Time Healer Ceres - Chapter 90

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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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“How can you simply break a contract like this? I have nothing further to discuss with you. I’ll speak with Ethor instead…….”
Ethor was the man who had managed the medicinal herbs for the Elrsia Countess Family all these years.
It was thanks entirely to Ethor that they’d been able to supply low-quality cheap herbs to the family at premium prices.
Of course, a considerable sum had to be paid to Ethor for his cooperation, but that was nothing compared to the profits from selling the herbs.
It was precisely as Count Raphir turned to speak with Ethor that the decision seemed suddenly necessary.
“Ethor is no longer with the Elrsia Countess Family.”
“…What?”
Did that mean Ethor had quit?
“He was dismissed.”
“D-dismissed?”
Herion nodded firmly, confirming she had heard correctly.
“According to the Elrsia Countess Family’s regulations, anyone who conspires with other noble houses and damages the main family is immediately expelled. Since he’d done quite a lot of damage, I let him go at once.”
For Herion, cutting ties with someone she’d seen regularly for so long was far from easy.
But this too had come at Seres’s counsel.
‘Do you know why flies keep swarming around you?’
‘Flies?’
‘Because you’re carrying too much that’s rotten.’
‘Rotten things…….’
‘Throw them away. If your house has something rotten, you must throw it out. That’s how you keep the insects from gathering.’
So she had thrown them away. The rotten things.
‘And…….’
Once she’d discarded the rot, she could see her own hand more clearly.
Cards she could play boldly and openly before others.
“Now, now, Countess. I think we need a proper conversation. Just a moment…….”
“Wasn’t it you who said you’d speak with Ethor?”
“Ah, no. That was…….”
“Then I’ll take my leave. And from now on, please call me the Countess, not the lady of the house.”
“Wait, please……!”
Herion turned away without hesitation from Count Raphir, whose earlier harshness had given way to something almost desperate, and walked on.
“Oh!”
Only then did she notice Seres standing off to one side, watching, and couldn’t hide the surprise in her eyes.
Seres offered her a faint smile.
‘Well done.’
At that look, Herion’s lips curved into a smile brighter than they’d been in some time.
* * *
“Seres!”
The Emperor of Devrika said he had urgent matters to discuss and departed the hall with Kainel.
Left alone in the banquet hall, Seres passed the time with light conversation with Herion and looking around at her surroundings.
Some time had passed in this manner.
When she turned at the sound of her name, she saw the Arcane Tower Master, Chaien.
“You’re here early!”
“You’re the one who’s late, aren’t you?”
To appear when half the party had already passed was something only Chaien would do.
“Did you come with that man?”
“Yes.”
At the mention of arriving with Kainel, Chaien pouted out his lips in habitual reflex, but seemed so pleased to see Seres here that he soon broke into a grin.
“Brother.”
Prince Alex, who had been conversing with others across the hall, approached.
“I see you’re here as well, Seres. I hadn’t noticed you while talking with the others.”
…You’ve made direct eye contact with me three times now?
Seres held back the laugh that threatened to escape.
Well, she hadn’t wanted him to acknowledge her anyway, so it hardly mattered.
“I heard you two already met at the Academy?”
“Yes.”
At Chaien’s question, Seres offered nothing further.
“Brother, shall I bring you something to drink?”
“No. I’m fine.”
Alex too seemed reluctant to press the matter and quickly moved to change the subject.
“But Seres.”
“Hm?”
“Why do you keep holding that? Aren’t you going to drink it?”
Chaien tilted his head, watching the wine glass in Seres’s hand. The untouched cup sat there as though she’d forgotten it entirely.
It was strange—if she didn’t want it, she could simply set it down. But she kept holding it.
“I’m deliberating.”
“Deliberating?”
“Whether I should drink it.”
“What?”
At the confusion in Chaien’s eyes, Seres glanced back down at the wine glass in her hand.
‘My body’s changed now. So maybe I can drink it?’
Back when she was Grace, she couldn’t touch alcohol at all. A single drop and she’d collapse as though unconscious.
‘What kind of person can’t handle wine that poorly?’
She’d first thought it was an illness, but it wasn’t—it was simply that her constitution didn’t suit alcohol.
‘Alti used to joke about it often.’
That it took only one drop of wine to put her out of commission.
Since it was true enough, she felt annoyed—but had nothing to say in return.
‘But would it be all right now?’
She’d always wondered what wine tasted like.
So even knowing her constitution couldn’t handle it, she’d attempted to drink during her years as Grace—more than a few times.
The problem was that she remembered nothing of the taste or anything afterward.
Sometime along the way, Kainel and Artia had both gasped whenever she so much as looked at a wine glass, telling her not even to glance at it.
So now, with her body changed, when this rare premium wine appeared before her, she’d reached for the glass wanting to try it—but hesitated.
‘…Will it be all right?’
That memory made her unable to bring the glass to her lips so easily.
Yet the expense of the wine only made her more curious about its taste, so she couldn’t let go of it either.
……
Seres surveyed her surroundings quietly.
Kainel still hadn’t appeared since vanishing with the Emperor.
If he were here, he’d snatch the glass away from her instantly, wouldn’t he?
“What’s wrong? Is there something off about the wine?”
“No.”
“Then why? That wine’s quite excellent, actually. It has a soft bouquet and flavor—the sort women tend to enjoy.”
“Is that so?”
Well, then.
Seres’s eyes narrowed as she gazed at the glass, and then slowly—deliberately—she brought it to her lips.
* * *
“You do me too much honor.”
“Could you not reconsider this one more time?”
“No matter how many times I deliberate, my answer remains the same.”
A silent sigh slipped from the Emperor of Devrika’s lips.
Moments earlier, having withdrawn to a private chamber with Grand Duke Persha, the Emperor had made Kainel a proposition.
That he assume the position of Military Supreme Commander.
Since the post bore intimate bearing on the security of the imperial court itself, the Commander’s office was one that the Emperor could raise and lower at his sole discretion.
Regardless of what the nobility objected to, the Emperor could force the issue as he wished. The moment the candidate accepted, the military power of the Devrika Empire would be divided between two: the Emperor and the Supreme Commander.
Naturally, there were many who desired such a position. To hold the military force of the empire meant possessing the second-greatest power after the Emperor himself.
But Kainel had declined without hesitation.
“I despise tedious matters.”
“Is that truly your only reason?”
“Do I need another?”
The Emperor of Devrika let out a small laugh.
“Still, I wish you would reflect upon this further before answering. I am in no hurry.”
Kainel frowned slightly, seeing that the Emperor of Devrika had no intention of backing down.
“As you know, the state of the Black Forest has grown quite troubling of late. And truthfully, I’ve lost all sleep because of it. If someone of your caliber were to take command of the military, I believe I might finally rest.”
“Then take medicine for it. Would you like me to recommend some good sleep medicine herbs?”
“Haha, I’m not fond of taking medications.”
“Then I shall take my leave.”
Kainel bowed lightly and rose from his seat.
Knock, knock.
At that moment, a knock sounded, and a young woman entered. She appeared to be in her late teens.
“Father.”
“Come now, Nailia.”
Nailia de Devrika.
The sole princess of the Devrika Empire.
“You’ve been looking for me?”
After the mother of Aseraian and Chaien passed from the world, the Emperor took a new Empress and sired two more children with her.
Alex and Nailia.
The two of them, carrying deep traces of their maternal grandfather’s blood, bore a striking resemblance to each other.
Yet while Alex wore an expression of perpetual warmth, her face held not the faintest hint of a smile.
A cold, expressionless mask that betrayed no emotion whatsoever.
A posture so rigidly composed that not a single angle seemed out of place.
“This is my daughter, Nailia. Make your greetings. This is Grand Duke Persha.”
“…….”
“…….”
At the Emperor’s introduction, the two merely regarded each other in silence, offering no further words.
“Then I shall take my leave.”
It was Kainel who broke the stillness.
He offered a brief bow before turning on his heel.
At his abrupt departure, the Emperor of Devrika made no effort to conceal his bewilderment.
“I too shall withdraw, if you’ll excuse me.”
Princess Nailia also bowed with utmost propriety before turning toward the door.
“Well, well. This is proving rather difficult.”
Left alone after their departure, the Emperor let out a hollow laugh.
He had hoped this occasion might allow the two of them to build some rapport.
‘There could be no better match than this.’

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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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