Time Healer Ceres

Clap!

Ceres clapped her hands once at the noisy bunch.

“Clean this up.”

...Yes, ma’am.

Her sharp gaze silenced them all. They quickly set about cleaning up the mess they had created.

[.....]

Whitey scoffed as he watched them. As expected, they’re not to be trusted. He had a feeling that if he followed them, he would end up just like them.

Tap tap tap.

Bang!

“Big Sis!”

The door opened, and Julia came running in.

“Look! Christine’s mother gave me this!”

The child was holding a fairly large box filled with snacks like cookies and candy.

“Can I eat all of these today...?”

“No, you can’t.”

“Aww... Then how many?”

“One.”

“...One?”

“Mm, one.”

“Hmm...”

Julia squatted down and groaned, unable to decide which one to pick.

“Two.”

Feeling a little sorry for her, Ceres relented and raised the number.

“Hmm...”

But even two seemed to be a tough choice. Julia still hesitated to reach for anything.

“Three.”

“Yay!”

When Ceres gave in once more, Julia cheered before immediately picking out three pieces, as if she was never struggling to decide at all.

This brat... She got me again.

She had already decided what she wanted and was simply waiting for Ceres to give her permission.

“Hehe, want one too, Ceres?”

Julia popped a piece of candy into her mouth and grinned brightly, making Ceres smile despite herself.

[Kyung, kyung!]

“Hm?”

Whitey already trotted over to Julia, eager to win her favor.

“Whitey, paw.”

Up!

“Face.”

Pat!

“Roll over.”

Flop.

“Good boy. Aww, you’re so cute.”

[Kyung, kyung.]

Whitey happily performed every trick Julia asked for. Julia kept stroking the adorable wolf pup.

[...He catches on fast.]

[Meow. No kidding. He’s already figured out the pecking order here.]

[Buu...]

[Pii...]

The four watched Whitey sticking close to Julia and marveled at how quickly he had caught on. He already knew who was at the top of the household hierarchy.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to clean up?”

At Ceres’s words, the four hurriedly got back to cleaning.

.

.

.

Chapter 59: The Encounter

What could have brought him here all of a sudden...?

The Marquis Merial’s estate was thrown into chaos when Crown Prince Aseraian arrived without any prior notice. The Marquis broke into a cold sweat at the sight of him.

He knew the Crown Prince had recently been investigating illegal auction houses. Could he have found something that led back to me?

But that wasn’t why Aseraian had come.

“I’m here to see Vei.

“V-Vei?”

“I heard he’s at home.”

The Marquis had no idea why Aseraian wanted to see Veilks, but he had no grounds to refuse. It seemed the Crown Prince already knew Veilks was home.

“I’d like to speak with Vei alone.”

“Ah... Yes, of course.”

The Marquis left the two of them alone in the drawing room, though he couldn’t shake his unease.

He had already told Veilks everything he needed to know about his grandson. From what he had seen of Veilks in front of others, there didn’t seem to be anything to worry about...

Even so, this was the Crown Prince. The Marquis couldn’t help worrying that Veilks might slip up somehow.

“It’s been a long time, Vei.”

“Yes... I-It’s been a long time, Your Highness.”

When the Crown Prince greeted him so familiarly, Veilks bowed his head.

“How are you feeling?”

“Much better, thanks to your concern.”

Veilks nodded and smiled faintly, his cheeks turning a bit red.

“That’s good.”

Seeing that Veilks was still as shy as ever, Aseraian picked up his teacup. Veilks also carefully lifted his own cup across from him.

“We used to have tea together like this all the time.”

“We did.”

A small smile spread across Veilks’s face, as though he were remembering those days.

The two chatted for a while, talking about how they had been doing and what they had been interested in lately.

“Do you remember?”

Aseraian smiled as he glanced at the flower vase on the table.

“When we were little, you liked the imperial garden so much that you cried for days, begging me to build you a house there.”

“W-Well, the imperial garden was so beautiful.”

Veilks blushed at the memory, clearly embarrassed.

“......”

Aseraian chuckled and set down his teacup.

“Um, what brings you here...?”

Only then did Veilks cautiously ask why Aseraian had come.

“I was passing by and suddenly missed my Vei. So I thought I’d stop by.”

“Ah... haha.”

Veilks scratched his head sheepishly and laughed.

Slide.

“This is chocolate from Croa’s, the shop you used to like. I bought it because I thought of you.”

“Oh, thank you. I’ve actually been wanting some.”

Aseraian smiled as he watched Veilks happily take the box of chocolates.

“I’ll see you at the palace next time.”

After talking for a while longer, Aseraian checked the time and rose from his seat.

“Yes. I’ll come see you soon.”

When Veilks stood, Aseraian patted his shoulder gently. He was still smiling as he headed outside.

“Your Highness, are you finished?”

Marquis Merial, who had been pacing outside the room, hurried over as soon as Aseraian appeared.

“Yes. I’m glad to see Vei looking so well.”

As Aseraian walked toward the front door, Merial followed closely behind, perhaps out of anxiety or disappointment.

“Why leave so soon? Why don’t you stay and have a chat with me...?”

“I have a lot of work to do. I was passing by and thought I’d stop in to see Vei.”

“Even so...”

“I’ll see you at the palace next time.”

“Ah, yes.”

The Crown Prince soothed him before stepping into his carriage.

Clack.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

At his command, the aide outside the carriage studied Aseraian’s expression. The smile he had worn until just before boarding was gone.

“I had my suspicions.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s not like he lost his memory in an accident.”

“......?”

Aseraian didn’t seem to expect an answer. He gazed out the carriage window and murmured to himself, leaving his aide staring at him in confusion.

The aide had been puzzled ever since Aseraian suddenly ordered them to go to the Merial estate. With the investigation into Marquis Merial still underway, he couldn’t understand why the Crown Prince had gone there without warning.

“Do you remember? When we were little, you liked the imperial garden so much that you cried for days, begging me to build you a house there.”

“W-Well, the imperial garden was so beautiful.”

“......”

...That never happened.

A smile returned to Aseraian’s lips as he recalled his conversation with Veilks.

The bait I tossed out caught a much bigger fish than I expected.

“Even the chocolate.”

Vei had one thing he absolutely hated: chocolate. He had hated it since childhood, and Aseraian was the only one who knew.

Even Marquis Merial doesn’t know that.

“Please keep it a secret from Grandfather. He doesn’t want me to have even the slightest weakness.”

It might seem ridiculous to call something like that a weakness, but Aseraian could understand why it would bother Marquis Merial, who wanted his heir to be perfect in every way.

So Aseraian had never told Marquis Merial or anyone else.

But then...

“This is chocolate from Croa’s, the shop you used to like. I bought it because I thought of you.”

“Oh, thank you. I’ve actually been wanting some.”

...He was so happy to get it.

Aseraian’s gaze turned cold.

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