TAPGB - Chapter 120
The Abandoned Prince's Ghost Bride
But just before leaving, Caesar approached Lucian again.
"You keep this."
"... This?"
Caesar pulled out a portrait from subspace. Lucian tilted his head when a painting he had seen in the studio a long time ago appeared.
"Leah hurriedly grabbed it right before leaving the mansion. Tell Leah when she wakes up."
"Okay. I'll tell her well."
Soon, Caesar and Age left the imperial palace by teleportation.
Lucian looked at the spot where they had disappeared and looked down at the picture in his hand.
"Come to think of it..."
Didn't Leah ask to call the artist who painted her portrait just before she left the mansion?
His name is Diane Leifle.
"This man is Henri Leifle."
Lucian immediately looked back at James.
"James, have someone come visit me tomorrow."
Perhaps Leah also thought the same thing.
***
"Thank you for helping me this time too. Thanks to this, I was able to subdue it easily."
"This is not a big deal to this body."
It's already been three months since Carcerine was with Leon and his group.
They have already achieved the feat of occupying the castle for the third time.
When the first Lord's castle fell, it was just Leon, Odell, Aria, and Carcerine, but after hearing the rumor about them, people started together one by one, and now, three months later, there are quite a lot of colleagues.
Of course, even if colleagues were created, Carcerine only developed friendships with the invited members.
In particular, he tended to follow Odell well.
"Odell! Come here for a moment."
"Huh! Wait for a second! Carcerine, I'm going to visit my brother for a while."
When Leon called out to him from far away, Odell hurriedly approached him.
Leon was unfolding the map and asking Odell for advice.
While Leon played the role of an assault leader by attracting people with excellent leadership and raising their morale, Odell took on the role of a staff member with excellent strategy.
The two led numerous people with similar yet different results.
"How long are you going to stay here?"
Carcerine reflexively frowned. Turning his head with his distorted face, the witch appeared, blood covered her body.
"I wonder if someone is a witch..."
"What is that like? Are you taking a bath in blood?"
"What bullshit. Don't you know that there are still remnants left in the castle? I'm dying to deal with that right now. If you had helped me, I wouldn't have been covered in blood like this."
Arya clicked her tongue and used clean magic to wipe away the thick blood. Nevertheless, Carserine pinched his nose as if he could smell it.
“Ah, so...”
"What."
"How long are you going to stay here?"
Carcerine trembled.
"Isn't it true? You're only going to help once. But what have you been doing for three months now?"
Carserine promised to stay together until he caught the Lord who ordered him to be hunted.
That task was already accomplished a long time ago. There is no reason for him to stay here anymore.
"Keu, keuhm! One day I will leave! I don't mind if I go tomorrow!"
"Then just go. Don't confuse people for no reason."
"There is no mercy for a witch like you. Wouldn't it be more helpful for me to be here?"
"It might be helpful. But I'm saying this because there are people who are confused by your actions."
"Are you confused?"
Arya pointed at the twin brothers with her chin.
"They both worry every day about when you will leave and whether it will be tonight."
"..."
"Especially Odell will be very sad if you leave. So make up your mind quickly. Are you going to continue accompanying us, or are you going to end it here?"
As Arya said, Carcerine had been secretly increasing the period of his companionship, making various excuses.
Why?
They're together with abominable people.
Besides, hasn't he already been seriously burned by humans once?
Thinking about what happened back then, it was right that he should end his trip here, but for some reason, he couldn't make that decision easily.
He just wants to keep being together.
To be honest, there are times when he gets annoyed, and there are times when he wonders why they go through all the trouble to do something like this, but basically, it's a lot of fun to be with them.
When he was wandering around the human world for a full-fledged entertainment life, didn't he secretly wish for something like this?
Excitement and joy that cannot be felt in the dragon world.
Finally, after looking seriously into his heart, Carcerine found the correct answer.
Arya was confused as Carcerine smiled.
Carcerine glanced at Arya.
"Hey, witch."
"Why?"
"Honestly, aren't you sad that this body is leaving?"
" .....! What nonsense are you talking about!"
Arya got angry a beat late, but Carcerine sensed the momentary hesitation.
"Me too. but you are also quite dishonest."
"I don't know what you're talking about, but I feel bad. Can you please not tie me up with you?"
"In any case, you seem like a cheap witch."
Carcerine found himself getting used to her grumbling.
What? Is that true?
At that time, there was a commotion in the distance where the twin brothers Leon and Odell were.
Carcerine and Arya looked at each other and then headed toward where they were.
"What's the matter?"
"I heard there's a hidden room in the basement?"
The scouting party that took out all the remnants and looked around the castle discovered something.
They hurried to the basement.
"It was probably locked by magic, so we couldn't open it with our own power."
"That's definitely true."
Carcerine and Arya discovered a hidden magic circle. Carcerine glanced at Aria.
"You can open it, right?"
"What do you think of me?"
Arya said she could blow her nose without using her hands and created a magic circle.
Soon the door opened and a gruesome sight that made everyone frown unfolded before their eyes.
Crazy stuff.
"How can someone do this!"
Leon and Odell expressed their anger.
There were fifteen people inside, festering from not being able to eat properly.
They were trembling and afraid when they saw the people who suddenly appeared.
Leon, who felt sorry for them, carefully approached the man in front of him, knelt down on one knee, and was at eye level.
"You can rest assured now. No one will bother you anymore."
"What do you mean by that?"
"We defeated the lord of this place."
People's eyes widened. As they became agitated, Odell asked this time.
"May I ask why you are here?"
They trembled again and began to look at each other. Even after a while, there was no sign of his mouth opening.
At that time, Carcerin noticed something stirring in the dark space.
At that time, a man opened his mouth.
"....We are warlocks."
People widened their eyes in surprise.
"They said we were evil, captured us, imprisoned us here, and exploited us. It's okay for us adults, but there are also young children. If you ask me to do anything, I will do it. Please give me at least a piece of bread that the children can eat."
It seemed that the man was the head of this place. As he knelt down on the floor and prayed, others began to pray along with him.
It was only then that Carcerine realized that what was trembling in the darkness was the power used by the warlock.
"A dark wizard..."
"Is it okay to take them in?"
As Leon's group became agitated and upset, the man pursed his lips and pressed his forehead even further to the floor.
Odell, who was watching the scene, frowned and pulled the man to his feet.
"Get up. We never turn away anyone in need. Right, bro?"
"Well, of course. Just get out of here. This is no place for people. Give them a place to stay and share their food."
When leader Leon gave the order, the people were enthusiastic but had no choice but to lead them to their new home.
"Thank you! Thank you!"
"Mom, where are we going?"
"They say they are giving us a new home."
All of the warlocks had tears in their eyes and repeatedly said thank you.
Seeing the elderly and children together, it looked like one family.
"What is your benefactor's name?"
When the leader of the warlocks asked, Leon answered with a grin.
"My name is Leon. This is my twin brother, Odell, this woman is Arya, and lastly Carcerine."
As Leon Introduced the core members of the group, the man smiled comfortably.
"My name is Caligo. We are the last remaining warlock clan."
This was the opportunity for Leon and his party to encounter the warlock for the first time.
***
I slowly opened my eyes and felt my head buzzing.
And today, my eyelids were so heavy that it was difficult to open them.
"...It's a dream again."
No, to be exact, it is the past. Just like last time, the past came to mind again this time in the form of a dream.
When I thought of Odell and Leon, who were close friends, I felt emotional again.
Tears were flowing against my will, and my mind was blank.
I indeed wanted to bring back the past. It's something I have to find out someday, and in the past, I was curious about what kind of person I was.
"But this is not what I wanted."
Every time the past comes to mind one by one, I feel like I'm falling into a swamp of unknown depth.
When Lucian was anxious about looking into my past, I said that out of my own mouth.
"Ha, Lucian. Even if what you say is true, there is no way you will suddenly be pushed aside or my love for you will disappear. Why do you think such foolish thoughts?"
I thought that a past relationship could not be more important than a present relationship and that my love for Lucian could not disappear.
"I feel like I'm suffocating to death."
Leon betrayed me, Carserine died protecting me, and Odell was killed by his older brother, whom he followed and loved so much.
Even though I didn't get all my memories back, I could still see that my past relationship with them was very precious.
That's why it was painful. There ality that they are no longer with me.
As my emotions intensified again, I pressed my eyes with both hands and began to sob.
“Pfft. Ugh!”
I tried to suppress my emotions as best as I could, but nothing worked.
"I am now Leah! It's not Arya! Don't get buried in the past!"
My stress reached its peak and I began beating myself on the head.
I was struggling, crying as if I couldn't breathe, but suddenly stopped when a body temperature grabbed my wrist.
When I lifted my moist eyelids. I could vaguely see golden eyes beyond my blurry vision.
"....Odell?"
"..."
The other person silently stretched out his hand and wiped away my tears. Only then did my vision become clear and my complexion became pale.
"No matter how much it hurts, don't beat yourself. It hurts."
"Lu, Lucian..."
Not Odell. No, Odell can't be here in the first place. Because he already died a long time ago.
As I raised my upper body, unable to hide my confused expression, Lucian smiled bitterly.
However, his wounded heart was clearly revealed in his eyes. The moment I saw Lucian's golden eyes, I felt terrible and couldn't bear it.
"No, Lucian. I didn't mean to do that on purpose."
"Leah."
"The person I love is you! A little while ago... Yes! It's because I dreamed about the past. Suddenly I became confused between the past and reality..."
As I made an excuse with a desperate look on my face, Lucian looked even more distressed.
My heart sank as I wondered if my excuse didn't make sense.
But even for a moment, Lucian hugged me and straightened my disheveled hair.
Then, little by little, he began to gently place his lips all over my face.
Surprisingly, from the moment his lips touched, my heart began to gradually calm down.
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