TAPGB - Chapter 2

TGAB - Chapter 2

The Abandoned Prince's Ghost Bride



"You are a person who was not born in this world. Live like you're dead. Because that's the only way to live."

Just giving him something to eat makes him feel good. Lucian thinks it's a great blessing from His Majesty just to be alive right now.

***

"Huh!"

Lucian's eyes flashed and he raised his upper body. 

His heart was pounding like crazy and cold sweat ran down his back. Maybe it was because he was having nightmares one after another, but he couldn't quite calm down. 

He fell on his face, clutching his heart. He took a long time to catch his breath and remembered the dream he had a while ago.

"Who is it?"

Lucian thought the person was someone he missed so much that it brought me to tears. That can't be possible. In the first place, he doesn't even have any memories of missing someone. Lucian, who grew up early despite his foolish age, made up his mind even before his expectations arose. Before he knew it, the afterimage of the dream had disappeared into the distance.

"But where am I?"

Lucian belatedly realized that this was not the room he was staying in. Lucian stayed silent for a while and eventually realized that he had married a ghost bride.

"Ugh, haunted house! If I had just died right then, I wouldn't have had to deal with this mess." 

"Tsk. It's pointless to look the same. I'm making you feel uncomfortable for no reason."

"What are you doing now! I told you not to come out! If you do this and someone else catches you, not only you but everyone here will die!"

The life he had lived so far unfolded like a panorama.

It is a series of unhappy lives without happiness. He wanted to be at least a little happy in his dreams, but he couldn't even imagine it because he had never been happy. 

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

Just as he was about to become isolated in the dark, he heard the voice of a priest reciting marriage vows.

When he looked around, he saw that the place had changed from a small room to the garden where the soul wedding was held.

Moreover, the clothes were formal clothes worn at a wedding. 

[Yes, I swear.]

At that moment, he heard an answer that Ilhe had never heard and should not have heard.

Lucian turned his head in surprise and saw a woman standing there with her hair flying.

She looked straight ahead and then turned her head towards Lucian.

[Let's get along well, kid!]

It is clear that she is a ghost bride. Bodies floating in the sky, blurry feet, and even translucent bodies.

He couldn't think of her as a living human being at all. But for some reason, he felt a warmth from her that he had never felt from people before.

Like warm sunlight seeping into a cold room.

Lucian reflexively stretched out his hand. However, nothing could be caught and the body of the ghost bride was scattered.

He raised his head to see her face, but the bright light passed through her body and Lucian couldn't see her face.

A flash of light surrounded the surroundings.

Immediately, a shiver ran down his spine. Lucian shivered and hurriedly hid himself under the blanket.

Even though he had grown up, he was still only an 8-year-old child.

Did it last that long?

Lucian finally mustered up the courage to get out of the blanket.

He looked around and was quite surprised that the room was cleaner than he expected. No, it was more than just clean, it was gorgeous. It was much more antique and full of expensive furniture than the places he had stayed before.

Crack, crack. 

There was firewood burning in the fireplace in the room. Even in spring, the daily temperature difference is large and the nights are quite chilly. However, thanks to the firewood, the air in the room was quite warm.

"Who gave it to me?" 

Now that he thinks about it, his clothes have already changed into pajamas. Looking at the neatly organized room, it was clear that someone had taken care of it.

"Thank goodness! There's someone!"

Lucian thought he was left alone in the mansion because he had to live with a ghost bride now.

But he is so glad there are people.

"Is he outside by any chance?"

Lucian got off the bed and opened the door to look for someone.

Sigh.

With the eerie sound of the door, he saw a hallway lit only by candlelight. However, even with the light of candles, the gloomy atmosphere did not go away.

Lucian didn't want to take a single step out of the room.

Growling.

His indifferent stomach was clamoring for some rice. He hadn't eaten since last night, so he felt hungrier than usual.

If he had known this would happen, Lucian would have eaten all the food he had.

"I can't do it."

Lucian took the lamp and went outside, deciding to check out the mansion.

"It's very spacious." 

When he came down the stairs, the first floor was quite spacious enough to run around and play. Moreover, just like his room, he could see at a glance that every corner was well-maintained.

"Where is the kitchen?"

Lucian put off looking around the mansion until later and went to the kitchen to find food and people. Fortunately, the kitchen appeared right away. But the kitchen was empty without any warmth. 

Lucian, who thought he would have prepared at least a simple meal, was taken aback.

"Is there anything?"

Out of urgency, he looked around the kitchen, but all he could find were kitchen utensils covered in dust.

Lucian lost energy for a moment.

Growling.

"Hungry......." 

He felt sad because he was hungry, cold, and scared. Lucian sniffled with tears in his eyes.

Tuk.

Degururu....... 

At that time, something bumped into his feet.

"Go, potatoes!" 

After being happy for a moment, Lucian wondered where these potatoes had come from. Looking around, he saw a couple of boxes containing potatoes and other ingredients in a corner of the kitchen. There were only uncooked ingredients such as flour, potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, meat, and eggs. 

"I can't cook."

Lucian's shoulders slumped. It looks like they don't even cook for him.

Lucian, who was about to become increasingly depressed, raised his head and shook his head.

"Come to your senses! It has to be done someday!"

Lucian went up to the second floor holding potatoes and sweet potatoes in his arms.

First of all, he plans to grill this in the fireplace in his room.

He used to eat only potatoes instead of rice, so he used to this.

Lucian prepared to become independent without any help from adults.

***

[Sigh, really, what should we do about him?]

I sighed as I saw the round white hair going up the stairs.

Since the child was staying here, I thought I would have to take care of him, so I put firewood in the room and turned on lights in various places to make it not dark. The food left behind by humans was just left in the kitchen. I thought he knew how to cook at least fry an egg.

[No matter how young a kid is, he can cook simple dishes, right?]

I felt like I was going to die if I continued like this, so I let him know that there were ingredients

"Oh, it's undercooked. But, if I leave it like this, it will burn... Hey, I don't know. Just eat it."

The sound of Lucian muttering alone was heard from the second floor.

When I saw a little boy who couldn't even bake a common potato, I felt guilty.

I was conflicted about whether I should make something edible and bring it to him, but I shook my head.

[Why me? If I've given him the mansion, cleaned the fireplace, and cleaned the room, isn't my job done? No matter how much of a child he is, whether he starves to death or not is none of my business!] 

To begin with, that kid was an uninvited guest. He should be thankful that I didn't kick him out of here.

After brainwashing myself like that and laughing, my mind continued to head to the second floor.

There were humans who lived in the mansion several times before. I didn't really care that much back then.

[Then why did the little boy come!] 

This child still needs the help of an adult. So It must be something that bothers me.

[But, that kid is weak.]

Even at the wedding, he fainted when he saw my afterimage, but there's no way he won't do that next time.

Normally, I would have used my weak spirit to chase away the intruder, but I couldn't do that since I knew the child had nowhere to go. 

(Ha, it's my mansion, so he can't do whatever I want.]

First of all, I think I will have to monitor the child's behavior for the time being and focus on staying in places where the child does not stay often.

Because I have absolutely no desire to get involved with humans.

***

- Day 1 of the little boy's observation log.

The little boy started walking around. Although he is still scared, he seems to have gained courage as the sun rises and the mansion becomes brighter.

Every time the little boy entered the room, he let out exclamations like'

'Wow!'. 'Wow!" and 'It's so spacious!'

I was somewhat proud of the rewards of working hard to maintain the mansion, but I also felt sad at the same time. And perhaps because he thought there would be someone, he kept Iooking for someone.

But since I knew that they had all left without a single person left, I noticed the little boy's behavior for no reason. I wonder if I should at least imitate a living person for the time being.

- Day 2 of the little boy's observation log.

Yesterday he looked around the mansion, and today he went outside the mansion.

He didn't go outside the fence, as if he was trying to escape from the mansion. He just walked around the yard, sat near the stream, and splashed around with rocks.

So the little boy spent all day outside.

Sometimes he was interested in seeing small animals passing by, and sometimes he leisurely lay down on the grass and took a nap.

I was nervous about him going into the forest, but fortunately, he didn't do anything unexpected.

Somehow, the sight of the little boy taking a nap was relaxing. He definitely looked a lot brighter than when he first came here.

If he just continues like he is today, I think I will soon be able to stop worrying about him. 

- Day 3 of the little boy's observation log.

Today, he started looking around the rooms in the mansion, as if he wanted to play a game of exploration.

No matter how well I took care of the mansion, there were a few rooms that were truly eerie, like a haunted mansion, so I locked the door to prevent anyone from entering.

He looks disappointed because the door doesn't open, but it's better than looking at it for no reason and then being shocked and depressed again.

This mansion is a mansion with a long history, as you can see just by looking at the fact that I stayed there for 300 years.

So, there were all kinds of objects and old books, and even the new ones were almost 50 years old.

Since I can't leave the mansion, I don't know how much of a difference there is between the outside and this mansion.

Seeing the little boy snooping around with interest, it looks like quite a few things have changed.

Well, It must be strange that 300 years have passed and nothing has changed.

You damn kid! He tore up my favorite book.

The book is so old that it hasn't aged well, but it's also that boy's fault for not handling it carefully in the first place.

Do you think that if you pretend not to notice and put it back on the bookshelf, it will disappear? 

You damn bastard!

-Day 4 of the little boy's observation log.

The little boy's behavior was odd because he hadn't washed once since entering the mansion.

He headed to the bathroom, probably because he could feel the odor coming from his body.

I can use warm water by simply blowing in mana, and this is the first time he has seen a bathroom like this.

The little boy was shivering and took a cold shower. While he was soaping his hair, I secretly infused my mana into it. His body's tremors subsided as he felt the water getting warmer.

If he catches a cold, we're in trouble. There are no over-the-counter medicines here.

- Children's observation log, day 5.

Today too, the little boy ate potatoes and sweet potatoes.

I cleaned the kitchen just in case, but it looks like he can't use the cooking utensils at all.

Since he didn't want to starve to death, I tried to wait and see, but I was getting more and more frustrated with all I was seeing. The little boy looked tired, probably because he had been filling his stomach with only potatoes and sweet potatoes for five days.

Moreover, most of the other food ingredients were left unused, and some of them began to rot.

I didn't want the mold to spread to other food ingredients, so I picked it out separately while the little one was away.

I felt sorry for the little boy who had so much to eat but only ate potatoes and sweet potatoes. I'm thinking about secretly dropping off the recipe booklet tomorrow.

- Children's observation log, day 6.

The little boy found a cooking booklet. But even though he looked at the book, he never thought about cooking with it.

He is skipping the easiest frying eggs and looking at complicated turkey recipes.

I was wondering if he wanted to eat meat... If you look closely, you'll notice that there are a lot of drawings in the turkey cooking section.

I guess he can't read.

- Children's observation log, day 7.

After seeing that there were only five potatoes and sweet potatoes left, the little boy finally started using the kitchen. As if he was shaking his head, he used a lantern to light the fire pit.

He looked around at the cooking utensils to see if he wanted to cook my own food, and then placed the plate on the cooking surface. In the end, the kid got into an accident.

The plate exploded with heat and the fried egg that was barely cracked on top went into the crate. The accident didn't end there. As the plate broke, embers and fragments flew out, starting to catch fire and spread to nearby ingredients.

The fire soared in an instant.

The little boy was embarrassed and went outside to get some water.

While the kid was out. I quickly turned off the fire with my magic. The mansion almost burned down. The little boy, who returned with a water bowl, was relieved to see the fire gone, but soon his complexion took a turn for the worse.

Oh, half of the ingredients are gone. The little boy eventually went upstairs holding the remaining potato in his arms.



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