Time Healer Ceres

“First, turn that off.”

“Well... I’ve been trying to for a while now.”

“And?”

“...Why won’t it turn off?”

“......”

...You’re asking me that right now?

Aseraian looked at his younger brother like he couldn’t believe how hopeless he was.

-Screeeeeeeech!

As if something had malfunctioned, the alarm kept blaring no matter how much Cheion fiddled with it.

“Cheion...”

“Haha, why isn’t this working? I have no idea!”

Aseraian pressed his lips together. Watching this unfold left him with a strange mix of irritation and relief. It was so absurd he almost didn’t want to interfere.

In the end, he said nothing.

Cheion, who had been smiling awkwardly at his brother ignoring him, flinched when someone suddenly snatched the alarm from his hand.

Thwack!

The alarm was thrown to the ground and immediately stomped on.

-Screee... Crack!

The wail continued until the end before it finally went quiet.

“...It broke?”

Cheion stared blankly.

I feel like I’ve seen this somewhere before...

“Sorry, brother. I checked it as thoroughly as I could, but... looks like a faulty one slipped through.”

“For once, explain it so it makes sense, Cheion.”

“No, really, think about it. Is it possible for something that sturdy to break just from being stepped on a few times?”

Ignoring Cheion, Aseraian turned his gaze toward the one who had destroyed the alarm.

That meant Ceres, who was clearly annoyed.

“So loud.”

Her eyes, fixed on the shattered remains, were filled with irritation.

Why do I have to come all the way here just to listen to that damn noise?

“Ceres.”

Cheion called out to her in a pitiful voice.

“What is it?”

“Is smashing things with your feet your hobby? You stomped that recording orb before, and now this.”

“What about you? Is making a scene your hobby?”

After overhearing the conversation between Cheion and Aseraian earlier, Ceres immediately grasped the situation.

She knew he was reckless, but she hadn’t expected him to act like that even in the Imperial Palace.

Did he really set off the alarm just because he didn’t like what the nobles were saying?

Well, it’s not like I can’t understand it.

Some things never change. Meetings are still filled with people talking nonsense. She nearly drew her sword more than once back then.

Tap.

“...Huh?”

At that moment, someone passed by and tapped Cheion on the head.

It was Grand Duke Kainel Persia.

“...What?”

Cheion stared at him in a daze, unsure whether he’d just been hit or simply brushed against. It almost felt like a pat.

Either way, he should’ve been annoyed that someone touched his head, but—

His hand...

He had expected it to be cold like ice, but it was surprisingly warm. Cheion stared at him with complicated feelings.

“Looks like he liked this.”

Ceres muttered as she brushed aside the broken pieces of the alarm.

“Huh?”

“Just saying.”

Kainel was the type to treat people he disliked like they didn’t exist. That man really didn’t change, always doing things that were bound to be misunderstood.

He used to be like that in the past by picking fights with the ones he actually liked.

Only Artia and she knew that.

Did he take a liking to Cheion?

Maybe Kainel was also fed up with the nobles spouting nonsense. In that case, it wouldn’t be strange if he found Cheion somewhat amusing for turning the whole meeting into chaos.

Or...

Maybe he noticed it too. How much Cheion resembled Artia.

Artia used to pull that same trick during imperial meetings, after all.

“......”

Ceres, who had been picking up the broken pieces of the alarm, lifted her head and paused.

Kainel, whom she thought had already left, was staring at her.

No way... he didn’t hear what I just said, did he?

But as their eyes met, he turned his head and walked away without a word. His aide, Del, quickly followed behind and gave Ceres a brief nod in passing.

“Cheion, is she with you?”

Crown Prince Aseraian, who had been quietly observing until now, finally asked. He couldn’t help but be curious about the woman speaking casually with Cheion.

“My new secretary.”

“Temporary.”

“...Yeah. Temporary.”

Cheion pouted, not pleased with the emphasis.

“By the way, Ceres.”

“Yes?”

“Why have you been using honorifics all this time?”

“Because you’re currently my superior.”

Ceres shot him a look.

I can at least separate work from personal matters.

“So you’re going to keep talking like that from now on?”

“...Could you just be quiet?”

“...Yes.”

Aseraian watched the two with interest.

What is this strangely familiar dynamic?

“You said she’s your new secretary?”

“Yeah!”

Aseraian already knew that Luca, Cheion’s secretary and his close friend, took leave around this time every year. Cheion always brought in someone else temporarily, so he assumed it was the same this time.

“Her name is Ceres.”

“Ceres?”

When Cheion offered nothing more than her name, Aseraian turned to look at her.

Ceres simply bowed without adding anything.

“Ah! So you were both here!”

Someone came hurrying over from afar. It was Creel, head of the Ellesia family. His gaunt frame was especially noticeable.

“So the alarm really was a malfunction?”

Seeing the shattered alarm and the group chatting, Creel let out a hearty laugh.

“It doesn’t look like the meeting can continue... Lord Cheion, if you don’t mind, could you spare me a moment? I have a favor to ask.”

“A favor?”

“Yes. I’d like to place a request with the Magic Tower.”

“I see. Then please visit the request desk at the Tower and submit a formal application.”

“Haha, of course. But since I’ve run into you like this, I was hoping to speak directly...”

“I’m not a walking reception desk. It’s not my department, so I can’t help you.”

“Yes, but since we’ve already met...”

The back-and-forth continued for a while, with Cheion trying to slip away and Creel stubbornly trying to keep him engaged.

“......”

Meanwhile, Ceres’s attention was fixed elsewhere.

More precisely, on the ring Creel was wearing.

.

.

.

Chapter 13: The Fake Ring

“Lady Grace.”

“What?”

“That ring... what happens if it goes missing?”

“What do you mean what happens? You’re screwed.”

“Again! I told you to watch your language!”

“Then stop asking pointless questions.”

Grace shot her disciple, Enoch, an unimpressed look as he kept staring at her ring.

“So if you don’t have the real ring, you’re scr—I mean... you get kicked out as head of the family?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow. That’s harsh.”

“That’s the family law. What do you want me to do about it?”

The Ellesia family wasn’t like most noble houses that relied on bloodline. Because of that, they came up with their own way to prove legitimacy.

That method was the ring.

Only the one who inherited it from the previous head could be recognized as the true successor. It had been that way for generations.

“Has anyone ever been stripped of their position for not having the ring?”

“No.”

“Yeah, figures.”

No head had ever died without passing the ring to their successor.

“But who knows. Maybe it’ll happen someday. There’s a hidden place where the ring is kept, after all.”

“A hidden place? Why would you need something like that?”

“In case anyone betrays the head and tries to kill them.”

“...What?”

“I shouldn’t be telling you this.”

The ring actually came as a pair. One was real. The other was fake.

When the head grew old and prepared to step down, the real ring would be secretly hidden away. From that point on, they would wear the fake one instead.

And only on the day they relinquished their position would they reveal the real ring’s location to their successor.

“So, what do you think happens if some greedy heir, not knowing any of this, decides to betray the head and take their place?”

“They’d... never find the real one?”

“Exactly.”

Without the real ring, they wouldn’t be able to do anything.

“You know how terrifying our elders are, right?”

“...Yeah.”

Enoch shuddered. The elders of the Ellesia family were infamous throughout the Empire.

“So ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) treat me well.”

“...What?”

“If you want to inherit it properly, I mean.”

“...Me?”

“Yeah. You.”

“I-I have no intention of inheriting anything!”

“Nope. You will.”

“W-wait, Lady Grace!”

***

“Ceres, what are you thinking so hard about?”

“The past.”

“You’re not dizzy?”

“Not really.”

“That’s interesting.”

Cheion looked at her with a curious expression.

After returning from the Imperial Palace to the Magic Tower using teleportation magic, he found it strange that Ceres looked completely fine.

Most people experiencing teleportation for the first time couldn’t stand properly afterward. Some even ended up vomiting.

“Have you used teleportation magic before?”

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