Time Healer Ceres - Chapter 132

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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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How lonely he must have been. How much he must have suffered.
She understood now why he’d stayed away from the Duchy for so long.
‘He must have hated it.’
Everything changing while he alone remained fixed. Being alone in places that had always held the three of them together—he must have despised that too.
Perhaps that’s why he’d never set foot in the Empire, so full of their shared memories. And that knowledge broke her heart all the more.
“…….”
Kainel drew a deep breath and slowly buried his face in Seres’s shoulder.
“…You were really planning to push me away to the very end?”
His lips moved against the nape of her neck.
“If I hadn’t come looking for you…….”
“No. How could I push you away to the end?”
Even if Kainel hadn’t come searching for her first, she would have found him eventually.
No matter if he denied her, doubted her, refused to accept her—in the end, they would have met like this.
“…That’s enough then.”
Yes. That was enough.
A long, weary exhale escaped from Kainel as he held Seres in his arms.
* * *
“Sister.”
“Seres, are you done with din—”
“Shh.”
“……?”
Antonieon and Yulia, who had entered the room to retrieve the soup bowl, fell silent at once.
Someone else was asleep on the bed where Seres had been lying moments before.
“Is the mister asleep?”
“Yes.”
Kainel was sleeping. Yulia and Antonieon watched him with utter fascination.
They had never once seen him sleep since bringing Seres here.
“He’d probably be more comfortable sleeping in the guest room.”
At Antonieon’s words, Seres shook her head softly.
“Just leave him be.”
Seres gently smoothed his tousled hair. The snow-white strands slipped through her fingers like silk.
‘Sensitive creature…….’
He showed no sign of waking even at her touch, as though he were being repaid for all the sleep he’d put off.
“Let him sleep deeply.”
Seres’s careful fingers ruffled his hair once more, gently.
Chapter 37. Three Dukes
“You’ve missed over ten days of classes again, I see.”
“Yes, well.”
When Seres returned to the Academy after a fortnight, she was naturally summoned by her homeroom instructor, Daniel.
At this point, having been called in so many times, she found the Faculty Office rather comforting, if anything.
“The number of days you can deduct for medical leave is running quite thin now.”
“I’ll need to leave early today as well.”
She’d stopped by to attend class so she wouldn’t miss too many days, but after lying unconscious for over ten days, her body wasn’t in as good condition as she’d hoped.
‘Though I suppose I’m well enough to attend classes if I really push myself.’
But did she need to?
“At this rate, you’ll face grade retention.”
With her already inadequate attendance and the limits of medical leave, Daniel drew out a long sigh.
“Wouldn’t withdrawal be better than grade retention?”
Seres’s eyes brightened. Quitting the Academy altogether didn’t seem like a bad idea.
If she withdrew now and claimed she’d been expelled for excessive absences, Antonieon wouldn’t be able to say much about it.
“Withdrawal?”
Daniel’s eyes widened in surprise, and he adjusted his glasses slightly.
“Then I’ll need to discuss it with your younger brother and get his approval.”
“…Wait a moment. Discuss what with whom?”
Not my older brother, not my older sister—why would I need approval from someone younger than me for my own affairs?
Seres asked in bewilderment, but Daniel merely tilted his head as if questioning why she’d ask such an obvious thing.
“Antonieon mentioned it before. He said any Academy matter concerning you should be discussed with him.”
“I’m sorry?”
“He said you’re still not thinking clearly—haha. Your health hasn’t fully recovered yet, so it would be difficult for you to make proper judgments. He specifically insisted I report everything to him.”
“…….”
So my younger sibling has been spreading rumors all around the neighborhood, calling me a complete lunatic.
The moment her body returned to normal, Seres felt a sudden surge of determination—she’d have to visit the training grounds soon and give that girl a proper workout.
“How should I go about discussing this with her?”
“Don’t bother.”
That girl will start throwing a fit again, insisting she won’t attend the Academy—just like last time. I’ve seen enough of that spectacle to last a lifetime.
Seres shelved any talk of withdrawal and processed an early dismissal instead, leaving the Faculty Office while Daniel saw her off with reminders to rest and recover well.
‘This pathetic body of mine—what am I going to do about it?’
Each step away from the Academy building felt heavy. After only a few days of fasting and lying bedridden, even walking had become exhausting.
Her natural constitution had always been frail; whenever she wielded a sword, she’d felt the strain on her body.
Still, she’d managed to compensate through careful technique, making the best of her weak frame—but once combat ended, the toll was inevitable. That toll had reached its peak during this recent S-Rank Black Forest subjugation.
“I wonder if he’s still asleep.”
After leaving the Faculty Office, Seres glanced at a clock mounted on the hallway wall.
‘I need to hurry.’
She had to return before Kainel woke up.
That day, Kainel had fallen asleep with his face buried in her shoulder, and even after a full day had passed, he showed no signs of waking. Now, days later, he merely drifted in and out of sleep, never leaving the bed.
‘Sister, did the mister collapse this time too?’
‘Is this person even alive?’
It was only natural that the two children worried, seeing Kainel occupying the bed that should have been hers.
‘He really does sleep a lot.’
Like someone who hadn’t slept properly in ages.
Seeing that even after several days he showed no sign of rising, Seres decided to visit the Temple—she needed to check on her student. Whether he’d made it through safely.
‘Not that I’m particularly worried.’
She knew his swordsmanship better than anyone. Even facing an S-Rank Black Forest, he wouldn’t have fallen easily.
‘Besides, he has the body of Fire, Death, Righteousness.’
Still getting used to the strange nature of her student, Seres shook her head lightly.
In truth, seeing her student was the main reason for leaving. She’d stopped by the Academy almost incidentally—merely to mark an attendance day and avoid falling behind.
Though she’d told everyone to rest a bit longer since they were still recovering.
‘Grade retention might be acceptable, but withdrawal is not.’
From tomorrow onward, she intended to attend the Academy properly again.
‘But the real problem is Kainel, that stubborn fool.’
He’d always been that way. Whenever she grew even slightly ill, he’d refuse to leave the bed, let alone step outside the house.
When he woke and found her gone, he’d surely tear the place apart looking for her. Still, she needed to check on her student’s condition—what was she to do? Put it off until tomorrow? But the Academy had already taken too much of her time.
“Hm?”
As Seres emerged from the building and reached for a Movement Magic Scroll, she paused. Someone had caught her eye.
A middle-aged man crouching against the wall on one side of the building.
She might have simply passed by, since she didn’t recognize him—but the moment she stepped through the entrance, his gaze fixed on her so intently that she couldn’t ignore it.
“Well, well—if it isn’t our Seres.”
At his words, spoken with a bright smile and an accompanying wave, Seres found herself blinking repeatedly in confusion.
‘Do I know this person?’
How should she react? There was no one nearby to explain who this man was.
“I’ve seen you in photographs many times, but actually meeting you in person—it’s been four years, hasn’t it?”
The man, whose eyes crinkled warmly as he greeted her, rose from his position and approached. He was Noroa, Duke of the Southern Region.
‘That was the last time, yes.’
At her parents’ funeral—the funeral of those two close friends—he and the other two Dukes had agreed not to attend properly.
It was unavoidable. They had to evade the watching eyes of so many. They feared too deeply that the enemy’s gaze, fixed upon themselves, might turn toward the children.
And in respect for their two friends’ desire to live quietly, honoring their wish that their own children live in peace, they had chosen restraint.
In the end, they had not attended the funeral formally, merely accompanying their two friends in secret before returning.
The last time she’d seen those children grieving for their parents was from a distance, a brief glimpse.
“Hello.”
“Who are you?”
“Me? A friend of your parents. You saw me up close once when you were this small—though I doubt you remember. Ah, what a shame.”
As the man seemed to wipe his eyes sadly, Seres again found herself hesitating on how to respond.
“Did you come looking for me?”
She decided to ask directly. Her parents could certainly have had friends she didn’t know about, but she had no idea why this person had suddenly sought her out like this. Her parents had been dead for so long—why now?
“Yes. I came to see you.”
“What business do you have with me?”
“I wanted to see you.”
“…….”
The abruptness of his answer left Seres speechless once more. That single, short phrase carried such sincerity that she found herself utterly bewildered. To reiterate—why suddenly now?
“What? If you make that bewildered face, it breaks this old man’s heart. Do you know how much I’ve missed our Seres? Won’t you at least show me a little joy?”
…What is this man talking about?

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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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