The Abandoned Prince’s Ghost Bride - Chapter 91

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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 Ghost Bride, Chapter 91

“…No, I’m sorry for being angry. You should rest. I’ll let you go.”
She hadn’t meant to be angry, but the thought that he was hiding something from her made her feel disappointed without her realizing it.
Worried that seeing Lucian’s face would make her emotional again, Lia turned her back to him, wrapping herself tightly in the blanket.
She could still sense his presence behind her. Lia squeezed her eyes shut and waited for Lucian to leave.
“Sigh…”
She heard a sigh from behind.
Her heart sank and her nose stung. Overwhelmed by an inexplicable melancholy, she was about to bury her face in the blanket when—
“Lia, look at me.”
Lucian leaned down toward her. With her emotions at their peak, Lia pressed her lips together and avoided his gaze.
She was preventing something she didn’t want to happen before it could occur.
Of course, Lucian misunderstood and thought she was genuinely angry with him.
Seeing Lia’s face hidden beneath the blanket, Lucian sat down on the edge of the bed.
He gently ran his fingers through the black hair that peeked out from under the covers.
“Did I hurt you?”
“…”
“I thought I was hiding it well, but it seems your eyes can’t be fooled after all.”
Those words confirmed he had indeed been trying to hide something from her. Lia’s grip on the blanket tightened.
“…I’m afraid you’ll regain your memories.”
At his words, Lia’s tightly closed eyes flew open.
What could he possibly be afraid of?
“I knew you had a life three hundred years ago, but now that you’re actually starting to remember your past, I’m terrified. What if you remember everything and leave me?”
“What are you talking about?”
Lia sat up. Lucian wore the same helpless, dejected expression she’d seen before.
Looking closer, she could see he was deeply melancholy—as though one small provocation would make him cry.
“Why would I leave you?”
Lia reached out to touch Lucian’s face, but he turned his head away.
“When you regain your past, you’ll remember the people you cherished and the memories you shared with them. Surely there were people who loved you back then.”
“Ah…”
“And worse—what if you want to go back to your past?”
Finally, Lucian’s voice wavered. He didn’t shed tears, but his golden eyes glistened with moisture.
“I know it’s necessary for the future that you remember your past. But every time you try to uncover it, I grow anxious. I’m afraid you’ll slip away to somewhere my hands can never reach.”
Lucian buried his face in his hands.
Only then did Lia begin to understand why he’d been acting so strangely and what was making him so anxious.
‘This is my fault.’
While she hadn’t been desperately trying to recover her past memories as Lucian seemed to think, there was certainly enough reason for him to misunderstand.
But there was one thing she couldn’t understand.
“Lucian, are you saying that all the memories we’ve built together mean nothing to me?”
It was possible that if she recovered all her past memories, she might miss and long for the past, just as Lucian feared.
But to her now, the memories she’d made with Lucian were far more precious.
During three hundred years as a ghost, the most vivid memories were the moments spent with Lucian.
“Lucian, the me from the past and the me now are both me. Even if I recover my past, there’s no reason I would leave you. Besides, if I could forget you so easily, I would have spent those five years you were gone peacefully at the Mansion instead of suffering.”
“…You suffered?”
“I just didn’t show it so you wouldn’t feel burdened.”
When Lucian’s eyes wavered and he looked apologetic, Lia laughed helplessly and stroked his face.
“Every single day, I waited for you to come back.”
From almost dawn until darkness fell, she watched the Mansion every day to see if anyone would arrive.
“…I didn’t know.”
“Of course you didn’t. I never told you.”
Lucian felt the anxiety that had been lodged in his heart begin to melt away.
He knew he shouldn’t be purely happy that Lia had waited for him for five years with unwavering longing, yet his heart soared with such joy that it raced in his chest.
“And besides, I still haven’t remembered anything about my past.”
“But you did figure out who you are.”
“Age told me, though?”
Lia explained to Lucian what Age had told her.
“…Karserin?”
“Yes. The Red Dragon who founded the Empire together with the First Emperor. It’s not a legend—it’s real. And I was a witch who walked alongside them back then.”
“So you really don’t remember anything?”
“Why would I lie about something like this?”
Lucian’s mind went blank for a moment.
When Lia had first revealed she was a witch, it was something he could have easily deduced, but he’d overlooked it entirely while worrying that she might leave him.
“The reason I’ve been staying in the Records Archive is to investigate the First Emperor—hoping that if I dig deep enough, I might uncover something about myself.”
“But you shouldn’t overexert yourself.”
“I know. I’ll stop. Do you feel better now?”
Lia leaned forward and studied his face.
The initial heaviness had lifted from him, and now he wore a somewhat dazed expression.
“Besides, the only people I truly cherish right now are you and Kaiser. I don’t understand why you’d think that way. You’re overthinking.”
“…It’s not a misunderstanding.”
Lucian recalled the moment he first entered the sealed chamber where Lia had been bound.
He’d seen the Runes inscribed with Confession, and understood that the condition to open the door was to be someone who loved Lia completely.
If what Age had said was true, then it was likely the dragon Karserin who had created all of it.
The fact that there were people in the past who had cherished and loved Lia made him feel petty and ashamed of his jealousy.
Looking at her clear, luminous violet eyes, Lucian finally revealed what had happened in the Basement.
“I could tell how much the dragon Karserin cares for you… so I assumed you must have loved those people dearly as well.”
Lucian trailed off, watching her reaction nervously, before stopping abruptly.
Lia was looking at him with eyes that said ‘Is that really what you’re going to say?’
“Listen, even if what you’re saying is true, it doesn’t mean you’ll be pushed aside or that my affection for you will disappear. Why would you think something so foolish?”
“…Because I love you.”
Lia paused in the middle of brushing her hair back. Lucian’s gaze had grown serious.
“Lia, you know my feelings aren’t just childish infatuation anymore, don’t you?”
Lia, who had been trying to change the subject, found herself unable to speak and could only press her lips together.
She couldn’t help but know. All this time, she’d pretended not to notice and deflected conversations, but Lucian’s affection for her had always been genuine.
“During those five years apart, my love for you didn’t fade—it only grew. And now, just seeing you alive before my eyes, I can barely contain this feeling.”
His hand, drawing hers gently, felt particularly warm today.
His heat seemed to transfer to her hand.
“Five years ago, you said the biggest reason you couldn’t accept me was because I was a ghost. So tell me—what about now?”
“…”
“Do I still look like a child you’re taking care of?”
Lia lowered her head, trying to avoid his gaze, but Lucian caught her chin and tilted it up.
The moment their eyes met—his golden ones and hers—her breath caught.
The affection she’d been deliberately ignoring crashed over her like a wave.
‘When did Lucian… grow up like this?’
She’d known from the start.
From the moment she’d reunited with him five years ago until now, what stood before her was not the child she’d raised for ten years.
There was only a young man who had loved one woman for a long time.
Lia couldn’t offer any answer; her eyes only trembled.
For Lucian, the situation wasn’t the worst it could be.
At least it meant she was shaken enough that she couldn’t simply shut him out as she once would have.
For now, he would have to be satisfied with this.
‘But I want more.’
During those five years apart, he’d met her countless times in dreams. Had he merely met her? No—he’d engaged in the kind of intimate touches that lovers would share without hesitation.
But dreams were nothing but illusion. The real pleasure was far greater: actually touching her with his own hands, feeling her warmth, seeing her trembling with his own eyes.
Lucian cupped her cheek with the hand that had been holding her chin. With careful deliberation, he closed his eyes and gently pressed his lips to her cheek.
It took courage—he’d prepared himself to be struck for it.
But strangely, Lia made no move to stop him. Her long lashes cast shadows beneath which her violet eyes shimmered.
Wanting those eyes for himself, Lucian kissed her eyelid once more.
He felt her eyelid tremble against his lips.
Having received silent permission twice, Lucian felt a wave of desire surge up from within.
“…Can I take this as permission?”
He cupped both her cheeks and spoke softly against her forehead. Lia’s body went rigid and her eyes brightened with alarm.
She quickly pulled free from his hands and lowered her head.
“I don’t know. I love you, but I’m not sure if it’s… romantic love.”
“Stop.”
Lucian cut her off before she could finish. Lia looked up and found him wearing a bittersweet smile.
“Think about it a little more and give me your answer then.”
“Lucian…”
“I’m always here. So I’ll wait until you feel the same way I do.”
With those words, Lucian gently stroked her cheek once more, stood up, and left the room.
Click.
The door closed, and alone in the room, Lia recalled what had just happened and felt her face burn. Her heartbeat was audible in her ears.
“This is insane. What was I doing?”
Even knowing it carried a different weight than the playful touches they’d shared before, she hadn’t pushed him away.
If Lucian hadn’t regained his composure in the middle, she would have surrendered to him entirely.
If he hadn’t stopped… then surely…
Lia’s face turned red as a beet. She pulled the blanket over her head and kicked her feet at the empty air.

* * *

Two days had passed since Lucian’s earnest confession.
His confession had been so intense that Lia found herself lost in thoughts of him, unable to focus on investigating her past or conducting research.
Besides, since Lucian had told her to rest, there was nothing for her to do but lounge about in her room.
Lia sat on the terrace adjoining her room, basking in the sunlight.
As she gazed mindlessly at the ornate garden, she murmured softly.
“Does Lucian feel nothing about all this?”
It seemed only she was confused and awkward, while Lucian had continued to act exactly as he always did since his confession.
“Perhaps he’s simply grown accustomed to hiding his feelings.”
Now there was no way to avoid his love. Besides, after receiving such an earnest confession, it wouldn’t make sense to ignore it.
“But… I don’t know.”
What exactly were her own feelings?
The concerns and worries she’d harbored had all disappeared now that she was no longer a ghost but a living person, as he’d pointed out yesterday.
She could share warmth, build a future together, live an ordinary life like other people.
Most importantly, now they could grow old together.
The biggest obstacle had vanished…
And yet her thoughts still refused to turn in a positive direction.

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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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