TAPGB - Chapter 109
The Abandoned Prince's Ghost Bride
Perhaps this may be the first time Lucian feels trust between parents and children.
'... They're not that bad.'
Caught up in resentment for abandoning him, he did not want to look at them properly and had no intention of facing them.
He's just thinking of quitting the relationship once this awful role is over.
That's why he didn't try to get along with them. But, now that he's looking at Ruber's appearance.
Did his father also have this side?
To be honest, Lucian thought Ruber would get angry at him like Serena and go on a rampage. But instead of getting angry, he said that he took Lucian's side and trusted him, so he began to doubt whether it was the Ruber he knew.
"I want to ask you something, Your Majesty."
When Lucian spoke privately first, Ruber's eyes widened.
"Why didn't you kill me?"
However, Ruber felt his heart pounding at the question that followed.
"... Are you trying to hold a grudge?"
"No. I'm just purely curious."
As if he wasn't lying, there was no emotion in Lucian's voice.
"Exactly, I'm curious as to why you disguised me as an orphan and sent me to a haunted mansion in the forest. If you were planning on killing me, you wouldn't have to go through such trouble."
"..."
"You could have killed me as soon as I was born, or before I was sent to the mansion. Maybe even when I was staying at the mansion, you sent a messenger..."
"Stop!"
Ruber shouted and interrupted Lucian. Ruber gasped and his face contorted.
"Stop. Stop it."
His hands covering his face trembled mercilessly. It was definitely fear.
Lucian leaned back with his forward upper body and leaned against the backrest.
Did it last that long?
Ruber barely opened his mouth.
"No matter what I say, it is nothing more than an excuse, and it is unforgivable from you, so...."
"So, please be even more honest. How did you feel when you left me alive and sent me to the haunted mansion?"
Ruber's lips trembled. He felt cruel about his son revealing the truth.
'No. I made it like that.'
Lucian's eyes, which showed no resentment, reprimand, or hatred, seemed to say this.
Face up to what you've done. Don't turn your eyes away from sin anymore.
Ruber eventually raised the white flag. As always.
"As you know, twins are a symbol of misfortune. It is often said that misfortune occurs in the family and all sorts of ominous things happen, but in the imperial family, it has greater meaning. There is a prophecy that if twins are born in the imperial family, God will be angry and destroy the royal family."
"A prophecy?"
"Even if it is called a prophecy, it is nothing more than what our ancestors said. But anyway, because of that prophecy, when twins were born, the imperial family killed both children, regardless of the reason."
Lucian clenched his fists, feeling creepy for some reason.
"You can find out by looking at the annals of our ancestors. There is an Emperor who killed not only the twins but also the mother who gave birth to the twins and everyone present."
"...... What on earth were you so scared of?"
"Well. How would you know it's me? It's already been hundreds of years."
The hatred that persisted without knowing the reason was more serious than expected. To the point where Ruber, who saved Leopold and Lucian seems like a special species.
"I was quite embarrassed at first when you were born as twins."
Ruber briefly recalled what happened when Serena gave birth to her children.
'Your Majesty! Congratulations! The Baby is a wonderful Prince!'
'Congratulations, Your Majesty!'
Ruber could not hide his joy as he heard the loud sound of a child crying and the voice calling him his son. But, for a moment.
'Kwaaaaaak!'
'Your Majesty! Oh my God......!'
When Serena's scream was heard next, Ruber's face hardened. He asked the midwife what had happened.
'The baby! There's one more baby!'
The news came like a bolt from the blue. But Serena didn't have time to panic as she had to give birth to her second child right away.
And so, amidst everyone's confusion and astonishment, Lucian was born.
"I had a total of four brothers. But it turned out that there were two more brothers above me. But those brothers..."
"They died because they were twins."
"Yes. The person who killed them was His Majesty the 16th Emperor."
Julius Odelion.
He and Leopold were attacked by an unknown person and were reduced to an idiotic state, eventually dying within a month.
That's all he saw of Lucian right before he died and at the funeral after he died.
'And it's a known fact that the relationship between Julius and Ruber was bad.'
Lucian had heard from Harry roughly what a deep rift there was between the father and son.
In fact, Ruber did not shed a single tear at Julius's funeral, and all he did was remain indifferent.
"Lucian, the moment I held you, I felt scared. I was more afraid that the Emperor would kill you both than that the imperial family would be ruined."
Lucian's mouth opened slightly because this was a completely unexpected answer.
"In the end. I assumed you were never born and sent you to a ruined palace once upon a time."
As an imperial family with a long history, the imperial palace was huge, and some palaces were left unused.
The haunted mansion is the smallest among them, and Lucian is placed in a place where no one can reach.
"After that. As you know, I was trying to get your attention. I felt like if I gave my heart to you for no reason, I would feel affection for you. Moreover, if we are not careful, it may even cause harm to Leopold."
Ruber tried to add that it was for both of them, but it seemed like it would only sound like an excuse, so he stopped midway.
"Then why did you send me to the haunted mansion in the middle?"
"You're growing every day, but I can't leave you there forever."
Just as Leopold was growing day by day, it was clear that Lucian would also grow up the same way.
No matter how much he tries to raise his child in an abandoned palace away from people's eyes, there will be limits.
In that case, they concluded that it would be better to raise Lucian outside the palace.
"I thought that at age 8, you would somehow be able to grow up on your own. It was an act of generosity for a member of the royal family who had never lived on his own in his entire life."
"Then what about disguising me as an orphan...?"
"When I sent you to the mansion, it was to blind people. There was a rumor that the mansion was haunted by ghosts, so I thought that if you said you were sacrificing the royal family to ghosts, they wouldn't think it strange when they saw your face. And if the story leaks out somewhere else, it can fool their eyes."
No matter how much they change their eye and hair colors, Lucian and Leopold's faces look the same. If so, there must be at least one person who finds Lucian's existence strange.
Ruber created a story to distract people so that they would not think of twins even when they saw his face.
"More than anything I thought it might be the last favor I could give you, so I wanted to do this and that before I left."
Lucian suddenly remembered the luxurious life he had lived for a few days before coming to the mansion.
It is truly a selfish and clumsy affection.
At first, this was a question asked at Leah's request, but Lucian felt a little at ease as he was able to answer the childhood curiosity he had buried so hard.
But for a moment, Lucian realized something strange.
"It sounds like the reason you sent me to the mansion was purely to protect me?"
Protect. Can we call that protection?
'Lucian. I blame myself for those days. I couldn't save you because I was worried about the Emperor and the people around me....'
"No, that's not what I want to say."
When Ruber tried to lose himself in his thoughts, Lucian woke him up.
"Is there really no other reason than that for sending you to the mansion?"
"What are you asking? I just don't understand what you mean."
Lucian was confused. Apparently, according to what Leah and Caesar said, the Ghost Mansion was a place where the imperial family sent criminals and eventually sacrificed them.
But now Ruber seemed completely unaware that such things had happened in the mansion. Why was it that mansion?
"There must have been other options besides that mansion."
"Hmm... It wasn't like it wasn't there."
Ruber realized he wanted a different answer and started thinking.
"But, there was no better option. It is located in a forest owned by the imperial family, so it is out of my sight and out of the way of people."
It was a valid, but somewhat underwhelming answer. Lucian's head was spinning.
If what he said is true, being sent to the mansion was just a coincidence.
'But how did the temple people know that I was there?'
Apparently, Javier and the other priests had been looking for him. If It wasn't Ruber who sent it, then who?
"Now that I think about it when I investigated the mansion, there were some strange parts."
Lucian raised his head as Ruber continued.
"The strange part?"
"It was a mansion built in the early days of the Empire, and according to the Annals, it was a place the first Emperor often visited."
Lucian's eyebrows twitched at the mention of the first Emperor.
'It appears everywhere.'
When it comes to the witch Arya, the person who appears always and everywhere is the first Emperor.
"However, I heard that there was a massacre there just before the first Emperor passed away."
Lucian trembled at Ruber's next words.
"The first Emperor changed as a person toward the end of his life. He got angry over small things, suffered from insomnia, and killed so many people that blood pooled in the imperial palace."
Lucian heard that the first Emperor known so far was a great man, who founded a great Empire. But from what he heard now, isn't he a madman rather than a great hero?
"And before the first Emperor passed away, he massacred countless people in that mansion. This is a top-secret passed down only to the royal family, so no one knows about this."
"Do you know the reason for the massacre?"
"Well. I don't know that much. I'm guessing it might be mania on the verge of death. Anyway, it was such an ominous place that no one had visited it since the first Emperor. There were very few people who set foot in the mansion out of curiosity, but they all said they had seen a ghost. Maybe it's the souls of people who died by the first Emperor."
In fact, Leah was the ghost, but as Ruber said. It could be thought that it was a vengeful spirit.
"Has anyone ever lived there?"
"Person?"
"Yes, there were traces of people living there when I lived there."
"Hmm... I don't know. When I sent out to explore, I heard that the mansion was clean and unusual for an abandoned house."
Ruber didn't seem to know that people lived in the mansion. But from this story, Lucian could tell that Ruber wasn't sent there to harm him.
Also, he had his own affection...
"Who knew I lived in a mansion?"
"It's just me, Serena, Dane, and the Duke of Sevans. Everyone else who saw you was dealt with. It would be a big problem if the Emperor were to hear about it."
Among the people he mentioned, no one could threaten Lucian. To be specific, there was Duke Sevans, but although he was wary of Lucian, he did not show any actions to harm him.
'Rather, he can see him as an ally in that he has tolerated his identity for a long time.'
So, who on earth sent Javier to the basement?
There is a greater possibility that it is tied to the imperial family than to the temple's arbitrary actions.
"Hmm? Did you say the Emperor a moment ago? Are you talking about Grandfather?"
Lucian got a strange feeling from Ruber's words. Why do you keep mentioning Julius?
"Did Grandfather not know I existed?"
"This is the person who brutally killed his twin children. If he had known of your existence, he would have killed not only you but also Leopold."
Lucian felt his heart pounding as he saw Ruber grinding his teeth at the mention of Julius. For some reason, he felt nervous, and his instincts were screaming that this was it.
"Let me ask you one last question. Is it possible that Grandfather... Did he have a special relationship with the temple?"
"He had a deep connection with the old school. Even after passing on the throne, the relationship with the temple remained strong. Because of that, we clashed over everything regarding the temple."
The old faction is currently in conflict with the new faction supported by Lucian and is a group of warlocks of which Javier is a spy.
Before Lucian joined hands with Javier, Sebastian, the leader of the new faction, did not know that the old faction was a den of warlocks.
If that's the case, it means that Ruber didn't know that either...
If his hypothesis is indeed true, Lucian thought it might be a very important key to everything he's been looking for.
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