That night, Lucien finally found time to visit the brainwashed group.
The moment he arrived, they greeted him with warmth and enthusiasm.
Lucien wasted no time.
He began telling them everything that had transpired earlier. As his story unfolded and reached its climax, sharp gasps escaped their lips.
Their faces shifted through a storm of emotions. Indignation. Fury. Gratitude.
For many of them, the ones who had perished under Coalheart were not faceless people but companions, friends… even family.
They had braced themselves for this truth but hearing it spoken aloud still struck like a blade to the heart.
Then their eyes turned to Lucien.
The boy before them was not bound to them by blood nor by obligation... yet he had already done more for them than anyone else. In the same day he had taken them in, Lucien had eased a burden they had carried.
'If he is not someone worthy to follow… then who is?'
