TAPGB - Chapter 71
The Abandoned Prince's Ghost Bride
"Damn it!"
Lucian cursed and boom! thud!
He slammed his whole body against the door, but it didn't budge.
He fainted, but when he opened his eyes, Lucian found himself in Leopold's room, and he had been imprisoned here for a week.
At first, he opened the door and started a riot, but was stopped by the knights, and when he tried to escape using magic, he was unable to use magic.
A magic nullifier was installed in the room itself.
'I heard that you are a wizard. If you listen carefully to what I say, I will release it. However, if you resist, I have no choice but to continue using this method."
It was the third day since he was locked in the room. This was what Ruber personally said when he heard that Lucian was continuing to cause trouble.
He cannot use magic while in this room. The sword had been taken a long time ago, knights were heavily guarded outside the door, and all the windows were blocked to prevent anyone from escaping.
A state of complete confinement. Lucian had to go back to the mansion as soon as possible, but he couldn't, so he was just frustrated.
Knock knock.
"Your Highness, I have brought you lunch."
Lucian, who was ruffling his hair, noticed Dane coming in, pushing a cart.
When Lucian just glared and didn't come closer, Dane silently put the food in the cart on the table.
"Your Highness, why don't you accept His Majesty's offer now?"
"If it were you, would the words' I accept Your Majesty's offer' come out of your mouth in this situation?"
Lucian continued to huff and flop down on the sofa, and Dane quietly sat across from him.
"It's definitely not a bad offer for Your Highness."
"I guess His Majesty ordered you to appease me?"
"It's my opinion. Please listen to me first and think about it."
Lucian gave Dean a look that said.
"Tell me what you want."
"If you play the role of the Crown Prince well, we will give you an appropriate reward, and in the future, when the Crown Prince wakes up and becomes free again, we will give you a new identity."
Lucian's eyes were still blunt.
"Not only that, you will receive all the existing education that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince received. What a great honor that alone is! If you learn it, you will be able to use it usefully later."
"That seems like a disadvantage, not an advantage."
"Hmm! Oh, anyway, in addition to this, we will provide support in many ways so that Your Highness can perform well, and we will place carefully selected employees by your side to ensure that you can live comfortably during normal times."
In addition, Dane tried to placate Lucian by saying various things, but he did not pay much attention.
No, it would be more accurate to say that he was amazed.
"Are you talking as if I doing something great that should have been done of course?"
"Your Highness?"
"It is natural to be paid for acting, and I should take the things that come from my efforts later. And they tell you to do all the work but do not guarantee any break time? Honor is shit. Where is your honor when no one recognizes you?"
'Ah' different, 'uh' different, Lucian accurately identified the blind spot.
"What will the imperial family risk? Can the imperial family give full authority to me, who is not the Crown Prince?"
"Speaking of authority..."
"For example, politics."
"Uh, Your Highness!"
"Of course, there will be no unexpected actions or incidents that could cause problems for the Crown Prince or the succession to the throne. However, I have no intention of following what you say."
If he starts acting as the Crown Prince, the imperial family will present him as a puppet and control everything from his words and actions to what he eats and wears.
'It doesn't make sense to do something to me that you wouldn't do to Leopold.'
Stupidly they won't do what he wants.
"If you take me to the mansion, I will gladly serve as the Crown Prince."
"Okay... How many times have I told you that's not possible?"
Lucian frowned.
He's already suggested Dane take him to the haunted mansion several times. But he refused every time. The reason is that.
"If we take you to the mansion and then run away, we'll be the only ones at a loss, right?"
This is because Dane was sure that Lucian would run away from people.
"How many times do I tell you I won't run away! I need to go get something for a moment!"
"Do you know that there were one or two people who said that and tried to escape? Besides, Your Highness has military power and doesn't you use magic? How do we know if you will elude us and run away in an instant?"
"Ha, I'm going crazy and jumping up and down."
"Tell us what you want to bring, and we will either get you a new one or go to the mansion and get it ourselves."
How can he say here that he will go and meet Leah?
When Lucian, whose legs were shaking, said that he had to go himself, Dane shouted 'NO!' even more forcefully
"Your Highness... If you remain stubborn like this, your Highness will only suffer. Your Highness is providing convenience for now, but I don't know what will happen in the future."
"You're being very convenient."
"Your Highness..."
If Lucian looks at the begging and begging, it may not be such empty words. Dean and Lucian know they can't keep doing this forever.
'But, I have to meet Leah.'
They broke up without being able to reconcile, and since they hadn't talked for a few days, he was worried about what would happen if she misunderstood.
Lucian couldn't fight with the imperial family like this.
Lucian closed his eyes tightly, pondered, and then opened his mouth.
"Okay, I accept that offer."
Dane's face widened. Before he jumped up from his seat, Lucian raised his index finger.
"There is a condition instead."
After hearing what followed, Dane nodded, thinking it was quite possible.
***
"Ugh, it's late."
As soon as Caesar arrived in the Oddrian Empire, he hurriedly headed to the haunted mansion.
He wanted to come as soon as possible for Lucian's birthday, but it was delayed because the damn elders kept holding him back.
"Ha, I wonder what Leah will nag me about again..."
Caesar did tell her that he might be late, but he wouldn't be able to avoid her nagging.
Caesar prepared his mind in advance and headed towards the haunted mansion visible in the distance.
Since he came from the forest, he entered the mansion through the back door.
"This body came... Hmm?"
Just as he was about to announce his arrival as usual, Caesar sensed a strange atmosphere lingering within the mansion.
Strangely, the dust had settled throughout the mansion. As if it hasn't been cleaned in a long time.
"Is that strange?"
Now that he think about it, Caesar couldn't feel any presence inside the mansion. Even if Leah says he can't feel because she's a ghost, seeing as he can't even feel Lucian...
"Did he go down to the village?"
Leah must have told him that he would come today or tomorrow.
It was strange in many ways. At that time, Caesar, who was passing by the kitchen, hurriedly covered his nose at the strange smell that assaulted his sense of smell.
"Ahh! What is this smell!"
As he frowned and looked towards where the smell was coming from, a table full of food came into view.
All the food on the table was spoiled.
"It's just things that haven't even been touched."
It feels like it was set up and left unattended for several days. An ominous energy came over him.
"Leah! Lucian! Where are you both?!"
Caesar hurriedly left the kitchen and went looking for the two people. Not long after, Caesar found Leah.
"Leah!"
[Lucian!]
Leah was at the front door. After a moment of rushing, she stopped when she saw Caesar.
Leah, who was smiling broadly, slowly lowered the corners of her mouth and soon took on a look of despair. Leah's spirit temporarily dispersed and she fell to the floor.
Caesar was quite shocked when he witnessed his friend, who had always been confident and fearless, collapse.
[It wasn't Lucian...]
Caesar realized what name she had called him.
[Ca, Caesar! Please help me! Lucian left me! No! He's gone!]
"Leah, calm down first. Tell me step by step what happened."
Leah, who was so impatient that she couldn't even maintain her spirit, kept her mouth shut at Caesar's words.
Soon she talked about what had happened as calmly as possible. However, as her story continued, she began to get excited again and eventually lost her temper.
[At first, I thought he was angry at me and wouldn't come in for a day or two. But, he hasn't come in for a week now! Something must have happened to Lucian!]
"..."
[Could it be that the imperial family tried to get rid of Lucian? Or kidnapping? Otherwise, isn't he involved in some kind of terrorist attack? I'm going crazy with anxiety! I feel so resentful of myself for not being able to escape from this place!]
Lia pulled on the chain around her neck with all her might. The chains automatically appear whenever she tries to leave the mansion.
If it occurred even though she was inside the mansion and not trying to climb over the fence, it means that she has tried to escape numerous times so far.
As she used her power recklessly like a madman, problems began to appear throughout the mansion. Leah has lived as a ghost for 300 years. Because of that, the mansion and Leah influenced each other.
Caesar had a feeling that if things continued like this, the mansion might collapse, so he gathered mana in his hands and clapped.
Paaaaang-!
As the wave of mana spread, Leah regained her sanity. The shaking mansion also became quiet.
"That doesn't solve anything. Calm down."
[... Huh.]
Leah's face was contorted with an expression that made her look like she was about to cry. This was Caesar's first time seeing her this anxious, so it made him feel more calm.
"If I sum up what you said. You're saying that on his birthday, you had an argument with Lucian, and Lucian just went out and never came back?"
[That's right! That's right!]
"Did he have any abnormal symptoms before he left? Either he was trying to run away from home or..."
After continuing to speak for a moment, Caesar closed his mouth. This is because Leah's expression was distorted like an evil spirit.
"Hmm. I don't think so."
[Lucian can't do that! Even before he left, he... !]
"To you?"
Leah pursed her lips. She couldn't bear to tell him that Lucian had been confessing to her.
[Ah, anyway! There was absolutely no sign of him wanting to leave the mansion! Even when he went to town, it was almost like he left in a fit of anger...]
"Then why did you fight and why did the child leave?"
[I saw Lucian coming up from the basement...]
"What?"
Caesar's expression crumpled.
[When the priests broke into the mansion eight years ago. The barrier spell I had cast has been lifted. I had forgotten about that. So I was surprised when he saw Lucian come up from the basement, the problem is...Lucian going down to the basement wasn't a simple mistake.]
"So, how many times do you mean he went in and out of the basement?"
[Maybe...]
Certainly, if Leah saw Lucian coming up from the basement, she would have freaked out and scolded him. But je don't think Lucian would go out of the house after a fight.
[When I tried to hide what happened in the basement, he asked if I still thought of him as a child I had to protect...]
Ah, if that were the reason, Lucian could have been angry.
Isn't it similar to when elders didn't tell him anything because he was young during the hatchling days?
"It's difficult to judge right from wrong. It's definitely hard to tell Lucian about the basement thing, and he's probably angry that people are hiding it from him instead of sharing it with him."
[I... I made Lucian angry. Does he not even want to see my face anymore? So that's why he's not coming back?]
If Leaj wasn't a ghost, I think she would have had tears in her eyes.
"Why did an accident happen like that again? Lucian is not like that. He hasn't been home for a week, so something must have happened to him when he was down in town."
'Rather, the problem is that Leah is more anxious than expected.'
Leah, whom Caesar has known for nearly 300 years, does not give a shit about these things.
Lucian is a human, so he won't live long anyway. Leah knows this well, and it seems like she somehow gave him a lot of affection.
'Well, the case is different from before.'
Because Lucian was the first person to meet Leah, talk to her, and see her as a person.
Although she had communicated with him through the blackboard before, wouldn't direct contact be more effective and touching than indirect contact?
Moreover, Leah really cared for Lucian with all her heart. She has reached a stage where she cannot be dismissed as just a passing relationship.
"That goes for me too.'
Lucian became as precious to Caesar as Leah. He will also take this incident seriously and find Lucian's whereabouts.
"In one week, four months have already passed. Instead of doing this, I will go down to the village and see if Lucian is there."
[I wish I could go out to town like you...]
Caesar left the front door and looked back.
Leah was standing with a chain hanging around her neck with unfocused eyes. Once again, Caesar felt sorry for her, whose soul was tied up in the mansion.
The person who wants to find Lucian more than anyone else is not him, but her.
Therefore, Caesar promised himself that he would do his best.
"Don't worry. I will do whatever it takes to find him."
[... Please.]
Caesar burst into flames and teleported to the village in an instant.
As she watched the flames flutter in the wind, Leah fell even deeper into the quagmire.
Wiggle, wiggle.
The floor of the mansion wriggled and climbed up Leah's footless legs, entangling her entire body.
Even though she couldn't feel anything in her ghostly body, Leah felt deep in her soul that her entire body was becoming slightly heavier.
It was a moment when the space that was considered a precious home suddenly turned into a prison.
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