TAPGB - Chapter 48
The Abandoned Prince's Ghost Bride
[A human has come.]
"Human?"
Lucian frowned. He came to the side and found five humans gathered together.
"This is the first time someone has come here."
[I guess they came here after hearing a rumor. It hasn't happened once since you came, but it happens once or twice every year.]
"Ha, things that don't look like stars...."
Lucian's eyes sank low as if he was annoyed.
[I took care of it, so they'll be gone soon.]
"Who's coming over there?"
[... what?]
I hurriedly looked through the window. Someone wearing a hat pulled down was coming here.
"I will see with my own eyes what kind of person has a big liver."
Lucian hid himself next to the front door and waited for the other person to enter. I looked at him blankly, then looked through the window again.
The face of the person wearing the hat began to appear in more detail.
[Something is wrong...]
For a moment, my eyes widened. I saw a very familiar, yet unfamiliar face.
[Lu, Lucian! Get out of there right now!]
The door opened at the same time Lucian looked at me with a strange expression.
Lucian immediately turned his head and waited for the other person to come inside.
As soon as the hatted person entered the mansion, Lucian attacked him. It was already too late to stop him, so I hurriedly closed the door to prevent any untoward incident.
"Some rats are sneaking around my house...!"
Lucian grabbed the opponent's collar with his left hand and raised his fist with his right hand. But soon, he couldn't do anything.
"... Uh?"
A small sound woke Lucian. He felt like the situation unfolding before his eyes was unreal.
"Me?"
The other person's words seemed to represent Lucian's inner thoughts. But Lucian knew. He is not himself.
[Get away now!]
I separated the frozen Lucian from the child who looked exactly like him.
The Prince!
Unless it is a doppelganger that looks exactly like Lucian, there is only one thing left. That guy is Lucian's twin brother, Leopold Odelion.
I glanced at Lucian, who was hiding behind me. He still couldn't take his eyes off Leopold. And it was the same for Leopold.
"How did this happen...?"
Leopold's eyes wavered. But soon, he seemed to have calmed down and crawled back here.
"You look just like me, right?
Lucian was currently wearing a diamond necklace, turning his hair and eyes brown. It seems that he came down while preparing to go down to the village.
[It's a blessing in disguise.]
Lucian, who was as hard as wood and stone, flinched at my muttering.
"Who are you? Who looks so similar to me? My name is Leopold Odelion. What is your name?"
Leopold's outstretched hand was full of goodwill and curiosity. Lucian, who was staring at it, gritted his teeth.
"Leah! Get that guy out now!"
I used magic as if I had been waiting. Leopold was embarrassed when his body floated. As objects in the mansion moved making creepy noises, he looked down at Lucian.
"What is this...?..Ugh!"
I levitated him in the air to prevent him from continuing his thoughts. Leopold, who suddenly found himself flying in the sky, screamed.
I didn't forget to turn on lights in various places to make it seem like a ghost was doing it or to cause confusion by making strange noises from toys.
I held Lucian back a little further and then opened the door. At that moment, Leopold and Lucian's eyes met.
"Never come here again."
As soon as he finished saying those words, he threw him out of the mansion.
When Leopold rolled around on the floor a few times, the children on the other side of the fence immediately ran out and looked at him. After seeing that they were running out of the fence, I looked back at Lucian.
[... Lucian, are you okay?]
Lucian was shaking and confused.
What on earth should I say?
In fact, should I say that you were abandoned here because you were born as a twin? Or should I say that the kid from before was your older brother?
I didn't feel like giving any kind of answer.
"... He really looks just like me."
Lucian, who had been muttering something, lifted his head.
"Leah... What should I do now?"
His golden eyes were so filled with despair that I unconsciously pressed my lips together.
[Lucian...]
"Because I am a twin, I was born as the twin brother and was abandoned by my family."
My spirit was momentarily disturbed by his words.
"I am a being who should not have been born in the first place, a being who should not be alive.... I resent my family for making me like this. So I wanted to say something when we met... !"
Lucian's cheeks trembled and soon became wet with tears.
"I couldn't say anything...!"
[...]
"That guy doesn't even recognize me! What on earth should I do?! Who on earth should I pour out this anger on?!"
The angry voice made me understand Lucian's actions so far. Lucian knew everything. That's why he had such a hard time and couldn't say anything to me.
I couldn't bring myself to give him any comfort. No matter what I say now, he won't hear. So there was nothing I could do other than just hug him. Lucian's body trembled even more as he was held in my arms. His tears fell to the floor.
"Leah! Why on earth was I born...? I wasn't born because I wanted to be a twin! Why do I have to suffer alone...!"
I know it's incredibly painful, but right now, those words are just eating away at me. I cupped Lucian's cheeks and made eye contact with him. His golden eyes, stained with tears, fluttered.
[Lucian, there is no being in this world that should not be born.]
".... Leah."
[Yes, as you said, you may have been abandoned by your family. Your family may have forgotten everything and you may be suffering alone. But that is not a reason to deny your existence!]
"..."
[I am next to you! Thanks to you, I spoke to a human for the first time and regained my will to live! And yet you're still going to deny me just because of your family? That's like denying me! Because if it weren't for you, I wouldn't exist even if I existed!]
300 years is a long, long, boring and painful time. I couldn't predict when it would end or how this pain would end.
Lucian appeared in front of me. Now that I can see and talk to him, I feel alive for the first time in 300 years.
[Lucian, what does family mean to you? Do you have to be related by blood to be family? Then what about me? What about Caesar? What are we who have been by your side all this time?]
Lucian bit his lip and shed tears.
"Leah and Caesar are my family...."
[Yes, family is always by your side. They are people who are only related by blood and have nothing to do with you.]
“Leah...”
[Huh.]
"Leah, don't ever abandon me..."
[That will never happen. So...]
Don't torture yourself too much.
Lucian let go of his head and began to cry. It was the first time he had cried since he was 10 years old. This meant that he had been worrying, suffering, and suppressing himself for a long time.
I willingly gave up my arms so that he could tell everything comfortably.
'I can give even more than this for Lucian.'
***
"Really? There was a kid who looked just like me!"
"Ha, Your Highness, what are you saying."
Leopold and his friends, who returned to the imperial palace, all returned home except Harry.
Everyone was already anxious because Schlan had seen a ghost, but even Leopold was saying such strange things, so they sent the kids away in a hurry.
'If things continue like this, strange rumors might arise.'
Fortunately, they were kids who had been together for a long time. If it had been anyone else, Leopold might have been talking about seeing ghosts. Or he hurts his head and is talking nonsense.
"It really happened!"
"Stop it, really! Aren't you looking in the wrong mirror?"
"Do you think I'm stupid? And where is the ghost grabbing me by the collar? Plus, he has different hair and eye colors than me!"
"Then it must be the work of a ghost! Didn't Schlan say he saw a ghost? Or are you saying there is a doppelganger?"
"Doppelganger? Okay... That's right!"
Harry's eyes became cold at Leopold's reaction, which seemed to have found the answer.
"I'm just saying this just in case, but you shouldn't say strange things like doppelgangers or anything like that to other people."
"Why?"
"Why, why! What you are saying is that your reputation is being tarnished! There's no way people would just believe something like that!"
Leopold made a sullen expression. But Harry had no intention of backing down.
"Anyway, keep my words in mind. Since you are the only successor, your position will not be in jeopardy, but shouldn't there be anything that could make you vulnerable?"
"... Okay, that's it. As you say, you don't believe me, so who will? Go now."
"Ha, then I'll just go. Don't even think about going there again. Okay?"
"Are you my teacher? Why are you nagging so much?"
"It's because I'm anxious! What should I do when I am the only one who can look after you? Do you want a younger sibling? Just know that if you have siblings, you will fight more often than this. I'm really going!"
Harry is excited! And she snorted and left the room. Leopold chuckled when he saw that.
"Harry, you don't believe me."
He really saw it. A doppelganger who looks exactly like him. Although their hair and eye colors were different, they looked so similar that if they disguised themselves the same way, others would probably think they were twins.
"No, if we look like twins, rocks will fly."
Leopold knows very well how intense the persecution of twins is within the empire.
When he was young, he took it for granted, but recently, perhaps because he studied abroad in another country for the past two years, his perception of twins has improved a lot.
"On the contrary, other countries consider twins to be a symbol of abundance and fertility."
This place is literally the complete opposite of the Oddrian Empire.
Not only in the place where he studied abroad but also in other countries nearby, everyone had a good perception of twins.
Moreover, thanks to the sister twins he became friends with while studying abroad, the twins seemed like something strange rather than disgusting. They read each other's thoughts without saying anything and become lifelong friends.
Is it because their sisterhood and friendship seem particularly strong? After going abroad to study, his longing for his brother grew stronger.
Since he is the firstborn, the older siblings cannot dream, and the only realistic ones are the younger siblings.....
"By any chance, that kid is my twin brother...."
Leopold, who was thinking of the child he saw in the haunted mansion, soon smiled and shook his head.
"That's nonsense. I have been an only child since I was born."
Maybe that kid is just something that looks surprisingly similar to him. Leopold lay down on the bed and thought about that child.
Even if he opened or closed his eyes, that kid did not disappear from his mind. Instead, the afterimage became even darker and began to flicker right in front of his eyes.
"I want to see you again."
There was a moment of silence. Leopold remembered the child with his eyes closed. Did it last that long?
Suddenly a brilliant thought passed through his mind.
"If I don't have a real brother, I can at least make a fake one!"
Their faces are surprisingly similar, so isn't it possible? Even if they are not biological brothers, many people are close as sworn brothers.
"Good! That's right!"
Leopold praised himself for his ingenious hair. He was so excited that he had no idea that the other person would reject him.
No, it would be accurate to say that he doesn't think that way in the first place.
Leopold was born as a noble grandson, and so far he has rarely been rejected by others. So Leopold thought he was mistaken and just thought about going back to the haunted mansion.
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