Time Healer Ceres - Chapter 140

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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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“His Majesty called for you again?”
“I’ve told His Majesty not to bother our Seres, but I suppose I’ll have to petition him once more.”
The two of them radiated a mixture of joy at their reunion and wariness—concern that Seres wasn’t being dragged along against her will.
‘Why are these two…?’
‘Acquainted?’
‘How?’
The other nobles in the Meeting Hall found themselves bewildered at the sight of smiles blooming on the faces of those who had just been radiating such frigid tension.
What came next, however, left them truly stunned.
“Uncle, Auntie.”
The sight of Seres approaching them with such casual familiarity made the nobles’ jaws drop.
‘Did she just…?’
‘Uncle? Auntie?’
‘Surely I’m the only one hearing this wrong?’
Who in the world would dare address two Dukes in such a manner? Even as the crowd reacted in shock, the three of them conversed with the ease of people inhabiting their own private realm.
“His Majesty didn’t call for me.”
“Then what? Did our Seres come because she missed her Uncle?”
Duke Noroa’s eyes gleamed with hope, and Seres offered an awkward smile before glancing at Kainel, who stood silently behind her.
“…….”
“……”
“…….”
Without any particular explanation from either of them, a flicker of displeasure suddenly kindled in the eyes of both Dukes as they regarded Kainel.
“Why would our Seres come with that person? Are they close? No, surely not. Our Seres isn’t the kind of girl who grows intimate with just anyone.”
“Of course not.”
Duke Noroa and Duke Elkein wedged themselves between the pair, creating distance between Seres and Kainel. At their maneuvering, a corner of Kainel’s mouth twisted upward in displeasure.
“You know each other?”
The moment he began to say otherwise, the chill radiating from him suggested he was ready to strike. Seres quickly spoke up.
“Friends of my late parents.”
So don’t presume.
“…….”
At the warning in Seres’s gaze, the corner of Kainel’s mouth that had begun to rise smoothly fell back into place.
Though something clearly displeased him, he showed no sign of pressing the matter further with the Dukes.
Watching him quietly take his seat, Seres exhaled a short breath of relief.
“Everyone, sit down. That’s enough noise.”
At that moment, a low voice cut through the atmosphere, restoring quiet.
When Seres lifted her head at the sound, she found herself meeting the gaze of a man who had been staring at her intently.
His eyes, black as pitch with no other color to be found, turned away from hers as though evading her look, and his face grew cold.
“Yes, let’s sit.”
Duke Noroa smiled broadly and headed to his seat. Duke Elkein, showing no desire to cause further commotion, settled into his chair without another word.
‘Could that person be…?’
Seres moved to stand behind Kainel, and her mind drifted as she observed Duke Schweiss, the one who had just spoken.
It seemed likely he was one of the people Duke Noroa had mentioned before.
‘His presence feels different.’
Unlike the other two, Duke Schweiss kept his gaze from settling properly on her, and his demeanor was cool and distant. Seres tilted her head in puzzlement.
‘Perhaps His Majesty misheard.’
That he called her his child? When she thought about it again, it made no sense. There must have been some misunderstanding in the conversation….
Whoosh.
“……?”
Seres’s train of thought broke off abruptly—at the sight of Duke Schweiss suddenly rising from his seat.
He strode toward an empty space, picked up the Chair that was there, and carried it over to where Seres stood.
“Sit.”
“…I beg your pardon?”
Seres watched as Duke Schweiss set the Chair behind her and returned to his seat as though nothing had happened, her expression bewildered.
His face remained cold and distant, his eyes still refusing to meet hers directly, yet afterward he continued to steal glances, making it clear he was monitoring her comfort. Seres found herself smiling inwardly at his behavior.
‘What on earth did my parents do with their lives?’
She found herself profoundly curious about what sort of lives Seres’s original parents must have lived.
* * *
“A Marquis, you say?”
“Yes. Did Father perhaps know the three Dukes well?”
There was only one person who could answer questions about the late Marquis of Drow House.
Seres thought that Colin, the butler who had served the Drow House for so long, might know something.
“Ah….”
When she asked about the three Dukes, he nodded quietly for a moment, then released a long sigh.
“Yes. You were acquainted in your childhood. You spent considerable time with Duke Noroa and Duke Schweiss. You attended the Academy together as well. But….”
“But?”
“At some point, you severed all contact. That was likely around the time something happened in House Schweiss.”
“Something? What sort of thing?”
“A very long time ago, when the current Duke Schweiss was still Crown Prince, his younger sibling was abducted.”
It had been a sibling considerably younger in age.
“The entire Empire was thrown into upheaval, or so I’m told.”
Countless people pursued the kidnapper. Yet in the end, Duke Schweiss’s younger sibling returned only as a corpse.
“For reasons I cannot fathom, I have never witnessed the three of you together since that incident.”
Seres nodded at Colin’s words.
‘They wanted it that way. They asked us to ensure that you three never drew the attention of others because of us. We agreed to it.’
‘They covered it up so thoroughly.’
She recalled what Duke Noroa had said the last time they met. If Colin, who had watched over everything from the closest vantage point, believed the connection had been severed, then what could be said of everyone else?
They had deceived the eyes of others with absolute thoroughness.
“Everyone except Aunt Agene, of course.”
“Pardon?”
Colin seemed puzzled as to why Agene’s name was suddenly brought up. Seres posed a different question to him instead.
“What was the relationship between Father and Aunt Agene like?”
“Between the two of them….”
A long sigh escaped Colin’s lips.
“It was good. They were as close as siblings could be. Before the Marquis and his wife passed, she was a devoted aunt to you and your two siblings as well.”
That was why, when the Marquis passed away and Agene said she would become the children’s guardian and temporarily lead the family, Colin had been reassured. He believed she would care for the children well.
‘I was mistaken.’
That conviction crumbled before even a fortnight had passed. He watched as she barred the children from inheriting the Family Headship on the grounds of their youth, and as she pressured Seres into a state where she could not decide anything of her own accord. Colin desperately wanted to help.
But what could a mere butler do? All he could offer were small pieces of advice and counsel to Seres.
Yet even that displeased Agene’s eyes, and he was forced to leave the Marquis’s house.
“But why do you suddenly ask such a thing?”
“Just… it seems our Aunt was quite remarkable, now that I think of it.”
To actually entertain the thought of deceiving the three Dukes of the Empire—whether foolish or audacious, one had to acknowledge at least that nerve.
“Miss, though….”
“Mm?”
“They’re fighting again.”
……
At Colin’s words, Seres turned her head and watched the two creatures off to the side, earnestly making “puff, chirp!” sounds at each other.
[Pfft! Pfft!]
The young rabbit spirit Airien had once again played a prank, leaving a single flower blooming with a soft pop on Black’s head.
When Black tried to remove it, flailing short arms frantically without success, the creature let out sharp yelps in frustration.
“Airien.”
[Chirp?]
“Stop it.”
[Chirp….]
“If you keep tormenting Black, you’ll be punished.”
[Puff! Puff!]
As she picked up Black, who had clung to her feet, the creature promptly burst into sorrowful cries, as if it had been waiting for this moment.
[…Chirp.]
Airien regarded Black with clear displeasure. When it usually played pranks, Black would retaliate by using shadows to pull its ears or knock it over. Yet whenever Seres was present, the creature played the victim so pitifully, as if it alone were being bullied.
[Puff….]
[…! Chirp!]
Look at that! Just look at that smug expression on its face as it gazes back from Seres’s arms—a picture of victory!
As Airien bounded about indignantly, Black’s smile deepened.
“Stop fighting and have some snacks instead.”
[Puff!]
[Chirp!]
The moment the two creatures saw the fresh fruit and cake, they hummed cheerfully as if they had never quarreled at all, rushing toward the treats in unison.
* * *
In Kainel’s Office, where a chill hung in the air, uncommon visitors occupied the space at an hour when work should have been in full swing.
“…What are you doing here?”
“Schweiss, I didn’t expect you to arrive first.”
Duke Elkein and Duke Noroa widened their eyes at the uninvited guest who had already claimed a seat ahead of them.
Upon entering the reception room, they could see Duke Schweiss sitting with one leg crossed over the other, sipping his tea with unhurried composure.
“I’ve told you not to call me that.”
Schweiss lifted his gaze indifferently at the pet name that spilled from Duke Noroa’s lips, setting down his teacup as his brow furrowed slightly.
“Come now, if not Ber, what else should I call you?”
Beinelr Schweiss—Duke Noroa shortened the name to Ber and grinned widely. Schweiss regarded him in silence for a moment, then picked up his teacup once more.
“I’ll handle the matter here. The rest of you can leave.”

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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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