Time Healer Ceres

“W-Where did you find that ring?”

Creel, unable to hide his panic any longer, hurriedly blurted out the question.

“I picked it up.”

“...What?”

“I said I picked it up.”

At Ceres’s indifferent reply, Cheion, who was standing quietly behind her, let out a short sigh.

Just what kind of absurd things keep lying around wherever she goes?

Any beggar would dream of luck like that.

“A-Anyway, thank you for finding the ring. Hand it over. It originally belonged to me.”

All Creel had to do was smooth things over here.

His master was already dead, and the forged document naming him as successor was already accepted as genuine. Now that the ring had returned as well, there was nothing that could become a problem.

“Do you know?”

Watching Creel stride toward her, Ceres spoke slowly.

“Even if they are separated, the Fire Spirit King sealed inside the ring shares everything with the master it chose.”

“What are you—”

“It means this one saw and heard everything the former patriarch went through before his death.”

“W-What?!”

At Ceres’s words, Creel’s eyes trembled violently, as if an earthquake had struck him.

Without taking her gaze off him, Ceres called out.

“Jubelios.”

[Why are you calling me? You told me to keep my mouth shut.]

...Try acting your age for once.

Ceres pushed down the sulking red bird’s head.

“There’s only one thing you need to say right now.”

[And what would that be?]

“What you saw and heard.”

The Fire Spirit King, Jubelios, slowly turned his head toward Creel.

Was it just their imagination? The flames flickering in Jubelios’s eyes seemed especially fierce as he stared at him.

[That b*stard. He’s the one who killed Ezley.]

The moment Jubelios dropped those words, the entire meeting hall fell silent, as if cold water had been poured over everyone present.

Every single person wore the same disbelieving expression.

“What do you mean by that?!”

“What did you just say?!”

“Who would murder the former head?!”

The silence only lasted for a second before voices exploded throughout the hall one after another.

“T-That’s a lie!”

[A lie? You dare claim that I, of all beings, would lie?]

Fwoooosh!

“A-Aaaagh!”

When a wave of scorching heat swept through the room, Creel could barely breathe. He collapsed onto the floor and trembled in fear.

[Ezley knew you had been poisoning his food, you foolish wretch. Though by then, it was already far too late.]

After the former patriarch, Ezley, collapsed, Creel completely isolated him from everyone else.

Claiming the family head needed absolute rest, he used his position as Ezley’s direct disciple to control all contact with him.

As a result, Ezley, whose health had deteriorated to the point he could barely move, was unable to relay any messages to anyone else.

It was no different from imprisonment.

[If I hadn’t been trapped, I would’ve burned you to ashes myself!]

It happened when Ezley first consumed the poison.

Realizing something about his condition felt off, the former patriarch secretly sealed away the family ring in a hidden location known only to the head of the house.

That place was where Ceres found the ring.

The fountain.

Not the grand fountain standing at the center of the Ellesia estate, but the shabby little fountain tucked away behind the mansion.

Of course, knowing the location alone isn’t enough to retrieve the ring.

Only the family head acknowledged by Jubelios, and someone acknowledged by that family head in turn, could take the ring out.

No matter how much an unqualified person searched through the fountain, they would never be able to find it.

As for how I managed to take it out?

[H-Huh?! G-Grace? How are you alive?! And what’s with that appearance? Did you steal someone else’s body? I always knew you were vicious, but you at least understood the value of a human li—]

“Be quiet.”

She had expected it, but Jubelios recognized her instantly.

What was it again?

Something about spirits possessing eyes that could see through a person’s true essence.

Whatever the case, once Jubelios realized she was Grace, he revealed himself, allowing her to retrieve the real ring hidden away there.

And then...

“I-I...”

Ceres took a step toward Creel, who still sat collapsed on the floor trembling, and held something out to him.

“Take it.”

“N-No... I...”

“Take it.”

What she handed to the half-dazed man was a letter left beside the ring.

A handwritten letter from the former patriarch, Ezley, to his disciple, Creel.

“. ....”

Unable to hide the turmoil in his eyes, Creel accepted the letter with trembling hands.

As he slowly unfolded the folded paper and began reading, his eyes shook.

Soon, his mouth fell open in disbelief.

“T-This can’t be...”

His trembling hands clutched the letter as he read it over and over before finally shouting hysterically,

“No... this is a lie!”

“Don’t look away. It’s the truth.”

“No! They clearly told me I wasn’t the successor...”

They?

What is he talking about?

Having already read the letter herself, Ceres looked at Creel with even greater disdain.

The letter contained the heartfelt words of a master to his disciple, advice for the future, reminders to take good care of the family, and the affectionate scolding woven throughout every line.

That was why it was obvious.

Ezley had never intended to pass the position of family head to anyone else from the beginning.

Creel just misunderstood everything on his own.

The letter even mentioned this:

Herion was exceptionally talented, so once Creel inherited the position of family head, he should keep her by his side because she would become a great help to him.

The former patriarch had taken Herion in and personally guided her for that very reason. He believed she would one day support his beloved disciple, Creel.

But Creel had mistaken that affection for something else.

“T-This makes no sense... Then why hide the ring...?!”

“Why do you think?”

A master was still human. Wouldn’t anyone feel betrayed after discovering that the disciple they treasured had been trying to kill them?

He had likely intended to pass down the position of family head to Creel. But after realizing his disciple’s betrayal, he must have been too resentful to reveal the ring’s location until the end.

If my disciple ever pulled something like that...

If Enoch had done such a thing, she would have broken every bone in his body before dying, even if it destroyed her own in the process.

“It’s a lie... No... that’s impossible...”

No longer paying any attention to Creel as he continued mumbling to himself in a daze, Ceres turned to Herion, who had been watching the entire scene with stunned eyes.

“Jubelios.”

[What now?]

“You decide.”

[Decide what?]

“The ring’s owner.”

When the previous patriarch died suddenly without naming a successor, leaving the seat vacant, the Ellesia family had a method for choosing the next head.

The judgment of the Fire Spirit King, Jubelios.

No matter how much the elders tried to recommend someone or force them into the position, if Jubelios didn’t acknowledge them, they would become nothing more than a family head in name only.

Because they would never be able to use the ring’s power.

[Why are you asking something so obvious? My choice is Gra—]

“Shut it, featherbrain.”

Say one more word and she really would pluck out every last red feather, just like she did in the past.

[.....]

At Ceres’s murderous glare, Jubelios shifted his gaze away.

His eyes landed on Herion, who was trembling with tears after realizing that her master had been murdered.

[That child.]

[I choose her.]

Ezley had cherished Herion dearly. No one knew that better than Jubelios.

If not for his blind attachment to Creel, Ezley likely would’ve chosen Herion as his successor from the beginning.

[You will become the family head.]

“W-What...?”

Herion’s tear-filled eyes widened in shock.

Ceres nodded. She had brought Herion here because she already expected this outcome.

Jubelios might have a rotten personality, but once he acknowledged someone as family head, he followed their will more faithfully than anyone else.

“T-This is ridiculous... Lies... all lies...”

Even now, Creel continued to mumble the same words blankly.

***

“His Excellency still hasn’t eaten anything today?”

“No. He hasn’t touched a single bite.”

The maid sighed as she carried out the untouched dishes.

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