It had been a long time since Lucian saw the original couple of
Luciano had possessed Lucian, the Eighth Prince. And at that moment he was not there to have fun like the other nobles. He had a mission, which involved the man next to him. A bitter taste emerged in Lucian's mouth, leaving him slightly nauseated by the fear of failing miserably to survive in history. This reminded him of the dreams with the death of the real Lucian, which always caused him shivers and a strong "memory of a pain".
"It's been a while! Did you have a good trip?"
"But of course, Sir Maverick. It was an unforgettable journey, I must say", commented Lucian, holding Magnus' arm firmly.
Make it clear to Maverick that the villain was being well cared for, fed and treated properly. Certainly Lucian would not miss the chance to throw in the face of the protagonist of
That is... if Maverick cared about it.
"Do you intend to participate, captain?", Asked Maverick.
"Certainly, every year I attend to help the village."
"I assume His Grace wants to get the prize", Completed Stephen, looking excited. "They say that the participant offering the best hunts to their companion will win a prize from His Majesty."
Magnus frowned with some irritation. Releasing his husband's arm, he held Lucian's waist firmly and pulled it against himself. A shiver went up the spine of the prince, who tried to pretend naturalness despite inside being giving inner screams.
"Naturally I must present my husband with the best fangs of this mountain", Opening a boastful smile, Magnus raised his eyebrow in defiance to Stephen, "Will you also participate, young Baragnon?"
"But of course, Your Grace", smiled sweetly the omega, "I also wish to give someone the best prey."
Lucian thought he saw something strange in Stephen, as he looked at him from the corner. Shaking his head and putting it aside, Lucian just focused on that wonderful hand that he was grasping and holding his waist possessively.
Well, it seems that Magnus is wanting to show off a little bit, isn't it?
"Stephen can't participate", Maverick said suddenly, looking coldly at the Eighth Prince. "After all he injured himself during his practice."
"Really? What happened to hurt you?"
Stephen hurried to look at Lucian and shake his head.
"It's no big deal, Your Highness, it was just a twist when I was practicing. I'm still able to participate, Maverick is just being a very protective friend."
Poor fellow, it became clear how much Maverick hated to be called a friend by Stephen when his shoulders subtly fell. Lucian wanted to laugh at his misfortune, but he needed to keep his good-prince facade in front of the characters.
"Be careful, sir Stephen. A hunt can make your condition worse. Perhaps you should reconsider your friend's help", commented the prince, hiding under the mask the derision by repeating that word, only to see more of Maverick's face writhing.
That is hilarious!
"Thank you very much, Your Highness. Oh, by the way, did His Grace also receive a handkerchief?"
"Handkerchief? I didn't get it."
Stephen opened an innocent smile before the confusion of Magnus.
"Oh my, I thought His Highness had graced you with one to wish good luck on the hunt."
The omega fingers squeezed the husband's waist, relatively possessive of the situation. Turning to Lucian, Magnus raised his eyebrow.
"I received absolutely no gift from my husband to be my lucky charm."
"I even tried to embroider one, but I refuse to give a bad gift", the prince defended himself.
"Did you try?", Magnus raised his eyebrow, "How clumsy could you be with a mere embroidery?"
"I'm at a level where "clumsy" is a compliment."
Hearing a low laugh coming from Stephen, the Grand Duke squeezed Lucian's waist and extended his other hand to him. It was an order for the handkerchief to be delivered, not a request. The prince even grimaced and denied, but Magnus's fingers moved again asking to be delivered to him.
Sighing defeated, Lucian took the handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to Magnus. When Magnus saw the embroidery, he understood that definitely "clumsy" was a very sober word to refer to manual work. If it were not for the dark outline around the drawing, he would certainly not recognize the Grimwood coat of arms.
And then... he laughed.
"Pfft..."
"Don't laugh, dear", Lucian answered, trying to get back the scarf, "Give me here, I will embroider another one more calmly."
Taking the handkerchief out of the husband's reach, Magnus opened a boastful smile on his face.
"Your lousy embroidery will be enough to scare the beasts, which will make things easier for me during the hunt."
"This is supposed to be a lucky charm..."
"But it will be my secret weapon", smiled the Grand Duke tying the scarf on the dagger of his sword.
Lucian even wanted to strike back and take the scarf back, but seeing Magnus's smile and the fact that his scarf was on his sword made him shut up. Even felt a little embarrassed to be derided in front of the protagonists, however he was happy that Magnus did not return the gift and really want to have him around.
Also, Lucian saw absolutely no scarf in Maverick's hands. Did he not win any?
"Anyway, we must go to our tent prepare for the start of the hunt", Magnus pulled Lucian's waist and looked coldly at the other omega, "I wish you good luck."
Lucian choked when he was dragged with no chance of saying goodbye. He wanted to make a little more of Maverick.
"Humpf... I thought you might have disliked my present, dear."
"Never said I hated it, only noted the fact of your lack of skill for manual labor", Magnus mocked him looking at corner, "Besides, stay away from that omega."
"You mean Stephen? Why?"
"Because you're married."
Lucian blinked a few times, taking a few milliseconds to really understand what his husband meant. When the plug finally dropped, Lucian felt his body get slightly hot.
"You shouldn't say that kind of thing in public. It's hard for me to hold back, you know?"
"How many dirty thoughts does this saint have, huh?"
Soon the conversation ended as they approached the Grimwood tent, and as Lucian had thought, one of the huge tents was theirs. Jesse and Victoria Shang were there, and it seems your sister-in-law would participate in the hunt since she was wearing pants and a leather vest. Jesse was helping her tie her hair into a ponytail when he noticed them coming closer.
"Oh, you've arrived", Jesse noted calmly.
"Wow, you look beautiful, Lady Shang", smiled Lucian, making the woman blush.
"Thank you, Your Highness. I intend to do my best to present my husband."
Jesse opened a fine smile on that generally stoic countenance. A dark elegance of a man devoted to his wife.
"It will be a great pleasure to receive your prey, dear."
Lucian sighed with those two. If the original story had given space to Jesse and Victoria, surely he would sigh for hours on end. Maybe you should become their number one fan? Ha... he was one, right?
While he enjoyed watching a fictive and passionate right in front of him, his attention was stolen when he noticed Eugene too quiet. Looking at the corner, Lucian noticed the young man watching something in the next tent.
Following his gaze, Lucian saw that right next to the Grimwood was the Imperial Family with Skyler. Cadec conversed with Skyler and Cassander while the other brothers of Lucian were further back, dealing with a vision somewhat strange and unexpected. Never imagined that he would see those three together talking amicably.
It really caused different kinds of chills in his spine.
"That guy annoys me."
"Hm?", Lucian looked at Magnus, who seemed to face the opposite side of his. "What did you say?"
"The young Baragnon."
Turning discreetly, Lucian realized that Maverick and Stephen were in a small tent with other nobles. Stephen wore a coat and held the long brown hair preparing for hunting.
"Are you worried that he will surpass you in the number of prey?"
"There are only two people I really care about, and you can bet that little guy is not one of them."
Raising his eyebrow, Lucian stared at Magnus with curiosity.
"I guess one of them must be Cadec. I heard that he will participate on behalf of the Imperial Family along with Raven."
"Yes, those two are great hunters and always compete. The Imperial Consort always chooses Cadec as his representative, and the Emperor asks that Raven go on his behalf. Well, it is expected since both are the best candidates for the throne."
"But who would the other person be?"
Magnus just looked back along with Lucian. The prince realized that Victoria Shang was focused on cleaning her sword, with a completely different face than usual.
"Really?"
"Jesse would not choose a weak woman to marry", Magnus commented in a whisper. "Also, in recent events she has taken first place and dedicated the prize to him."
"Wow... that's cute."
Magnus just snorted for his comment. Anyway, the atmosphere of the hunting festival seemed to be lively and cheerful. Lucian helped Magnus and get ready by checking his hunting clothes and his bow to make sure there was nothing wrong.
In a story like that, it was common for arrows to be poisoned to create an ambush to blame a character. Lucian made sure that all the weapons Magnus was taking were safe, and that the horse he would ride was also properly treated and free of any strange or suspicious behavior.
And then... he would just have to wait.