TAPGB - Chapter 1

TAPGB - Chapter 1

 The Abandoned Prince's Ghost Bride


Name, none. Age has not counted for 100 years. I don't know what I look like because I am not reflected in the mirror. I don't know anything about myself, but I've lived in this old mansion for over 300 years. I am a ghost, who is also stuck in the mansion.

I don't know when I died or why I became a ghost and couldn't leave this mansion. I've been living as a ghost since I was conscious, and I'm just wandering around this world without being able to go to the afterlife. Why are you suddenly talking about ghosts like that? 

Fuck it. Today is my wedding day.

I sat on the roof sullenly and looked down at the people moving about in a hurry.

Perhaps because they wanted to get the job done quickly, they only roughly prepared the items and prepared for the wedding.

[No, why on earth are they holding my wedding on their own?]

I can't understand what humans are like. Besides, the groom is that little boy.

Among the busy adults, a child wearing a black suit sat with a pale face. He was a cute boy with snow-white hair and impressive yellow eyes. He must be about 7 years old.

I clicked my tongue when I saw the child shivering and biting his lip.

[What is wrong with that young thing?]

Even as a ghost. I feel sorry for that little thing, but it seems like humans don't even have those feelings. Because no one is paying any attention to the child.

"Are you really okay with this?"

"What should I do if it's not okay? Your Majesty says so."

I could hear the voices of humans talking. I pricked up my ears and focused on their conversation.

"But still. It's a soul wedding. I don't know if this will really calm the ghosts. You just have to exorcise it."

"They say you have to comfort an angry spirit. If we just get rid of it, the imperial family will be ruined or something."

"Tsk. tsk. That kid is literally a sacrifice."

"He seems young, but I also feel sorry for him."

"But is there really a need to decorate it like that? Like royalty..."

"Shh. We just have to do what we're told. Don't give me unnecessary attention." 

It seems closer to intentionally not paying attention. If you look closely, everyone is hissing while glancing at the child. 

"But is this place really haunted? The mansion is definitely old, so it looks like it might be haunted..."

"I heard this story across the street, and some of the knights who came here for courage training were tired of seeing ghosts. I'm sure there's a ghost."

"Not only that, but a corpse appears before your eyes and then disappears in the blink of an eye!" 

Before they knew it, they had taken their attention away from the child and started talking about the rumors going around in the mansion.

"Hey."

At that time, the person who appeared to be the highest among the priests approached the young boy.

"You know that you have to repay me for putting you to sleep and feeding you all this time, right?"

[What kind of bullshit is that?]

How can you say something like that to a kid who hasn't even had blood on his head?

The child could not say anything and lowered his head. The priest laughed and patted his head.

"This is a historic mansion that has been around since the time of His Majesty the First Emperor. However, strange things have been happening here recently, and His Majesty is having trouble. The ghost of a woman who died unfairly keeps appearing or something."

That's definitely what I'm talking about.

"They say people tend to get hurt when they come here, they have nightmares every day, and they can't stay in the mansion even for a single day. It must have been the work of that woman's ghost."

No. You have to speak straight.

I was quiet, but you guys invaded the mansion without permission. Usually, there are no people coming and going, but three months ago people suddenly started coming one by one.

He was suddenly looking around the mansion and disrupting my peaceful daily life, so I was annoyed and just took care of it.

[And they all tripped over their own feet?]

I never hurt anyone. Everyone is so scared that they treat an innocent ghost as an abuser for something they just did.

Then, the priest said to the child.

"I think It's an honor that you, an orphan no bigger than a gutter rat, have managed to do something helpful to the imperial family." 

Man! Is this guy really making me unlucky?!

A third party seemed to be angry, but the child, who had heard the insult right in front of him, was unable to react in any way.

No. he seemed more frightened than angry.

"What do I do now?"

The child who had been silent finally opened his mouth.

"You married the ghost who lives here, so now you have to live here."

"Well, then I live here alone?"

"You are not alone. There is a ghost bride."

In the end. It was said that there was no one. The child's face turned pale.

"Fuhahaha! Hey! You were just put here as a sacrifice. They're just making you look like royalty to fool the ghost's eyes. Then, did you think I would give you a servant? I need to know my fractions."

As the priest's laughter grew louder, the child's small shoulders trembled.

"Oh, don't worry though. Because His Majesty has decided to provide living expenses and food ingredients every month out of special generosity. Of course, only until you reach adulthood. Honestly, I don't know why you do this. Well, it's none of my business."

"Did Your Majesty really send me here? Rather than just leaving me to die alone...!"

When the crying child raised his voice and attracted people's attention, the priest looked at him with a straight face and covered his mouth.

"You seem to be misunderstanding something. A person like you is no better than a stone on the street. How dare you insult His Majesty? Do you think you are a member of the royal family because you dressed up like one?"

The priest roughly threw the child away. Then the child fell to the floor, leaving a dark scratch on his cheek.

"Okay, we're ready. Would you like to go meet the bride now, false Prince?"

The giggling sound sounded like the laughter of the devil. The child was covering his ears and had no choice but to stand up when a hand grabbed him violently. I frowned as I watched the whole situation.

Wow, human bastards. 

[I don't know what to do with a child like that......!]

The little groom and everything were bothersome, so I tried to throw them all out, but I felt like if I did that, the little boy would die without anyone's care.

There's no way I'm on the outside when I don't have anyone on my side here either.

But what on earth is that child?!

It was a question I had from the beginning. The minions were whispering to the child about the royal family, and the priest was saying meaningful things.

If you put all of those words together, it means that the child was deliberately dressed up like royalty....

[No matter how I look. I see no traces of magic or drugs being used?] 

I felt really bad.

The child stood in front of the white coffin prepared by the priests as if he were about to die. Perhaps the coffin covered with white flowers and a veil represents the ghost bride, or me.

"Groom, Lucian.. No. Lucian Odelion, do you pledge to cherish, love, and be with the Ghost Bride for the rest of your life?"

After a roughly sketchy process, it was time to say the wedding vows. The child bit his lip in response to the priest's question. As the silence became longer, the worse priest gave more force to his voice.

"The groom, Lucian Odelion! Do you pledge to cherish, love, and be with your ghost bride for the rest of your life?"

"... Yes."

The child trembled at the harsh words. When people around them saw that, instead of sympathizing with him, they complained, saying that they should have told him a long time ago and that he was only wasting time.

It really broke my heart to see that there was no one on his side among so many people.

As I continued to sit on the roof, I sighed and had no choice but to go among the people attending the wedding.

"Father, do you, the ghost bride, pledge to cherish, love, and be with Lucian Odelion for the rest of your life?"

It's beyond ridiculous. You call yourself a ghost bride with just a coffin. The funny thing is, I could hear them laughing little by little as if they were doing the same.

The child's shoulders became even more tense. I don't like this situation right now.

[Yes, I swear.]

I answered bluntly and simultaneously moved my mana. Then the coffin rattled and a strong wind blew around the coffin.

The faces of those who had been suppressing their laughter immediately turned pale. It was funny how he got scared after just one joke.

[This is ugly, you guys! How dare you idiots not even look at the face of a ghost!]

The priest who was persecuting the child also tried to finish the wedding in a hurry due to the strange phenomenon. She looked at him with disgust, crossed her arms, and giggled.

 "Right."

But suddenly I heard a strange sound next to me. When I turned her head, the child was looking obliquely in my direction. My lower body, to be exact.

As soon as he thought that he couldn't see my feet because I was a ghost, the child's eyes rolled over.

"Hey!"

The priest and people around him were shocked when the child suddenly fainted. I was equally embarrassed.

I looked at the child surrounded by people and scratched my head.

[Could it be that you saw me?]

No, if you had seen it, you would have seen it a long time ago. I continued to sit on the roof and watch.

[Ugh, I guess I'm weak.]

Sometimes it happens. People who see my afterimage. And maybe it's because I'm giving off a lot of energy right now.

"This concludes the soul wedding!"

The priest hurriedly concluded the wedding, and the servants hurried to leave.

Meanwhile, the priests were embarrassed as they left the unconscious child on the floor. 

"What should we do with him?" 

"Let's just leave it like this. Our job is done."

"If His Majesty says that I didn't finish it properly......"

I squatted down next to the child and watched what kind of trash the people would do until the end. 

"I don't know when it will happen. so I can't just leave it here. Besides. it looks like it's going to rain soon."

 "Damn! Then what should I do!" 

"...... I can't do it. One of you left him all the way inside the mansion."

The three priests looked at the mansion with stern faces. To them, the mansion appeared to be an abandoned house teeming with ghosts.

[Excuse me. I am making the mansion look pretty.]

Although the atmosphere is a little gloomy, they are proud that it is cleaner than other mansions.

They couldn't hear me and started choosing who would go in there.

Shit.

In the end, the priest who continued to harass the child won. He glared at his relieved colleagues and hugged the child for the umpteenth time.

"Don't get sick of your pants! Be careful not to see ghosts!" 

Kill, kill, kill!

The priest looked as if he was swallowing his anger because of the guys who immediately changed their stance and made fun of him by saying it was none of his business.

I was trying to follow him, but these two guys were annoyed, so I made a rock in front of their feet.

Ouch! Ouch! 

The two people tangled beautifully and fell. One guy probably had a broken nose.

[It's ugly!]

I hurried after the child, leaving behind the two guys who were clutching their noses and mouths.

"Ai, why is it so cold here again?"

Unlike the warm spring breeze blowing outside, the priest shivered at the cold feeling he felt as soon as he entered the entrance.

"Uhm... "

The priest trembled but came to his senses at the sound of a groan coming from behind him and looked around.

"Damn it, there's no sofa."

It seems that if there was anything nearby that could be laid down, he was just going to leave that child behind.

[I have to put the child to bed. If you leave it here, your mouth will turn.]

I personally lit a candle to guide the room.

Then the priest's complexion turned pale.

"This is not guided by a ghost...."

He said he was a ghost priest and that he needed to appease the spirit, but in reality, it was probably all bluff. Just looking at that priest, doesn't it look like he just realized for the first time that there is a ghost? 

"I don't know either."

He headed towards the place where the candles were flickering as if he wanted to leave the child behind as quickly as possible.

The candle climbed up the staircase railing and pointed to the largest door just near the stairs to the second floor. Beyond the door was an old-fashioned room.

The priest, terrified, threw the child on the bed and hurried outside.

But I didn't watch it in silence.

[You bastard! I have to pay living expenses!]

Where are you going to leave this little guy?

I slammed the door before the priest left the room. The wind wasn't even blowing, but when he saw the closed door, his face went from pale to white. 

"Fuck, open the door! Don't open the door?! You damn ghost! Do you know who I am?!"

It looks like it's going crazy because it's so scared. I sighed and took out a slate and chalk from a corner.

The priest froze when he saw the stone tablet floating in the air.

[Leave money and food for my groom and go.]

Wow, how nice it is to be able to communicate in person. I thrust the slab in front of his nose so he could look clearly.

Squeak

[Huh?]

A small sound of water was heard from somewhere. When he lowered his head, the priest's pants became damp.

[Evil! Dirty bastard! I'm tired of peeing!!

I was startled and threw the slate on the floor. Then the frozen priest slumped down on the spot.

"Ears, ears, ghosts!"

Five seconds later, the priest opened the door and ran out, screaming for the manor to leave. Despite the pressure from those around him, he hurriedly ran away over the fence.

[That bastard, I told you to leave your money and food.]

"Umm."

Just as I was clicking my tongue while looking at the window. I heard the child moan. I sighed as I looked at the child lying on the bed and groaning and the place the priest had left.

[Oh my gosh.]

 I had a feeling that the mansion would be noisy for a while.



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