Chapter 53: An Offer You Can't Refuse~ (1)
It was already morning, the soft, early light of the Lumina Empire filtering through the narrow dorm window. Lucian was standing in his bathroom, staring intensely at his reflection in the mirror.
"I always hated this face, seriously," he muttered, his deep black eyes narrowed in self-disgust. This face, so perfectly sculpted, was the root cause of so much misery—it was the reason he was miserably entangled in the ridiculous drama of his second life and this current life. This cursed beauty had attracted yanderes, jealousy, and the possessive gaze of the divine.
"I miss my first life on Earth, where my worries were simply meeting work deadlines and missing playing my favorite games and reading novels," he sighed, a profound weariness settling over him. "I know it was a boring life, but I always wanted a boring but peaceful life. A life where people didn't look at me with either envy or obsessive desire."
He paused, running a hand over the perfect symmetry of his jawline.
"Though I admit, even though I hated both this body and the face, Lucian is really a handsome person. He is objectively beautiful," he conceded, the assessment detached, like judging a piece of art he despised. "He beats every category of being beautiful and handsome, even more than my original self and my third life as Seonin."
This body was a trap. It promised divine beauty but delivered cosmic pain.
He shook off the self-pity and glanced at the time. The Emperor's brother wouldn't torture himself, so Lucian needed to be on time to maintain his facade. "I should hurry and finish this before I would be late."
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After Lucian was done taking a bath, he hurried to the academy. He wore the special bracelet where the Wraith King resided, its presence a cold comfort against the chaotic warmth of the academy.
As he entered the courtyard, he immediately saw Johnathan, Amelia, and Claire clustered together again—the original protagonists of the first game. They were laughing easily, their simple, good-natured energy an annoying contrast to his dark resolve. They waved at him again, a bright, friendly gesture, but Lucian, as always, ignored it completely, maintaining a chilly, deliberate pace.
'Why are they so persistent of being friends with me?' he wondered, genuinely annoyed. In his last life, they were either intimidated or openly hostile toward him. Now, they were like eager puppies. 'Hah, I really don't want to have connection with them in this life. Silvie and Christopher are enough for me already since they are now irrelevant on the plot anyways.' He only dealt with those two because they were necessary thorns in his side, or direct threats. The protagonists were just… noise.
Lucian continued his walk with calm, precise movements, ignoring every student who greeted him. He didn't give a damn about these people here in the Lumina Empire. They were all temporary characters in a story he intended to delete.
Then, a sudden, horrifying thought struck him regarding his schedule.
'What's the subject today again?' His mind raced through the timetable. 'Ohh, right. Theory of Magics. Great. The subject I hated the most.'
Lucian felt a deep, existential dread that only a mandated college course on abstract knowledge could produce.
"I mean, theories are bearable, useful even, but listening to the discussion on theory of magics? Yeah, you will just wish you kill yourself," he thought, his internal monologue escalating into a frustrated rant. "It's like listening to Calculus 3 and Irrational Algebra combined, except the lecturer is a pompous wizard who has never been in a real fight."
He genuinely didn't understand the purpose of it. 'I really don't understand why Theory of Magics subjects are needed. I mean, most people use mana here anyways. Like, why torture yourself to learn more? Is it because of greed for knowledge and wisdom? Hmm, might be, yeah, that must be the reason why. It's the same in Murim too. Martial artists seek knowledge and wisdom to gain enlightenment, but is it necessary here to learn theories of magic like this?'
In this world, magic was used with such commonplace ease. It was like breathing air—a simple, natural function. The theory didn't change the practice much. Unlike in Murim, where achieving Enlightenment required years of excruciating struggle, painful purification, and true dedication. Here, they just sat in a classroom and debated the philosophy of casting a simple fireball.
'Hah, this academy is a torture, as always, just like my college when I was still on Earth,' Lucian concluded bitterly. 'After my exile, I won't join to any academy anymore. That just gives me a little of time, and I really hate academies. Seriously, that's just a waste of time on me. My time is better spent hunting Evil Gods and planning my vengeance.'
Lucian continued to walk, his thoughts consumed by his escape plan, and he finally entered the main hall leading to the lecture wings of the Royal Academy.
The hall was already buzzing, but the noise coalesced around a dramatic tableau.
He saw Prince Silvan, the Crown Prince of the Lumina Empire and Silvie's older brother, standing with a theatrical posture. Silvan was instantly recognizable with his impeccably styled White Silk hair and glaring ruby blue eyes. Next to him was his current fiancé, Serene Veronica Le Ardenia—a woman Lucian knew was far more dangerous than she appeared.
But the moment Silvan spotted Amelia—the heroine of the first game, talking with Johnathan and Claire—he ignored Serene entirely and hastily approached Amelia, performing an elaborate, arrogant bow.
Prince Silvan, with a smug, entitled expression, addressed Amelia. "Good morning, Lady Amelia. Is it alright to ask if you would be my dance partner for my upcoming birthday ball?"
Amelia, calm and firm, ran a hand through her vibrant crimson red hair. Her crimson red eyes looked at Prince Silvan with the same firm rejection she always reserved for his advances.
"I'm sorry, Your Highness, I already have a dance partner, and it's Johnathan," Amelia replied, clearly and directly. She then added the respectful but cutting truth. "And also, it's disrespectful that you offer this to another woman while your fiancé, Serene, is standing right there."
Silvan waved his hand dismissively, an action Lucian recognized as a hallmark of his toxic narcissism. "There's no need to worry about Serene, my dear Amelia. This is merely a contract between our fathers."
He then turned his arrogant, ruby-blue gaze on Johnathan. "And also, why would you choose a commoner like him? Like, look at him. He is just average. His brown hair and golden eyes are maybe unique, but his face is just average. While I, Silvan Hemrick Van Lumina, the Crown Prince of Lumina Empire, am the most handsome man of the whole empire." Silvan said it with such casual, unwavering arrogance that Lucian nearly choked on the absurdity of it.
It was then that Claire, usually the sweet, timid girl of the group, snapped. Her brown eyes flashed with genuine annoyance.
She took a sharp step forward and said to Silvan, her voice surprisingly loud and clear. "Excuse me? You, handsome?!"
Everyone in the hall, including Lucian, was shocked.
Lucian's internal monologue was frantic: 'I agree she is extrovert, but she is shy towards royal family and she has lack of confidence to confront anyone. She is usually only confrontational when Amelia or Johnathan is in danger. What the hell is going on?'
Silvan looked down his nose at Claire, his initial annoyance turning to icy fury. "What did you just say, you damn low noble?!"
Claire, however, was past caring. The arrogance had pushed her too far, and she was speaking from an honest place.
Claire replied, standing firm. "I said, you handsome?! Like, when? I agree you are a beautiful person who carries a royal blood, but you are not a handsome person, because for me, Lucian all in all is the most handsome person I met."
The hall went utterly silent. Lucian's calm demeanor shattered. His mouth actually dropped open in shock at what he heard Claire say. Amelia, Johnathan, Serene, Silvan, and even Celestia Silveria Van Lumina—or known as Silvie—who had just entered the hall and was watching from the doorway, were completely stunned.
Claire, empowered by her own unexpected courage, didn't stop. She pointed a finger—not accusingly, but definitively—toward Lucian, who was still frozen by the main entrance.
"That's right! Lucian is the most handsome of all students of this academy, and you, Your Highness, can't beat him of being the most handsome man of this empire."
Prince Silvan, whose massive ego had just been publicly and unequivocally shattered by a low noble in front of his intended mistress and his fiancé, completely lost control. His ruby eyes bulged with rage.
"You damn bitch! How dare you!" Silvan roared, raising his hand, intent on delivering a public, humiliating slap.
SLAP
But the sound was not Silvan hitting Claire. It was the sharp, clean crack of a hand against the Crown Prince's face.
It was none other than Serene Veronica Le Ardenia.
Serene stood tall, her presence cold and absolute. "That's enough, Your Highness."
Serene's striking crimson red eyes and her severe white hair that seemed to shimmer with rising anger looked at Silvan with deep disgust and palpable annoyance. "Don't put a shame to the royal family again by hitting a student and acting like an uncultured savage."
Silvan clutched his cheek, his fury momentarily replaced by shock. "You! How dare you! You and I are just together as always because of a contractual marriage that was forged with your father, the Northern Duke, and my father, the Emperor! That's why you have no right to do this!"
Serene sighed, a long, dramatic exhalation that conveyed utter exhaustion with his existence. Then she spoke, her voice ringing with the finality of a bell in a cathedral. "So what?"
She paused, allowing the gravity of the situation to settle over the hundreds of witnesses.
"I have the right to do so, and you know what, Your Highness?" she continued, her eyes never leaving his.
"STARTING TO THIS DAY, I, SERENE LE ARDENIA, AND PRINCE SILVAN HEMRICK VAN LUMINA, WILL BROKE OFF THE ENGAGEMENT AND NULL THE CONTRACTUAL MARRIAGE THAT OUR FATHERS DID."
The declaration was a political earthquake. The Crown Prince, humiliated, slapped, and now publicly rejected by his powerful fiancé, stood frozen.
Serene looked at Silvan, the contempt crystal clear. "I hope you find a partner on your upcoming birthday party."
Then she added, with a subtle, icy hint of sarcasm that only a true noble could master: "Your Highness."
The crowd parted as Serene turned and began walking, her steps slow, deliberate, and entirely focused. She walked straight past the stunned protagonists and low-ranking nobles, heading directly for Lucian, who was still standing by the entrance, reeling from the chaos and the shock of Claire's compliment.
She stopped right in front of him, her beautiful, cold face tilted up, her crimson eyes suddenly holding a flash of ancient, knowing recognition.
"Lucian, or should I say, my dear Lucy," she said, her voice dropping to a smooth, sultry purr that sent a shiver down his spine. "Would you kindly be my partner to the upcoming birthday of the Crown Prince?"
Lucian was in shock again, not because of the offer, but because of the sudden shift in Serene's personality and, most importantly, the nickname.
'I knew it,' Lucian thought, the realization hitting him like a physical punch. 'She is a regressor too, just like Silvie! Because she used what she used to call me in my second life and my first transmigration—the word, "My Dear Lucy~"'
He finally understood the true depth of his predicament. He wasn't just dealing with divine betrayal and the simple plot of a game; he was dealing with multiple women, all of whom remembered him from past lives, all of whom were now competing for his attention and control.
Silvie, his obsessed former fiancé. And now, Serene the biggest yandere and the villainess of the first game, the powerful Northern Young Duchess, who was supposed to be the tragic victim in the original plot, had regressed and was now making a calculated, possessive move.
'F**k! I can't wait to get exiled, seriously! I need to get away on women like this!' Lucian thought, his initial plan to kill the Emperor's brother accelerating wildly in his mind. Exile wasn't a punishment; it was the only escape route from the emotional chaos of his other halves.