The next day, Aurora Chevalya came to his house. She approached slowly, trying to wake Lucian, who was lying limp on the living room sofa. His face was pale, his breathing heavy, like someone who had just returned from a long dream.
But what he had experienced the night before was not a dream. Lucian did not yet know that it was all real. Through Kyle's memories, he had felt a moment of peace... before everything vanished.
As his eyes slowly opened, reality hit him again. His mother, Nana, and his sister, Isabelle, had died two years ago, murdered by someone. And three days before he had transferred into Kyle's body, Flove and his mother had also been killed in the middle of the night, moments after they had completed the resurrection ritual.
The same perpetrator always appeared in his memories: a figure in a black cloak, half of his face covered, only his mouth visible. Lucian had seen him. But until now, he had not realised that this person was the source of all this disaster.
Aurora, who knew nothing about his past, just looked at him with pity. She wanted to help her friend escape from the abyss of loneliness and emptiness.
"Still dreaming about it?" she asked softly. She didn't know that Kyle had died three days ago.
After Flove's death, Kyle continued to be haunted by strange dreams, precisely on 14-October. He had been killed. And on 17-October, Lucian's soul took over that body and was trapped in this strange world with no way home.
18th October. 8:15 AM.
Lucian tried to sit up. His chest felt heavy, as if it still bore the scars of an invisible wound. When his eyes fell on Aurora, he fell silent.
Wasn't her face and appearance similar to that woman's? he thought, clearly remembering Hana Voltiane's face.
His gaze did not waver, making Aurora a little uneasy. Lucian felt as if someone was playing with him; wherever he went, tragedy always awaited.
"Sorry for troubling you, Aurora," he said flatly as he stretched his stiff body. But his mind was still wandering to the mysterious woman. He tried to piece together his memories, which felt like a puzzle with no end.
"You're still the same," Aurora murmured, smiling slightly. "So stiff when talking to women."
She stood up and walked to the kitchen to prepare herbal tea to warm herself up. A soft aroma began to spread from the kitchen, but Lucian just stared blankly, half-conscious, trying to understand what was really happening.
From the kitchen, Aurora walked with nervous steps, afraid that the herbal tea she was carrying would spill on her. Seeing her struggle, Lucian walked over to her.
"Let me carry it." He took the tray, then Lucian walked towards the sofa and placed the tray with two cups on the table.
Seeing this, Aurora smiled slightly, not expecting that she was slowly changing and had accepted the bitter reality.
"I'm sorry, Kyle. I didn't have time to attend the funeral," said Aurora, her face wrinkling.
"It's okay, but..." Lucian paused for a moment, then continued, "Are you sure you don't want to visit Flove's grave? Wasn't she the one you liked?" Lucian whispered with a smile.
Lucian followed Kyle's habit of often teasing Aurora to get her to express her feelings. But at that moment, he was also sad because the person she loved was now resting in peace forever.
"Oh, yes. Would you like to come with me to see him?" Aurora's voice was low, as if she was holding something back.
"All right, but before that, let's have some herbal tea first," said Lucian with a smile, trying to distract Aurora from her sad expression. "It will be more comfortable afterwards," he added softly.
Aurora nodded slowly, walking over to get her teacup. Shortly after, the two of them were ready to go to Flove's burial site.
The journey took 10 minutes, and they both stared at the name "Heanos" written on the grave. It was located on the main road leading to the city centre. Nana's mother and Isabelle's sister were also buried there.
Lucian was lost in thought, staring at his mother's grave without blinking. On the other side, not far from Lucian, Aurora knelt down, her eyes glistening, and soon tears began to flow down her cheeks.
She cried and said in a tearful voice, "I love you, Flove." After revealing her feelings, she gave him a final salute with both hands. Then she left, walking towards Lucian.
Aurora did not expect Lucian to be leaning against the entrance pillar of the cemetery. She could not see his face clearly because Lucian was looking up and had his back to her.
Aurora knew she wasn't the only one who felt the loss of someone. She felt sorry for him because, at her invitation, she saw her friend sad and pensive, remembering those bad memories.
But Aurora didn't know that Lucian only felt an indescribable calm when he was in this place.
"Come on, Kyle. Don't you want to go home and just stand here?" said Aurora, trying to be strong and smiling at him.
Lucian turned his head, nodded and smiled at her. "Are you sure you want to leave this place?" Lucian whispered, looking at her cynically.
She knew it was a sarcastic remark. Aurora suddenly patted Lucian's shoulder hard and walked away from him.
Lucian shook his head and followed her from behind. A few minutes later, they both arrived at the house.
"Hey, Aurora. After this, what do you want to do?" Lucian asked, trying to find out more about her.
Lucian remembered about fifty percent of Kyle's memories. He knew that the three of them had performed a strange ritual that resulted in the deaths of four people, plus Kyle a few days ago.
Didn't Aurora participate in the ritual? Could it be that she rose from the dead? Or maybe she was a transmigrator like him? Lucian wondered... Confused after learning this fact.
"I don't know," Aurora replied, shaking her head. "Right now, I'm going to accompany you first!" She whispered, opened the door, and walked towards the sofa.
Hearing that answer, Lucian grew slightly suspicious about whether Aurora was a transmigrator like himself? But Lucian hesitated to ask further, as he feared his identity might be exposed.
For now, he chose to keep this question to himself and address it at the right time. Finally, he walked into the house with his hand covering his mouth.