The Abandoned Prince’s Ghost Bride - Chapter 83

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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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Ghost Bride of the Abandoned Prince — Episode 83

Age watched the imperial physician leave the corridor, then stepped back into the room.
In his absence, Lia had been tending not only to Lucian’s wounds but also to Kaiser’s, indulging the complaints of both men.
While Lucian could be excused, the sight of a Lord Candidate who was also a dragon doing the same made Age’s brow furrow without meaning to.
‘So she means that much to both of them.’
How extraordinary their friendship was, how deeply they treasured one another — none of that concerned him particularly.
Age had something he needed to learn from her.
Only then could he understand the death of one he had admired and loved.
“All of you. Out.”
Age stepped forward and spoke bluntly. The three of them froze and turned toward him.
“What are you saying?”
“Get out.”
“Hey! Who do you think you are, ordering me around? I’m staying with Lia!”
Kaiser, oblivious to the mood, clung to Lia, and Age’s eyebrow twitched.
Lucian, who possessed better instincts, shot him a glance.
“Do you have something you wish to discuss with Lia?”
“Yes. So take that troublemaker with you and leave. I have no desire for this to reach anyone else’s ears.”
Lucian looked at Lia for a moment. She simply stared back, bewildered, pointing at herself.
Over the past five years, Age had helped with his work and provided the greatest assistance in lifting Lia’s Sealing. In Lucian’s eyes, he was nothing less than a benefactor.
With anyone else, he would never leave Lia alone with them. But with Age, he could trust him — especially given that he was a dragon who harbored little fondness for humans.
“Kaiser, let’s go.”
“What? Why should I? No way! I’m not letting go!”
“Please have a good conversation.”
Lucian dragged Kaiser away by force. Kaiser thrashed about in earnest, but Lucian was no longer weak enough to be overpowered by him.
Lia blinked as Kaiser shrieked and vanished from the room.
Age settled into the chair beside the bed. Lia watched him carefully.
“So who are you…… exactly? You seemed to know Kaiser too…….”
Not knowing Age’s identity, Lia wavered over whether to use formal speech with him or not.
From their first meeting at the Mansion, she could tell he was no ordinary figure…….
“I am Age. A White Dragon.”
“……I see.”
“You don’t seem particularly surprised.”
“Well, I’ve been around one dragon for a long time, so……?”
As Lia hesitated over her speech level, Age spoke without concern.
“Speak as you’re comfortable.”
“Alright.”
Lia accepted his offer without hesitation — which struck him as absurd, since most people would at least feign a moment’s consideration first.
But that lasted only a moment. When Lia fixed her gaze on him, Age tilted his head.
“What is it? Do I have something on my face?”
“No…… it’s just that you’re not what I expected. I thought all dragons were arrogant, but you’re rather composed.”
He wasn’t sure whether to take that as an insult or a compliment.
Since Lia had only encountered Kaiser among dragons, it was understandable she’d formed such an impression. Still, wouldn’t most dragons refrain from showing such thoughts in front of one of their own kind?
“I’m Lia. As for my age, I’m probably over three hundred.”
“I’ve heard your circumstances from Lucian and Kaiser.”
“Really? Then what do you want to know from me? You could’ve just asked them.”
“There are things they wouldn’t be able to answer.”
Lia tilted her head quizzically.
Age immediately produced something from his Subspace and got to the matter at hand.
“Do you know anything about this?”
“……What is it?”
“It was used as your Sealing stone.”
“Ah, the Dragon Heart they mentioned?”
Age’s eyebrow twitched at the casual tone of Lia’s response, as though she were discussing someone else’s affair.
Lia examined the Dragon Heart.
At first glance, it appeared to be nothing more than a massive piece of jewel.
Certainly it was a Dragon Heart — the stone thrummed with pure mana.
Simply holding it made her feel nostalgic and strangely at peace.
“What I want to know is what happened to you just before you were Sealed.”
“…….”
“Do you remember anything from before that time?”
Before being Sealed…….
“To be honest, I don’t remember anything.”
“…….”
“All I remember is becoming a Spirit and living for three hundred years in that Mansion.”
“So you didn’t remember such things even then.”
“That’s right. Which is why I thought I had died and become a ghost. I never dreamed I had a body to return to.”
“……I see.”
“This Dragon Heart seems to be something important to you?”
“……There was a dragon I had been seeking for a long time. I denied her death, but the presence of this Dragon Heart suggests she passed away long ago.”
Age’s face took on a melancholic cast.
“Since the Dragon Heart was used as your Sealing stone, there must have been a connection between you and its owner in the past. That’s why I asked about your history.”
Now she understood why she felt such a peculiar longing when she held the Dragon Heart.
“……But I have my suspicions about who you were. So when I found the Dragon Heart and heard your name again, I was quite shocked.”
“……What?”
The revelation that Age knew of a past she couldn’t even remember struck her forcefully.
Her heart began to race, and her fingertips trembled.
“You’re saying you know my real name?”
Age nodded slowly.
Lia’s eyes widened.
It had been two hundred years since she last wondered about her identity before she became a ghost, but the question had tormented her at times.
She never thought she would find a clue here, of all places.
“Your name is Lia.”
Thump — her heart responded the moment she heard the name.
“Three hundred years ago, you were a Witch who built the Empire alongside the First Emperor.”
It was exactly as she had suspected. The very name Lucian had borrowed when he gave her one.
“And the owner of that Dragon Heart is named Karcerin. A Red Dragon who was once a Lord Candidate.”
“Kar…… cerin…….”
“Does that name stir any memories?”
A strange sense of familiarity tugged at her, and her head ached slightly, but nothing came to mind.
She shook her head, and Age sighed softly, as though he had expected as much.
“Is there anything else you know?”
“No. I only know what was written in Karcerin’s Letter. I never imagined I would encounter a figure from three hundred years ago in this manner.”
“I am a Witch…… a Red Dragon, Karcerin…….”
Lia remained in shock, merely echoing Age’s words. He offered her another hint to help her understand.
“Before Karcerin vanished, he spent seven years living alongside a human. That is all I can tell you now.”
Believing he had learned all he could from Lia, Age rose from his seat.
“Wait, just a moment!”
Lia grabbed his arm before he could leave, and Age turned back. He looked at the Dragon Heart in her hand.
“I will lend you the Dragon Heart for now. It seems to be stirring something within you.”
“That’s…….”
“If anything at all comes back to you — no matter how small — tell me at once. Then I will help you recover your memories.”
“Does Lucian or Kaiser know about this?”
“Not yet. I haven’t told them.”
“Then…….”
Should she tell them who she really was? Conflict stirred within her.
She didn’t know why she hesitated, but while part of her wanted to know the past, another part asked: did she need to?
Perhaps it was because the present satisfied her so thoroughly that she felt no need to know what came before.
“I believe you should tell them. The First Emperor seems to be involved in your Sealing, and with Lucian present, learning more about him should be manageable.”
“……The First Emperor.”
“Do you know the legends of the First Emperor? The figures in them are Karcerin and the Witch — yourself.”
The Lia from the fairy tales she had read to Lucian every day as a child was herself.
“I did find Karcerin’s Dragon Heart, but how he died remains unclear. My intention is to uncover the truth of his death before returning the Dragon Heart to his family.”
Lia, who had been lost in thought, lifted her head at Age’s words.
“The choice is yours, but I would hope you would make an effort to recall your past. Karcerin would not have surrendered his life for you in vain.”
“……What do you mean, surrendered his life for me?”
“Why would a Dragon Heart be used as your Sealing stone? If someone had intended to consume Karcerin’s Dragon Heart to Seal you, it would have been depleted long ago. But since it remains, it means he chose to sacrifice himself to protect you.”
“…….”
She couldn’t fathom that such a thing lay hidden in her forgotten past.
Karcerin…… why would that dragon have sacrificed his life for her?
“To speak honestly, you were the primary cause that drove Karcerin to his death. I would tear you apart on the spot if I could.”
Faced with the full force of Dragon Fear, Lia went rigid in an instant.
As she drew upon her mana to shield herself from the Fear, the Dragon Heart in her hand suddenly reacted.
Without anyone touching it, the Dragon Heart moved to block Age’s Fear.
A deafening roar erupted from the stone.
The Dragon Heart emanated a hostility equal to Age’s Fear — as if warning that anyone who touched this woman would not be forgiven.
Lia stared down at the Dragon Heart in confusion as Age let out a hollow laugh and withdrew his Fear.
With that, the Dragon Heart quieted as if nothing had happened.
“This is…….”
“It appears the owner of the Dragon Heart cherished you dearly.”
Lia’s face was a mask of confusion.
“Now that I know how Karcerin felt about you, I won’t lay a hand on you.”
“…….”
“If you owe your life to Karcerin’s sacrifice, then help me in return. That is the very least you owe.”
With those words, Age left the room.
Long after he departed, Lia continued to stare at the Dragon Heart in a daze.
“Karcerin…….”
An unfamiliar name, yet one that rolled perfectly off her tongue. And after some time, another name surfaced alongside it, unbidden.
“……Odel.”
A hazy memory from the depths of her consciousness, a vision glimpsed just before it faded.
She had definitely seen these two there. She had mistaken them for Lucian and Kaiser.
At first, she thought it was merely a strange vision, but perhaps it was something more.
“It may have been my past after all.”
The yellow Dragon Heart gleamed in Lia’s hand.

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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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