TAPGB - Chapter 129
The Abandoned Prince's Ghost Bride
"I haven't seen you for the past few days. Where have you been?"
Leopold sat on the bed and greeted Leah and Lucian. She had been visiting for the first time in six days.
Lilith's eyes, who happened to be there, fell on Lucian. But Lucian pretended not to notice her gaze.
"It took some time to make some medicine. If you drink this now, I won't have to check on your body anymore."
Leah showed him a bright liquid in a glass bottle. Seeing that, Lilith frowned slightly.
"What kind of medicine is that?"
"It is a medicine that helps restore depleted energy and improve health. You don't have to doubt it. Lucian already drank it once and proved it."
Leah nonchalantly countered Lilith's words.
"Leah worked hard to make it for several days. Drink it quickly."
"If I just drink this, you won't come anymore, right? It's somehow unfortunate. It was fun talking to Leah."
"It's not like I won't come forever. I'll come visit often."
Leopold smiled and took the medicine she gave him in one mouthful.
"Hmm, it tastes like strawberries?"
Leopold, who was taking a bite, opened his eyes round.
"Oh. I definitely feel like my body is improving."
Leopold got up from the bed. Lilith reflexively tried to support him, but Leopold took one step without stumbling without anyone's help.
At that sight, not only Leopold himself but others also widened their eyes.
"Your legs will gain proper strength!"
Before that, he was able to walk through consistent rehabilitation, but if he didn't have someone to support him. He would stumble or his legs would lose strength and he would fall down uncontrollably.
But now Leopold walked straight with an upright posture.
"Thank you, Leah! I really feel like my body has improved a lot!"
"No. I'm glad it worked. Are there any other symptoms? I have a strange feeling."
"No, not really. I feel like my body will feel energized and I can run."
"Brother, you can't run yet."
"Tch, I understand."
Leopold was so happy to walk without support that he quickly walked around the room. Lucian stayed by his side. Lucian's expression couldn't have been brighter. It seemed like the two people who used to play together in the front yard of the mansion overlapped.
"You really didn't have any plans."
Leah turned her head when she heard Lilith's soft voice.
"What reason would there be for me to have a ploy against Leopold? He is Lucian's only older brother."
"..."
"So you seem to have changed from before."
"I would hate to lose to a woman like you, but I just realized it's not my place."
"So are you staying with Leopold to protect the position of Empress?"
"It's none of your business."
Lilith turned her head. Soon her eyes fell on Leopold and Lucian.
Her expression softened and a hint of affection appeared within the walls.
It was impossible to know whether the object of her affection would be Lucian, whom she was so obsessed with, or Leopold, with whom she had pledged to spend a future together.
"Excuse me, Your Majesty. I think you need to go quickly."
At that time, James cautiously came in and called Lucian.
"Brother, I'll just go. If you feel uncomfortable or in pain, don't hold back and tell people, okay? I'll come back again in the evening."
"I'll take care of it, so go quickly. See you next time, Leah."
Lucian and Leah greeted Leopold with a smile and then left the room. And only a short time after they left.
Cough-
A coughing sound was heard. Lilith turned her head, her eyes widened, and she quickly approached Leopold
"Leopold!"
Leopold's hands, covering his mouth, were covered in blood.
"Hurry up and see a doctor..."
"Wait, please don't call anyone."
"How can I stay still when you're coughing up blood? If there is something wrong with your body...."
"It's not like that, so calm down. Could you please help me first?"
As Leopold smiled weakly after wiping his mouth and hands with a handkerchief, Lilith pursed her lips and led him to the bed.
Leopold, lying on the bed, took a deep breath. Lilith frowned at the sight as if she was controlling her breathing.
"By any chance, was there something wrong with what you ate a little while ago?"
"No. Ever since I woke up, there were very few times when I would vomit blood. There is nothing major wrong with your body, so you don't have to worry."
"You always say you're okay."
Leopold smiled bitterly at the sight of Lilith clenching her fists and looking indignant.
"Lilith."
"..."
"I want to ask you something. Can you answer me?"
Lilith nodded.
"... Lilith likes Lucian, right?"
For a moment, Lilith's hands trembled. Leopold, who was holding her hand, caught the trembling.
Leopold made a bitter expression when he saw Lilith, whose hands were not shaking and whose face had turned pale.
"I couldn't believe it, but it was true. No, Leopold, actually... I... "
Lilith belatedly made an excuse, but Leopold shook his head.
"Lucian is cool. It's not because he's my younger brother, but objectively, he's a really cool person, so I understand why Lilith likes Lucian."
"Oh, no! I only have you......!"
"Do you know the look in your eyes every time you see Lucian?"
No excuses worked. On the contrary, seeing Leopold become even more confident, Lilith felt despair. Rather than the fear of finding out everything, it was despair based on the fact that he didn't believe her.
"Every time Lucian comes here, you can't take your eyes off him. So I was sure. Ah, Lilith likes Lucian."
"It certainly did in the past, but not anymore! I'm giving up my feelings for that person! If you tell me not to look at him next time, I won't even look at him!"
"No, you don't have to do that. Because I understand your feelings to some extent."
".....Huh?"
A strange sound came out of Lilith's mouth. To be more precise, it was more accurate to say that she did not understand what Leopold was talking about
"Lilith, I am..."
Lilith's eyes widened at the next words. Before she knew it, she looked at Leopold with trembling eyes.
"I know it shouldn't be like this. But things didn't go my way. Lilith, you understand too, right?"
Lilith couldn't understand what he was saying. No, it was to the point where she doubted whether the person in front of her was someone she knew.
"We're in the same situation anyway, should we do it this way?"
Leopold made a suggestion to Lilith. Lilith gaped at him and was unable to continue his words.
"Is this our secret?"
Leopold smiled brightly at her. It was a smile like the sunshine that Lilith loved.
***
At the same time, Leah and the others returned to the office and opened their mouths as soon as the door closed.
"Can I really trust him as my older brother now?"
"Because she took the elixir and didn't have any symptoms.'
In fact, what Leah fed to Leopold was an elixir that Dadan Groot had made during his lifetime.
This is what made Leon, who had changed into the body of the 10th Emperor, vomit blood.
"For people like him whose souls are older than the life we were given, it acts as a fatal poison."
The side effects of the elixir only occur to owners of old souls.
So, they manufactured an elixir based on the research log left by Dadan Groot, and checked whether the side effects of the elixir were working properly.
Lucian, an ordinary human being, felt no problem after taking the elixir. Rather, there was some rejuvenation and recovery effect, making his skin glow.
The next thing I checked was myself.
Since I was also a soul that was over 300 years old, there was a high possibility of side effects occurring.
In the experimental results, I personally experienced fatal side effects from just one spoonful of elixir.
The side effect that I experienced was a decrease in soul bonding.
Because of that, I felt like the connection between my soul and body had become a little loose, and I couldn't use my full strength for a while.
It is said that when Leon was the 10th Emperor, he ate an elixir, vomited blood on the spot, and suffered death for several days.
"But Leopold didn't mind."
I deliberately fed him the elixir and watched him for a while. However, he did not complain of any symptoms even after 20 minutes.
On the contrary, the body appeared to be recovering, so it was not a side effect of the elixir, but only its benefits.
In other words, the soul occupying Leopold is Leopold himself.
Lucian was so happy that Leopol d didn't have Leon in his body that he couldn't control his excitement.
Well, out of all of them, wasn't he the one who most desperately wanted Leopold to be safe?
Although it felt a little vain to see Leon, who had lived so persistently and tormented his descendants for such a long time, leave in this way, Leah decided to think positively.
"I need to tell Caesar about this too."
Leah looked around at Lucian's muttering.
"Come to think of it... Where did Caesar go?"
"He left with Age because something came up. They said it wouldn't take long, so they will come soon."
I was so preoccupied with the elixir that I didn't even know that Caesar had left.
'I couldn't come to my senses for about two days due to side effects, so it's easy to not know.'
"I can finally talk to my brother comfortably."
At Lucian's words, I stopped and looked back at him. I had been trying to act calm all this while, but I couldn't imagine how upset he must have been inside.
I smiled briefly and hugged Lucian's waist.
"Should you do something you haven't been able to do before? When Leopold wakes up, there are things he wants to do."
"It's true, but my brother's body hasn't recovered yet. I will do it later after the handover is completely completed."
"That's a good idea too."
"Now, before we finish handing over, we have to deal with those cockroaches."
"Warlock."
"Huh. I don't know what will happen if I find out that the first Emperor is not in my brother's body. Perhaps, as Javier guessed, a big war could break out between the temple and the imperial family. I will end this on my own terms."
His unwillingness to pass on a huge burden to Leopold was clearly revealed.
"You trusted me until the end, so I'll help you this time."
I held Lucian's hand tightly and revealed my aspirations.
Lucian, who felt my love and care for him, smiled brightly and naturally kissed me.
***
"I am truly glad that Your Majesty recovered safely. God's grace has inevitably reached Your Majesty."
Today was the day when priests were dispatched to the imperial family to check on Leopold's physical condition at the temple he had been waiting so long for.
Since they had come to meet Leopold secretly under the pretext of another event, only a small number of people were allowed into his room.
As expected, they consisted only of the old faction centered around Peter, the pope, and the head of the warlocks.
Still, the fortunate thing was that Javier was among them. He said he was a bishop, and he seemed to be quite trusted enough to accompany him here.
"It would have been nice if Cardinal Sebastian had come too. Isn't he the first priest to use holy poweг?"
Ruber, who was not pleased with their visit, put pressure on Peter in a sharp tone.
"Cardinal Sebastian is currently deployed to another province. He will definitely accompany me next time."
"Aren't you the ones who brought Leopold into this situation in the first place? What kind of face did you come here with?"
"Father, calm down."
Only after Leopold dissuaded Ruber did he stop scolding.
"If you have finished your business, please leave. Leopold is not in a good condition yet to receive guests."
"To my mom..."
Except for Leopold, the entire imperial family was hostile to the priests. Today, for the first time, Lucian realized that his family felt the same way, and he couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Comments
Post a Comment