Time Healer Ceres - Chapter 74

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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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“Uncle! Look over there too, and there!”
“Well…….”
“There too!”
“That’s enough.”
“Huh? Sister… hehe……. When did you get here?”
This wasn’t the sort of situation that laughter could fix.
Yulia, who had been raising her hand in greeting, seemed to recognize her own mistake and wore an awkward smile instead.
“What are you doing?”
“Playing with them.”
“Sister! This uncle is the Ice Queen!”
“Not a queen.”
You just called them uncle a moment ago. Surely you can tell the difference between genders?
Seres let out a short sigh and regarded Kainel with an expression of utter disbelief.
I didn’t freeze time for four hours so you could squander that ability like this.
The Ice-Freezing Ability that only flows through the Persha Family bloodline.
That he was actually using it to play with a child—who would have thought?
The entire shop had become a field of ice.
The walls were frozen, the tables were frozen…….
“It’s already winter in here! That’s so cool, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. Now stop being cool and put everything back.”
“What?”
“Right now.”
“…Yes…….”
…….
Kainel and Yulia found themselves hastily restoring the frozen shop as Seres’s eyes narrowed with mounting displeasure.
Chapter 20. School Festival
“Cough!”
“Are you all right?”
“Ah, um……. Yes. This happens sometimes, so please don’t worry about it.”
Concern filled Chaien’s eyes as he watched Aleks cough while taking his tea.
“What does the healer say?”
“Oh, always the same thing.”
Aleks smiled thinly and lifted the teacup to his lips again.
At that sight, the corners of Chaien’s eyes drooped further still.
Chaien, who had watched over Aleks since childhood, knew well enough what the healers were saying.
‘You haven’t long left.’
‘If things continue as they are, soon……. I’m sorry.’
‘Today could be the turning point.’
They made a habit of speaking as though death hovered perpetually at hand. That he had lived this long was perhaps a miracle in itself.
A sickness with no known cause, its very name unknown.
Aleks, who had been plagued by countless ailments since birth and crossed the threshold of death more times than could be counted.
The Elsia Family had summoned physicians renowned across the continent, yet not once had their treatment yielded any real result.
“Have you seen Mother?”
“No. Not yet…….”
“Why not?”
“She’s busy.”
“Busy or not, she can make time for you! Do you have any idea how much Mother worried about you?”
Chaien furrowed his brow and assumed an intentionally stern expression.
When he was younger, this one followed Mother around even more than I did—but somewhere along the way, he’d grown strangely distant.
“Yes. I’m planning to visit the Imperial Palace soon.”
As if reading Chaien’s thoughts, Aleks smiled softly and set his mind at ease.
“But brother, is it perhaps uncomfortable for you that I’m here…….”
“Absolutely not.”
Chaien shook his head vigorously.
When Aleks returned to the Capital and expressed his wish to stay at the Arcane Tower, Chaien had given his permission gladly. Being reunited with his younger brother after so long was a joy he welcomed.
“By the way, brother.”
“Hmm?”
“How did you come to know that person?”
“Who?”
“The Young Lady of Baron Drow.”
“Ah, Seres?”
The mere mention of her name seemed to lift Chaien’s spirits, a soft smile painting itself across his face like a watercolor.
“I was looking for something.”
“For what?”
“A Mana Stone.”
“A Mana Stone?”
“Yes. Seres had a particularly rare one.”
“Hmm, if you consider it rare, it must have been something truly extraordinary.”
“It was. I’ve never seen another like it in all my years.”
Chaien recounted everything—their first meeting, the events that followed, the things they’d done together—his words flowing with evident affection.
“From what I can see, she seems like a good person.”
“She is. But do you know what she called me the first time we met? A beggar’s brat…….”
As Chaien continued speaking, never letting his smile fade, Aleks found his own mouth curving with playful amusement.
“Though I must admit, I’m a bit disappointed.”
“Disappointed?”
“I thought I was the person you cherished and loved most, but now it seems you care for her even more than me.”
“What are you talking about? You’re still the brother I treasure most!”
“More than her?”
“Huh?”
…….
…Huh?”
…….
…….
“I was only joking.”
As Chaien struggled to find words and his expression grew increasingly stiff, Aleks finally let out a small laugh.
“You really are terrible at lying.”
“…Have a snack.”
“All right.”
Aleks accepted the cookie Chaien offered with his eyes curved in amusement, munching on it contentedly.
“By the way, Aleks.”
“Yes?”
“Where did you go last night?”
“Last night?”
“Yes. When I stopped by your room, you weren’t there.”
“Ah, you must have come while I was out for a walk. I felt a bit restless, so I stepped outside for a bit.”
“Alone? That’s dangerous. Next time, call for me. We’ll go together.”
“All right. I’ll do that next time.”
Aleks nodded his head earnestly, like an obedient child.
* * *
“Christin.”
“Mother!”
The main gates of the Imperial Academy, situated in the heart of the Capital, swung wide open.
With the School Festival and the Martial Arts Competition among the many events being held that day, numerous visitors passed through the main gate and into the Academy grounds.
“Father came too?”
“Of course. What kind of parents would miss a day like this?”
An elegantly dressed couple beamed at their young daughter with radiant smiles.
It was Countess Rukia and her husband, the same woman who had visited the shop looking for Seres not long ago.
“Oh my, Father, you shouldn’t say things like that. There are children whose parents aren’t here.”
Christin, dressed just as elaborately as her parents, gently chided Count Rukia while turning with a deeply apologetic expression.
The child’s gaze fell on Yulia, standing alone in her place.
“I’m sorry, Yulia.”
Christin offered her apology with both hands clasped together.
Yulia shook her head vigorously at the girl.
“It’s all right. My older sister said she’d come.”
“Your sister? Ah… so your sister is coming? Well……. But your sister isn’t quite the same as parents.”
“Huh?”
“Well, I suppose it can’t be helped. Don’t grieve too much. It’s not your fault you don’t have parents. It’s truly fortunate that at least your sister could come, isn’t it?”
“Yes! I’m so happy my sister is coming!”
…….”
At Yulia’s bright laugh, as if to say “what an obvious thing to point out,” Christin’s face stiffened slightly.
‘Fool.’
What good was criticism if she couldn’t understand it anyway?
The girl spun around sharply and headed straight back to her parents.
“Aren’t you Count Rukia?”
“My, Countess. We keep running into each other here.”
Before long, a crowd had gathered around them.
The Rukia Family was a reasonably established house, so there were many who approached from different corners, eager to show off their connections.
Standing pressed against her parents’ side, Christin’s face bloomed with a bright smile once more.
As if to make a point, her gaze turned toward Yulia. Christin’s face glowed with the joy of victory.
“I was so surprised when I heard the news. I naturally assumed Christin would be the lead.”
“So did I.”
“What family is that girl from, did you say?”
“I heard she has no parents.”
“My goodness. How shocking….”
The women gathered around Countess Rukia glanced sidelong at Yulia and whispered among themselves.
“Sigh, I was so worried about the School Festival that I even went to find that girl’s guardian… but she turned out to be from a household not worth associating with.”
“Oh my.”
“What can we do? All we can hope for is that the girl doesn’t ruin this School Festival.”
The women made no effort to hide their displeasure at the Countess’s words.
They too were frustrated that their own children had not become the lead.
The fact that their children had lost out to such an insignificant girl stung all the more.
“Ah….”
Yulia had managed to bear the situation with relative composure, but under the sharp gazes of the adults, her expression finally crumbled.
Why are they looking at me like that?
I haven’t done anything wrong.
Yulia’s head bowed lower and lower without her realizing it.
Their stares, for reasons she couldn’t fathom, hurt terribly.
Christin, who had not taken her eyes off Yulia all this while, smiled wider still.
Finally, the sting of losing the lead role was easing. At last.
She should have known her place from the start and stepped aside!
“Huh? What…?”
“Oh my, oh my!”
But then, a murmuring sound began to drift in from outside the classroom.
It reached its crescendo just outside the door where Yulia stood.
Thud.
In the next moment, a figure entered the classroom, drawing the gaze of everyone present.
The room fell silent in an instant.

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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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