Chapter 36. Pervert

Augustine gave up on falling asleep, and just fumbled around the bed, slowly slipping out.

He remained in his sleepwear, then slipped on shoes. Augustine carried a candle around to illuminate the dark space, deciding to patrol down the hallway. He left his bedroom, with his soft footsteps treading down the rough carpet.

The butler continued to walk.

Slowly, he came to a gradual stop before a door. Through the cracks of the wooden door emitted a soft light, and particles of warmth embraced the air.

Augustine arched an eyebrow. He knocked on the door.

"Come in." A yawn came from inside.

The door swiftly opened, and Augustine was greeted by the partially illuminated bed chamber. He continued on holding his candle, while watching the black-haired nobleman, who sat straight before his desk. "You're not going to sleep?" The butler questioned.

Lucilline rubbed his eyes softly. "Not yet." His voice was hoarse.

Augustine fell silent. He entered the bed chamber, bringing some rays of the candlelight along with him. He stood behind the seated black-haired nobleman, who continued to work.

"What are you thinking of right now?" The silence was unsettling, so Augustine broke the ice first.

Lucilline's skin was pale against the candlelight, which highlighted the black circles underneath his languid eyes. His hands never stopped moving, checking paperwork one by one.

He yawned, "I'm thinking of the Crown Prince."

Subconsciously, Augustine's body tensed.

Why the Crown Prince? What did he discuss with you when we visited the Royal Palace? He knew that the Crown Prince was the third male lead. In the original novel, Daphnne had won the duel against the great villain, and became known as a female to be feared of. Lucilline's reputation was also destroyed along the way.

About a year after hearing about the heroine's achievements, Dimitri personally visited the heroine. He followed the heroine and understood the hardships of a commoner. In order to earn enough money to live in the inn and to stay in school, Daphnne took on a job as a herbalist.

When she was living in the orphanage, Daphnne loved to study the properties of flowers. If Azalea was a genius at the sword, then Daphnne was a genius at medicine. She became a herbalist, and often prescribed medicine for sick patients.

Sometimes, there would be no customers. Daphnne was unable to feed herself, and just sucked dew off of petals.

Learning about her difficulties, the Crown Prince felt that she deserved money. She was just a 15-year-old commoner, who had to face the cruel discrimination of society.

He gave a lot of money to the heroine, surprising her.

Dimitri became Daphnne's sugar father. His usual delivery of golden ingots for the heroine had surprised her. The Crown Prince told her to use it for school.

Before the heroine and male lead graduated, Dimitri witnessed Azalea's strength and took him in as a Royal Knight. One could say that it was because of him that the two protagonists did not suffer in society financially.

However...

Augustine's eyes flashed a strange light.

Due to Lucilline's intervention, somehow the plot had deviated a huge contrast. Lucilline did not bully the protagonists—no, he even befriended them. Additionally, he also gave them a huge sum of money at the beginning of the school year. This made the two protagonists lose their goal of getting a job. Since they had money, why would they need to earn money?

The great villain took the Crown Prince's original role.

Even more, the demons had invaded S Academy, destroying the building almost completely. This roused the attention of the Crown Prince a lot faster than the original novel did.

Now, he was involved in the current plot.

"I am thinking about something His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said." Lucilline sighed. "It has something to do with... my father."

Augustine was stunned.

His father...? Duke Rubius?

"His Royal Highness has asked me for a favour. He wants to borrow the Staff of Curses." Lucilline's eyelashes quivered. "However, father is still sick in bed. I'm afraid that I will have to disappoint His Royal Highness."

Augustine tilted his head.

"This is different from the original plot."

Lucilline looked at him. "Is it?"

The butler scoffed, "In the original plot, there was no demon invasion at S Academy. For some reason, I feel like the inclusion of reincarnators have somehow made the plot deviate... in a worse way."

The reincarnators were trying to prevent the death of many Lydia citizens.

However, they seem to be achieving the opposite effect.

"Now, I have no idea what's going to happen." Augustine could not even predict the future. In the original novel, the villain was doomed to bring havoc to Lydia Kingdom. However, seeing how the plot is continuing now, this probability have dwindled to almost nothing...

His eyes suddenly flashed.

"I... also wanted to tell you something." Augustine's voice quivered.

The sudden change in topic had surprised the black-haired nobleman. Lucilline lifted his head, looking at him. Shadows muddled over the contours of his pale face, but the wicked candlelight flickered over to soften his unblemished collarbones and smooth neck.

"What is it?" Lucilline asked.

His beautiful and enchanting face betrayed no emotions but for confusion.

Augustine's throat seemed to bobbed, as he quickly choked out, "I am sorry for trying to assassinate you in the first place."

Both black-haired males stared at each other.

The candlelight flickered, almost put out. The light seemed to tremble, embodying the terror and tension that jumbled Augustine's heart. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. No matter how hard he pushed, his chest constricted, and he had no words to say.

"Pfft." Lucilline's eyes squinted, as he tried his hard best not to laugh.

But a small snicker still escaped. Amusement trickled down his expression, highlighting his soft and delicate features. "What the hell..." he smiled.

Augustine was taken aback.

Was I not sincere enough? Was my apology taken as a joke? Seriously? He was dumbfounded, and was too afraid to voice his thoughts.

"I thought that we were long over that." Lucilline's golden eyes seemed to tickle the butler's heart. Those golden eyes were like a bountiful treasure, but also thinned like a sly cat. As if it was like a kitten's tail, it nuzzled Augustine and made his heart beat twice as fast.

Lucilline smiled, showing his pearly white teeth. "To be fair, the moment that I made you my butler, I began to trust you. Besides, you also had a good reason to assassinate me."

Augustine was lost in thought.

Really? Was I really that trustworthy? Did I really have a good reason to assassinate you?

"You're in a daze." Lucilline raised his eyebrows, his mouth curving upwards. His fatigue seemed to vanish, as if Augustine was a miraculous cup of coffee, waking him up from his perturbed slumber. "Were my words really that much of a surprise? I just spoke the truth."

He propped his chin on his palm, watching his butler with keen eyes.

"But since you're sorry about assassinating me, why don't you do me a favour?"

Augustine's attention was caught. He asked, "What kind of favour?"

Lucilline just smiled.

*****

Augustine had to go through all the paperwork.

Due to the construction of S Academy, Lucilline and the other students no longer had to attend school. The black-haired nobleman instead focused on the paperwork he left on the desk.

In the next morning, Augustine was practically the walking dead.

The black circles under his silver grey eyes were more prominent than Lucilline's.

Willow couldn't help but snort at his appearance. She was quite amused at his fatigue. "It was about time that you get a piece of my mind!"

Augustine did not even bother to retort back.

In the background was the usual argument of the two elder Rubius siblings. Scarletta wanted to pour warm milk in her morning coffee, and add a few sugar cubes. However, Zephyratt also had the same idea. They fought over the milk and jar of sugar.

In the end, the milk spilt all over the tablecloth.

Lucilline, with black lines running down his face, "..." My disappointment is immeasurable.

He slipped on his tailcoat, which fitted snugly at his milky pale wrist. The copper bell strung across his wrist had rung twice, and its copper surface was polished smoothly with a handkerchief. Lucilline abandoned his gloves, having applied makeup on the scars.

He looked perfectly fine now!

"Hmm? Young Master?" Willow was stunned. She noticed his now un-gloved hands, but didn't mention it. Instead, she noticed something else. "How come you're wearing your outer attire?"

The ends of Lucilline's black tailcoat had slung down to behind his knees, fitting his shoulders as a loose suit. He wore a white collar shirt underneath, with black pants showing off his slender legs. The attire made him appear like a mature nobleman, despite his age of just 15.

He walked towards the door, "I'll be leaving alone to make a purchase."

Willow was exasperated, "Jewelry again? By yourself? What about me, Young Master? Who will protect you and ensure your safety?"

Lucilline just chuckled. "I'm not weak. Besides, now that sister and brother are back home, what is there for me to fear?"

Indeed, word has already spread through the streets about the return of Scarletta Rubius and Zephyratt Rubius. Now, the reincarnators wouldn't dare to make a move on the great villain.

Behind him, Zephyratt whined, "Your big brother finally returned home. Aren't you going to spend some familial time with your big brother?"

"What about your big sister?" Scarletta piped in.

Lucilline's golden eyes flashed across them. "If you clean up the milk that you spilt, wash the tablecloth, dry and hang it, and also compensate for all the glass/wine cups that you've destroyed from yesterday... then I will think about negotiations." His smile was charming but was also cold.

Both Zephyratt and Scarletta, "..." There was no hope for them.

The door closed, and Lucilline left.

The black-haired nobleman had already memorized the layout of the traps. He was after all—a family member of the House of Rubius. There was no way he wouldn't know how to go in and out of the manor. Additionally, Augustine had left some footsteps in the dirt yesterday.

It guided Lucilline, and also made it easier for him to traverse across.

When he went across the 500,000 traps, Lucilline opened the gates, closed them behind himself, then locked it with his key.

The jewelry stores were waiting for him.

*****

Lucilline entered a shop—it contained a variety of clothing, from dresses to shoes to jewelry. Though there were many fancy dresses, none of them caught his eye. Instead, he focused on the jewelry aisle.

His father loved jewelry.

Although Lucilline never understood the thrill of wearing such expensive jewelry, he did not question his father's antics. In fact, Lucilline had never worn a single jewelry he'd purchased. It was all for Grand Duke Rubius' jewelry collection.

Lucilline paused in front of an opal blue ring.

His eyes looked at it, lingering longer than he did with the others...

All of a sudden, the sound of frantic footsteps came from behind him. Lucilline was stunned, as he was instantly confronted with a familiar pair of hazel brown eyes—"Percival!" He blurted out, and long locks of chestnut brown hair flooded his vision.

The said-nobleman pursed his lips.

His handsome face revealed a slimmer of anxiousness.

His sharp eyebrows furrowed, and he wanted to say something. However, he was interrupted, as a crowd of footsteps chased after him—"Have you seen our Young Master? Yes, he is Percival Delta, the only son and child of Grand Duke Delta. He has long brown hair... a tall and lean build... oh, you've seen him?"

Percival was like an alerted cat, who'd been cornered.

Lucilline saw this. From the corner of his eye, he noticed two changing rooms.

"Are you being chased?" He whispered.

Percival was taller, but was like a meek young man. He quietly nodded.

With no other choice, Lucilline quickly pulled him aside into the changing rooms, while also taking a stack of dresses along. He pulled the curtains closed, then plopped a free hand onto the brown-haired nobleman's head, reassuring him, "If you don't want to get caught, then do what I tell you."

Percival agreed without hesitation.

Throughout the shop, a bunch of servants—butlers had rushed around. They ran around the shop, trying to find their hidden Young Master.

"Have you seen Young Master Delta around here?"

"He has a tall and lean build. He is very refined."

"Young Master Delta is missing. He was last seen in this store."

The footsteps had approached the changing room. Percival held his breath, not daring to let out a sound. He was sweating from head to toe. He was definitely going to get found...!

All of a sudden, his head was pushed down. "Get down!" A soft voice hissed at him.

The head butler had a grey moustache, donned underneath his straight and high-arched nose. His grey hair was swept to the left, signifying his old age. He stood before the changing room, which had its curtain closed.

Without hesitation, he swung open the curtain!

—There was nobody inside.

"Young Master Delta is not in this changing room." He sighed in disappointment. The head butler's direction of sight suddenly changed to the room next to it.

The head butler's eyebrows furrowed.

His moustache twitched, as he stared at the second changing room. For some reason, the head butler's instincts told him not to open it. However, he fought against his instincts, and swept open the curtain—

There was a beautiful young lady, her face as if carved from pure jade. Her black hair ran down her back, wavy and long like a running river of spilt ink, contrasting against her pale face. She wore a stunning daisy white blouse, and a streaming crimson red skirt. The long skirt highlighted her slender waist, and the straps were tied together into a splendid bow.

However, the head butler did not have time to appreciate her looks.

This beautiful young lady was in the middle of dressing, with the left arm of her white blouse slipping down, revealing her delicate and milky shoulder—

Instantly, her cheeks turned red. "Pervert!" A frail scream broke through the shop.

The head butler had no time to process what'd happened. He was abruptly thrown out of the shop, along with the rest of the servants.

The shop owner had denounced, "Lecherous men are not allowed in my establishment!" She then slammed close the door.

The head butler, "..." I really didn't mean to.

The shop owner had apologized to the red-dressed lady, who had only blushed and looked away. After leaving the beautiful lady to continue on her own, the changing room's curtain had shut close again.

Lucilline sighed, tugging the blouse up his arm.

"You can come out now," he lifted his skirt.

Percival crawled out from underneath the skirt. When Lucilline had pushed him down, the brown-haired nobleman did not expect to be snuck underneath the former's legs!

He had witnessed Lucilline changing.

The latter was impatient, and directly took off his tailcoat suit. He revealed his entire topless body, which made Percival revere at the sight of his pale and unblemished skin. Thankfully, Lucilline did not take off his pants. Otherwise, the brown-haired nobleman really may have suffocated himself to death.

"Are you alright?" Lucilline worriedly asked.

He took Percival as his own little brother. In order to protect him, he pushed his little brother underneath a maiden skirt! What if he was accidentally strangled?

Unbeknownst to him, Percival couldn't control his racing thoughts. His mind flashed back to Lucilline's fair and pale nape, soft and delicate like a swan's snowy white neck. His heart felt like it was hammering against his chest, like a bird thrashing at its cage.

"Huh?" He responded to the earlier question. He almost got a nosebleed. "Yeah, I'm doing good!"