TAPGB - Chapter 50
The Abandoned Prince's Ghost Bride
It was already 5 o'clock. Leopold, who had been yelling for the door to be opened every 10 minutes, has been quiet for an hour now.
"The rain never stops."
Although the rain had subsided a lot compared to the initial pouring, it was still raining.
"I'm sure he's back by now, right?"
It'll be dinner time soon, and he always leaves before 6 o'clock, so he should have gone by now. Otherwise, the imperial family might make an uproar over the disappearance of the Crown Prince.
'But why do I feel so uncomfortable?'
Lucian opened the book and couldn't get through it even after an hour. In fact, it seems like his concentration was worse than when he heard Leopold's voice.
Lucian got up from his seat, thinking that reading a book today was not a good idea. And just in case, he opened the window and glanced towards the front door.
It was hard to see clearly because there were eaves, but there were no people.
"I wish you would stop coming now."
Lucian don't want to admit it, but as the days Leopold came to visit him increased, his heart began to waver without him even realizing it.
'Maybe I was hoping for a day like this to come.'
Ever since he found out that his brother and he were twins, Lucian wanted someone to come and explain it to him. No, he wanted to hear at least one word of apology.
Of course, looking at the Prince's current attitude, he seemed to know nothing.
However, as Leopold, who knew nothing, kept coming to him, the feelings that had built up over time disappeared little by little, knowingly or unknowingly.
"Maybe he just wanted to be recognized by his family."
Lucian won't tell Leah that he had this thought. He's embarrassed and he doesn't want to look like a child to her anymore.
"It's pretty cold."
Lucian came out of his thoughts and closed the window, stroking his arms as the weather had become quite chilly. No, he tried to close it. Unless something very small was caught under the eaves.
"... Surely not?"
Lucian opened his eyes and looked out the window and saw a human leg.
"That crazy guy!"
Lucian urgently ran out of the room.
***
[Hmm, shall we try some stew after a long time?]
Warm things are best in chilly weather.
I started taking out ingredients to prepare the upcoming dinner. Just as I was trying to trim it like that,
Bang!
[Ouch! It's a surprise!]
I heard the sound of a door being hurriedly opened from somewhere. I was shocked and quickly went out.
"Hey, come to your senses! Hey!"
Lucian was seen holding the lying Prince.
The wide open gate, the Crown Prince drooping, and even the strong wind blowing inside. I had a rough idea of what the situation would be.
"Leah! This guy is running a fever!"
I quickly looked at Leopold. He couldn't come to his senses because his fever was rising and his stamina was low.
"Ugh... cold..."
His complexion was pale, and his lips were blue. His clothes were too thin for the cold weather. Moreover, for some reason, his clothes were soaked. It was clear that the wet clothes had taken away body heat.
[Lucian, let's move to your room first. Go up first and light the fireplace.]
"Okay, I get it."
Lucian went up first, and I lifted Leopold into the air and headed to Lucian's room.
[Bring a blanket!]
While Lucian brought the blanket, I hurriedly took off Leopold's wet clothes. I left him in only his underwear, wrapped him in a blanket, and placed him in front of the fireplace.
"Leah, shouldn't we use healing magic?"
[I already did it. But since he's not sick, it won't have much of an effect. First of all, it is important to raise his body temperature. Lucian, massage his hands and feet.]
Lucian immediately massaged Leopold's hands and feet. Lucian bit his lip tightly because his hands and feet were as cold as ice. After some time, Leopold began to come to his senses. He opened his squinting eyes and smiled bitterly.
"Haha, you finally let me in?"
"What are you doing so foolishly? Why aren't you going when you clearly know it won't be opened?"
"How can I go on when it's raining like that? And since the weather was bad, I thought you would let me in soon."
[Tsk tsk, does that mean you stand still in the rain for three hours? Why is the kid so stupid?]
That's what I said, but I couldn't help but hold my tongue at his persistence.
"What on earth do you want from me?"
Leopold smiled slightly at Lucian's question.
"Not really."
"... What?"
Both Lucian, who frowned, and I, who was guessing what he was going to say, were dumbfounded by his answer.
"I just wanted to talk to you like this."
"Before, you talked nonsense about being sworn brothers and all."
"I was overthinking that. Even if I were to ask a stranger to become my sworn brother, I would probably be wary. So first, let's get to know each other!"
Leopold smiled brightly with red cheeks.
"Let me introduce myself again. My name is Leopold Odelion! Even though I'm the crown prince, let's get rid of all such positions for now! What is your name?"
Although he was still shivering from the cold, his eyes were intense. It reminded me of Lucian when he was young, and I fell in love with him without realizing it.
[.... Lucian, what are you going to do?]
But that's just my opinion. Lucian might take it differently. Lucian lowered his eyes as if thinking about something.
"Oh, tell me your name quickly! I came here after two weeks of absence, and you're not even going to tell me your name?"
“....Ha.”
Lucian washed his face dry and sighed. But I saw it clearly. The corner of his mouth, which was covered by his hand, slowly turned up.
"I lost."
Leopold's eyes lit up when he saw Lucian, who had let his guard down and was laughing.
"I am Lucian. I'm 15 years old. I live in this mansion."
"Wow! Are you the same age as me? This makes us really look like twins! Oh! No, this means cancel, cancel! I'm speechless...."
"I don't tend to believe the myths about twins, so you don't have to pay attention."
"Oh, really? This is the first time I've heard someone say something like that among the people of the empire!"
"So you don't seem to have any objection to twins?"
"I went to study abroad for two years. In foreign countries, twins are a symbol of abundance and fertility. Among my friends were twin sisters. So I don't really think about it either. I actually find it fun to watch!"
[... This kid is awake in many ways.]
Is that fortunate? Because he doesn't mind twins.
"Let's warm up first and then go. The rain will stop soon."
"Are you trying to kick me out already?"
Lucian's eyebrows twitched as Leopold whined like an abandoned puppy.
"You shouldn't have to go back home! You say you are the Crown Prince. If they found out you were gone, the imperial family would go looking for you?"
"Oh, that's right."
My eyes became cold without realizing it when I saw Leopold, who was somewhat fierce.
[The rain is slowly stopping. I think he can go down in an hour. Since it's like this, let's at least have dinner and send him off. I will make you a delicious stew.]
"Then I'll ask you a favor, Leah."
It bothered me a little that Leopold called me without hesitation even though he was in front of me, but I thought he would take care of it, so I left the room.
As I went down to the kitchen, I heard a conversation between the two.
"By the way. I thought this place was a haunted mansion at first. But I was surprised to see you there. At first, I thought you were a ghost that looked just like me? This is the haunted mansion, right?"
"Huh?"
"They say ghosts live. You saw me talking into the air a little while ago. Did you ask this before? Is 'Leah' a magic spell?"
"That's not magic, it's the name of a ghost."
[Oh my, what is he talking about?]
Could this be an advanced strategy to oust Leopold again? If that's the case....
"Wow! It's a ghost!"
It seems to have worked well.
***
After two weeks of pushing and pushing, Lucian finally accepted Leopold. Before returning to the imperial palace, he trembled when he saw Leopold.
No, more accurately, it was closer to seeing the umbrella I was holding and vaguely seeing where I was.
[When I tried to kick him out, he reacted strangely to a subject who wasn't even scared.]
"From what I heard, I guess they saw you there and thought the rumor about there being a ghost was just a rumor."
[So you're scared and won't come now? The guy who used to come every day hasn't come for three days.]
Lucian trembled. He pretended not to be, but he seemed really bothered by Leopold not coming. Otherwise, there's no way the kid who went down to the village would have stayed home for three days.
"Lu-cian!"
[Huh? It's Dio.]
I wondered if I could hear a voice outside, and saw Dio coming here hurriedly. From the day Lucian invited him to the mansion five years ago, he often slept there or sparred with Lucian in the training hall.
"What's going on Dio?"
[Didn't he come here because you didn't go down to the village?]
"Maybe so."
We opened the front door to welcome Dio.
"What happened?"
"What the hell! Why did you not come down so I came? You don't come down to the village often these days. Have you hidden a pot of honey at home?"
"Is that possible? I just didn't feel like going down."
"I don't think so."
Ignoring Dio who was glaring at him, Lucian told him to come in and casually cleared the way inside. Dio was pouting that he was a boring guy and then suddenly looked around.
"Leah, where are you?"
[Every time you come, you look for me.]
It seems like just yesterday that he was so scared and shaking. Lia smiled and greeted him with a nearby stone slab.
"Ah! There you are! I searched without even knowing that. Didn't it look strange?"
[It's weird, but it's cute.]
Lucian, who was in the living room, flinched. But I didn't know that.
"Leah, I'm only talking to you, but Lucian has been acting strange these days."
As Dio lowered his voice and whispered, I silently scribbled on the slate.
What?
"Until a month ago, he was so fierce that it was difficult to even talk to him. But these days, he says things have become mellow again, so he doesn't come down to the village very often."
The time Dio mentioned coincided with the time when I was worried about Lucian.
Is there anything going on in the village?
"Well, that's right. Still, I'm worried because this kid who was always in a low mood suddenly changes."
Dio's concern for Lucian was truly remarkable. Should I say that I am heartbroken because he made a good friend?
[Pretty bastard. I should at least make something delicious.]
"What on earth are you two whispering about?"
[Ouch! It's a surprise!]
When I turned around, Lucian had already come right in front of me. He had a sullen expression on his face as if he was dissatisfied with something.
"Nothing! I didn't say much."
[That's right since you haven't been to town lately, Dio just asked if anything was going on.]
".... But are you saying that because he's cute?"
"Huh? What did Leah say?"
Lucian frowned, then huffed! He turned his head and returned to the living room. Strangely, his feet felt strong.
"Why on earth is he like that? What are you upset about?"
[I know, yeah.]
It's like a child pouting and begging to be looked at. As expected, he was still glancing at me.
[I have to look at it.]
I smiled unconsciously and walked up to Lucian and patted him. Lucian grumbled that he wasn't pouting, but his protruding lips were slightly retracted.
When he whines at me, I feel relieved that he still needs me. Maybe it's not that he needs me, but that I need him.
But what does it matter?
As long as I can be by Lucian's side, I don't mind anything.
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