Chapter 30. You Should Slack Off

Azalea groaned, as he crawled up from the ground.

His muscles ached, with abdominal pain pressing against him. His white hair fluttered softly, as his handsome face scrunched up. He hissed, "What's going on?"

Thankfully, he wasn't caught up in the demon's attack of scalding fire. If he was caught in it, he would've long been burnt into a puddle of flesh and evaporated blood. Azalea tightened his hold on the blade, as he watched the demon's wings flap a couple of times. Slowly, the demon landed back in the corridor.

Destruction paved way throughout the destroyed school.

Azalea gritted his teeth. There was no sight of life within the blast of the demon's fire. He could only hope that nobody was caught in it...

Indeed, there was no casualties.

Daphnne coughed up smoke, feeling an itch creeping up her lungs. She could hardly even speak, as if something clogged up her throat. Willow worriedly patted her back, with a warm gaze in those once indifferent eyes.

"Continue the plan." From far away, Lucilline's voice remained strong and commanding. His figure was slender, delicate, and fragile. No one would have imagined him swinging a spear around his torso in such a thrilling manner.

The black-haired nobleman stretched his limbs. "Take down the demon."

Willow and her extreme five senses could hear him from far away. She weighed the Sword of Gravity in her hands, and silently whispered, "Yes, Young Master."

The demon squinted its eyes, trying to see past the smoke.

All of a sudden, the sound of racing footsteps dotted the cobblestone ground. The demon was on high alert, recognizing it as a sneak attack. It wondered which opponent was running at him... The footsteps sounded heavy and harsh... as if it's body was carrying a ton of heavy weight.

The demon understood. It must be the white-haired maidservant.

After all, she was carrying the Sword of Gravity. Even if her body could withstand it, she could not possibly conceal her footsteps.

Indeed, the fog and dust cleared up.

It really was Willow who charged straight at it. The demon smiled, with its mouth stretching to both sides of its face. Sending yourself to death!

The demon reached out to the maidservant.

Its wings spread out into million paths of shadows, all splitting out and haunting the maidservant. They were all hands—reaching to grab and pummel Willow. Even if the latter does have the Sword of Gravity, it would take a lot of precision to accurately blow up all the demon's hands.

There was no way she'd be able to do that! Each hand was at a different speed interval, making it difficult to decide which to cut down first and next. By the time she cuts a few down, another thousand would already pierce her through the back—

The demon cackled at its miraculous plan, "YOU'RE DEAD!!!"

"No, you're dead." The sound of a deep baritone voice had muttered behind it. It held a tone full of indifference and killing intent. At that moment, the demon could feel its spirit thrashing from the sudden scare. Augustine didn't even bat an eye, as he swung the spear that Lucilline had a second ago. The blade flashed like a firefly in the haunting woods, only glowing for a brief moment before extinguished—

The demon's head decapitated easily, dropping down onto the ground with a loud resounding CRASH!

Augustine didn't even wince, as he watched the shadows begin to fade and disperse into light.

The demon was slain.

The demon was dead.

"...you..." Willow's mouth was agape. A thousand words ran across her mind in an instant. Her pale face scrunched up in dissatisfaction, and she blurted out, "How dare you steal my spotlight! I was supposed to be the one to deal the finishing blow!"

Augustine didn't bother arguing with her.

He coldly fixed his leather black gloves, with the material tight around his skin. "I was merely doing what Lucilline—I mean, Young Master requested of me."

"Don't you dare give me that butler act!" Willow found it absolutely horrible.

She clearly had the Sword of Gravity—a great relic passed down in the Royal family of Lydia Kingdom. So how come she was used as live bait?

"It's called a strategic distraction." Augustine could read her thoughts loud and clear. "Even an assassin like me can be useful for Young Master."

Willow wasn't having it and began ranting at the butler.

Daphnne was stunned at the maidservant's outrage. She picked up her rose-hilt sword from the ground, looking at the patterns of roses with a discerning gaze.

In the background, Dimitri almost dropped to the ground. "...the demon is finally dead?" He'd never encountered such a large demon with such a small group of soldiers—he meant allies. If it were only him and his Royal Knights, most of the knights' lives would have been squandered off to the devil.

"We did it." Lucilline sighed in relief.

"How did you even come up with such a plan, Young Master of the Rubius House?" Dimitri arched an eyebrow. He thought that Willow could finish off the demon by herself. He didn't expect Augustine to intervene and slice its head off cleanly.

While the demon was busy breathing fire at the building, Augustine had taken Lucilline's spear, crawled to the edges of the hallway and sneaked up. The demon didn't notice him, and Willow's loud footsteps were used as a distraction.

Lucilline just looked away. "Hmm, I also wanted Willow to have a flashy killing blow."

Dimitri was stunned. "Then why did such an ending happen?"

The black-haired nobleman did not answer. Lucilline turned his face to look at his feet. His golden eyes glimmered softly, as if the gold was melting into morning dew. A strand of black hair fell across his pale and unblemished face, landing right in the middle of his forehead. Of course I can't tell you that it's because I don't want to see my maid getting hurt.

He softly coughed.

Lucilline directed all the attention onto himself, "Let's leave?"

*****

The medical staff consisted of mages and nurses.

While resting in the hospital, Lucilline sat calmly in his chair. By his side, a nestle of chestnut brown hair drooped lowly like a pitiful puppy. Percival lowered his head. Behind their seats was a window, with it slightly cracked open, revealing a small gust of wind. The curtains fluttered softly, like feathers pondering lightly onto a calm surface of water.

"...Percival?" Lucilline nudged the brown-haired nobleman.

"Huh? Ah, yes?" Percival lifted his head. His hazel brown eyes seemed to be caught in a daze, and finally regained some clarity after looking at the black-haired nobleman.

"Don't worry about your arm," Lucilline said. "The nurses will be able to fix it."

Percival was stunned. He hurriedly shook his head, exposing a small portion of his slender neck, "That's not what I'm worried about."

"Huh?" Lucilline arched an eyebrow, "Then what are you worried about?"

He eyed a strand of brown hair, which was sticking up from Percival's head. The latter seemed unaware of it, and just pursed his lips together to form a thin line. Percival adjusted his white woven gloves, with small specks of dust and dirt scattered. It made the former feel discomfort, as if he should scramble in his seat.

"...it's just that I was basically watching everything play out from inside the classroom." Percival admitted. His chest heaved once. "I just felt so useless. If only I could've done something to help."

He wanted to add more. If only he hadn't been an idiot and got his arm broken. If only he could have been more helpful. If only he could have been stronger and not become a disgrace of House Delta...

All of a sudden, a light weight fell on his head.

Percival was stunned. His pupils dilated, as they fixated on the black gloved hand in front of him. Lucilline didn't bother explaining himself, fixing the strand of brown hair on the nobleman. "Don't move." His voice was calm and without fluctuations. Lucilline focused on the hair, with his gloved hand patting down the uneven strands.

When he finally finished adjusting the hair, he smiled to himself. "Why are you worrying about other people? Worry about yourself first."

The row of white teeth was blinding.

Percival slowly recovered from his stupor, "But-"

"I don't care!" Lucilline huffed. His golden eyes twinkled with a dazzling glow, as if he was really furious. "If you truly wanted to help us, you would have taken better care of yourself!" He began to scold the brown-haired nobleman, regardless of the surprised and innocent look on his face, "If only you'd cared for yourself more, your arm wouldn't have broken! Don't you know how to dodge? Don't you know how to not engage in battle? Don't you know how to run away?"

Percival couldn't even sneak a word in. I just wanted to help... What is this about me taking better care of myself?

"Aren't you too harsh on yourself? Don't you know when to take a break?" Lucilline's eyebrows slanted downwards, "The next time I see you getting yourself hurt, I will make sure to punish you—extremely heavily!"

Finally, Lucilline took a breath. He stopped ranting, but his cheeks were flushed from being out of breath. It brought some colour to the clean white canvas.

"Since you're injured, you should rest, instead of demanding more from yourself." He fiddled with his gloves, and his voice lowered. "You should slack off some times."

The last sentence seemed to crush Percival's little heart.

All he'd ever heard from his father was to work harder, to achieve better results, to bring honour to their family, to show other noble Houses that House Delta wasn't to be looked down upon. Just because they have brown hair—like most other commoners—doesn't mean that they aren't noble.

"Mmn." Percival gently nodded. I won't push myself too hard.

Lucilline blinked. "Well," he inhaled. "As long as you understand."

Soon enough, the nurses came around to them. Seeing Percival's arm wrapped in a sling, they quickly gestured to one of their companions.

A woman donned in a white nurse gown had stepped forward.

She looked ordinary, but her actions clearly said otherwise. The nurse placed a hand on Percival's broken arm—it was just a light tap—but a light glowed around the skin. Within an instant, the broken arm had fully recovered.

"You're a mage...?" Percival was stunned.

The burning pain rooted deep in his bones seemed to vanish without a trace. This could only be achieved through magic—which only mages are capable of doing so.

"Yes," the nurse bowed, "I will go check up on other patients now, so if you would excuse me." She and the other nurses left, with their figures blending in the white concrete walls.

"In Lydia Kingdom, mages tend to work in the hospital as nurses because of how easily they can treat patients." Lucilline informed the brown-haired nobleman, seeing his stunned look at his healed arm. "As long as mages continue to work in the hospital, there is basically no wound that cannot be treated in Lydia Kingdom."

Percival nodded. He knew this, but didn't think he'll ever get to experience it firsthand.

"How does your arm feel now?" Lucilline was curious.

Percival clenched his left hand into a fist, feeling his healed arm, "It feels like it had reverted back to normal."

"Really?" Lucilline gently poked at the arm, "Are any of the senses broken?"

"No," Percival flinched. His arm twitched twice when being poked at. He could feel his blood rushing to his head from the contact. Wherever he was touched, it felt incredibly hot and burning... as if a fire scalded his skin. But there was no burn or mark.

"Oh," Lucilline examined without a care, "Mages are truly incredible, huh."

He withdrew his hand—to the brown-haired nobleman's disappointment.

"Hmm, I think the others are finished treated." Lucilline perked up. The sound of footsteps went down the hallway, and a few familiar figures came to view.

"Lucilline, we're back!" Daphnne cheered.

Behind her was Willow, Augustine, and Azalea. When they had arrived at the hospital, the maidservant had returned the Sword of Gravity back to the Crown Prince. Dimitri separated from them and returned to his Royal Knights. To his expectations, they weren't able to capture November.

Lucilline flashed a small smile, "You're done with the treatment?"

Augustine scoffed, "Willow and I didn't need any treatment. Only the protago—I mean, only Azalea and Daphnne had injuries. Other than that, we're all fine."

The heroine jumped up and down like an excited rabbit. She laughed, "I didn't know that magic was this cool! The nurse only touched my jaw... and then my teeth had regrown! Mages are sooo cool... I would love to study under one of them..."

Behind her, Willow had a dark face. You already have me, yet you want another teacher? Her heart felt uneasy, so she just turned away, not daring to look at the heroine any longer.

Meanwhile, Azalea's amethyst purple eyes were scanning Lucilline, making sure that the latter was fine. His gaze landed longer on Percival, as if trying to assess something. Azalea meant to say something, opening his mouth but then closing it.

Forget it.