Time Healer Ceres

By the way, why is she so quiet?

Even when Ceres looked at Marquis Merial, Elliet showed no reaction at all.

Huh? So he isn’t the one who cast the curse?

Ceres clicked her tongue inwardly.

Then are the fake saintess incident and the recent kidnappings unrelated?

If that’s the case, finding the culprit could take much longer. What was she supposed to do now?

“Oh my, is that...?”

“Goodness, it’s been so long.”

A murmur spread from the entrance of the banquet hall. Ceres turned toward the commotion, her eyes widening slightly as she spotted a familiar face.

Huh? Lord Harua?

It was Harua. He simply nodded at the greetings filled with surprise and delight.

“......”

Harua’s gaze was sharp as he entered the hall. The people who had greeted him eagerly all flinched and instinctively stepped back.

Then, after spotting someone, he headed straight toward them. There was only one person standing there.

“Ugh...”

Marquis Merial’s face turned deathly pale the moment Harua approached. His body began to tremble visibly.

Tap.

“It’s been a while.”

Harua stopped right in front of him and offered a greeting.

“I... I suppose it has.”

But Marquis Merial was far from calm. Even those few words seemed difficult to force out. His eyes shook constantly, and he couldn’t even meet Harua’s gaze.

Step.

Harua took one step closer and leaned toward the flinching marquis.

“Don’t die too soon.”

“W-What... what do you mean by that...?”

“Your life is mine.”

“—!”

Shudder.

A suffocating killing intent bore down on Merial. Harua must have realized it too. He knew that Merial was the one who had killed his son.

Barely able to remain standing, Marquis Merial staggered back before hastily leaving the banquet hall. He had to get away from this place, only then did it feel like he would be able to breathe again.

“Tsk.”

Harua watched Marquis Merial flee until he disappeared from sight. He clicked his tongue in annoyance.

To think it was someone like that...

Seeing Marquis Merial unable to utter a proper word in front of him only made Harua’s anger burn hotter.

He heard that his son had been pressuring Merial. Yet the man already crumbled this badly over something so trivial.

Haa.

Harua sighed heavily and forced down his anger.

As he looked around, his gaze suddenly settled on someone. The stern expression on his face softened in an instant.

Everyone who noticed the change was stunned. Had he ever looked so gentle since his son passed away?

“Ceres.”

At the sound of her name, everyone’s gaze turned toward her. Harua walked straight over to Ceres and patted her shoulder, a faint smile playing on his lips. It was so unlike his usual expression.

“You came too.”

“Yes. I see you were invited as well, Lord Harua.”

“Yes.”

Though he had stepped down as duke, the Imperial Family continued to send him invitations to their annual events. He had never attended a single one, though.

“As it happens, I have something I’d like to give you.”

“Me?”

Harua took something from his coat and handed it to Ceres. It was a golden token that gleamed beneath the lights, with a single name engraved on it in elegant script.

Ren Trading Company?

Ren... Did he name the company after his son?

Ceres finally understood what Harua had been doing since leaving the ducal estate.

“That’s a golden token from the Ren Trading Company!”

“Oh!”

“I heard even Duke Schweiss, his son, doesn’t have one...”

“I’ve never seen one before!”

The people around them were far more excited about it than Ceres.

They had been watching Harua ever since he approached Ceres so familiarly. They couldn’t take their eyes off the golden token in his hand.

Ren Trading Company.

When the company first appeared in the Empire, few paid much attention. But it grew at an astonishing rate, becoming the largest trading company in the Empire in less than a year.

Twenty years later, the Ren Trading Company had become the most influential trading company not only in the Empire, but across the entire continent. What surprised people most was the revelation that its owner was Harua, the former Duke of Schweiss.

Anyone who possessed the golden token could receive assistance at any of the company’s branches across the continent. Its bearer was treated with the same respect as Harua himself, the owner of the company.

“Why are you giving this to me...?”

Seeing everyone’s reaction, Ceres instinctively stepped back. Something told her very strongly that she shouldn’t accept it.

“It’s for the flowers.”

“For the flowers?”

“Yes.”

Harua took Ceres’s hesitant hand and pressed the golden token into her palm.

“Then... should I give this to Arti...?” Ceres murmured, still looking bewildered.

Harua patted her shoulder again.

If he could, he would’ve given her even more. Thanks to her, he had learned the feelings his late son had carried in his heart, feelings he might otherwise have never known.

His son’s death was still a deep wound, but at least, one small knot in his heart had finally come undone.

“Take it, Ceres. You absolutely have to accept it.”

“He didn’t even listen when I asked him for one.”

“Finally, he’s made a decision I like.”

The three dukes had come over without Ceres noticing, grinning as they watched her hold the golden token. No one knew its value better than they did. It would be a tremendous help to Ceres in the future.

They also understood why Harua had chosen to give Ceres the golden token in front of everyone.

He’s letting everyone know.

That Ceres had the protection of both Harua and the Ren Trading Company.

This is a little much.

Meanwhile, Ceres looked uneasy. Judging by everyone’s reactions, this didn’t seem like something she should accept so readily...

It felt like far too much for a few flowers, but with the three dukes urging her to accept it, Ceres eventually tucked the golden token away.

But...

What were the three of them whispering about now? The three dukes had moved a little way off and were quietly talking among themselves.

“You remember what Uncle said before, right? About the golden tokens.”

“Of course. He said he’d only give them to people who might inherit the trading company.”

“I remember that too.”

And in the more than twenty years since the trading company was founded, Ceres was the only person who had ever received a golden token.

“Hah. Uncle may have a strange temper, but he sure knows how to judge people.”

“Exactly. Looks like he already saw what our Ceres is worth.”

“Father has always been like that.”

The three dukes nodded in satisfaction. After all, if Ceres ended up with the greatest trading company in the Empire—no, on the entire continent, they would have nothing to complain about.

Tap.

“......?”

Just then, someone lightly tapped Ceres on the shoulder. She turned and found Kainel.

“What is it?”

Something about his expression was strange. The corner of his mouth was slightly raised, yet he looked thoroughly displeased. He looked ready to pick a fight with someone.

What now?

“Do you know that person over there?”

“Over there?”

Ceres looked toward the person Kainel was pointing at. A man she had never seen before was speaking with Crown Prince Aseraian. Only then did she understand why Kainel had asked.

Even while talking to the Crown Prince, the man kept glancing at her. When their eyes met, his eyes curved into a gentle smile.

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