TAPGB - Chapter 133
The Abandoned Prince's Ghost Bride
“My brother suggested that to you?”
“...Yeah, I hope it’s a joke, but he definitely said that to me.”
Lilith told Lucian in detail the proposal Leopold had made to her a few days ago.
The proposal was to support each other's love.
‘I fell in love with Leah.’
‘...What?'
‘I know I’m crazy. She's no one else's but my brother's girl. But as I looked at her every day, my eyes kept falling without me even realizing it, and I was thinking about Leah all day long.’
Leopold openly confessed that he was in love with Leah. The moment Lilith heard his story, she felt despair.
It was a feeling of despair even more intense than when she had been coldly rejected by Lucian, and it made her unable to think about anything.
‘I know it shouldn’t be like this. But things didn't go my way. Lilith, you understand too, right?’
‘...’
‘Let’s support each other’s love. It's been a long time since I've been in the wrong love, but I don't want to let go of this love.'
Lilith could not refute anything. She actually loved Lucian, too, and betrayed Leopold.
But when she found herself in that situation, she couldn't describe the pain.
Moreover, his last words, ‘just this time’, sounded like a kind of death sentence to Lilith.
‘It means you don’t love me anymore.’
She wondered if he was saying that because he was in pain while he was in love with him unrequitedly.
‘And I don’t know why I’m in so much pain.’
From the moment he confessed his feelings, Lilith was in pain and didn't know what to do. The pain eroded her heart little by little and completely took away her will to live.
The exact reason was unknown, whether she was afraid because she could not become Empress, or because she was afraid that Leopold no longer liked her.
“...After that, he suggested to me that we should promote our love for each other.”
This meant that since Leopold would prepare a table, he would seduce Leah, and Lilith, who was left alone with Lucian in his room, would seduce him.
In fact, Leopold created the place according to his own plan.
However, Lilith could not move as Leopold suggested.
Lucian, knowing the full context, clenched his fists.
‘...Leon!’
Nowadays, he is Leon wearing the mask of Leopold. That's why he approaches Leah with an innocent face and tries to repeat the same shit he did in the past.
‘I don’t know how you were able to fool Leah’s eyes all this time, but it won’t work out the way you want anymore.’
The moments when he imitated Leopold and shook his heart, and the moments when he believed and followed him as his older brother.
‘Reaching out his hand to Lia again.’
There was nothing he could forgive.
However, the opponent is the first Emperor, who has lived from one descendant to another for 300 years.
Since he couldn't allow his anger to ruin his work, Lucian took a deep breath and calmed his mind as much as he could.
“Before that, was there a moment when you felt differently than usual?”
“... I often felt uncomfortable. It seems like his tastes have changed a bit, and he's even seen looks in my eyes that he wouldn’t make.”
Besides that, even though it was the same as usual, there were a few moments when he felt strangely uncharacteristic of Leopold.
It is said that it was Leon who took over Leopold's body from the beginning.
Feeling devastated, Lucian closed his eyes tightly and unclenched his fists.
“You go now.”
"Yes?"
“If you look at what you told me, it would mean that you didn’t accept my brother’s offer from the beginning. So there’s no reason to be here anymore, is there?”
Lilith realized that he wasn't just trying to kick her out.
“... What do you plan to do with Leopold?”
Lucian paused and chose his words.
“We should put everything back the way it was.”
It was a meaningful statement, but at least it did not seem like a threat to Leopold.
In the end, Lilith left the room as Lucian said. She made eye contact with Jordi and other guards waiting outside.
Facing their blatant gaze, Lilith passed by them as if nothing had happened.
‘Oh, come to think of it.’
She failed to tell Lucian to watch out for them.
The reason she couldn't tell Lucian the truth right away yesterday was that he had an escort. She was wondering if they might report it to Leopold.
Moreover, she felt a strange pressure from their gazes, so she couldn't open her mouth.
It was a look in her eyes that even she, who had lived as the future crown princess, could not bear.
Lilith, who was thinking about going back and talking again, stopped when she noticed the knights' eyes staring at her with emotionless eyes.
For a moment, it occurred to her that their eyes were identical to Leopold's disparate eyes.
This made people unbearable, so Lilith ran away from the palace and got into the carriage.
Her heart was pounding like crazy. Lilith, who was moaning in pain while pressing her chest, suddenly realized one thing.
"Ha ha ha... Now?”
Why did she feel at ease when she met Leopold? Why did I keep coming to the imperial palace to see him? Why did she try to give up his feelings for Lucian? Why... Did he feel despair when he said he liked Leah?
“... The person I liked was Leopold.”
The reason he liked Lucian is simple. Because he did what she wanted with a face like Leopold.
She liked him because he didn't act like other men, but whenever Lucian made her feel bad, she found Leopold in him.
She saw Leopold showing blind love for her as if he would give her a star.
She liked Leopold since she was young. However, she denied her feelings because she didn't want to admit that she liked him who behaved the same way as the men she thought were pitiful.
“Why did I only realize this now?”
Lilith always realizes her love too late, and that it was only valuable when it got out of her hands.
Tears flowed from Lilith's eyes. Soon, sobbing sounds came from inside her carriage.
***
“It’s about time. Shall we go now?”
After an hour of walking, it was time to go back.
The moment Leopold was about to go back with Leah with a look of regret, he suddenly stopped and looked back at her who was right next to him.
“You stay here. I’ll go back alone.”
"It's. Come with me."
“We can’t have the hassle of having Lady come and go. If you stay here, I will send Lucian to you.”
Leopold acted exaggeratedly and naturally kissed the back of her hand. Leah rubbed the back of her hand with a nervous expression.
Leopold, who was smiling at her, entered the palace alone accompanied by a guard knight.
The smile disappeared from Leopold's face as he stood on the out-of-sight side of the garden.
The cold yet friendly atmosphere that he gave off while acting as Lucian, as well as Leopold's original lively and warm atmosphere, all disappeared, leaving only an emotionless person like a doll.
Lucian's escort knight, noticing the changed atmosphere, quietly approached Leopold's side.
“Is there anything that makes you uncomfortable?”
Leopold, who was facing forward, rolled to the side and indifferently looked at the guard knight.
As the corners of his mouth rose slightly and he smiled, the guard knight's new form froze.
His expression was frozen like a statue, not even knowing what had happened to him.
Leopold turned to the side when he saw the stiff upper body leaning forward.
“I hate ignorant people, but I guess my precious brother didn’t tell you about that?”
The guard knight's frozen gaze was directed elsewhere. Leopold sneered at him and walked away.
Leopold, who came to his room, found Jordi and another knight standing guard.
“So, Lilith went?”
“It looked like she was leaving in a hurry. Can I catch her if you need it?”
“No, leave it as is. The important thing is not the woman.”
As Leopold stood with his back to him, Jordi opened the door.
In a split second, the door opened, Leopold replaced his dull face and smiled brightly, returning to the Leopold everyone knew.
“Brother has arrived!”
And he welcomed Lucian with a playful voice. Lucian was sitting on the edge of the bed.
Normally, he would have smiled and asked, ‘Are you here?’ But now Lucian was quietly examining Leopold with his eyes sparkling.
"What's the matter? Are you upset because I took your girlfriend away? You're really jealous too. Are jealous men unpopular with women?”
Leopold spoke slyly, but Lucian still said nothing.
Leopold chuckled and approached Lucian.
“Relax your expression. If anyone sees me, they’ll think I’m trying to steal your girl.”
“...It didn’t look like you were trying to take her away, you were actually trying to take her away.”
"What? Do you not trust this brother that much? I have Lilith, what is she talking about?”
“Lilith already told me everything. What are you planning, and what are your intentions in keeping me and Leah apart?”
Leopold closed his eyes and smiled, then raised the corners of his mouth and opened his closed eyes.
“...That's surprising. I never thought Lilith would tell me all that.”
“Are you not even planning on hiding it?”
“If I make an excuse, will you believe me?”
Not only was Lucian shocked by the calm reaction, but he was also dumbfounded.
“I know, so I’ll be honest. Will you give Leah to me?”
“...Do you think Leah is an object?”
“Well, I’ll probably get her someday, but I’m asking just in case. It looks much better to give up than to lose.”
When Leopold spoke with his signature sunny smile, Lucian instantly burst into tears and grabbed Leopold's neck.
Even though Leopold was strangling him, his expression did not change at all and he looked at Lucian lazily.
“As expected, you covet your brother’s position?”
“Who is your brother?”
“Oh my, are you now denying the existence of your brother?”
“We all know that you are Leon.”
Leopold, who had been smiling the whole time, finally stopped and looked at Lucian coldly.
“...Wow, I thought last time was the last time you had any doubts. Wasn’t it?”
“I got it. Damn it, I was fooled by you and completely believed you were my older brother... !”
Lucian's mouth trembled and he could not hold back his anger. To be honest, until Leon came in, Lucian faced him as rationally as possible and tried to resolve the situation quietly.
However, he could not hold back the anger boiling over him as he shamelessly imitated his older brother and openly desired Leah.
He even forgot Leah's warning.
“What did you do to my brother!”
Mana was released from Lucian's body, and a gust of wind blew around him.
Leopold laughed and grabbed Lucian's arm, who was holding his neck.
“I chewed every single thing about him, from head to toe. Do you think this is a sufficient answer?”
“This bastard!”
Just as Lucian was about to cast a spell with his eyes flashing, Leopold snapped his fingers.
Then Lucian realized that his body was not moving.
No matter how much strength he exerted and how much mana he tried to respond to, he couldn't even move.
“Ah, you shouldn’t fight against me with that much strength. What if I can’t control my strength and kill you?”
Leopold suddenly moved behind Lucian... No, Leon whispered in his ear.
Lucian's golden eyes rolled to the side and glared at Leon with the intent of killing a person.
But only his eyes were ferocious, and he couldn't move even a single finger.
“I didn’t know that the scraps to be offered as a sacrifice would not only be enough to break Aria’s seal but would also receive her love.”
The reason why he ignored it even though he knew that his twin descendant, Lucian, was alive. It was because he thought it would be a special offering to Aria.
Just as people sometimes eat nutritious special foods, people with good abilities such as Ravio, Dadan Groot, and Henri Leifle were sacrificed.
At the time, young Lucian, who was sent to the mansion, did not have any special talent, but his bloodline itself was special, so it was considered sufficient as a sacrifice.
That was the value that Leon placed on Lucian. A special sacrifice that is neither human nor descendant.
“But how dare you...! Damn, twins! Are you taking my love away again?”
Lucian wanted to retort that she was never Leon's lover, but he wouldn't open his mouth.
“Every time you held Arya’s hand, I wanted to cut off your wrist. Where did you go with Aria? Did you even kiss her? If you kissed her, I’d have to cut out your tongue.”
In the first place, he killed hundreds of innocent lives just for Arya's sake and passed through the bodies of his descendants for 300 years.
Lucian knew better than anyone else that his current madness was not a simple threat.
Nevertheless, Lucian actually received Leopold's gaze as if asking him to do it.
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