Time Healer Ceres - Chapter 52

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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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“Here we go again.”
Del, the loyal aide to Persha Duchy’s Grand Duke, exhaled a long sigh.
Kainell had been frequenting the Stew shop and eating well until recently, but these days he’d returned to touching nothing at all.
‘What’s different about the taste?’
He’d stopped visiting the shop that he once went to without fail, and when Del asked why, Kainell said the taste had changed.
Del took it upon himself to sample the Stew separately, but he couldn’t detect any difference.
He even had the kitchen chef taste it, but even she said there was nothing different—it tasted exactly the same as before.
‘Could it really be because the person cooking has changed?’
Del learned that the proprietor who had been preparing food at the shop where the young lord spent his time had stepped away temporarily.
And when he heard that she’d recently taken on work as the Arcane Tower Master’s temporary secretary, he was quite taken aback.
‘The Arcane Tower Master’s secretary, no less.’
There was no way to know what had passed between them, though he’d heard the Arcane Tower Master frequented the shop often—but perhaps they’d grown close that way?
In any case, Del had spotted her at the last Imperial Council meeting and ventured to speak with her, only to be thoroughly crushed.
When she said she wouldn’t be working at the shop anymore, the world seemed to darken before his eyes.
‘But then, my lord, where will you eat?’
He barely managed to hold back those words.
“Aide Del, Lord Oselth Elresia has arrived.”
“Ah! I’ll go greet him at once.”
Just then, a servant approached to announce the expected visitor’s arrival.
Del hurried toward the entrance of the residence and caught sight of an elderly gentleman descending from a carriage.
“Welcome, Lord Oselth.”
“Mm, and the Grand Duke?”
“He awaits you.”
Del showed him to the study where Kainell was waiting.
Knock, knock.
“Come in.”
When the two men entered the study, they found Kainell surrounded by mountains of documents.
Even with a visitor present, Kainell didn’t lift his eyes from the papers until Del’s quiet cough reminded him; only then did he rise from his seat.
“Please, sit.”
Oselth took the offered chair, studying Kainell with an appraising gaze.
Though he’d heard countless rumors, this was the first time he’d seen the young man up close.
He looked barely in his twenties, yet Oselth knew full well that he’d lived well over three hundred years.
Being addressed informally by someone with such a youthful appearance was a touch disconcerting, if he was being honest.
“You want Ethel?”
“I do.”
Oselth flinched slightly at how Kainell dispensed with pleasantries and cut straight to business, but his expression soon settled into an approving smile. He, too, had no patience for unnecessary courtesies.
Ethel.
A type of mineral.
One found only in the Persha Duchy in the Northern Region.
Its heat output surpassed coal, making it one of the minerals people preferred most.
The problem was that the Persha Duchy had sealed its borders long ago, cutting off all supply.
Oselth saw the Grand Duke’s emergence into the public eye as an opportunity to reopen trade with the North.
Though he’d already amassed tremendous wealth and had no shortage of younger successors to take his place, he still took personal charge of deals large enough to move fortunes.
Kainell met Oselth’s unwavering gaze, then began tapping his fingers rhythmically on the desk.
“Grant me Monopoly Rights to Esolin, and I’ll grant you Monopoly Rights to Ethel.”
“Esolin, you say…”
Esolin was a type of grain.
Less sticky than wheat, some nations had made it a staple food—notably among them the Katusha Kingdom, which shared close ties with the Persha Duchy.
Though they were currently allied, they had warred for centuries and could turn on each other and draw swords at any moment.
‘So he means to use Esolin as leverage against them.’
Two-thirds of the Esolin distributed across the continent came from here, the Devrika Empire.
And the man who held Monopoly Rights to that Esolin was none other than Oselth Elresia himself, now sitting across from Kainell to strike a deal.
“Agreed.”
Oselth nodded, having determined this was far from a bad bargain.
“We can discuss the finer points when we have the documents drawn up.”
“Very well.”
Confirming that the discussion had reached a natural conclusion, Del brought tea before the two men.
“Please, help yourselves.”
“Much obliged.”
Del, still standing beside Kainell, smiled faintly.
The Grand Duke’s time had ended; now it was my turn to step forward.
“I hear there has been significant upheaval in the Elresia House recently.”
At Del’s measured tone, Oselth’s expression darkened.
“…News travels fast.”
“The birth of a new Family Head is hardly a trivial matter, is it?”
Though no official announcement had been made, those who needed to know already did.
That the Family Head of the Elresia Family had changed.
Whispers were also quietly spreading through noble circles that Kreel, who had poisoned his master, would soon face trial.
The effort Kreel had invested in cultivating relationships among the nobility proved laughable—those very acquaintances were the first to sever ties with him.
“I wonder how shocked you must have been to learn the Family Head Ring was a forgery. It pained me just to think of it.”
“Ha, so the information network of the Grand Duke’s House truly is exceptional—you know of this as well?”
Only rumors about Kreel’s poisoning had spread; few within the family itself knew about the matter of the Family Head Ring.
Oselth’s eyes flickered, wondering where the information had leaked, but Del remained composed.
‘If I lose my nerve now, I’ll be unworthy of serving Lord Kainell!’
At last, exasperated by such shameless audacity, a sigh escaped Oselth’s lips.
“There was someone who found the real Family Head Ring and brought it. Without them, it would have been difficult to establish Kreel’s guilt.”
Without the testimony of the Spirit King of Fire, Jubeliose, the death of the previous Family Head would have remained shrouded in lingering doubt.
“A benefactor indeed. Are they from the Elresia House?”
“No. That’s what makes it curious….”
“Sir?”
Del, lacking detailed knowledge of the situation, showed keen interest in Oselth’s account.
Kainell, meanwhile, paid the two no mind. He merely sipped his tea in silence.
There was no reason to interest himself in the Elresia House without Seres.
“The one who found the ring was the Arcane Tower Master’s temporary secretary.”
“…Temporary secretary?”
But at Oselth’s next words, Kainell set down his teacup at once.
The Arcane Tower Master’s temporary secretary….
“She found the ring?”
Oselth’s eyes widened slightly at Kainell’s reaction.
To anyone watching, they clearly knew each other.
‘How?’
How could the Grand Duke know the Arcane Tower Master’s temporary secretary? There seemed to be no connection whatsoever.
“Tell me everything about that day. Leave nothing out.”
“Sir?”
“From beginning to end. All of it.”
…….
How boldly he pries into another family’s affairs.
Oselth’s mouth fell slightly open at the sheer audacity.
But the silence did not last long.
“You are now indebted to me, Your Highness. Please remember that all of this must remain confidential.”
Kainell, who had shown barely a flicker of interest even when discussing the astronomical sums tied to Ethel and Esolin’s Monopoly Rights, now carried himself with casual indifference.
Being owed a favor by such a man was not an unfavorable bargain at all.
“I was in the midst of interrogating Kreel about the whereabouts of the real ring when the Second Prince suddenly burst in….”
Oselth began to recount in detail what had happened that day.
Chapter 15. Traces of Artia
“I’m genuinely curious about something.”
“What?”
“What exactly is our Seres?”
“…Your tone just now was incredibly unpleasant.”
“Come on, that’s so unfair.”
At the sight of Chaien pouting, Seres let out a sigh.
How old even is he?
“Who am I? I’m your temporary secretary.”
“…That’s true.”
But that temporary secretary had far too many secrets. Every layer one peeled back revealed something new.
Chaien’s head tilted slightly as he recalled what had unfolded at the Elresia House.
‘She seemed incredibly close to the Spirit King…’
Others had been too far away to hear, but standing right beside her, Chaien had caught every word of the exchange between Seres and Jubeliose, the Spirit King of Fire.
‘Shut up, you brat.’
[…….]
Recalling the exchange between Seres and the Spirit King of Fire, he still felt dazed.

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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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