The Abandoned Prince’s Ghost Bride - Chapter 78

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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 — Chapter 78

Lucian could not fathom Lia at all.
‘Why that expression?’
Why was she wearing such a carefree face, as though she had no regrets about the world?
Aren’t you resentful of me? Aren’t you angry that I didn’t contact you all this time? That I wasted time without knowing you were disappearing……!
Something snapped inside his head with a sharp crack.
“……I can’t accept it.”
[What?]
“How dare you disappear like that. I’ve only just become worthy of standing beside you……!”]
[…….]
Whether taking it as a sulk, Lia smiled bitterly.
‘Don’t make that face. Don’t wear an expression of resignation.’
Lucian saw Lia’s form, now faded to her chest, and clenched his teeth hard.
He tried to grab her shoulders, but his hands found nothing. His fists closed on empty air, and Lucian’s eyes flashed with the fury of a beast.
“Do you know why I became Emperor?”
At the sudden question, Lia chose her words carefully.
[……For Leopold?]
“No. To bring you back. When I take you to the Imperial Palace, no human shall dare defy my word.”
[Bring me back? How on earth?]
She was a spirit, an earth-bound spirit tethered to this Mansion. How could he possibly bring her anywhere?
Besides, his words sounded as though he meant for others to know of her existence.
“I told you before. That I would one day take you as my bride.”
[What? Wasn’t that just something you said?]
Wasn’t she living a new life now? Then why would he insist on taking her as a bride?
[Who in the world takes a ghost as a bride!]
The absurdity was too much; Lia cried out despite herself.
“If I can make you human again.”
[……Eh?]
“Would you still refuse?”
What was he saying?
Make her human. Was he suggesting he’d resurrect her with Dark Magic?
[You’re joking. How would you possibly make me human? I don’t even have a vessel to contain myself, and I’m already slowly fading…….]
But even as she spoke, Lia realized that Lucian’s gaze had grown utterly serious.
[……Are you serious?]
“Do I look like I’m lying?”
[No, wait! Never mind lying — it doesn’t even make sense! How could you possibly make me human? Unless — you wouldn’t sacrifice an innocent person, would you? Would you?!]
Lucian offered no answer. That alone sent a chill through her.
[Lucian! If you do something like that, I’ll be furious! Absolutely furious! And why are you bringing this up now, of all times? Is this how you want to part ways with me?!]
It seemed wasteful to spend their final moments arguing like this when they could have laughed as they said goodbye.
But Lucian frowned, displeased about something.
“I didn’t spend five years in the Imperial Palace for nothing. It was solely to find a way to resurrect you.”
When Lia stared at him with suspicion, Lucian lowered the hand he’d extended toward her.
“It doesn’t matter if you refuse. I’ve come to this point for today.”
[Wait, Lucian……!]
Lucian passed Lia and entered the Mansion. A single figure followed in his wake.
Lia hurried to chase after him but stumbled. Her form had faded below her chest, making it difficult to move forward. She wavered and struggled.
[Lucian!]
She called out to him desperately, but he simply walked deeper inside. Finally, he came to a standstill before the door leading down to the Basement.
“You were muttering something to yourself. Is that the ghost you were talking about?”
“Yes, that’s correct. Time is running out for Lia. We must unseal her quickly.”
Lucian was speaking deferentially to the unidentified man beside him. It was clear the two of them were conspiring about something.
“Damn it, what are these bastards up to?”
Then a familiar voice pierced her ears. She turned around, and beyond the knights gathered near the fence, a crimson silhouette caught her eye.
[Kaiser!]
At Lia’s cry, Lucian, about to descend into the Basement, froze.
Meanwhile, Kaiser, who had teleported directly to the Mansion upon hearing that Lia was fading, found his rage reaching its peak as unfamiliar forces encircled the estate.
To his eyes, they were desecrating his cherished place of memories.
“Get out of my Mansion this instant!”
Bang! Crash!
Kaiser unleashed his power and attacked the knights, but they quickly formed a formation against the sudden assault.
“Protect His Imperial Majesty!”
“Do not let him pass!”
Roar!
Kaiser and the knights clashed. In an instant, a massive brawl erupted before the Mansion.
These knights served the newly crowned Emperor Lucian, so they were all skilled, but their opponent was something beyond human — a dragon.
“Grraaagh!”
Hearing the knights’ screams, Lia felt a sudden chill of fear.
[Kaiser! You can’t kill them!]
She called out to him urgently, but it seemed he couldn’t hear her. At this rate, someone was going to die.
“Tch, reckless fool.”
Then the man beside Lucian clicked his tongue and somehow moved to the side.
His form vanished, and he appeared before Kaiser, blocking his movements for the first time.
“Come to your senses, you idiot.”
The temperature around them plummeted rapidly. Despite the heat of summer, cold breath rose in the air.
Kaiser’s eyes widened as he saw his hands encased in ice. Only then did his opponent’s face come into focus.
“……Ange?”
“Finally awake, pup?”
“You, you……! What are you doing here!”
At the appearance of the dragon he knew well, Kaiser was momentarily stunned.
Thanks to that, his power gradually waned, and they were able to settle the matter before great harm came to pass.
Ange gestured to the surrounding knights to fall back.
“I’m asking why you’re here!”
“Why? I had business, so I came.”
“Business? What business could you possibly have here…….”
“Kaiser.”
Kaiser stopped mid-word at the familiar voice calling his name.
His pupils constricted, and he turned his head, staring at the figure approaching from behind Ange.
Lucian stood with a meaningful expression.
Boom!
With a thunderous crash and a gust of wind, Kaiser vanished from his spot. He reappeared far ahead, slamming the shocked Lucian into the Mansion’s interior with his full weight.
Lia cried out in alarm.
[Kaiser!]
“You bastard! What nerve, crawling into this place!”
“……Seems you’re quite angry with me.”
“Angry? How could you not be angry? Why didn’t you send Lia a letter! What use are your hands?! I know full well how she waited for you……!”]
[Kaiser, please stop……!]
Rumble-rumble-rumble-
As Lia cried out loudly, the ground shook in small tremors, and the Mansion felt the vibration. Most of all, a strong gust of wind erupted from where Lia stood, and everyone — Kaiser and Lucian alike — stopped dead in their tracks.
Those who could not see Lia felt a chill, believing a ghost had caused the disturbance.
[After so long apart, do you really have to fight like that right in front of me?]
Both fell silent, their lips pressed shut. Yet the fierce glint in their eyes never wavered.
Or rather, Kaiser glared at Lucian as though he might devour him, while Lucian met that gaze evenly.
Kaiser released his grip on Lucian’s collar and moved toward Lia’s side.
“……Damn it. What’s with that look?”
[I’m sorry…….]
“If you’d told me sooner, I would’ve done something! Damn it…… You and Lucian are exactly the same! I’m fed up with you all disappearing without a word……!”]
Kaiser pressed his forehead, his expression painfully taut.
In his position, it was understandable to suffer as dear friends vanished overnight.
Both Lia and Lucian remained silent, acutely feeling his anguish.
“……Really, there’s no way at all?”
Kaiser reached toward Lia’s faded torso. Rather than passing through a ghost’s body, his hand merely swept through empty air.
[If there were a way, wouldn’t I have done something already?]
“……Damn it.”
As Lia patted Kaiser, Lucian, whose fists had been clenched, turned his head.
Lia’s lips moved as she noticed him approaching the Basement again.
[Kaiser! Stop Lucian for me.]
“What? Why would I stop that bastard…… Huh? Where’d he go?”]
Kaiser, thinking Lucian was nearby, muttered curses, then looked around frantically when he realized the man beside him had vanished.
[Lucian just went down to the Basement. He says he’s going to resurrect me.]
“Resurrect you?”
[I don’t fully understand his scheme, but if resurrecting me means sacrificing someone else, I absolutely refuse. So, Kaiser…… please stop Lucian for me.]
“…….”
[I don’t want to see Lucian commit something terrible because of me.]
Though he didn’t know all the details, Kaiser could tell from Lia’s desperation that this was no light matter.
“I’ll knock some sense into him and be right back.”
Kaiser headed toward the Basement where Lucian had gone. As he descended the stairs, an uneasy confusion continued to gnaw at him.
“Now that I think about it…… you said you two fought because you were caught coming out of the Basement before you disappeared, didn’t you?”
When he’d searched for Lucian extensively, he’d examined the Basement, hoping to find any clue to the cause.
But the Basement looked no different than before, and he’d found nothing of note.
“Maybe there’s some secret hidden in the Basement…….”
Upon reaching the Basement, Kaiser fell silent.
Lucian had opened a door that had been firmly sealed and entered within.
Kaiser was certain that when he’d checked before, nothing could budge that door no matter what he tried. So how had Lucian opened it……?
“Lucian, you……!”
As Kaiser hurried after him, he found himself at a loss for words for an entirely different reason.
“What…… is this……?”
Kaiser discovered a woman who looked identical to Lia, trapped within an enormous Gem, in a chamber overgrown with moss.
Thump-thump-thump-thump!
Upon seeing her, his heart began to pound violently.
No — from the moment he discovered this place, his heart had been thundering in his chest.
“Kaiser, you’ve arrived at the perfect time.”
As though he’d anticipated Kaiser’s pursuit, Lucian greeted him calmly.
Kaiser’s lips trembled, and with a shaking finger, he pointed at the woman in the Gem.
“Is she…… perhaps…….”
“She looks like Lia, doesn’t she?”
He couldn’t deny it. The woman’s face was eerily identical to Lia’s.
“Five years ago, before I went to the Imperial Palace, I found this. From then on, I had a hypothesis.”

1. Lia is not a phantom.
2. For some reason, she was sealed here, and only her spirit wandered free.
3. If the Seal is broken, Lia might be able to live as human again.

His time at the Imperial Palace had not been wasted.
He had long since memorized Lia’s Sealing Magical Circle and, based on it, had worked with Ange to devise a way to unseal her.
And finally, a year ago, he found the method to break it.
From that point on, Lucian immediately assumed the throne and devised a plan to bring Lia to the Imperial Palace.
“To break this Magical Circle, the more allies we have, the better. Please, lend me your strength, Kaiser.”
Kaiser felt the sight before him was unreal.
But the moment his hand touched the Gem, he felt the heartbeat of ‘Lia’ thrumming through it.
“Ange, and you knew about this the whole time, saying nothing…….”
To dispel his bewilderment, Kaiser addressed Ange.
But Ange was staring at the woman with wide eyes.
“……Ange?”
Lucian also turned to look at Ange. Ange, as though deaf to others’ words, slowly approached the Gem.
He placed both hands upon it and caressed the Gem.
“Ah, I see. So that’s what happened.”
A hollow laugh escaped him, leaving Lucian and Kaiser utterly bewildered.
But soon Ange stopped laughing and turned to face them both.
“Pup, once you break the Seal, give me this Gem.”
“The Gem…… you mean?”]
“Yes. This must not remain here as it is. This Gem has a true owner.”
“……If you’re willing to help me, you’re welcome to take it.”
“Very well.”
“What is this, exactly?”
Ange paused and turned to Kaiser.
“Well…… you’ve never seen one before, have you?”
[Huh?”]
“This is something extremely, extremely, extremely important to us dragons. I’ll explain the details later. Weren’t you told there’s no time?”]
Lucian and Kaiser clenched their fists, thinking of Lia.
“Now then, let’s begin unsealing.”
At Ange’s words, the two nodded.

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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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