Chapter 35. Forever an Assassin

The clock surfed on the tremors, and its hands clicked to the next stop.

Lucilline's eyes continued to widen, as his irises flooded with the currents of liquid gold. The same sentence of a low baritone voice continued to circulate throughout his mind. "I don't like it there. I am very happy that I came here and met you."

He laid his sight on the butler, who nervously stood there like a toddler waiting to be punished.

Lucilline found it quite amusing. He jumped out from his seat, standing face to face to the butler. Though Augustine was taller than him by a few heads, it did not decrease his sense of intimidation.

His long black hair fell back on his thin shoulders, and his bangs was tucked behind a pearly ear. As he walked closer, the butler inched backwards, unsure of what to do. The fragrance of light vanilla had exuded in the bed chamber. It floated like feathers drifting upon soft waters, with delicate threads of white knitted together, forming faint clouds.

"What are you scared of?" Lucilline inched closer.

Augustine sweated inwardly. He felt that his words earlier were a bit inappropriate. "I am very happy that I came here and met you." It sounded like an awkward confession, which neither of them were prepared for.

"I-" His eyes sank, and the silver glare of his irises diminished.

"I was wrong." Augustine blurted out the words with reluctance. "I didn't think properly before I said... that. It's just that I prefer this world over my original one..."

All of a sudden, a small smile fell on Lucilline's lips.

He cut off the butler, "I don't think you're wrong." Lucilline's eyes always held a mysterious glint, which nobody was capable of discerning. He stepped closer, slapping a hand onto Augustine's shoulder, having to reach his arm higher, "If you like it here so much, then stay here. Don't leave."

The butler hung down his head.

Shadows clouded over his face, making it difficult to see what expression was on that cold and handsome face of his.

All Augustine knew was that his eyes begun to sting, and a layer of mist clouded over those grey irises.

"...thank you." He choked out.

He extended out a hand, clutching onto Lucilline's gloved hand, which lingered on his shoulder. Augustine's short but fluffy black hair had hung down, with the bangs blocking his eyesight and forehead. His chin was sharp and rough, showing off the outlines of his handsome face.

Augustine held the gloved hand on his shoulder.

The black-haired nobleman just looked at him with a smile.

All of a sudden, a loud noise erupted from the backyard—"What the hell! What are the First and Second Young Masters doing? You can't set the table on fire here!" The voice was of absolute familiarity. Willow had returned back in the Rubius manor, her black and white dress swishing in the ashes.

Upon hearing the loud noise, Augustine hurriedly let go of Lucilline's hand.

The latter took back his hand, feeling the every wrinkle on his glove.

"The garden caught on fire! Get me a bucket of water!" Willow yelled, with a fierce emotion across her pale eyes.

Scarletta and Zephyratt looked at each other, "I'll get the water before you!" "No, I will!"

"Stop arguing!" Willow screamed. The two elder siblings ran off, like puppies with their tails wagging behind. When they returned with two buckets of water, Willow took the buckets and directly flung it onto the trees—which caught on fire.

This continued for a while.

Lucilline's eyes held a glint of curiosity. He noticed a piece of flower tucked behind Willow's ear. It was the petal of a daphne shrub.

Subconsciously, his mind flashed back to the heroine—

Before he knew it, Lucilline's ears flashed a bright shade of red. Augustine saw this, and became instantly amused. A small grin fell on his lips, before quickly flashing into his usual cold expression.

"Let's go greet Willow!" Lucilline brushed off the blush on his ears, then hurriedly added.

The fire in the garden had been extinguished. It turned out that Zephyratt had snatched the match box out of Scarletta's hands, lighting up the match. However, the latter had knocked him off, leading to the second sibling to drop the lit match into the garden.

Thankfully, Willow returned just in time to prevent the fire from spreading.

"How was your visit to Daphnne and Azalea?" Lucilline asked.

Willow had subconsciously touched the flower behind her ear, "It was good. My brother... I mean, Azalea had managed to settle down in a better inn. So did Daphnne."

"That's good." Lucilline smiled.

He was glad that the two main characters had moved to a better shelter, instead of that rundown inn. Winter was coming soon, and Lucilline didn't want them to catch a cold.

"Young Master, look! Daphnne gave me a flower as thanks." Willow pointed at the flower tucked behind her ear.

Lucilline saw this from a long time ago. He gave a teasing smile, "You really like it don't you?"

Willow quickly looked away. "Don't joke with me, Young Master!"

All of a sudden, she came back to herself. "Now that the First and Second Young Masters came back to the residence, I must prepare a big meal! We must celebrate their return!" Willow quickly fled, and her dress flew in the wind.

As a fellow servant, Augustine also chased after her to prepare the meal.

*****

"Your cooking skills never fail to impress me, Willow." Scarletta praised. She sat around the new dining table, which was layered in table cloth to prevent any spills. On the table were several dishes of well-prepared dishes.

She sliced small pieces of steak, eating delicately.

Across from her, Zephyratt also ate with neat slices. His curls of mahogany red hair had fell on his shoulders, as he ate quietly. "Indeed. It is never home without Willow's craftsmanship."

Willow smiled, standing at the corner of the dining table. "Thank you for your kind words, First and Second Young Master." She straightened the corners of her dress, "However, Butler Augustine had also contributed in the preparations of the dishes. Without him, I would surely never be able to make such fine dishes."

Both the Rubius elder siblings blinked twice.

They turned to look at the masculine, cold, and handsome man standing next to Willow.

"You should've said something, Butler Augustine!" Zephyratt scoffed. "If you just continued to stand there, would anyone have given you credit?"

Augustine stood straight. He nodded, with his tight suit fitting on his body. "Understood."

"I had no idea that my dear Lucy recruited a servant while I was away." Scarletta smiled, wiping her cherry red lips with a handkerchief. "You know, in the past, our old man had kicked out all of the manor's servants due to some conflicts. Only Willow managed to remain due to the Sequence Contract with my dear Lucy. You're the first servant ever since to be recruited."

The butler was stunned.

He had never learned of such news in the original novel. In fact, he'd always wondered why there was only Willow and him in the manor.

He never knew that it was Duke Rubius who kicked the original servants out...!

"Stop speaking and eat." Zephyratt scolded.

"Shut up." Scarletta retorted, her eyes rolling with sarcastic tones.

Sitting in between the two siblings, Lucilline calmly sliced a piece of steak. His curtain of eyelashes had fluttered, and he sighed.

Hearing his sigh, both the siblings fell silent. They were tense—they mustn't make their dear Lucy any more upset! They'd broken the original dining table, many glass plates & cups, even almost set the garden on fire... and argued several times.

They could sense that Lucilline's patience was running out.

"I didn't mean to make Lucy angry," Zephyratt inwardly sweated. "I really didn't mean to. Please believe in me, Lucy...!"

Scarletta also wanted to gain favour, "Me too, Lucy!"

Clang. The sound of soft glass fell onto the metallic plates. Lucilline placed his knife and fork back down on his plate, and his golden eyes sprinkled with dissatisfaction. His cherry red lips pursed into a thin line.

Finally, he sighed, "Just eat."

The two siblings quickly stuffed themselves with the plates of dishes.

*****

Augustine tried his best to fall asleep. He had to prepare the quilts for the returned two Rubius siblings. After cleaning their bed chambers, the butler finally had a time of rest.

However, he had been shaken upon seeing two heads of mahogany red hair—sneaking down the hallway. It turned out that the two siblings were trying to sneak into their little brother's room. "I want to sleep with my dear Lucy!" They made temper tantrums and cried, but were returned back to their bed chambers by Willow, who was nearby at that time.

After this, Augustine tried to fall asleep.

His own room was not as grand as the Rubius siblings. After all, he was a mere servant—no one worthy of care and cherish in the household.

The night was dark.

Augustine closed his eyes, and his mind drifted back to the conversation with Lucilline and him earlier. "What was your original world like?"

—Hell.

At a young age, Augustine often met the cold eyes of his parents. It reminded him of the Abyss, like a light that was snuffed out in the frigid ice. They didn't care about him—he was taken over by his dear old grandmother, who always needed a few minutes to stand up from her chair.

"One day, these old bones of mine can no longer support you. My grandson, Augustine Yoosung—I only wish for you to have a good life."

At night, their old shabby cement house had holes in the walls, with the cool breeze washing through. It annoyed Augustine.

He had no purpose in life but to repay others.

When he beat up gangsters and steal their belongings for a living, Augustine was invited to join an assassination group. They kill people who've committed crimes and wrongdoings. The group taught Augustine more details on how to fight.

Augustine became an assassin.

His photographic memory became useful for once. He earned a lot of money. He could feed his grandmother properly, and even afford her surgery.

But— "Why?" His grandmother cried. Her face was pale and full of wrinkles, thin like soaked paper. Augustine swore that he could see the creaking bones beneath her old skin and flesh. "I wanted you to have a good life. I don't want you to live such a life." Her thin body shook on the spot.

Augustine was afraid that she'd faint and fall over, so he supported her.

His grandmother's bony hands clenched his wrists, and felt around his calloused hands. Those hands which had once been used to take care of her—had transformed into hands that wielded guns and knives.

"Am I a bad person, grandmother?" Augustine couldn't help but ask.

His grandmother stopped shaking. Even though she was as weak as a pile of old bones, and would likely get blown over like a leaf in the blizzard, she bit her lips to prevent the sobs from choking out.

"You're not a bad person. You're my grandson." She stated.

Augustine was not convinced. His hands had long been stained with blood, viscous and sticky liquids, which cling to his skin and couldn't be washed off. "I was my parents' son, but they still didn't want me."

"I gave birth to your goddamn mother, but she still forgot about me." His grandmother retorted. She gave a weak smile, "Once you become an assassin, you will forever be an assassin. Those lives you've taken will stick to you... and the blood can never truly be fully washed off."

But she laughed like a madwoman. "But Augustine, don't be afraid. Just because your future is horrible doesn't mean you are a horrible person!"

Her laughter still rung at Augustine's ears, even after her death.

Surgery couldn't even save that pack of old bones. Augustine continued being an assassin. He had no purpose in earning money, but he couldn't leave even if he wanted to. Life became ordinary and boring. It was dark and mundane. All the colours seemed to sap out of his life.

Until—

"Lydia's Blooming Love?" He'd found a novel sitting on a bench.

The cover was full of azalea flowers—beautiful, pink, and colourful. It seemed to be the exact opposite of himself. Perhaps that was why he was attracted to it in the first place. One cannot possibly resist their own curiosity, nor the strangeness laid bare before them.

Augustine was invested in the novel.

It was the story of a girl named Daphnne, who was raised in an orphanage. Along with her childhood friend, Azalea, they move from the countryside to the Capital City of Lydia Kingdom, where they meet a lot of obstacles to their love story.

To be honest, Augustine could never sense any romantic attraction between the two characters.

They never had any romantic interactions—but the author insisted before the end that they married, and had a happy ending.

This confused Augustine, but he didn't think much of it.

The great villain—Lucilline Rubius had stalked the heroine, frightening her quite a bit. He even went so far as to pour hot boiling water over her during the Swordsmanship Tournament. He beat up the male leads, and then the Duke Rubius manor was burnt down by an unknown force.

Augustine thought that it was retribution; karma.

When Lydia Kingdom—on the verge of total destruction—was saved by the heroine and her male leads, the novel ended. Augustine had frowned, closing the novel and seeing the colourful cover. Lydia's Blooming Love had surely made him feel more alive. He could finally think more—have more opinions. He too, became more colourful, just like the cover.

Then, he was smashed to death by a falling tower.

When Augustine reincarnated into the novel, his mundane self felt surprised. Was it possible for him to start all over again?

He joined the organization of reincarnators. When they split into two teams, Augustine went over to the K side. He never wanted to kill anyone. It was just his job. He was ordered to assassinate the great villain—Lucilline Rubius. Augustine didn't think much of it.

It was just a job. He needed to kill people.

He tried to reason himself as to why he needed to kill the great villain.

He shouldn't have hurt other people because of the negative emotions accumulated inside himself. Yet, ironically, Augustine still killed many people as an assassin.

Maybe, this was why he was so hesitant on killing the great villain in the first place.

It was just a job. He couldn't care less if Lucilline lived or died.

Augustine's eyes opened, meeting the ceiling of the Rubius manor. However, he swore now that he will protect his master no matter what. The assassin became a protector.

How laughable.