"So you see," Lucian concluded, "Aurora's mother died protecting us during the escape. I promised to care for her child. In the chaos and darkness of that place... she became like a daughter to me."
Seraphina was silent for a long moment. Then she moved closer, her hand gently touching his face, fingers tracing the edge of his blindfold. "My poor boy," she whispered. "To have endured so much, so young."
"I survived," Lucian said simply. "Many didn't."
"And your eyes?"
"A price paid for freedom," he replied. "The details... are still difficult to speak of."
She didn't press further on that point. Instead, she asked, "And what now? What are your plans?"
"I need to prepare for my awakening," Lucian said firmly. "I turn thirteen soon. Despite everything, I won't delay that ritual."
Seraphina inhaled sharply. "Lucian, your condition—"
"Is precisely why I must go through with it," he interrupted. "The awakening might restore what was taken from me. And even if it doesn't, I'll need the strength it provides. The people who took me, who experimented on me and others... they're still out there."
His mother's hand tightened on his. "Revenge is a dangerous path, my son."
"Not revenge," Lucian corrected her. "Justice. And protection—for those who might suffer as I did."
Seraphina sighed deeply. "You've changed so much. Sometimes I hear your father in your words."
"Is that a compliment?" Lucian asked, without much expression on his face.
"Your father was a complicated man," she replied carefully. "Brilliant. Determined. But also... unyielding in his convictions. It made him both respected and feared."
Lucian nodded slowly. "Tell me about him," he said. "I feel like there's so much I never knew."
He wanted to understand how to trap this woman. If she rejected the question, that meant she was still hurt and scared about his father's death, but if she told him, then that meant she had already moved on. That would be troublesome because people like that tend to lock their emotions away from the world, and it would take more than a month to bring them out of that cage. But an emotional person who hasn't accepted reality about losing someone just needs to be broken down a bit more. Then he would present his shoulders for her to cry on, then approach her with her deepest desire, which her brain wouldn't be able to understand until it was too late.
"Tomorrow," Seraphina said with a tense expression, standing up. "For now, you should rest properly. We'll speak more in the morning and begin preparations for your awakening. Despite my concerns, I won't stand in your way if this is truly what you want."
"It is, and thank you, Mother," he replied. Then she asked, "What about your hair? I can't tell why it's like this."
He said, "Well, it's been like that for as long as I can remember. No matter how I cut it, it just kept growing back."
Seraphina nodded, then leaned down and kissed his forehead—a mother's familiar gesture that felt alien to Lucian's borrowed consciousness. "Welcome home, my son," she whispered. Then she left, closing the door softly behind her.
As her footsteps faded down the hallway, Aurora sat up on the bed. "She believes you," she observed. "Or at least, she believes enough of your story not to question the inconsistencies, and I can tell from your questions that you're already cooking up something for her."
Lucian turned his gaze to her without much expression before saying, "People tend to cling to grief, to the last of what they hold dear. My father is gone; she knows this but chooses not to accept it. Worst of all, she creates this illusion that he isn't here with us when he's already dead. Well, I can use that to my advantage. I just have to break her more from the inside. Once she's broken, I will give her my shoulder to lean on. That's when you come in—since she doesn't have any protective ward around her, it should be possible for your powers to affect her. I want her to see me as a man for that night, and she will do unthinkable things to me, more like she forced herself on me. I will make our night so memorable that she will feel guilty of every single little thing. She will have this mindset that I am what she needs to hold dear. Her guilt will make her more of my puppet. Well, from there on, she will constantly desire to be around me."
As soon as he was done, he could feel a gaze on him, so he asked, "What is it?"
Aurora giggled. "Well, I was just shocked. I didn't expect you to present something like that with just me giving you an idea of it."
He didn't make much expression on his face.
She continued, "And your sister? I suppose you already thought of something for her too, correct?"
"Celeste will be a bit more of a problem, but if the keys move like they should, then it will all fall in the right place," Lucian said. "She always resented the attention I received as a druid child. My return—especially in this dramatic fashion—will only intensify that, but that is the key to her. I will make her feel like I hid a lot of things from her, making her angry in the process, doing the unthinkable like using her power to bully me. She's at Spellweaver Stage 1, meaning she just broke through, and my mom is an Arcanist stage mid. Her being in that stage makes it easier to have the power. I will taunt her and also make her lose control in rage; she will try to kill me. Well, then you will be the one to slip the truth out. By then, I will already be beaten to a pulp. I will use her undeniable guilt to my advantage. She will do everything in her power to seek my forgiveness and recognition, and well, you can think of the rest."
Then he heard Aurora shout, "Wow, your brain! What is in it? How can you come up with all of this in a whim?"
He didn't reply, just went and stood at the window side.
"Always the pragmatist," Aurora observed, though there was no judgment in her tone.
Lucian didn't reply. Instead, he moved to the bed, suddenly aware of how truly exhausted his young body was. Despite everything, he was still physically a child, with a child's limitations.
"Rest," Aurora said, her voice unusually gentle. "We will start the plan after a whole week of understanding the current progress in which the kingdom is in now."
As Lucian drifted toward sleep, he felt the weight of the mission ahead—the awakening ritual, the plans to conquer his mother and sister, to gain more understanding of this world. He planned to have Aurora read him everything about this world. There should be a library in this manor that has books that talk more about the world's scope, the three human emperors, and other races. But for now, surrounded by the familiar comforts of a home he'd never truly known, he allowed himself a moment of peace.
—————-
The next morning, Lucian woke to the sound of birds outside his window and the faint rustling of movement in his chamber. He lay still for a moment, orienting himself in the darkness of his blindness, allowing his other senses to paint the picture. Aurora was nearby, her footsteps light as she moved about the room, likely exploring more of his childhood possessions.
"Good morning," she said, sensing his wakefulness. "Your household is already quite active. Servants have been whispering outside your door for nearly an hour, though none have dared to enter."
Lucian sat up, running his fingers through his blood red colored hair. "They're curious," he said simply. "A missing heir returns in such dramatic fashion—it's the most excitement this manor has seen in years."
"And your sister?" Aurora asked, an edge of amusement in her voice. "I haven't detected her presence yet. Is she avoiding you?"
"Likely," Lucian replied as he rose from the bed. "Celeste never did handle change well. My return disrupts the new equilibrium she's established in my absence."
He dressed himself with practiced efficiency, despite his blindness. The clothes laid out for him were familiar—soft fabrics of high quality, but simpler than what might be expected of nobility. The Marcellus family had always preferred understated elegance to gaudy displays of wealth.
"What's our plan for today?" Aurora asked, seamlessly shifting into her role as his adopted daughter when a knock sounded at the door.
"Enter," Lucian called.
A servant appeared, bowing before saying, "Good morning, young master. Lady Seraphina requests your presence in the dining hall. It's almost time for breakfast."
Lucian nodded before replying, "Understood. I will be there in the next 10 minutes." The servant bowed again and left.