Time Healer Ceres - Chapter 70

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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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Wait—why is the one who made a contract with Herion as House Leader responding to my voice?
‘You think you’re still under contract with me?’
[Why are you only calling now! I’ve been signaling you to summon me this whole time!]
Juberios, now fully manifested, erupted at once.
Ever since entering the Council Chamber, he’d been seething as he watched Herion subjected to one indignity after another by the nobles.
He’d flashed his Ring with urgent signals for her to call him immediately, but Herion hadn’t noticed.
Whoosh!
Crackle!
“Gasp!”
“Choke!”
As Juberios swept in a grand circle through the Council Chamber, scorching heat flooded the space in an instant.
The nobles, already dazed by the sudden appearance of the Spirit King of Fire, gasped in terror as the burning air threatened to char them where they stood.
Under the weight of their fearful, astounded stares, Juberios settled onto Herion’s shoulder with an expression of satisfaction.
[How dare you…….]
His burning gaze swept across the nobles.
They drew in sharp, hurried breaths.
Was this truly the Spirit King they’d only heard of in tales?
Merely existing in the same space made it hard to breathe.
Not a single person dared speak. Unlike moments before, none of them could even meet Herion’s eyes now.
‘Yes, use him exactly like this.’
Herion was still no match for these cunning old foxes on her own.
In medical skill she had the talent to lead House Elsrsia well enough, but politically she remained far behind.
‘A lack of experience, you might say.’
Still, it didn’t truly trouble her.
She had Juberios for that.
Let them try spouting off the way they did moments ago with him around.
[…….]
“Mm, ahem.”
“Ugh.”
Juberios seemed to share Seres’s thoughts entirely, keeping his sharp, piercing gaze fixed on the nobles without relent.
“Juberios, Seres says she has something to tell you.”
[That so? What does she want to say to me, Gre…….]
“Tsk.”
Shut your beak, you feathered fool.
[…Ask whatever you wish. I will hear it.]
Juberios, about to approach while calling her by her former name, flinched at the fierce glint in Seres’s eye and hastily changed course.
Sensing the shift in mood, he lifted off from Herion’s shoulder and flew toward Seres.
Just as he was about to land on her shoulder—
[Hhk-hack!]
Juberios had to launch back into the air.
[You, you, YOU!]
Only then did he notice Kainel.
[Frozen corpse!]
“Long time, you half-baked little rooster.”
[Don’t call me that!]
Kainel, arms crossed as he sat in his chair, offered only an indifferent gaze in response to Juberios’s fierce protest.
[What are you doing here!]
“If the rooster gets to show up, there’s no reason the human can’t.”
[Tch! These two, now and always… ugh!]
Shut up, shut up, just shut your beak!
‘The two of them’—what does he mean, ‘the two of them’!
Seres swiftly swatted Juberios’s mouth as he ranted.
Stop spouting nonsense, you cursed feathered pest!
“How long have you two known each other?”
At Kainel’s steady gaze, Seres’s movement froze.
“Us…? We saw each other briefly when we went to the Second Prince’s residence and House Elsrsia last time.”
“That’s all you saw?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
After conversing informally for a while, it felt oddly stilted to slip back into formal speech.
“You two seem awfully close.”
“…I suppose we are.”
Come on, fly back to your master already!
Why did you even answer my summons in the first place? Have you lost your mind?
Seres waved her hand dismissively at Juberios, who kept trying to perch on her shoulder.
Juberios fluttered reluctantly back toward Herion, his beak jutting out in a pout.
……
After that, Seres had no choice but to pretend not to notice Kainel’s gaze, which bored into her with relentless intensity.
* * *
“Seres!”
…She’s always so bright, this one. Even after what happened in the Council Chamber, she’s overflowing with energy.
Seres let out a soft laugh at the sight of Herion rushing toward her, waving her arms with all her might.
The Spirit King of Fire, Juberios, still perched upon her shoulder.
Even after the Emperor and the Crown Prince entered the Council Chamber, Juberios made no attempt to hide.
If anything, his gaze grew more haughty, as though he’d finally found humans worthy of his presence.
‘The Spirit King of Fire?’
‘Ah, it has been a long time since last we met.’
Both were utterly fascinated by Juberios’s appearance—he who had not shown himself for so long after the previous House Leader’s death.
Thanks to Juberios, the meeting itself concluded far more swiftly than expected.
[Fools! You think Demon Beasts would fall for such crude tactics?]
‘Pardon? No, that is to say…’
[A strategy? You dare call *that* a strategy?]
‘Well, you see…’
[Tell me, what house did you say you were from? Aeshlei? Those sniveling worms?]
……
With Juberios openly mocking every absurdity the nobles uttered, not a soul could manage to continue speaking coherently.
“Are you leaving already? Won’t you stay and talk with me a while longer?”
Seeming reluctant to part so soon after their reunion, Herion grasped Seres’s arm firmly.
“How is the House Leader position treating you? Is it difficult?”
“Well…”
At Seres’s question, Herion’s eyes drooped at the corners.
But the moment was brief; a smile quickly bloomed at her lips.
“Even so, it’s rewarding. I get to do all the things I’ve always wanted to, and that makes me happy.”
“Things you’ve always wanted to?”
“Yes! I’ve always resented how the nobility received priority in Medical Treatment. It bothered me so much.”
……
“I hated seeing emergency patients left standing outside for so long. So now I’m trying to change that.”
Herion had touched upon the very thing that had frustrated Seres most when she first visited House Elsrsia.
“Of course, people resist quite a bit. But what can I do? I’m the House Leader, after all.”
Without needing to see it, Seres knew exactly what was happening. Undoubtedly, more than a few of the other houses’ nobility had already bribed their way into Elsrsia’s ranks.
‘It was always like that before.’
There were plenty of nobles who, for their own convenience, would bribe House Elsrsia’s people to move up their Medical Treatment appointments or smuggle out better medicinal ingredients.
Of course, anyone caught was immediately expelled from the house, so few were willing to accept such terms outright—yet even so, such things never truly disappeared.
‘What must it be like now.’
If such things happened even when she’d cracked down so severely, it would surely be far worse now.
Pat.
Seres gave Herion’s head a gentle tap.
You’re in for a lot of hardship ahead.
“Hehe.”
Herion’s eyes grew soft and warm as she smiled, savoring the touch.
‘How strange.’
She’s so much younger than me—why does she make me want to lean on her like this?
It had been like this from the very first meeting. Herion herself found it peculiar that she could feel such a thing.
“Herion.”
“Yes?”
“If anyone gives you trouble—”
“If they do? Then you’ll help me, Seres?”
“No. Tell him.”
Tell him to peck them raw with his beak.
Seres pointed to the Spirit King of Fire, sitting obediently on Herion’s shoulder.
Exactly! I don’t understand why you’re putting up with such rabble in the first place! Whenever impertinent fools show their faces, you call me, understood?
Juberios nodded vigorously as though he’d been waiting for this moment, reproaching Herion. He must have been thoroughly frustrated all this time.
“Yes, but for now I’d like to try handling things with my own strength.”
What?
“Aezli told me so. Whether I fail or succeed, I should cultivate the strength to try things for myself.”
Tch, that blasted Aezli. Spouting useless wisdom….
A fleeting sadness gathered at the corners of Herion’s eyes as she mentioned the late House Leader, then faded away.
Juberios felt it too. For all his grumbling words, the fierceness in his gaze had grown noticeably softer.
Pat, pat.
Seres gently stroked her hair once more.
Yes, you’re the House Leader now—do as you see fit.
“Seres, please do visit our house soon! There are so many things I’d like to ask for your help with.”
“…Didn’t you just say you’d handle things on your own?”
What happened to that bold declaration a moment ago?
“Please, just a little. There are some matters I truly cannot manage alone.”
“I’ll see how things stand later.”
“You promise? You gave me your word! And today—won’t you have a cup of tea with me? I have so much I want to tell you!”
Herion, clutching Seres’s hand, wore the pitiable expression of a cat that feared being abandoned.

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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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