"Because I love you."
Lucian said it— finally.
Completely unaware of the catastrophic misunderstanding he had just created.
Seraphina froze.
[Pft..pft..hahaHaHa!!... HaHaHaHa!!!]
Akasha exploded with laughter, her voice thundering through Lucian's mind.
[You– hahaha— do you… even know what you just said?] She could barely contain her laughter.
'What do… Ah.' Suddenly, his eyes widened in horror.
'What the fuck did I just say?!'
He was so stressed out that he just blurted the first thing that came to his mind.
Meanwhile, across from him, a storm was quietly forming behind Seraphina's eyes.
Had she heard him correctly?
Did he truly just… confess to her?
A boy barely in his early twenties… proposing to her?
"What do you mean?" she asked, her voice cold but slightly trembling, eyes narrowed sharply.
She didn't believe it was that kind of love.
He never looked at her with lust—unlike every other man she had met.
And that expression on his face… that horrified, pale expression…
She understood that even he wasn't aware of what he said.
Lucian didn't know what to say now.
He realised he had fucked up big time.
No lies could fix this.
So he chose the truth.
"I am your son."
He dropped the bomb.
He directly told her, without twisting it.
Seraphina went still.
Absolutely still.
That was absurd. Impossible.
A misunderstanding– again. Surely.
"Don't joke like that." She whispered.
"If you don't want to tell me the reason, then… it's fine."
She tried to move away, but he stepped in front of her, blocking her path.
"Mom."
Seraphina stopped breathing.
"I am Aiden. Your son."
Her heartbeat slammed violently against her ribs, loud enough that she could hear it.
No.
No.
Ridiculous.
She did not want to believe it.
But hearing him call her 'Mom', her instincts told her…
He was…
He was her son.
"H-How?"
Her legs trembled.
Strength drained from her body.
She swayed… and Lucian immediately grabbed her, guiding her gently to the sofa.
"No.. No.. but– but he told me…"
"Mom."
"Did he lie? Why? Why–"
"Mom!" Lucian shook her, gripping her shoulders.
She finally came out of her daze.
"Mom, I did not die."
She looked at him, and seeing him right now, she understood why she always felt that unfamiliar sensation.
Why had he always seemed… known to her, yet unknown.
"Then… why—?"
"I don't know." He said dismissively.
"And I don't want to talk about him." Even talking about him made his blood boil.
She stared at him.
He really was her son.
"Aiden, my boy… you really…"
She cupped his face in her hands.
"It's really you… It really is you." She smiled gently, tears dripping.
But suddenly, as if a switch had flipped, her voice sharpened.
"Then why didn't you tell me all of this before?"
Her grip tightened.
"And where were you all these years. Did you… did you forget about me?"
Her hands trembled.
She had been mourning his death for years… for years, when he was right before him.
Why had he lied?
[She really is your mother.] Akasha remarked.
'What?'
[I mean, she really behaves like you.]
'Shut up.'
[Tch.]
Lucian sighed.
He then held her hands and told her what happened from the moment she was sent to the mental facility.
How his father beat him when she wasn't there, how he left the house and got into an accident that caused memory loss, the couple who hit him adopted him, and so on.
Sera, who heard all this, broke down.
Tears streamed down her face as she hugged him tightly, laying his head against her chest.
Lucian hugged her back.
"I-I am sorry, I s-should have been there for–"
"Stop," he interrupted.
"It's not your fault."
She tried to speak, but he held her hands firmly.
"It is not your fault. Understand?"
She stared at him.
How could it not be her fault?
If she hadn't left… if she had fought harder…
But she nodded anyway.
He was alive. That was all that mattered.