent even deeper shocks through Kaiser’s heart.
Lia was disappearing?
He would never see her again?
It was a calamity he had never once imagined in his entire life.
-What about Lucian! Does Lucian know about this?!
‘…No. Contact was cut off since last summer. But if he ever comes to the Mansion, he’ll find out eventually.’
Kaiser ground his teeth.
He cared for Lucian just as much as Lia did, but in this moment, he resented him bitterly beyond bearing.
After all Lia had done to care for him…!
Had he simply forgotten Lia in just five short years?!
‘Kaiser, don’t be angry. Since I won’t be here, you need to be there for Lucian.’
-How can you say that even now, in a situation like this?!
‘Because it is this situation that makes me say it… Kaiser. The ten years I spent with Lucian and you were the happiest of my entire existence.’
Kaiser paused and bit his lower lip.
‘When Leopold awakens someday, Lucian will have nowhere to go. At that time, you, his brother, must look after him.’
-…Ha, you’re going to entrust that human boy to me? You should look after him yourself! Don’t push him off on me!
‘Haha, I wish I could.’
Lia, stupidly smiling despite the grounds for anger, irritated him. And Lucian, who had forgotten her so completely, he hated with a passion.
‘One last favor—you’ll do it for me, won’t you?’
-No. Absolutely not. Last? There is no last! I won’t let it be that way!
At the ringing force of Kaiser’s voice, Lia gave a hollow laugh. By now, even the right hand that had been supporting the Crystal Orb was gone.
-You! Stay right there! I’m coming for you right now!
‘Ah, Kaiser…!’
Click-
The connection was severed. She had wanted to speak with him longer.
‘No, perhaps I didn’t want him to see me like this.’
She wanted to see Lucian and Kaiser.
But she didn’t want to show them her unseemly dissipation.
These conflicting emotions kept colliding within her.
The sun had now fully risen. Darkness had long since vanished.
Lia closed her eyes and took the final warmth of the sun upon herself.
Though she could not feel the sun’s warmth, it was a peace she would never again be able to savor.
Clink, clink-
Then a faint sound caught her ear. It was not a noise the forest would make.
It sounded rather like metal striking metal…
Lia opened her eyes and turned them toward the source of the sound.
Beyond the fence, several figures were approaching this place.
Seeing it was multiple people, not just one, she abandoned any hope that it was Lucian.
‘Even in my final moments, you won’t leave me be.’
Perhaps there was business at the Mansion after all this time?
She wanted no part of receiving uninvited guests at the Mansion, which held so many memories, but she lacked the strength to turn them away.
‘No, wait. This is still my Mansion. I should protect it.’
Lia rose unsteadily to her feet.
Though her lower body had no form, she could still move.
So she fixed her gaze on the approaching figures.
As they drew steadily closer, she saw they were knights clad in armor.
To oppose them, she wrung out what little strength remained and prepared for anything.
There were quite a few of them. If they tried to breach the Mansion, she would have to frighten them thoroughly and drive them away…!
“Everyone, halt.”
From behind the knights, someone stopped them. The knights aligned themselves and split into two columns.
From the rear, a figure emerged.
Lia’s eyes, which had been hardened in a fierce scowl, slowly relaxed and then began to widen dramatically.
Thump, thump-
The figure approached, displaying an elegant bearing.
He wore splendid garments that suggested high rank, a familiar Renowned Sword hung at his waist, and his brilliant white hair reflected the sunlight so brightly it seemed transparent.
A face both familiar and somehow strange struck her gaze.
‘…Lucian?’
Could this be a dream? Or merely a phantom vision seen at the moment before dissipation?
Yet everything before her was too vivid to dismiss as illusion.
The figure before her was a far more impressive adult than any she had imagined.
A well-proportioned, muscular frame, a jawline no longer youthful or delicate, features grown sharper and more profound.
All of it surpassed what she had imagined.
Rather, she now realized her imagination had been woefully inadequate.
Though his face was utterly unfamiliar, those warm golden eyes looking toward her were…
“Lia, I’m back.”
Exactly as she remembered.
While Lia stood entranced, Lucian had drawn near enough to touch.
Lia reached out her hands toward his face.
But the hands that could have touched him had long since disappeared.
Now that she finally saw him, yet could not hold him—but at least she could meet him before vanishing forever.
‘Haha… you’re late, Lucian.’
“I’m sorry. I had so much to settle, it made me late. Lia, do you see what I’m wearing?”
Draped across his shoulders was a Red Cloak made of fine wool, and the very clothes he wore shone with refined dignity.
“I became the Emperor.”
‘…What?’
“I became Emperor so I could meet you as quickly as possible. I was so busy preparing the succession that I couldn’t contact you, I’m sorry.”
‘So that was it. He hadn’t forgotten me.’
That single truth alone dissolved every last fragment of sorrow directed at him.
“Lia, I…”
‘Lucian, thank you for coming.’
Their words overlapped. Both widened their eyes at each other, then burst into laughter.
“You go first.”
That he would yield the moment to her—how grown he had become. She gladly accepted his consideration. Time was running out so very quickly now.
‘…I really wanted to see you so much. I imagined your growth countless times, but only now do I realize my imagination was woefully inadequate.’
“Haha, what are you talking about.”
Yet his carefree laughter still held traces of the child he had been.
‘The fact that you became Emperor means Leopold still hasn’t awakened. But you must have had a reason to become Emperor, right?’
“Ah, well, about that…”
‘I’m sorry, Lucian. I don’t have much time, so please listen to what I have to say first.’
“Huh? Oh… okay.”
Lucian felt something was amiss.
Then, all at once, he noticed how strange Lia’s form appeared. Why could he see only her upper body?
‘Lucian, I think I’m going to disappear soon.’
Just as he reached out toward the invisible lower half of Lia’s body, the shocking words caught his ear, and he froze, his head snapping up.
“…What?”
‘My spirit is vanishing in real time even now. I won’t be able to stay by your and Kaiser’s side anymore. I wanted to see you before I vanish, and I’m glad I could at least see your face in the end.’
“What are you saying, Lia! Disappear! You mean… you’re going to dissipate?”
As Lia nodded, Lucian’s pupils contracted.
‘After all, I am a ghost. I was bound to the Mansion far too long. Now I’m simply returning to where I belong.’
So please, Lucian, don’t grieve.
Lucian’s face flooded with unspeakable terror and despair.
That was not the face she wanted to see for the last time.
Summoning what strength remained, Lia mimicked a kiss upon Lucian’s cheek.
She would have liked to hold him, but with both hands gone, she could not.
‘Thank you for coming to me, little groom. Thanks to you, I lived happily without regret.’
In Lia’s smile given to Lucian shone only perfect, unfeigned sincerity.

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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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