Time Healer Ceres - Chapter 46

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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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“First, turn that thing off.”
“Well, I’ve been trying to turn it off since earlier, but…….”
“But?”
“Why won’t it shut down?”
…….
…Are you seriously asking me that right now?
Aserlian regarded his younger brother with an expression that asked what sort of pathetic thing could possibly exist.
-Eeeeeeeeeeeek!
No matter how Cheyeon fiddled with it, the Alarm Device kept wailing as if something had malfunctioned, refusing to stop.
“Cheyeon…….”
“Ha, why won’t it work? I don’t even……!”
Whoosh.
The feeling was bitter and refreshing all at once—something Aserlian couldn’t begin to put into words—and he chose silence instead.
Cheyeon, who had been wearing an awkward smile at the sight of his brother desperately ignoring the situation, suddenly flinched as a hand snatched the Alarm Device from his grasp.
Crash!
Someone hurled the Alarm Device to the floor and stomped on it hard.
-Eeeee…….
Crunch!
Only after the Alarm Device shattered into pieces did its faint wailing finally cease.
“…It actually broke?”
Cheyeon’s expression went blank.
I feel like I’ve seen this scene somewhere before…….
“I’m sorry, brother. I inspected them as carefully as I could—there must have been a defective unit.”
“Please explain this in a way I can understand, Cheyeon.”
“No, seriously. How else could such a sturdy Alarm Device break from just being stomped on a few times? It has to be defective.”
While his younger brother fussed about how the device must surely be defective since the sound wouldn’t turn off, Crown Prince Aserlian turned his gaze toward the person who had vanquished the Alarm Device.
To Seres, who was frowning with irritation.
“It was loud.”
Her eyes were full of displeasure as she looked at the utterly destroyed Alarm Device.
Why did I have to listen to that annoying Alarm Device sound all the way up here?
Cheyeon called out to Seres in a pitiful voice.
“Seres.”
“Yes?”
“Is breaking things with your feet a hobby of yours?”
Before, she stomped on a Video Recording Stone and broke it to pieces, and now an Alarm Device.
“And you? Is making a fuss your hobby?”
Seres had overheard the conversation between Cheyeon and Aserlian just moments before and could piece together what had happened.
She already knew he was willful, but she never thought he’d behave like that even at the Imperial Palace. Had he activated the Alarm Device because he didn’t like what the nobles were saying?
‘Well, I can’t say I don’t understand the impulse.’
It seems he’s still spouting nonsense in the conference room just as before.
I’ve nearly drawn my sword multiple times over it myself.
Thunk.
“Huh?”
It was Grand Duke Kainel who flicked Cheyeon lightly on the head as he passed by.
“…What?”
Cheyeon looked at Kainel with somewhat dazed eyes.
He couldn’t tell if that frozen man had actually hit him or not. It felt more like he’d been patted.
Either way, he should have found it unpleasant to have someone else touch his head…….
‘His hand…….’
He had thought it would be ice-cold, as frozen as winter itself, but surprisingly it was quite warm. Remarkably so.
Cheyeon looked at Kainel with a peculiar expression.
“Looks like it caught his fancy.”
“What?”
Seres muttered as if to herself while sweeping up the remains of the broken Alarm Device.
“Just what I said.”
That man treats people he dislikes as if they’re completely invisible, after all.
He’s still good at inviting misunderstandings, as always.
It was the same before. He’d nitpick at people he actually liked.
But only she and Artia knew that fact.
‘Did Cheyeon impress him?’
Perhaps Kainel also found the endless prattle of these nobles equally grating.
In that moment, Cheyeon—who’d triggered the Alarm Device and reduced the conference hall to chaos—might have actually won him over.
‘Or perhaps…….’
He might have sensed something else entirely.
That Cheyeon bore a striking resemblance to Artia.
After all, Artia had done much the same sort of unexpected things at Imperial Council meetings.
“…….”
Seres picked up the shattered remains of the Alarm Device and lifted her gaze, only to freeze.
Kainel, whom she’d thought had already left, was staring directly at her.
‘Surely he didn’t hear what I just said?’
But the moment their eyes met, Kainel turned his head away as if nothing had happened and promptly left.
His aide, Del, hurried after him, offering Seres a silent, subtle nod as she went.
“Cheyeon, is she part of your group?”
Crown Prince Aserlian, who had been quietly observing the situation, finally turned his attention to Seres.
He couldn’t help but be curious about this woman who spoke so naturally with Cheyeon.
“My new secretary.”
“Temporary.”
“…Right. Temporary.”
Cheyeon’s mouth twisted at the deliberate emphasis on the word, as if it displeased him.
“But Seres.”
“Yes.”
“Why do you keep speaking so formally all of a sudden?”
“Well, you’re my current superior, so of course I should.”
Seres regarded Cheyeon with a look of exasperation.
I can distinguish between public and private, at least.
“So you’re going to keep using formal speech from now on?”
“How about you just stay quiet for a bit, sir.”
“Yes…….”
Aserlian found himself watching the pair with great interest.
‘What is this easy rapport between them?’
“A new secretary, you say?”
“Yes!”
He was well aware that Luka, his friend and Cheyeon’s regular secretary, always took leave around this time.
Each time, someone else was brought in to fill the role, so he’d naturally assumed it would be the same this time.
“Seres.”
“Seres?”
Aserlian turned from Cheyeon, who offered no further explanation beyond the name, and fixed his gaze on Seres instead.
But she merely offered a subtle bow, saying nothing.
“Ah! Both of you are here!”
At that moment, someone approached hurriedly from a distance.
It was Creel, House Lord of House Elusia—a man whose gaunt frame was impossible to miss.
“So it really was a malfunction of the Alarm Device, then?”
Creel let out a hearty laugh at the sight of those casually discussing the broken device.
“The conference seems difficult to continue any further……. If you don’t mind, Cheyeon, might you spare me some time? I have a request.”
“A request?”
“Yes. I’d like to submit a commission to the Magic Tower.”
“I see. In that case, please visit the commission reception desk within the Magic Tower. You can file your request there.”
“Ah, quite right. But since we’ve crossed paths like this, I thought I might ask you directly…….”
“I’m not a walking reception desk. That’s not my department, so I can’t help you.”
“I see. But since we’ve met…….”
The back-and-forth between Cheyeon, who kept trying to distance himself with laughter, and the House Lord of House Elusia, who kept trying to engage him, went on for quite some time.
“…….”
Throughout it all, Seres’s attention remained fixed on a single point.
The hand of Creel, House Lord of House Elusia.
More precisely, the Ring he wore on it.
Chapter 13. The False Ring
“Grace.”
“What?”
“What happens if that Ring disappears?”
“It’ll just be what happens. X to X, that’s all.”
“Again, again! Please mind your language!”
“Quiet. Why are you asking pointless questions?”
Grace regarded his disciple Enoch, who had taken an interest in the ring, with something like pity.
“So if you don’t have the True Ring, you’ll be X—no, expelled from the House Lord position?”
“Yeah.”
“Wow, that’s harsh.”
“The House Law is what it is. What do you want me to do about it?”
House Elusia, unlike most other noble families, was not built on bloodline alone.
Naturally, they devised a new method to prove legitimacy, and that method was this ring.
It is an ancient House Law of House Elusia that one can only be recognized as House Lord by inheriting this ring from the previous House Lord.
“Has anyone ever been expelled from the House Lord position for not having the ring?”
“No.”
“Ah, as expected.”
Because thus far, not a single House Lord had died without passing the ring to their heir, regardless of the House Law.
“But who knows? Maybe someday a case like that will happen. There is a secret place where the ring is hidden.”
“A secret place? Why would something like that exist?”
“Because you might betray me later and try to kill me.”
“What?”
“I probably shouldn’t even be telling you this.”
The House Lord’s ring consists of two rings in total.
One is authentic, and one is false.
When the House Lord grows old and it comes time to step down, they secretly hide the True Ring in a secret place. From that point on, they wear the False Ring instead.
And on the day they relinquish the House Lord position, they tell the heir where the True Ring is hidden.
“What do you think would happen if an ambitious heir, ignorant of this fact, committed treason because they coveted the House Lord position?”
“They might never find the authentic ring their whole life.”
“Exactly.”
And with the False Ring in hand, there is nothing you can do.
“See? Our elders are ruthless.”
“…Yes, I see.”
Enoch trembled visibly.
The reputation of House Elusia’s elders for their fearlessness was quite famous even within the Empire.
“So treat me well.”
“Treat you well?”
“If you want to properly inherit the ring.”
“…Me?”
“Yeah. You.”
“I-I don’t intend to inherit it!”
“No, wrong. You’re going to inherit it.”
“Wait, wait a moment! Master Grace!”
* * *
“Seres, what are you thinking about so hard?”
“Old memories.”
“Are you feeling dizzy?”
“Not particularly.”
“That’s odd.”
Cheyeon regarded Seres with a peculiar gleam in his eyes.
Having returned from the Imperial Palace to the Magic Tower via Teleportation Magic, he found it curious that Seres appeared no different from usual.
Normally, those experiencing Teleportation Magic for the first time are too disoriented to move properly for some time. Many of them even vomit.
“Have you perhaps used Teleportation Magic before?”

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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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