Time Healer Ceres

“It’s a monster.”

“Yeah! But it’s cute. Are monsters normally this cute?”

“No. Definitely not.”

Ceres shook her head firmly and sighed.

If Kainel refused to take the dragon in to the very end, she had planned to leave it with Cheion instead. But after seeing Julia’s face, that option no longer seemed possible.

In such a short time, Julia already grew attached to it. Her eyes were filled with warmth as she looked at the little creature.

“What’s its name?”

“...Freeloader.”

“That’s not a name.”

[Pyu!]

At Julia’s protest, the black dragon nodded its head furiously. Then, it flitted into the air and plopped itself right onto her head.

“Can I give it a name?”

“Go ahead.”

When Julia’s face lit up with a bright smile, Ceres found herself chuckling as well.

Well, I guess this worked out for the best.

Since they were going to live together, this was better than having Julia hate it.

[Buo! Buo!]

“Quit tugging at my hair.”

Just moments ago, it had been happily playing with Julia, but now, the little creature had flown back over and started messing with Ceres’s hair again.

Ceres caught it easily between two fingers and let out another sigh to herself.

But... Are you really a dragon?

***

“It seems House Ellesia has completely slipped out of our hands.”

“So it has.”

The greenhouse was filled with blooming white flowers. Prince Alex sat by the sunlit window, answering lazily without taking his eyes off the scenery outside.

“We spent a long time working toward this. What a shame.”

“I suppose it is.”

The man wandering through the greenhouse with a watering can paid Alex no attention either.

He looked to be in his early thirties. The long black hair cascading to his waist left the strongest impression. Dark as ink, it swayed behind him as he moved.

“Ceres, was it?”

“......”

Only then did Alex finally turn to look at him. Even so, the man remained focused on watering the flowers.

“Isn’t it strange? We searched for so long and couldn’t find it, yet she uncovered it easily.”

“You mean the ring?”

“Yes. I was under the impression that the family head’s ring wasn’t something just anyone could find.”

“So, did you look into her?”

“Nothing noteworthy turned up. She was perfectly ordinary... no, even more than that. She’s a woman you wouldn’t notice even if she passed right by you.”

“That’s not the impression I got.”

“Indeed.”

The man set down the watering can, plucked a single white flower, and walked toward Alex.

“She lost her memories.”

“...Her memories?”

For the first time, Alex reacted.

Cheion never mentioned anything like that. Does that mean he doesn’t know?

“They say her personality changed quite a bit afterward.”

“So she lost her memories...”

Alex turned his gaze back to the window, lost in thought.

They only met a few times, and each encounter was brief. It wasn’t enough for him to make a clear judgment about her.

But one thing was certain. Ceres was different from anyone he had ever met.

Is it because she lost her memories?

Was that why she feared nothing?

He could overlook the way she acted around his older brother, who was both a prince and the Tower Master. Her attitude toward Grand Duke Persia was harder to understand.

She never looked nervous in the slightest around him. If anything, she seemed completely at ease, as though titles like Prince or Grand Duke meant [N O V E L I G H T] nothing to her.

Rustle.

“......”

Someone caught him by the chin, so Alex lifted his eyes. The man standing close to him smiled faintly.

“It seems your medicine is almost due.”

Once their eyes met, the man stepped away. He picked up a small glass bottle from the shelf against the wall.

Fwoosh!

Black smoke suddenly spilled out and curled around the white flower in his hand. In an instant, the pristine flower turned pitch-black.

The man held it over the mouth of the bottle. Slowly, the blackened flower melted away like dissolving ice before being drawn inside.

“Here.”

Alex stared at the dark liquid in the bottle before taking it. He carefully slipped it inside his coat.

“Is everything proceeding as planned?”

At the question, the man’s smile deepened.

“Funny, isn’t it? All we wanted was to take control of House Ellesia to keep the Fire Spirit King from awakening.”

That was why he had driven a wedge between the former family head and his disciple, Creel. All to ensure that the next head of House Ellesia would never obtain the ring.

Or more precisely, the Fire Spirit King sealed within it.

The disciple attempts to poison his master. The master realizes the betrayal and dies without revealing where the ring is hidden.

It was a perfect plan. Everything had gone smoothly thanks to the foolish Creel Ellesia playing his role exactly as expected...

“We need to move things up a little.”

Before the new family head learns how to properly wield the Fire Spirit King.

“How?”

“We need to let it spread farther. Wider. So that He may arrive sooner.”

“......”

Alex’s expression turned indifferent once more, like he already lost interest. His gaze drifted back toward the window.

“By the way, did you look into it?”

“The black egg?”

“Yes.”

The man looked at Alex with mild approval, seemingly pleased that he remembered.

“It’s not in the Magic Tower. Cheion said he’s never seen anything like it either.”

“Hm. If it’s neither in House Ellesia nor the Magic Tower... then there’s only one place left.”

The man clicked his tongue, sounding almost regretful. The remaining place wasn’t somewhere to be taken lightly.

“What exactly is that egg?”

At Alex’s question, the man laughed.

“I don’t know the details either. I only know that He wants it.”

***

“Ceres! Ceres!”

“...Hm?”

Taking advantage of her rare day off, Ceres had been enjoying the luxury of sleeping in when Julia’s frantic voice dragged her awake.

“Ceres, come quick!”

“What happened?”

“Hurry!”

Julia was practically hopping in place with impatience. Still half-asleep, Ceres followed after her without bothering to fix her messy hair.

The destination turned out to be the kitchen.

“Look over there.”

“...What is that cream-covered blob?”

Why was the blob moving?

Sitting on the kitchen counter was a tiny creature covered head to toe in whipped cream, happily stuffing its face with something.

“That’s Sooty.”

Sooty.

The name Julia had proudly given the black dragon. It was also the moment Ceres realized her little sister’s naming sense was just as terrible as Kainel’s.

“...Is it eating cake right now?”

“Yeah! That cake was supposed to be our snack today, but he’s eating the whole thing.”

Even while they spoke, Sooty continued devouring the cake without slowing down once.

The sight was almost impressive. The cake was bigger than its body, yet somehow, the little thing had nearly buried itself inside it while eating.

Where is all of that even going?

“Wasn’t it refusing to eat anything yesterday?”

“Yeah. It hated everything. Then, it kept staring at the cake I brought out for myself. I gave it a little bite just in case. But then...”

Julia gestured helplessly toward the disaster on the counter.

Ceres had been worried too. The creature clearly needed to eat something, so she had tried meat, vegetables, and fruit. But it refused to look at any of them.

Then again, it wasn’t like she had ever raised a dragon before.

Still...

Cake? Seriously?

Ceres stared blankly at the little creature wagging its tail and wings in delight while inhaling cake.

Julia suddenly grabbed onto her arm and started grumbling.

“But it doesn’t eat just any cake. It won’t even look at the cakes our chef makes.”

“That thing looks pretty determined to devour this one, though.”

“Exactly. That’s the expensive cake you brought home yesterday after saying it was a gift.”

“Ah.”

Kainel’s aide, Del, had a habit of stopping Ceres on her way home from work and piling her arms full of random things.

“Looks like I bought too much again.”

“Why do you always do this? It’s not like that man even likes sweets.”

“Good question. Why do I keep doing it?”

Leaving behind Del and his mysterious smile, Ceres would bring the desserts home, where most of them ended up in Julia’s hands. Though occasionally, Antonian and Ceres got some too.

“Wow. It ate all of it.”

After polishing off the last bit of cake, Sooty flopped over onto its back.

[Buuo~ Pyuu~]

Maybe it was because it was full. The tiny dragon sprawled there happily, letting out soft cries in a much brighter tone than usual.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!