"I believe you."
Kai'Sa looked at Luke, exhaled, and relaxed her body.
Luke did not hesitate. He swung the Void Riftblade, and in an instant, the blade scattered apart into more than a thousand fragments. They began revolving around Kai'Sa, releasing streams of purple energy.
Kai'Sa closed her eyes. It did not take long for her to notice something strange happening to her body. Her skin began to itch, and the sensation quickly became almost unbearable, drawing a muffled groan from her.
Her brows knitted tightly as she endured the sensation of something being pulled from her soul, along with the faint stinging spreading across her skin.
She knew it was not actually her soul.
Across the surface of her body, the Void carapace gradually began to recede. Starting from her neck, it slowly peeled away like a piece of clothing, revealing the smooth, snow-white skin beneath.
Before long, the entire Void carapace had fallen away and dispersed like pale ash. Kai'Sa's graceful, delicately curved body, her fair skin touched with a faint rosy hue, was completely exposed before Luke's eyes.
Feeling the air against her bare skin for the first time in what seemed like forever, Kai'Sa's eyelashes trembled. She slowly opened her eyes, then seemed to realize something. Her face visibly turned bright red.
Luke looked away and took out a set of women's clothes, holding them out to her.
"Put these on."
Kai'Sa immediately took them. Luke turned his back, and soon heard the rustling of fabric behind him.
"Okay."
Only after hearing Kai'Sa's voice again did he turn around.
She stood there with a radiant smile, showing off her new outfit.
"Does it look good?"
There was a hint of shyness and nervousness in her voice. Her eyes remained fixed on Luke as though there were room for no one else in them.
"It looks great."
Luke nodded immediately.
A pale purple dress now covered Kai'Sa's graceful figure. Without the Void carapace, she had lost some of that distant, cold beauty, but in its place was the bright, vivid charm of a girl her age. She looked like a flower in full bloom, with an elegance that would not have seemed out of place on a noble lady.
She was truly beautiful.
Hearing his praise, Kai'Sa could not help smiling. Then her eyes narrowed mischievously.
"So, do I look better like this, or did I look better just now?"
The moment she asked, her own face somehow became even redder. She looked practically overheated, as though steam might start rising from her head.
Luke had never expected her to ask that and froze for a moment.
Seeing his stunned expression, Kai'Sa burst out laughing. Then she suddenly stepped forward, leaned closer, and kissed him.
From the moment he had appeared in her life and illuminated her darkness, her heart had belonged to him alone.
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
Demacia, the capital.
That morning, Luke slept until he naturally woke up. When he opened his eyes, he saw the familiar ceiling above him, while sunlight from the courtyard streamed through the curtains, filling the room with an unusually peaceful warmth.
After getting out of bed, he stretched with complete satisfaction.
Now that the problem with the Void had been resolved, he felt considerably more relaxed. One of the major concerns that had weighed on him for so long had finally reached a reasonably acceptable conclusion.
Bel'Veth's battle against the Watchers was destined to last a very long time.
Meanwhile, Luke still possessed the Void's key, allowing him to sense activity within the Void at any time. If the day ever came when either Bel'Veth or the Watchers emerged victorious and attempted to approach Runeterra again, Luke would notice immediately.
For now, he had more than enough time to prepare for that possibility.
There was also a chance that day would never come.
But that was no longer something he needed to worry about right now.
Walking downstairs at an unhurried pace, Luke found Morgana brewing tea. With practiced movements, she soon poured him a cup.
Luke picked it up, blew gently across the surface, and took a sip.
The high-quality tea left a refreshing coolness behind despite the sweltering summer heat.
Just as he was leisurely enjoying his hot tea without a care in the world, someone suddenly rushed inside and immediately darted toward the basement without saying a word.
A moment later, she emerged holding a bottled cola that had been stored in the ice room.
With a practiced hiss, she popped the cap open and immediately tilted her head back to drink.
A couple drops of brown soda trickled down the blonde girl's fair chin. After gulping down several mouthfuls, Miss Crownguard finally let out a long breath, looking completely refreshed.
Luke calmly stared at her. He did not say a word, but his eyes seemed to convey everything that needed saying.
"What are you looking at?" Lux wiped the glistening sweat from her forehead and complained irritably. "It's all that blue-haired brat's fault. I have no idea when she snuck two exploding alarm clocks into my room."
She had been sleeping peacefully when several violent explosions suddenly went off. Her body had reacted before her mind could catch up, and for one terrifying instant, she had genuinely thought the whole world was collapsing.
Then she turned around and realized the explosions had come from two alarm clocks.
There was no need to wonder who had done it.
"But I already dragged her out and got my revenge." Holding her half-empty bottle of cola, Lux walked over and dropped onto the sofa. "Catching her was a bit of a pain, though."
"Where is she now?"
Luke could not help asking.
Lux flashed her pearly white teeth.
"I hung her from the tree by the front gate."
Luke fell silent for a moment.
By now, he was used to this sort of thing.
The opening of the Hexgates had made traveling much more convenient for everyone. Not only could they stay in contact remotely through the Secret Keys, but visiting in person was also possible almost whenever they wanted.
They simply had to come through the portal and then board one of the specially established train lines, which could bring them to the capital in short order.
Luke had nearly finished his tea by then. He planned to wash his face before doing his Vitality exercises.
The moment he stepped into the courtyard, he was greeted by quite a striking sight.
Jinx was hanging from a tree beside the front gate, her hands and feet securely tied, leaving her completely unable to struggle free.
The moment she saw Luke, she immediately raised her head, flashed him a grin that showed one of her little canine teeth, then blinked at him.
She was obviously hoping he would let her down.
Luke looked at her for a second before deciding to ignore her. He quietly turned his gaze away and went to fetch some water.
After all, this was between the two of them. Better not to interfere too much.
The smile instantly vanished from Jinx's face.
Inwardly, she furiously cursed Luke for being so heartless.
A little while later, Luke finished washing his face and began his Vitality exercises in the courtyard, still completely ignoring Jinx hanging nearby.
She had brought this on herself, after all.
Before long, two figures arrived together from outside the courtyard.
Kai'Sa and Sona.
"Good morn...ing."
The moment Kai'Sa entered and saw Jinx hanging from the tree, her greeting faltered. She looked completely bewildered.
"Um..."
She seemed unsure what to say.
Then Lux walked out of the house with a perfectly friendly smile.
"It's fine. Just ignore her."
Kai'Sa nodded and decided not to get involved.
Ever since coming to Demacia with Luke, she had been staying at Sona's home. Over the past several days, she had already met a large number of people.
She had also become somewhat accustomed to this kind of "playing around" between Jinx and Lux.
By the time Luke finished practicing the Vitality Arts, it was about time to prepare breakfast.
During that time, Fiora, Quinn, Kahina, and the others arrived one after another. Every morning, Luke's courtyard ended up filled with a lively group of young women.
Jinx, meanwhile, remained hanging from the tree the entire time.
She even grew bored enough to yawn. Eventually, perhaps because she had nothing better to do, she began swinging her body back and forth like she was on a swing.
Not much later, Luke had breakfast mostly ready. Since there were so many people, the meal was naturally quite elaborate.
At some point, without anyone noticing exactly when, Jinx managed to free herself from the ropes and appeared at the dining table right on schedule.
After breakfast, it was still early, and the morning sunlight was bright and pleasant.
Luke lay back in a rocking chair in the courtyard. Beside him sat an improved Piltover electric fan with adjustable wind speed.
He reclined comfortably in the cool breeze, occasionally taking a sip of the juice Morgana had prepared. Life could hardly have been more relaxing.
The girls throughout the courtyard also found their own things to do. Some trained, some played board games, some fooled around, some practiced music, and others simply lounged around like Luke.
It was an ordinary, peaceful scene.
"Oh? You certainly look comfortable."
Suddenly, a voice drifted down from above.
Immediately afterward, an immense presence descended.
Everyone looked up in confusion.
They sensed no hostility. What they felt was simply the overwhelming aura of whoever had spoken.
Luke opened his eyes as well.
Syndra, surrounded by dark energy, slowly floated down from the sky. She descended lightly, though her feet never actually touched the ground, remaining suspended just above it.
Luke spoke first.
"Aren't you supposed to be taking care of the willow?"
"It's already grown taller than the trees in this courtyard. It stopped needing my care a while ago, so naturally I have some free time now."
As Syndra spoke, her gaze swept across the various girls in the courtyard. The corner of her mouth curled slightly into an ambiguous smile.
"Though it seems you've been living quite comfortably."
As she spoke, her gaze eventually landed on Lux, and one eyebrow rose slightly.
What dazzling light.
For some reason, it was irritating.
Lux's bright eyes were also fixed on Syndra, her brows slightly furrowed.
She could clearly sense the gloomy energy gathered around Syndra.
To Lux, it was impossible to ignore.
The two women stared at each other.
Neither spoke at first.
Eventually, Syndra took the initiative and extended her hand with a smile.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Syndra."
Lux's expression instantly brightened into a smile as well. She reached out and took Syndra's hand.
"I'm Lux."
Their slender hands clasped together, yet it felt as though two entirely different forms of energy had collided.
Light and darkness.
The instant they touched, they repelled one another like opposing magnetic poles.
For some inexplicable reason, every girl present suddenly felt that something was very wrong with the atmosphere between them.
As their energy intensified, their magic began clashing invisibly.
Light and darkness had always been opposing magical attributes.
And now, the woman with the most powerful light magic and the woman with the most powerful dark magic had finally met.
They continued smiling at each other, but the magic radiating from their bodies caused a powerful wind to sweep across the courtyard.
Jinx's eyes practically sparkled as she screamed excitedly inside her head.
"Fight! Fight! Fight!"
Unfortunately for her, those hopes were dashed.
The two of them withdrew their magic almost simultaneously.
Syndra smiled faintly.
"Since there's nothing else to do, how about a game?"
For some inexplicable reason, she wanted to establish a clear winner against this blonde girl.
And since an actual fight was out of the question, she would simply have to compete in some other way.
Lux immediately agreed with complete confidence.
"Sure!"
Seeing that nothing serious was happening, the other girls gradually returned to whatever they had been doing.
Syndra ignored Luke and walked off with Lux.
Lux had originally intended to find a board, but to her surprise, Syndra simply traced a finger through the air, creating a board and a set of black pieces from magic.
Seeing that, Lux immediately tried to do the same.
Unfortunately, Miss Crownguard failed on her first attempt.
"Do you need me to teach you?"
Syndra asked with an amused curl of her lips.
"No!"
Lux rejected the offer instantly and tried again, her expression becoming noticeably more serious.
Under Syndra's watchful gaze, she succeeded on her second attempt.
Even Syndra looked slightly surprised.
But after thinking about it, that made sense. Lux was capable of giving even her a faint sense of being "threatened," so her talent obviously could not be weak.
After all, not even Karma, who embodied the Spirit of Ionia, had ever given Syndra that kind of feeling.
The two immediately began playing with pieces formed from their magic, as though this were simply another battlefield between light and darkness.
Luke remained peacefully reclined nearby, enjoying the tranquil passage of time.
The hours slipped by unnoticed.
In the blink of an eye, night arrived.
Lux and Syndra had not actually spent the entire day playing board games. Later, at the urging of the other girls, Syndra also tried card games, mahjong, and several other games.
As for the result of her matches against Lux, they had effectively ended in a draw, with each of them winning and losing some rounds.
Miss Crownguard might have been terrible at strategy games in general, but all the time she had spent practicing five-in-a-row had not gone completely to waste.
After an entire day, the two still had not managed to determine a clear winner.
"I'll be going, then."
Syndra prepared to return to Fae'lor.
Before leaving, she imperiously informed Luke that she expected to see him on Fae'lor sometime within the next few days.
The man had absolutely no initiative. He had been free for so many days and still had not visited Fae'lor even once.
That was the real reason she had specifically come to find him today.
She had simply happened to discover a few other things along the way.
Namely, that there really were quite a lot of beautiful women surrounding him.
Syndra did not care about that.
He was important in her life, and she was important in his.
That was enough.
"Next time, we're definitely settling this!"
Lux stared at Syndra, competitive fire burning intensely in her eyes.
After comparing themselves throughout the day, Lux felt as though there was nothing in which she had clearly surpassed Syndra.
Fortunately, there was also nothing in which she had clearly fallen behind.
This embodiment of darkness who had suddenly appeared had already become a formidable "rival" in Lux's mind.
"Settling who wins?"
Syndra looked at Lux, and the corner of her mouth suddenly curved upward.
"Little blondie, in certain areas, I've already won."
With that, she wasted no more time. She rose directly into the air and flew toward the Hexgate.
Lux remained frozen in place.
Her mind replayed the provocative look Syndra had given her just before leaving.
Certain areas?
No matter how much Lux thought about it, she could not understand.
She unconsciously placed a hand over her chest, feeling strangely unsettled.
Where had she lost?
When she walked back into the house, Lux's gaze landed on Luke, who was eating ice cream.
For a moment, she simply stared at him in a daze.
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