A mirror reflected a small eighth prince with a contagious smile on his face, playing on the floor with two more children. One of them was taller and had dark hair and light eyes, while the other looked even smaller than the Eighth Prince and with rather innocent features. The three played together on the floor, with wooden toys and plush spread all over the carpet.
The feeling of fun while playing brought a nostalgia somewhat intense. As if he really missed such joy and innocence of that childish world.
Along with such memory came pain and discomfort. Remembering something seemed to pull an organ of his body by force.
Still, Lucian restrained himself. Breathing deeply he just squeezed his arm discreetly and bit his cheek to control any noise that escaped from his mouth.
"Lucian, is something wrong?"
"No", he replied after a few seconds. Breathing deeply, the men looked away and faced his own reflection in the window glass, "Is there anything else to tell me?"
"Just that... I ask you to forgive me. Indeed, it was not my intention to spoil your trip, nor make you uncomfortable with my presence."
He could hardly think straight, the images of that memory flooding his mind, bringing with it emotions that Lucian certainly did not expect. Especially when he looked at Cadec again.
"It's not me who should say if you are worthy of forgiveness or not. Anyway, I only hope to have peace for the rest of the trip."
The First Prince frowned lightly, confused by Lucian's words. However, the youngest could not forgive Cadec when in fact he was not even his real brother. In a bitter farewell, for the second time, Lucian left that rest room to return to his room.
As he climbed the stairs of the huge reception to go up to his floor, Lucian sighed dozens of times without being able to get away from that squeeze in his chest.
"What the hell happened to you, Lucian?" He murmured to himself "If you had a happy life, why did you lock yourself in your own castle? What happened?"
Would love to have the answer. Access every memory of the true Eighth Prince and understand every pain he had. Lucian lived only with the consequences: the delusional fear of any member of royalty, cowardice before other alphas, self-exile in his palace... It was as if the Eighth Prince only lived waiting for his own death.
The problem was that death extended a warm and affectionate hand, giving him a minimum of affection he had desired for years.
An eighth prince hungry for affection lay in the lap of the true villain and let him be killed by it.
It was sad.
He was lonely.
It was mysterious.
Stopping in front of the bedroom door, Lucian took a deep breath and swallowed it dry before turning the handle and opening the door. It was not only wounded pride that remained there, but a tornado of emotions that has already turned all his anger and frustration into an even more distressing feeling. And just thinking that he would have to deal with Magnus alone, Lucian felt a chill in his stomach.
But relief soon came when Lucian saw him with one of his knights, who seemed to make a report.
"It didn't take much effort, he showed us a list of all his clients in the last few years in exchange for not disrupting their business and reputation here in town."
The soldier handed some sheets, which Magnus promptly held and began to read. At that moment, the crimson eyes only rose when he heard the noise of the door, causing for mere seconds their eyes to cross in silence. It was Lucian who turned first, closing the door behind him and walking directly to the bed where he sat still thoughtful.
Magnus watched him in silence and read the names on the list again until finally he sighed heavily.
"You can leave, we'll deal with it when we get back to the capital."
"Yes, sir!"
The knight bowed and left the room, leaving the two immersed in uncomfortable silence. Lucian faced the ground lost in his own thoughts, digesting the memories he envisioned and calming his own body. The cold wind passed through the double door of the balcony that was still open, showing that in the distance the heavy clouds would bring rain to the evening.
Perhaps it was the perfect climate for Lucian's melancholy.
Frankly... was Lucian making a mistake in alienating Cadec and Cassander? Those memories always seemed to contradict his actions. No one in the imperial palace was trustworthy, if his will was to survive then it would be necessary to get away from all of them. But how could he when Lucian had happy memories with them?
What would the Eighth Prince do?
What did the true Eighth Prince live to lose the happiness he once had?
Lucian's chin was raised, the diamond eyes focused on the man standing in front of him who looked at him coldly. A shiver came down his spine when he noticed Magnus demanding his attention.
"Are you still mad at me?"
"I am. Very much."
"Great."
Short and rude words. Still, Lucian noticed that the tips of the omega's fingers held his chin gently without forcing anything on it. Magnus' bare fingers slid down his jaw until he reached his ear where he pulled away some strands of hair.
Was angry with Magnus, only that it was impossible to hate the affection he received. Was crawling for crumbs?
"You said that once you foresaw someone using you to kill me, but could not reveal who it was because you had no proof" Magnus' fingers lightly stroked Lucian's ear, Making him shiver from tickling. "With this trip I got enough evidence to incriminate the seventh prince of trying to hurt you."
Lucian's diamond eyes widened slightly. His chest rose in a sigh, exhaling softly, managing to contain despair. Especially when he still felt the affection in his ear.
"Elyon...?"
"The Port of Baydenn was a stage for arms smuggling, impossible that the seventh prince did not know about it. Especially with the Earl of Shad being a vassal of Marquis Kahar, who helps Elyon to take care of the southern and western borders. Both have a close relationship with your brother."
It was nothing new, Lucian knew that. Still, it was surprising to see the story unfold before his eyes. Until now, the only thing that had happened was Stephen Baragnon returning home and Magnus trying to poison him. The rest changed because of Lucian's interference.
It seemed, regardless of their decisions, some things would be kept as the original. The fact that Elyon was responsible for smuggling was one of them.
"That list given to me are the names of the main clients of the blacksmith who was responsible for forging the weapons for the mercenaries who attacked my carriage at that time. Some names I recognized, are people who are also next to Dahlia."
Magnus' fingers went down Lucian's neck to his shoulder, where he rested lightly. There he gave a soft grip on the prince, leaning in his direction and narrowing the distance of their faces.
"Am I on the right path, Lord Saint?"
The provocation and debauchery in Magnus's tone of voice seemed to mock more his position before the temple than actually his "gift". Without falling into that joke, Lucian just agreed with his head.
"Yes... you're on the right track."
"So that would be enough for you to forgive me?"
Lucian's heart accelerated some beats.
Ah, that his wounded pride would forgive him, for Lucian knew very well he had the right to be angry. However, he loved Magnus more than his pride.
The blush on Lucian's cheeks evidenced the effect that omega had on him. The prince nodded his head slightly, causing a small sigh of relief from Magnus.
That hand resting on alpha's shoulder pushed him against the omega's chest. The hug that Magnus gave to Lucian made him sigh and feel the weight of his shoulders evaporate. Pressing his forehead against Magnus' belly, the prince gave up.
Lucian could be angry as much, but in the end there would only be one person to trust. And that was comforting.
However...
"Why did you say it was great that I was mad at you, Magnus?" Asked the prince raising his head slightly.
Magnus' hand went to his back, holding his hair strands with some force when the malicious smile appeared on his lips.
"They say that reconciliation sex is even hotter."