Time Healer Ceres - Chapter 89

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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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‘My younger brother? Fighting? Not a chance. He couldn’t kill a single insect. He’s been sickly since childhood, and I’ve always worried about him. I wonder if he gets beaten up wherever he goes.’
Crack! Thud!
“Aargh!”
“Ugh, ungh… p-please stop……!”
“Does it hurt? Of course it does. That’s why I’m hitting you.”
‘And he’s so kind, too—the sort who’d rather suffer himself than cause anyone pain. A real angel, my little brother. Though I can’t imagine whose side of the family he takes after with all that naivety.’
‘…Chaien.’
Just who was saying all that?
Seres let out a hollow laugh as she watched Allex stepping methodically over the sprawled male students, flashing a bright, cheerful smile.
‘They’re nothing alike.’
The Allex she’d heard Chaien describe all this time—perhaps he’d been imaginary after all.
Chaien, you really don’t know your own brother at all, do you?
Crack!
“Aaahhhhh!”
“Be more careful from now on. Don’t be so careless with these hands either.”
Jaiel’s screams were especially piercing—his finger bones might have been broken.
After leaving that parting warning, Allex turned slowly away as if he had no further business here.
Thump.
“……!”
Allex’s body went rigid like a statue the moment he turned. He’d spotted Seres standing there in utter bewilderment.
“…….”
“…….”
‘Well, if he’s that shocked, it’s only going to make this more awkward for me.’
Seres scratched her cheek and turned to leave. There didn’t seem to be any reason to linger.
“Wait, please!”
Allex hastily called out to stop her.
“There’s a reason for all this…….”
Tears were already glistening at Allex’s eyes.
His expression was equally pitiful, as if he might collapse at any moment.
His voice trembled thinly. There was no way to believe this was the same person who’d mercilessly trampled those students moments ago.
“It seems there might be some misunderstanding…….”
“Misunderstanding? What misunderstanding? That you fight far better than Chaien imagined? That you’re not someone who can’t kill a single insect, like Chaien thought? It does seem like he’s laboring under quite a serious misunderstanding.”
“…….”
As Seres continued with perfect composure, Allex’s expression gradually shifted.
As if he’d never shed those tears at all, a smile slowly returned to his lips.
“You’re right. My older brother certainly is mistaken about quite a lot.”
Allex stepped closer to Seres and leaned in to whisper softly in her ear.
“But I do hope my older brother continues to misunderstand.”
His mouth smiled, but his eyes were cold as winter. There was even a faint, murderous gleam in them—as if he might twist her neck at any second.
“That’s your concern, not mine.”
But Seres, meeting the full weight of that killing intent, remained utterly unmoved. She even clicked her tongue lightly and gestured at the collapsed students.
“You should probably worry about them instead.”
“…….”
“If you leave that one as is, he’ll never use his left hand again. This one here won’t be able to walk properly for three weeks. And that one—if he doesn’t get proper treatment within an hour, blood will keep pooling inside him until he dies. So what will you do?”
After a cursory examination of the collapsed students, Seres regarded Allex with indifference.
“You picked your vital points with real care. Well, if you’re planning to leave them crippled for life, suit yourself.”
With that, Seres turned away again. There was nothing more for her to do here.
‘I didn’t start this after all.’
She wasn’t kind enough to clean up someone else’s mess.
“…….”
Allex could only watch, slightly dazed, as Seres left the scene as if nothing had happened at all.
* * *
“Welcome, Grand Duke Persha.”
The Devrika Emperor himself came to the entrance of the hall to greet Persha warmly.
“…….”
But Persha offered no particular response, merely bowing his head lightly.
‘He really does make his distaste so obvious.’
Seres, watching quietly from behind, clicked her tongue softly to herself.
She didn’t care for occasions like this herself, but Persha disliked them even more.
Yet the reason Persha was attending the imperial gala today was that the Devrika Emperor himself had sent an invitation, earnestly requesting his presence.
“Thank you so much for gracing my son’s welcome reception with your attendance.”
The Devrika Emperor, long accustomed to Persha’s frigid demeanor, simply smiled—the smile of a man who seemed genuinely kind.
‘Well, everything’s fine, I suppose.’
But why did I have to come all the way here?
Seres watched Persha exchanging greetings with the Emperor, her displeasure evident.
She couldn’t fathom why she had to attend this kind of affair when a council session was already demanding enough.
Today was the day a formal welcome banquet was being held to announce that the Third Prince, Allex, had returned to the Capital.
‘Hey.’
‘What?’
‘Why would I go to an imperial banquet? You seriously think we’re done…….’
‘I’ll cut your debt in half.’
‘What should I wear? Should I wear that dress you gave me last time?’
‘…….’
…That accursed money again.
‘Even so? You’re cutting my debt in half, after all.’
Of course I had to go.
‘It’s been so long since I’ve been to an affair like this.’
Even when she lived in Grace, she rarely enjoyed parties. Invitations came without end, but she’d attended only a handful.
And why was that?
“Is that the new family head?”
“Isn’t she too young? To entrust the Elrsia Countess Family to someone…….”
“I’ve heard from others that she’s dreadfully naive.”
“My goodness.”
She despised scenes like that.
Seres observed the clusters of people scattered about, whispering deliberately loud enough for her to hear, and shook her head lightly.
It was standard practice to evaluate people to their faces, and this was precisely the sort of place where every manner of political scheming flourished.
Seres’s gaze turned to Herion, the head of the Elrsia Family, listening to the whispers.
At that moment, someone strode toward her.
“Head of the Elrsia Family! How fortunate to run into you!”
“Oh! Good evening, Count Rapir.”
“Good evening nothing! Why didn’t you place an order for medicinal herbs with us this time! The deadline for placing orders has already passed!”
Count Rapir was a merchant who dealt substantially in medicinal herbs. Naturally, the Elrsia Family had been his primary customer.
Yet this time, despite the deadline having come and gone, no purchase order from the Elrsia Countess Family had arrived.
“Well, that’s…….”
“Are you saying you’re going to do business or not! If things keep going like this…….”
“We won’t be doing business anymore.”
“We won’t be… what? What did you just say?”
“We won’t be conducting any further transactions with the Rapir Count House.”
Count Rapir’s pupils dilated to the size of candle flames.
For a moment, he thought he’d misheard.
“You won’t conduct business? What do you mean by that!”
Herion flinched at the sight of Count Rapir grinding his teeth and shouting, but quickly steadied herself.
Recalling words she’d heard not long ago.
‘Do you know why they shout at you like that?’
‘Because I frustrate them?’
‘To become the superior.’
‘The superior?’
‘Because they don’t want to be the inferior. They raise their voices and strain their necks to make their hand look bigger than it is.’
‘Ah…….’
‘Do you prefer being the inferior to the superior?’
‘No.’
‘Then play your hand. You’re the one holding cards big enough to be the superior over anyone.’
Words Seres had spoken to her.
She’d said that the other party shouted loudly because they didn’t want it discovered that they held a weak hand.
“I mean exactly what I say. We won’t be having any further discussions regarding medicinal herbs with the Rapir Count House.”
“How can you possibly……!”
“As I’ve mentioned several times before, the quality of the medicinal herbs delivered to us has been poor. And the batch that arrived most recently was no better.”
“That’s only because the medicinal herbs cultivated this season have been uniformly low in quality…….”
“Yet the medicinal herbs from the Eshra Family, which we recently contracted with, were of quite excellent quality. So where exactly are they sourcing theirs from?”
“…! You’re saying you’ve contracted with someone else?”
“Yes. I believe I mentioned this before—if the quality of the medicinal herbs continues to decline, I won’t maintain this arrangement any longer.”
“But… that’s…!”
“There’s no going back on this. I won’t be doing business with the Rapir Count House anymore.”

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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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