Time Healer Ceres - Chapter 49

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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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“Hmm… I’d need to examine her more closely, but occasionally, when someone’s been bitten by parasitic insects that nest in certain trees, they display this kind of reaction. Perhaps we should prepare a decoction of Judi Fruit and Ellaim Leaf and observe how she responds?”
The woman’s questions continued, and Herion answered with an expression of delight.
He didn’t understand why she was asking these things, but it didn’t matter. The simple exchange of knowledge, the back-and-forth, brought him profound joy.
* * *
“Seres, where do you disappear to at the same time every day lately?”
Cheyeon couldn’t help but ask about Seres’s habit of vanishing at that particular hour.
He’d tried to ignore it since the time was never long, but it had already been over ten days.
“A test.”
“A test? What kind of test?”
“To see whether this person is worthy of being entrusted with the future.”
“The future? What do you mean by the future—wait, hold on. The future? Don’t tell me you’ve set your heart on someone?”
“That’s not what I said.”
“W-what kind of test is it? Can I take it too? I’d work really hard—!”
“Do you know what Dike Flowers are used for?”
“…What is that? Do I need to know that to take the test?”
“…Are you handling your work properly? How are you progressing with your Defensive Magic?”
“Ah! You’re dodging the question!”
When his question was answered with another question, Cheyeon exhaled sharply.
He’d thought they’d grown close enough by now, but she still held so many secrets.
“The exterior work is finished. It looks like we just need to complete the interior now.”
“That’s fast.”
“Of course. I’m here, after all.”
…….
At that confident face, Seres’s expression darkened.
‘Tower Master, could you handle this for me?’
‘No. You can do that yourselves.’
She recalled yesterday’s conversation.
‘Cheyeon, could you help me with this?’
‘Relying on others all the time is a bad habit. Try it yourself. It’s all experience that will nourish you.’
Thinking of what had happened just hours ago, she could only sigh.
“Cheyeon.”
“Hmm?”
“You’re going to live a long life.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Because you’re cursed so much.
What Seres had observed of Cheyeon was him weaving between the Tower staff who whined for help, evading them left and right while shirking every task.
“Would you like some tea? Should I bring some?”
Temporary or not, she was still his secretary—she should at least manage these things.
Seres, who had been watching Cheyeon with the eyes of someone observing a thoughtless child, was just rising from her seat.
“Seres.”
“What? Don’t you want tea?”
“Have you perhaps been here before?”
“…No.”
“Hmm.”
Should he believe that?
Cheyeon recalled her behavior from the first day and couldn’t shake his suspicious gaze.
‘What is that place? Why is it so large?’
‘The medicinal herb storage room.’
‘And that one next to it? Is that the kitchen? It’s smoking so much.’
‘The decoction chamber.’
‘Really? But how would you know that?’
‘…Just, it seemed like that.’
For someone visiting this place for the first time, her knowledge of the Mansion’s layout was far too intimate.
It wasn’t just the kitchen. Watching how Seres retrieved things without needing servants to point the way, finding her path with practiced ease—anyone would have doubts.
The one who’d guided them that day was a new Healer.
Between the aftermath of the Black Forest incident and the first Family Council Meeting since Creel became House Head, even the senior Healers lacked enough hands for all that needed doing.
When the new Healer’s guidance mistakes had exceeded five, Seres stepped forward with a faint smile.
‘Go ahead. I’ll show the way.’
“Yes, yes? B-but…….”
“I’ve gotten a sense of things by walking around.”
“And yet…….”
“Go.”
“Understood.”
“You’re sure you’ve never been here before? You weren’t here once already?”
“I’m serious.”
Under Cheyeon’s suspicious gaze, Seres scratched her cheek.
It wasn’t a lie. As Seres, she had never set foot in this place—not once.
“What?”
“Really?”
Just then, voices drifted in through the open window.
Looking down, Seres could see a few maids conversing below.
“Why was the meeting date suddenly moved up?”
“Wasn’t it supposed to be in two months?”
“I don’t know. That’s why the head maid is in chaos now. There’s barely any time to prepare.”
“Is that why there was shouting from the House Head’s office earlier?”
“Shouting? Why?”
“Who knows. Maybe he didn’t like the meeting being moved up?”
‘The meeting date…… They must be talking about the Family Council Meeting.’
From the maids’ conversation, Seres could piece together the situation well enough.
And she knew better than anyone why the meeting date had been moved forward.
“Did you hear the rumor?”
“What rumor?”
“About that ring the House Head wears—apparently it’s a fake.”
“What? That’s nonsense!”
“Hush! Don’t say such reckless things. You could get in serious trouble.”
“Well, but… doesn’t it seem strange when you think about it?”
“Strange how?”
“The House Head, I mean. He’s never once used the power that’s supposed to be in that ring.”
“Maybe he’s just never had a reason to use it?”
“But they say the Imperial Palace even asked for his help before, and he refused outright.”
“Oh! I heard about that too. They say he refused even though he had no pressing business at the time?”
“There’s talk going around. People are saying he refused because the ring is fake.”
“Really?”
As the maids’ conversation continued, a smile tugged at the corners of Seres’s mouth.
‘I wonder who started that rumor.’
That would be me. Yours truly.
Chapter 14: The Real Ring
“It’s been some time, House Head.”
“Welcome, Oselt.”
Before the elderly man in his mid-sixties, Creel, the House Head of the Elryssia Earldom, bowed so deeply his waist folded nearly in half.
At the sight of this, the old man called Oselt’s expression only grew colder.
“Are all the members assembled?”
“Yes, they have all arrived.”
Oselt Elryssia.
An Elder of the Elryssia family and a man of considerable wealth.
More than half of the patronage flowing into the Elryssia Earldom came from his coffers—need more be said?
But what mattered most was that he served as the head of the Elder Council.
“Oselt.”
“You have our welcome.”
The moment he stepped into the Meeting Hall, everyone rose from their seats and greeted him warmly.
A marked contrast to the respectful deference they had just shown toward Creel.
“Do sit down, everyone.”
Oselt settled naturally into the seat of highest honor—save for the House Head’s chair—and turned his gaze directly to Creel with a question.
“There’s been an odd rumor circulating.”
“What…….”
“That ring.”
Oselt’s eyes fixed on the House Head’s Ring adorning Creel’s right hand, and he sucked his teeth as though the very notion was absurd.
“I’m not sure why such talk has spread, but now that it’s been voiced, we ought to address it.”
The rumor spread too suddenly, far too quickly—as though someone had deliberately orchestrated its dissemination.
He launched an investigation but found no trace. Something was clearly there, yet even the smallest clue eluded him.
Oselt found this fact deeply surprising. There existed information that even his power could not uncover.
“The House Head must have heard this rumor as well.”
“…Yes.”
Creel’s eyes flickered ceaselessly. Color drained from his face with remarkable speed.
‘Who could it be!’
Creel, of course, was the most shaken by the rumor.
When he first learned the news through his secretary, he could say nothing for some time. His mind went blank at the sudden turn of events, incapable of any response whatsoever.
Was there truly someone who knew that the ring he wore was a forgery?
Or was it merely a baseless rumor, a wild shot in the dark?
The problem was that the rumor had forced the Family Council Meeting forward in its schedule.
And the one who had accelerated that schedule was none other than Oselt, the head of the Elder Council, sitting before him now.
“What is your thought on this rumor?”
“That is… well……”
At Oselt’s question, his unwavering sharp and cold gaze made Creel swallow hard.
‘There’s no escape now, is there?’
Ever since he heard the meeting had been moved forward, he had steeled himself for this. Yet his lips still refused to move.
“The rumor is… true.”
“…What did you just say?”
“True?”
“That remark……!”
At Creel’s brief answer, the air in the Meeting Hall turned ice-cold in an instant.
The eyes of everyone watching him gleamed with predatory intensity.

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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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