The night was thick and heavy, as if soaked in ink. The wind howled outside the library.Noctis's black mist had long dispersed, yet the air still carried a trace of chilling breath that refused to fade.
Lucian put away his scythe and turned toward the little girl.Alice stood quietly at the stairwell, clutching her one-eared rabbit doll, her amber eyes filled with timid light.
"She can't stay here." Lucian's tone was cold.
"But she has nowhere else to go," Maya interrupted him, voice trembling yet firm."Lucian… or whoever you really are—I don't care. She got involved because of me. If I just leave her, Noctis might find her again."
Lucian raised an eyebrow, his lips curving slightly. "Do you even know what you're saying? That child isn't human."
"Then I'll stay with her—and be not human too."Maya's voice was soft but stubborn.
Lucian stared at her for a few seconds, then sighed."…Fine. Then she's your responsibility."And just like that, the male Lucian faded into the mist, disappearing into the night.
——
Outside the dormitoryThe lamps flickered one by one.
Maya crouched down and held out her hand. "Come on, Alice. Let's go home."
Alice bit her lip. "...Can I really stay with you, big sister?"Her voice was as light as a whisper, yet at that moment, Maya's heart completely melted.
"Of course," Maya smiled softly. "You're family now."
Lucian, standing to the side, turned his face away with a faint scoff. "You really like picking up strays."
——
The next afternoon.Sunlight spilled across the dorm room, falling on Maya's desk. She lay with her chin on her arms, absentmindedly twisting a lock of hair.
She was thinking about Lucian.
Two days had passed since the library incident,but her heart still felt as if it were tied by an invisible string—one end connected to Lucian, the other… somewhere she couldn't name.
Lucian was a mystery wrapped in contradictions.Sometimes, he was the cold, sharp-tongued boy whose words could cut;other times, she would catch a glimpse of the quiet, moonlit girl—soft, almost unreal, as if she belonged to another world.
Maya had once seen Lucian standing by the window, half his face bathed in moonlight. The gentle glow traced the curve of his jaw, too beautiful to seem human.She had forgotten to breathe.
She wanted to ask who Lucian really was, but when those pale eyes glanced her way, all her questions vanished.She didn't even know anymore—was she drawn to Lucian the boy, to the girl bathed in moonlight,or to that strange, fated pull that bound them?
"Still daydreaming?"
The low, familiar voice cut through her thoughts.Lucian pushed open the door, the sound soft but commanding.He wore a loose white shirt, sleeves half-rolled, his gaze calm and unreadable.
Maya's heart skipped. "L-Lucian?"
"You've been distracted all day," he said evenly, his tone too calm to be neutral.
"I—I haven't!" she stammered.
Lucian took a few quiet steps toward her, and the air between them grew heavy, like static before a storm.
"Who's on your mind?" he asked, eyes narrowing slightly. "Alice?"
Maya flushed instantly, waving her hands. "No! Of course not!"
Lucian raised a brow, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. "Then… Alice?"
She blinked, confused. "Why… did you mention her?"
Lucian's eyes darkened slightly. "She came looking for you today."He paused, voice dropping to a low murmur. "She's carrying something from the underworld now."
Maya froze. "The… underworld?"
Lucian nodded, his tone cold. "That aura doesn't belong in the human world."
Maya's breath caught in her throat.Alice? That quiet little girl who hugged her doll and smiled so softly—how could she have anything to do with the underworld?
Her mind flashed back to Alice's innocent grin in the sunlight, the soft voice that had called her sister.That smile was too pure to belong to something dark.
"Lucian," she whispered, "she won't hurt anyone."
Lucian frowned slightly, his tone clipped. "You trust people too easily."He turned away, shoulders tense under the lamplight. "I've seen too many things that only look human."
His voice dropped lower, colder."Her body… it's been touched by Noctis's essence."
Maya's hands trembled. "Then… will she become it?"
Lucian was silent for a long time.Finally, he said softly, "I don't know."
"Her connection to the underworld is faint—yet pure. Maybe it's lying dormant… or maybe… it's protecting her."
Maya's fingertips felt cold.She knew Lucian was right—but that fragile smile, that quiet sister, lingered in her heart.She placed a hand over her chest.
There, too, something faint pulsed—a warmth, like the breath of the underworld itself, quietly awakening.