The silence of the night in the temple was oppressive, but no more than the weight that Lucian felt on his shoulders.
"Of course, this is my assumption" Skyler continued, stroking the prince's shoulder to comfort him "Based on the texts related to the Goddess and what His Majesties told tonight."
The prince raised his eyes of diamonds to the Emperor and the Consort, not believing that they would have suffered with the death of a son to the point of breaking the laws of the temple and doing a forbidden ritual to bring him back to life. However, Lucian had already become Luciano... was already living the other life.
"Why did I see the life of the Eighth Prince as a story? Why didn't I have first-life memories?"
"I believe only the Goddess could tell us. But..." Skyler raised the sleeve of his robe, where a stigma stain spread on his skin "... I'm afraid that doing a forbidden rite has drained some of my energy."
Lucian felt guilty to see that stain. He had no idea that Skyler would suffer because of you. In the end, that night was a real nightmare for him, drowning him in an endless ocean.
"Let's rest for tonight. We can talk better when we refresh our minds" the Emperor asked upon noticing that Lucian was pale.
"I will ask to prepare a room for Your Majesties. It is too late to return to the palace."
"Thank you, Priest."
Cassander hesitated before letting go of his son's hand. It was visible the emotional exhaustion that both he and the Emperor carried after that revealing conversation. Lucian felt the fatherly gaze upon himself, but could not sustain it for long. He just wanted to run away. And as soon as he was alone, he began to walk through the cold corridors of the temple, his steps echoing in the silence. His mind was a whirlwind; buzzing persisted in his ears, blocking any other sound.
The truth... or what should be the truth... consumed him in a nauseating way.
Before he knew it, his stomach turned. Lucian ran to an open window, where he leaned to vomit. He felt weak, as if his body rejected everything he had heard.
"I am Lucian? Or am I just an echo of what he was?" he thought, the confusion squeezing his throat more and more. "Why don't I remember anything from my first life?"
Lucian forced himself back to his room, dragging his feet until he reached that room so quiet and dark. The cold winter air embraced him gently, making Lucian melancholy as he felt increasingly ill. Before he got sick again, Lucian ran to the bathroom to flip his stomach once more, spitting out his worries and feeling a fearful relief.
Taking off his clothes and bathing, Lucian desperately sought the comfort of hot water. The long golden hair floated in the scented water, although he was unable to concentrate on a task as simple as showering. He was just in the bathtub, looking empty and lost, as if he had seen the other version of himself sitting in front of him.
He was confused.
The confusion was agonizing. It took control of him.
The certainty that guided him through all that time, treating everything as a mere dream and that, someday, he would return to his true home.. now seemed to be just a ridiculous illusion. Lucian felt so... strange.
Who was he, anyway?
Lucian or Luciano?
Skyler had said that they were the same soul, but in different reincarnation cycles. The concept of reincarnation... was something that until yesterday he would have dismissed as an absurd superstition. But now... everything seemed chaotic and possible. His body felt, in a visceral way, that there was no way to deny.
Immersing himself into the bathtub, Lucian desperately tried to drown out his noisy thoughts. And just could not stand there anymore, because his fingers began to wrinkle and the water cooled. The alpha dressed his robe and left the hair dripping on his back, without any desire to be vain that morning.
His stomach was still turned, he brushed his teeth and forced to face his own countenance to realize that he was ugly and exhausted.
"It's not a story. It never was," he thought, his breathing accelerating. "This is all real. I'm real. And... if I am the real Lucian, what does that mean?"
Ha... was tired. Could he be able to give up?
Dragging his feet out of the bathroom, Lucian faced the darkness until he shivered with the icy wind coming from the window. Raising his eyes he saw the shadow sitting there, and the light of the candle revealed the designer clothes of the man with black hair and crimson eyes, who stared at him in the dark like a sneaky snake evaluating its prey.
The bite on Lucian's neck itched for a moment and he froze in place.
Would that truth told before change anything? Would your goal change?
He was trying to survive on his own from the beginning. It wasn't necessary to become a saint or do rituals to find out his goal. He was sure of what he wanted the instant he realized he had entered history.
... Well, you couldn't say that now, could you?
It's not a story.
It was reality.
"What's that face, Lucian?"
His first life.
Just hearing Magnus' voice, Lucian felt something burning in his chest. The bite's familiar warmth on his neck pulsed, reminding him that they were bound irrevocably. But what disturbed him most was not the presence of the Grand Duke himself, but the depth with which his feelings affect him. His heart beat fast and he felt himself in front of an abyss. Immediately he ran to the window, stretched out his arms and fell into Magnus Grimwood's lap. Lucian huddled against his chest and found the comfort he needed so badly at that moment.
The naked hands of the omega stroked his head until their fingertips slipped over the bite on his neck. Magnus narrowed his eyes watching the bite, which pulsed as if it exposed all the dazed feelings of the alpha.
"What are they doing with my alpha?" Mumbled Magnus with some irritation "Are they trying to destroy you?"
Lucian did not have the courage to look up at his husband. He stood only with his face against Magnus' chest, feeling his smell and his warm touch. The alpha's arms clenched around Magnus, and he fell on his knees before the window not wanting to give up that much-needed hug.
"Just for a moment... be like this with me."
Magnus watched him carefully. His silence was not disturbing to one who longed for comfort. Lucian smelled it, that aroma of serpentine wine that enveloped him silently. The omega pheromones brought a calm that made the prince sigh of relief and relax in his lap.
Those crimson eyes even shone coldly as he used his own pheromones to calm his alpha. Magnus had never seen Lucian act that way, to the point of being hidden in his arms. The Grand Duke's thin fingers slid through the long blonde strands of the alpha, holding it gently as he lifted the tip up to his lips.
"I don't like to see you like this, Lucian. Especially if it wasn't me who left you on your knees. Tell me the name of who dared to leave you helpless."
A knot formed in Lucian's throat. The desire to tell every detail covered him as cowardice always covered him. However, Lucian wanted a rest at that time.
"Could you just comfort me for tonight? I don't want to discuss such matters when I can finally have you."
"Not that you'll be able to escape from it in the future" Magnus muttered kissing the golden-haired lock "But I can do this for now, since you so desperately asks me."
"Thank you, darling."
While Magnus sat at the window, stroking his head, Lucian found the necessary rest. Barely felt the Grand Duke's hand touch his body and find the small glass of drug that the prince always carried with him.
Raising the small ampoule under the candlelight, Magnus opened a smile as he recognized the smell of the drug that had brought them together.
"Maybe this is the time for you to come home, Alpha."
Gradually, Lucian fell asleep in the lap of the omega. Magnus covered him with his pheromones, making him stay relaxed and continue sleeping. The omega held him in his arms, watching his serene and tired face as he slept deeply. Still holding the vial, Magnus made a silent decision.
He left Lucian on the bed and covered him with a blanket. Refusing to leave his side, Magnus lay down with him while watching his face. The fingers slid down his jaw and lips, the shape of each trace of his face was the object of his careful attention. Holding the lock of hair again, he kissed Lucian affectionately, opening a malicious smile.
"I love how evil you make me, Lucian" Whispered "Don't worry, I'll take you where you belong... and never let you go again."
Uncorking the bottle of the drug, Magnus drank half of the bottle, completely ignoring any restriction he should have given such a dose. The heat that spread through his body was slow, but enough for Magnus to know that in a few hours he could take the prince back to Grimwood Mansion.