Time Healer Ceres - Chapter 144

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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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“Miss!”
“…?”
After visiting the Arcane Tower, Seres had gone back to the Shop, only to be promptly shooed away by the maid Jay.
Unable to resist her commanding tone dressed up as a suggestion, she’d had no choice but to return home at once.
“Is something the matter?”
Yet the moment she stepped through the door, the butler Collin appeared as if he’d been waiting, approaching her so suddenly that Seres tilted her head in confusion.
“We have guests, Miss.”
“Guests? What guests?”
“Well, the Dukes have…”
The Dukes…plural?
At Collin’s answer, Seres’s mind immediately conjured two faces. The use of the plural suggested both Duke Noroa and Duke Elkane had come.
“When did they arrive?”
“About an hour ago, Miss.”
An hour. No wonder Collin looked so restless. To have kept dukes waiting for that long was no small matter.
Seres followed Collin at once into the Reception Room, where she found two dukes—no, three dukes—lounging casually in weathered chairs.
‘…He came too?’
She’d thought only Duke Noroa and Duke Elkane would visit, but there was Duke Shweis as well, arms folded, eyes closed in quiet repose.
“Wonderful! There she is, our Seres!”
“You’ve come, child.”
At her entrance, Duke Noroa and Duke Elkane rose to their feet, greeting her warmly.
As Seres offered them a faint smile in return, her gaze drifted to Duke Shweis, whose eyes had opened and were now fixed upon her.
“I heard you’ve been ill.”
“Ah…”
Seres glanced at Collin, who stood quietly beside her. He offered an awkward smile and lowered his head slightly.
“They asked why you hadn’t been coming to the Academy lately, Miss.”
At his explanation, she turned her attention to the three dukes. How had they even known she hadn’t been attending the Academy?
“It wasn’t the first time I came looking for you.”
“Pardon?”
“I’ve been searching for you.”
Seres suddenly grasped the meaning of his words.
“Our dear Seres, I waited for you every single day.”
Duke Noroa had visited the Academy for four days straight, hoping to see Seres.
But through the third day, he found no trace of her. It wasn’t until the fourth day that he finally managed to see her.
“I waited so long for you. Your absence made me quite sad.”
Duke Noroa touched the corner of his eye and let out a soft sigh.
“But you were ill and couldn’t come, I see.”
So you were in the Black Forest all this while…
When the court learned of this fact, he’d asked Collin in passing today, only to discover that Seres had been unwell—unwell enough that she couldn’t attend the Academy.
“I’m fine now.”
Seres smiled as brightly as she could, trying to soothe the trembling Duke Noroa.
“There’s no pain elsewhere?”
“No.”
Duke Elkane, too, regarded her with worry etched into his features, gently guiding her to a seat.
Once she was seated, a brief sigh escaped from Duke Shweis, whose gaze had never wavered.
“Did that man drag you to the conference hall despite your poor health?”
“…Yes, he did.”
“…Good heavens, that man…”
At his words, Duke Noroa and Duke Elkane stiffened, as though a new truth had just dawned on them.
Their faces hardened in unison, displeasure blooming like a shared realization—directed squarely at Grand Duke Persha.
It was true what they said: a hateful man commits only hateful deeds.
“I’ve already recovered completely. There’s no need to worry. The matter between him and me was something we needed to settle personally, that’s all.”
“Well, that’s precisely what I wanted to discuss with you.”
“Pardon?”
Duke Shweis, seeing her confusion, poured tea into a cup and slid it toward her with his own hands.
Every movement—the pouring, the offering—carried an air of such quiet composure that Seres found herself staring intently at his hands without quite meaning to.
“I’d like to settle that debt for you.”
“…A debt?”
His words jolted her back to attention. A debt? What debt? Surely he didn’t mean the one Kainel held?
“No, not that man—hem! Not him. I’ll pay it off myself!”
“Didn’t we settle this not long ago? I’m telling you, it’s best if I repay it.”
Before Shweis could finish, the other two dukes rushed in with their own words.
Seres blinked rapidly at their barrage. What in the world was happening?
“So I’m handling it.”
“How many times do I have to tell you both to back off?”
“Really now, it’s best that I settle Seres’s debt…….”
Clap!
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
At the sharp sound of her hands coming together, all three men fell silent at once. Seres shook her head gently at the three of them staring blankly at her. A long sigh escaped her lips unbidden.
“You’re talking about our house’s debt, aren’t you?”
“That’s right.”
“I hear Persha has your debt documents.”
“And I’m trying to find them and destroy them.”
“…….”
Though she’d only known them a short while, Seres was beginning to understand why these three were friends.
‘They’re remarkably alike.’
Once they fixed on something, they couldn’t think of anything else. They never asked for her opinion, and yet here they were, pointlessly arguing among themselves. Why?
“It’s my debt.”
“Yes, it’s our Seres’s debt. So it’s our debt too.”
How did he arrive at such a conclusion? Seres let out a small sigh at Noroa’s matter-of-fact pronouncement of his absurd logic, and at the other two nodding along as if it made perfect sense.
“I’ll handle this myself. I’d appreciate it if the three of you didn’t get involved in this matter.”
The three dukes’ eyes widened slightly. Her tone was so resolute, so different from how she’d presented herself to them until now.
“Now, now, how do you expect to handle this alone?”
“That’s right, Seres. Wouldn’t you let me help?”
Elkane and Noroa wore expressions of distress.
“Why take on such hardship yourself……!”
Swish.
It was Shweis who stopped them from saying more. He reached out lightly, cutting off the other two as they tried to grab Seres.
“Is that what you wish?”
He regarded her in silence for a moment before asking quietly.
“Yes.”
Her answer was just as firm this time.
“…Very well.”
Shweis nodded at her reply and quietly rose from his seat.
“What? Berber, you’re just going to leave like that? Without trying to convince her more?”
“I told you, didn’t I? Don’t trust that one.”
Should I hit that bastard?
Yeah, yeah. Not stopping myself this time.
Shweis paid no attention to the two men’s childish protests.
He paused.
As he turned and began to leave, he stopped abruptly mid-stride.
“…….”
Then, seeing Seres standing to see him off, Shweis turned back and approached her again.
Pat, pat.
He reached out and gently patted her shoulder. Somewhat… no, quite awkwardly. As if this gesture was entirely unfamiliar to him.
Then he quietly took his leave.
“Seres, let’s talk a bit longer, shall we?”
“Yes, dear. I’m too worried to leave you like this.”
The two dukes seemed intent on convincing her further, gesturing repeatedly for her to come sit with them.
‘Hmm.’
But Seres wasn’t hearing their voices. Something else had caught her attention.
‘Why would he wear that……?’
When Shweis had been close to her just moments before, she’d noticed something odd around his neck.
A very old and worn necklace. Hanging from it, a broken eagle pendant.
Seeing it, Seres couldn’t help but tilt her head in confusion.
Chapter 41. Broken Wings
“Your Highness, the Crown Prince—Marquis Merial has arrived.”
Aseraian, reviewing documents for today’s agenda ahead of the Imperial Court meeting, set down the papers at his attendant’s words.
“Let him in.”
Moments after the command was given, the door opened and a man who appeared to be of advanced years entered the office.
“Your Highness.”
He was marked by a warm, genial bearing. The smile that spread across his face had a way of putting others at ease.
“Welcome, Marquis.”
At his arrival, Crown Prince Aseraian rose from his seat to greet him warmly.
Marquis Merial.
The father of the late Empress and grandfather to both Crown Prince Aseraian and Arcane Tower Master Chaien.
“I trust you are well.”
At Aseraian’s inquiry, the smile at Marquis Merial’s lips deepened.
“Haha, thanks entirely to Your Highness’s thoughtfulness.”
“I’m relieved to hear it.”

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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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