Time Healer Ceres - Chapter 91

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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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Persha, the Grand Duke.
Until he appeared in the Capital, the Devrika Emperor had never considered him a suitable match for the princess.
However universal it might be for imperial marriages to serve political purposes, he could not send his young daughter to a creature who had lived three centuries.
But after meeting the Grand Duke in person, he cast such misgivings far from his mind.
Setting aside his appearance, there was his commanding presence over the nobility at a glance, and countless other abilities besides.
He felt certain that Nailia was not beneath him as a match.
“Yet…….”
Both of them were so cold.
“Heh.”
The Devrika Emperor could only stand in the space they had left, shaking his head with hollow laughter.
* * *
“Where is Seres?”
Kainel returned to the ballroom after seeing the Emperor and immediately asked his aide Del. He saw no sign of Seres anywhere in the hall.
“Well…….”
“……?”
At Del’s troubled expression, Kainel’s brow creased.
Had something happened to Seres while he was away?
“Seres has had a bit too much to drink.”
“…Too much?”
“Yes. Quite a bit…….”
“She drank alcohol?”
At Kainel’s follow-up question, a faint smile flickered across Del’s face before vanishing.
“Can you even call it drinking? She only took a single sip of wine and…….”
Then collapsed.
He’d watched from a distance and was quite startled.
He’d nearly called the guards, wondering if the wine had been poisoned.
“But she was simply sleeping. To fall intoxicated from just one sip.”
“…….”
A silent sigh escaped Kainel’s lips.
“That much hasn’t changed.”
“Sir?”
“So where is Seres now?”
Kainel was about to head toward the lounge when Del quickly stopped him.
“Chaien has taken her.”
“Chaien?”
“Yes. He said he would personally escort her to the Drow Baron’s Residence and departed with her.”
Kainel’s frown deepened.
“Please don’t worry too much. Chaien assured us he would see to her safety.”
“…….”
“They’re using the Imperial Carriage, so she’ll travel comfortably without any hardship.”
He paused.
Kainel, whose furrowing brow betrayed an increasingly foul mood, stopped at Del’s last remark.
“…The carriage?”
* * *
“Whew, that really was a shock.”
The carriage, marked with the Imperial emblem—a magnificent golden lion carved into its side—rolled smoothly down the road.
Chaien gazed with some amusement at Seres, who slept so deeply that one could carry her away without her stirring.
“I had no idea her tolerance for drink was so weak.”
Was that why she’d hesitated with the wine glass?
Who could have guessed that a mere sip of wine would knock her out like that? Had he known, he never would have let her drink it.
‘Still, this isn’t so bad.’
Watching Seres asleep, he couldn’t help but smile.
He’d only ever seen her composed, never wavering.
Chaien glanced casually out the window.
The carriage continued to roll forward at a brisk pace.
Using Teleportation Magic while escorting someone intoxicated was impractical. If he attempted it with someone already unwell, there was no telling what complications might arise.
Her stomach could turn completely inside out, so Chaien had forgone Teleportation Magic and prepared the carriage instead.
“Mm…….”
“You awake?”
After a moment, Seres opened her eyes slowly, releasing a small whimper.
Watching her press her fingers against her brow as if her head ached, Chaien found himself laughing despite himself.
“We’re heading to the Drow Baron’s Residence. Rest a while longer. How’s your stomach?”
……
“Seres?”
Chaien, who had been speaking gently to her as she regained consciousness, suddenly wore a puzzled expression.
“What is it? Feeling worse?”
Something was wrong.
As her eyes scanned their surroundings, the color drained from her face with startling speed—as though she’d received some terrible shock.
Watching her gaze grow clouded with fear, Chaien called out to Seres again, his voice careful.
“Seres, what’s the matter?”
“Ahhh……!”
“Seres!”
Seres clutched at her throat, gasping for breath as though she couldn’t draw air properly.
“St… stop…….”
She crumpled to the carriage floor, collapsing.
She couldn’t even speak coherently.
“Seres! Come to your senses! What’s wrong? What is it?”
“St… stop……!”
Though Chaien called out urgently, she continued crawling toward the carriage door, leaving him all the more bewildered.
What could he do? What was he supposed to—!
Crash!
“……!”
It happened then.
The carriage door burst open with a violent sound.
Shielding Seres and staring toward the entrance, Chaien’s mouth fell slack at the sight of a familiar figure—he recognized him at once.
“What are you doing here…….”
Standing with the carriage door shattered in his wake, his expression stern.
It was Kainel.
……
Kainel gazed at Seres huddled on the carriage floor, then exhaled a long breath.
“Come here.”
He extended his hand toward her.
……
Perhaps it was because the carriage door had opened.
Still gasping, her head bowed, she slowly turned to look at Kainel.
At the sight of her face—drained of all color, pale as blank paper—another short sigh escaped Kainel’s lips.
“It’s all right. Nothing happened.”
And nothing will.
Seres’s rigid body gradually began to relax.
Though Chaien urged her to rest further, Seres shook him off and staggered toward Kainel.
Soft.
The moment she grasped his outstretched hand, Seres collapsed into his embrace.
‘Kai…….’
It had been this way before.
When she was small.
That time too, when she had abandoned everything and was fading away…….
As Seres felt the familiar touch of his arms encircling her, she surrendered to deep sleep.
Interlude. Grace, Seven Years Old
“Mom… Dad…….”
It was their first family journey.
She had pestered her father, who was always busy learning from her grandfather the head of their house, until at last they departed the Capital on a journey—her first time leaving it.
But then…….
“Mom…….”
The carriage overturned.
While passing through the forest path, a creature suddenly bolted across their way; the startled horses bolted in panic, and the carriage careened beyond anyone’s control straight over a nearby cliff.
As the carriage tumbled, her parents held her tight, never letting go.
When she came to in their embrace, there was only silence.
Neither her mother nor her father…….
She called out until her throat grew raw, but there was no answer.
All she could feel from her parents’ bodies, which still held her tight in their embrace, was a bone-chilling cold.
One day passed, then two. Time continued its relentless march.
Seres found herself staring blankly at her parents, having long since lost count of the days.
At their forms, growing more and more corrupted.
Her arm had broken; she couldn’t even push them away.
In the embrace of her mother, whose living form had become nearly unrecognizable, she simply waited. And waited.
For someone to come and save her.
‘Is this how I die?’
It hurt. It was terrifying. It was suffocating.
She wanted to get out of here.
She wanted to escape.
Mother, I’m sorry.
Father, forgive me.
I don’t want to be beside you anymore.
“Ugh… sob…”
She thought she had no tears left to shed.
But shame washed over her—shame at her own disgust at her parents’ ruined forms—and the tears came again.
Days dissolved into one another.
She no longer had the strength to open her eyes.
The smell had faded from her awareness; the soft, wet sensation no longer registered.
In a strange way, she was grateful for that mercy.
And yet.
‘How much longer…’
How much longer would she have to endure this?
How much longer could she possibly bear it?
Was it even right to keep going like this?
‘Maybe…’
Maybe it would have been better to die with them. It would be so peaceful to just close her eyes and sleep.
‘But why…’
Why does she keep drinking rainwater?
Why does she keep trying to move a body that won’t obey?
Why do her eyes keep straining to look out beyond the carriage?
‘Why…’
Her strength was draining away.
It felt as though her body were floating, untethered.
She could no longer feel the weight of her mother’s arms, still wrapped around her as if to bind her to this world.
Everything had become numb.
She felt nothing at all.
“…es!”
Through the fog of her consciousness, a voice reached her.
A hallucination?
“Seres!”
“Seres! Are you all right? Come to your senses!”
“…”
She couldn’t even open her eyes.
But she recognized those voices in an instant.
Kainel.
Alti.
“Waaah! Seres!”
“Be quiet! This isn’t the time for crying!”
“You’re crying too! Wahhh!”
This wasn’t a dream.
Those familiar hands pulling her close, their tears falling on her face.
“Ugh…”
A sob escaped her.
Weak as it was, barely a whisper, her tears flowed freely down her cheeks.
Something surged up from deep within her.
A profound sense of relief.
The relief of being alive.
‘I…’
I wanted to live.
That’s why I kept struggling, drinking rainwater just to survive.
“Ah… ah…….”
Sorrowful tears spilled unbidden from her eyes.
“Seres…….”
“It’s all right now. You’re safe.”
At the warmth of hands clasping hers, her tears only flowed faster, deeper with sorrow.

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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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