Time Healer Ceres

“Then the rumors are true?”

“What is the meaning of this?!”

“This makes no sense!”

Oselt raised a hand, silencing the elders who had all started speaking at once before asking,

“So the previous patriarch never formally passed the position of family head on to you?”

His voice remained composed, but his expression was colder than anyone else’s.

“N-No!”

Creel hurriedly added.

“My master lost the ring a long time ago...”

“The previous patriarch did?”

“Yes. As you know, his health deteriorated greatly before he passed away. His mind wasn’t entirely clear either. He said he couldn’t remember where he had put the ring.”

Creel shifted all the blame onto the former head of House Ellesia, his late master who was no longer alive to speak for himself.

“He apologized to me and passed this fake ring down in its place. Since then, I’ve done everything I could to search for the original ring my master lost, but I still haven’t found anything.”

“......”

Even after hearing Creel’s excuse, the expressions on the elders’ faces didn’t soften. They had watched over House Ellesia for many years, yet never once had they encountered a situation like this.

A fake ring.

Not a single family head in the history of House Ellesia had ever failed to inherit the head’s ring.

More importantly, was Creel telling the truth? Did the previous patriarch really lose the ring?

The doubts they had once felt surrounding the former patriarch’s death resurfaced in their minds.

His sudden illness and passing had come as a great shock. Those who still remembered the unease from back then couldn’t help feeling uncomfortable when they looked at Creel, who was wearing a fake ring.

But...

The previous patriarch was already dead, and they had personally verified the handwritten will that passed the title of Count Ellesia on to Creel.

“I also find it regrettable that the ring was lost, but we can’t continue blaming my late master, right?”

Creel knew that fact better than anyone. Confidence slowly returned to his voice.

“No matter what anyone says, I’m still the disciple acknowledged by my master. I ask that you remember at least that much.”

“Hm.”

“But without the family head’s ring...”

“He already said the previous patriarch lost it.”

“Even so...”

A family head without the ring of succession. The elders’ expressions only grew heavier with concern.

Knock knock.

“May I interrupt for a moment?”

Just then, the doors to the meeting hall opened and someone stepped inside. It was Cheion, the Master of the Magic Tower.

“We are in the middle of a family council meeting.”

At Cheion’s appearance, Oselt furrowed his brow.

“This is hardly a place an outsider may enter casually.”

Despite the cold reprimand, Cheion just smiled and nodded like he understood completely.

“My secretary insisted there was something she had to deliver.”

“Secretary?”

As soon as Cheion finished speaking, two people stepped into the hall. Ceres entered first, followed cautiously by another woman.

It was Herion, a physician affiliated with House Ellesia.

“You...! Why are you here?!”

Creel’s face twisted the instant he saw her. Not missing his reaction, Oselt turned his gaze toward Herion as well.

“Everyone, leave at once! This is not a place just anyone can walk into!”

Creel’s voice rose louder than before. He didn’t know why, but when Herion appeared, an inexplicable sense of unease crept over him.

“N-No, um...”

Herion herself looked equally flustered.

Lately, she had been running into Ceres quite often, but she never imagined the place Ceres led her to would be the family council hall.

Unable to understand why Ceres had brought her here, Herion could only stand in confusion.

“Once I deliver this, we’ll leave even if you try to stop us.”

Blocking Creel’s vicious glare toward Herion, Ceres stepped forward.

“What is it you intend to deliver?”

“Lord Oselt, there’s no need to listen to them. I’ll deal with this myself...”

“Let us hear them out first.”

“...Huh?”

“I said we will listen.”

“—!”

Every instinct in Creel screamed that they needed to be thrown out immediately, but faced with Oselt’s firm tone, he could no longer argue.

No matter what, he couldn’t afford to offend the head of the Council of Elders.

“Well then, what have you brought?”

Oselt had been watching Ceres with interest ever since she entered.

At most, she looked like a young noble lady in her late teens. Yet despite stepping into a hall filled with elders, including Oselt himself, she remained completely calm.

What caught his attention most was how natural she looked, like she was already accustomed to standing in situations like this.

“This.”

At Oselt’s question, Ceres reached into her pocket and held something out toward him. Her movements were so casual that it looked as if she were merely pulling out an ordinary stone.

Oselt glanced at it without much thought at first, but his eyes widened in an instant.

“That is...!”

The others who saw the object in Ceres’s hand reacted no differently.

“N-No way!”

“Th-That’s—”

Bang!

Some shot to their feet while others could only stare with their mouths open. No one could hide their shock.

Resting in Ceres’s palm was a red ring.

That was definitely—

“The family head’s ring...”

It looked identical to the ring Creel currently wore. If there was any difference, it was the red gemstone embedded at the center.

The jewel on Ceres’s ring was far deeper and more vivid in color. The crimson light shimmered continuously, almost as if the ring itself were alive.

“It-It’s fake! That thing is definitely fake!”

Creel stood up immediately and shouted.

There was no way that ring could be real. He had spent years desperately searching for it, so why would it suddenly appear in the hands of some woman unrelated to the family?

It had to be a fake created by someone trying to frame him.

Don’t tell me that woman—

Creel glared murderously at Herion, who stood there looking innocent and confused.

He was convinced she was the one behind all of this. Even after being treated like she didn’t exist for nearly three years, she had stubbornly remained in the estate, only to cause a disaster like this in the end.

“A fake?”

Ceres looked at Creel as though he were pathetic. She had no desire to waste her breath arguing with him.

After all, proving the ring was genuine was simple.

“Jubelios.”

The name slipped quietly from her lips.

Fwoosh!

“—!”

An intense wave of heat swept through the meeting hall. A massive red bird appeared in midair, blazing with overwhelming heat.

[What is this? Why is this place so cramped?]

Realizing the hall was too small to spread its wings, the red bird quickly shrank in size. Even so, the heat pouring from its body remained overwhelming.

The crimson bird circled the hall once before landing on Ceres’s shoulder.

“Th-That’s—”

“Fire...!”

The elders couldn’t finish their words. They stared with wide eyes at the sudden sight before them.

This is why no one can fake it.

The true family head’s ring alone housed a transcendent being.

The King of Fire Spirits, Jubelios.

For generations, the spirit king had remained sealed within the ring of House Ellesia, and only the true head of the family could command him.

“So that really is the family head’s ring...”

Oselt let out an awed murmur, unable to take his eyes off Jubelios. Even for him, it had been a very long time since he had last seen the Fire Spirit King in person.

Though bound to the ring, Jubelios was still the King of Fire Spirits, a transcendent being that the head of the family couldn’t control easily. Because of his unpredictable temper, previous family heads had never dared summon him carelessly.

No, they simply could not.

But then...

...What exactly was this situation?

[Well? Didn’t the entire atmosphere change the moment I appeared? Just look at those reverent gazes.]

“Of course the atmosphere changed. The heat pouring off you is unbearable. You’re the absolute worst during summer.”

[That only proves how magnificent I am.]

“What nonsense are you spouting? Be quiet. This isn’t the time for you to talk.”

[Can’t I speak freely now? I may be bound to this ring, but I am the great Fire Spirit King—!]

“Shut it before I toss you back into the water.”

[......]

The conversation was too quiet for anyone else to hear clearly, but seeing Jubelios wilt under the young woman’s scolding left Oselt staring in disbelief.

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