Chapter 37. The Demon in His Dreams

Lucilline had changed back to his black suit attire.

He abandoned the white blouse and crimson red skirt, neatly piling it up with the other hung dresses in the store. Percival did not dare to peek, afraid that he might offend the black-haired nobleman. "Well, we can now discuss." Lucilline coughed.

He straightened the hem of his suit, "Just why were you being chased?"

Percival rubbed his high-arched nose.

He felt a little embarrassed, "Ever since the incident at S Academy, my father... he prohibited me from leaving the residence. I was quite rebellious, and decided to sneak out. However, I am not the best at sneaking, and may have alerted a few of the butlers."

Lucilline just let out an "ahh", and nodded along.

Not only commoners were anxious about the demons, but even people with high nobility like Grand Duke Delta was also.

"I don't dare to return now." Percival lowered his head, guiltily admitting that he hadn't thought too much of it before leaving. "I'm afraid that father might be furious with me..."

Lucilline's eyes squinted.

He pulled at the corners of his lips, smiling, "You don't have to go back."

Percival: ???

He coughed, "Then... where..."

*****

Percival was sent to the same inn where Azalea and Daphnne lived in. The brown-haired nobleman was stunned, but grew accustomed to it. He entered the inn, deciding to move in for the temporary being.

Lucilline had bid him farewell, then left to continue finding a suitable jewelry piece.

He skipped near the stores, with his eyes skimming past every type of shop. Soon enough, Lucilline had purchased a few necklaces, feeling quite pleased with himself. Father will surely enjoy today's purchase! Just imagining the potential of Grand Duke's good mood, the black-haired nobleman couldn't help but add a little hop to his skip.

All of a sudden, the sound of urgent sounds sailed from the horizon—

"What's that sound?" Lucilline's eyebrows furrowed, and his good mood had vanished, like a small balloon which had popped into nothing.

He decided to inch closer to the sound.

It sounded like a commotion was going on... near a high-rising building...

At a closer look, Lucilline recognized the building. It was the Central base of the Holy Church Organization. The building was shaped like a general church, but decorated in grand accessories and expensive embellishments. A giant golden cross hung from the top of the high-end rooftop.

Normally, some civilians would wander outside and worship to the cross. The entire Holy Church Organization was recognized as a divine association.

However, this time clearly differed.

"The Church is a scam! They won't protect us from the demons!" A woman screamed. She carried a wooden sign, with the words CHURCH = REAL ADEMONS smeared in black marker. The ink on the wood seemed to drip down the sign, like a disgusting thing staining nature's products.

"You promised that you'd protect us!" A rally of onset protests had roared, crashing like waves upon the empty shoreline.

"We're all going to die because of you!" Glass shattered. Protestors began to throw their belongings at the windows, resulting in an ultimate current of crashes. "We demand to see the Head Priest! We demand for explanations! Is it secure in Lydia Kingdom? Have the demons been tracked down yet? Are you truly capable of protecting us?"

Another shout of protests concurred, influencing another wave of violence.

Lucilline was incredulous at this development. He wanted to step in and intervene, but a heavy tug shook at his shoulder.

The black-haired nobleman was caught off guard.

He clearly did not hear any footsteps, so how was anyone behind him—

There was a woman with blonde locks and curly shoulder-length hair. Her crimson red attire had reminded Lucilline of a familiar person...

"Teacher!" He blurted.

Miss A. had pursed her lips into a thin line. She looked at the wave of protests, the throwing glass, the vandalism, and the constant swearing. Her shoulders heaved, and she let out a heavy sigh. "Let's get out of here first. It isn't safe."

The harsh sounds of screeching and rough protests had faded in the distance.

Miss A. had led Lucilline away to a distant restaurant, taking a seat on one of the tables. Once they had both settled down, the black-haired nobleman began to talk.

"I didn't expect to see you, Miss A.." Lucilline exclaimed.

"Me neither, Young Master Rubius." Miss A. smoothened her red dress. "To think that a regular stroll around the street would earn me the presence of Young Master Rubius... I am truly lucky today. I am very grateful to see that you're safe."

Her face had wrinkled from concern, "Ever since what had happened at S Academy... well, the public had been set in turmoil."

Lucilline nodded.

He had seen what'd happened. The demon invasion had alerted the common people, and fear began to unravel itself in the depths of their hearts. If a bunch of demons managed to invade S Academy—a school designed for the rich and talented nobles—then what were the chances of the demons invading their originally peaceful and happy lives?

Probably very high.

Even until now, the Holy Church Organization still haven't shown results. They promised to keep things under control, but they haven't managed to track down a single demon.

This had roughened up the people's trust of them.

"S Academy suffered a heavy amount of damage." Miss A. sighed. "I doubt that the construction will be able to finish quite fast."

She wore a tired smile. "In fact, I have a feeling that I won't be able to return back to work for a while."

Lucilline understood. When Miss A. said "a while", she probably meant for over a year.

"Yes," he nodded. "I was there to personally witness the disaster. The school had been severely damaged. The walls were burned... and the ceiling was on the verge of collapse. The construction team might just have to tear down the entire school, and rebuild it from zero."

His pale and delicate face betrayed his emotions. A slimmer of sadness seeped out from his quivering curtain of eyelashes.

Miss A. saw this, and heaved another sigh.

"I am just as upset as you are, Young Master Rubius. I have been teaching at S Academy for years now. As time passed, I've also naturally grown attached to the school."

Not to mention, due to the destruction of the school, she will have to give up on teaching there. Miss A. would have to search for another job.

Lucilline studied her weariness. It seemed as if a mountain pile of stress was loaded onto her shoulders. No matter how she tried to shrug it off, the weight still remained heavily on Miss A.'s back, as if sticking to her until her next life.

"This may come out of the blue," Lucilline beamed, "But I am quite curious about your perspective on this situation, Miss A."

He crossed a slender leg over the other, "How do you feel about the Holy Church Organization?"

The question caught Miss A. by surprise. It took a while for the weary ex-teacher to recover, patting her chest down with some difficulties.

She sighed, "As your former teacher, I would like to remain as a neutral and unbiased person... but the recent lack of achievements from the Holy Church just shakes up my trust in them. Right now, I just find them untrustworthy, unreliable, and inexperienced."

"To be fair, the Holy Church haven't been active until recently. This is because there have been absolutely no sightings of demonic activity in the past. Lydia Kingdom was in a state of welcoming peace. This probably made the Holy Church relax their guards."

"That was why they were unprepared for the sudden offensive." Miss A. studied the concepts.

She laid down what she'd concluded on the table. Looking into Lucilline's eyes, Miss A. tried to find even a sliver of his thoughts.

As expected, all there was was a natural smile.

"I see." Lucilline smiled. "What you'd just said so far sounded quite collective and logical." Almost too logical for my taste.

"Thank you for taking the time to talk with me, Miss A." Lucilline showed his business-like smile.

Miss A. hurriedly shook her head. "I don't mind at all! To be in Young Master Rubius' presence is a great honour." She stood up from the table, "I shall get going now. I still have plans later tonight—I will be doing some job-searching."

The former teacher just waved goodbye, and left.

She didn't even give Lucilline a chance to propose an offer. The black-haired nobleman was exasperated. Are all teachers so noble and generous? She didn't even let me offer any help... If Miss A. wasn't in such a rush, he would have searched for any companies up for hire, then would have suggested Miss A. to them for employment.

I guess Miss A. just has a big heart, and doesn't want me to go through the trouble. Lucilline stood up from the table as well.

He patted his bags of purchased jewelry, and left for home.

*****

"You're back, Young Master!" Willow smiled like the sun. "Thankfully you've arrived, otherwise I wouldn't know what to do without you!"

Lucilline, "..." Aren't you over-exaggerating things?

His eyes skimmed over to his older brother and sister, who were arguing in the backgrounds.

"Brother and sister couldn't have made things too difficult for you two, right, Willow?" Despite his belief, Lucilline couldn't help but ask sceptically.

Willow just yawned, her eyes flickering over to the butler.

Augustine did not comment.

He was forced to groom and trim the garden with Willow—over five times. For some odd reason, the two elder Rubius siblings decided that the garden was a suitable place for them to settle their disputes. Their spears shaved and destroyed majority of the plants.

Willow had to retrieve seeds from the warehouse, planting new plants and diligently watering them. Well—only for the seeds to be trampled underneath Scarletta and Zephyratt's boots.

"I missed you, Lucy!" Zephyratt hugged his younger brother, "You have no idea how difficult life is with that murderous hag around! She keeps on wanting to separate me from you, Lucy! I don't know what I'd do without you!"

"Don't listen to this scheming rat!" Scarletta retorted. She pulled the older brother's arms away from the black-haired nobleman. Her eyes softened when landing on Lucilline's face.

"Don't be scared, okay, Lucy?" She reassured. "Big sister will make sure to eliminate the bad guy for good!"

"What bad guy?" Zephyratt scoffed. "Clearly, you're the bad guy here!"

Lucilline had automatically zoned out their arguments. This ingenious skill seemed to prove to be quite useful, especially under the constant hammering of his siblings' fighting.

At nighttime, when he finished taking a bath, Lucilline took a step outside in the hallway. He'd overcome the sound of his siblings arguing again—

"Why are you pressing your ear against the wall?"

"Shh! I heard my Lucy humming..."

"Are you kidding me! You fucking scheming rat! Oh... but how did he sound like?"

"Like an angel—hey, why are you calling me a scheming rat? Aren't you the one loitering around before his bathroom like a stalker?"

"...SHUT UP, ZEPHYRATT!!!"

Lucilline, "..." He took a deep breath. I didn't hear anything.

When the manor had finally sunken into a night of rest, Lucilline slipped into bed. He found himself dozing off, with his consciousness slipping out of his hands... and entering inside dreamland again...

*****

A beautiful woman sauntered past the field of flowers. Her delicate figure was weak and frail. Anyone would have expected her to drown under the sea of petals and pollen. Instead, the natural beauty of nature pushed her forwards... beyond the horizon.

Her black hair was brushed in the wind, but she did not mind.

The woman kept moving forwards, walking out of Lucilline's reach.

The black-haired nobleman called out, "Wait! Mother..."

The woman's figure seemed to pause. Flowers and assortments of all colours had flown in the natural breeze, flailing just like her crimson red dress. It almost made it seem like she was the flowers, on the verge of being blown away.

"Rachelle Rubius is the most beautiful of them all."

"She is the Duchess—the lover of Duke Rubius."

"Her beauty is unparalleled."

"Her kindness is out of the world."

"She saved over 500,000 commoner slaves. She is the saviour of them all."

This was the same song from his earliest nightmare—Lucilline recognized it immediately. His delicate face wrinkled, and his stomach reminisced a familiar disgust... nausea.

"Too bad she died."

The entire field of flowers melted into red. The colours were once so gentle and calming, but it burned into ignition... sinking the entire horizon in a torture dungeon of viscous blood. A nauseous smell had permeated the drunken field of bloody flowers.

The figure of Rachelle had also descended into madness.

All that was left of her frail figure were strips of flesh, muscle, and mucous that poured endlessly like a flowing river of snot.

Lucilline's stomach felt queasy.

The remaining figure of Rachelle had marched towards him. She left behind a trail of viscous blood, sticky and mucus-like. The petals shrivelled at her unsightly appearance, even burning into ash.

Rachelle stood before her child.

Her face had dwindled into nothing but bones and caved in flesh. What used to be the most beautiful woman had disintegrated into a carcass rotting on the sidelines.

She reached a bony hand out.

The taste of metallic blood roamed in the caves of Lucilline's mouth, grabbing something within his throat and violent pulling it—

"Did you think I'd fall for the same trick twice?"

Lucilline's figure moved swift and fast. His hand flashed before the woman's eyes, settling onto her neck. Rachelle's neck had dribbled blood onto his hands—a fountain of flesh soaking his palms. Her neck was weak and frail, as if he could snap it like a twig.

"Hehehe..." A loud giggle rung in the background.

"Impressive... very impressive." It echoed in the distance, forcing Lucilline to loosen his grip on Rachelle... no, is she even his mother?

"To think that you'd see through the hallucinations of a mind demon. As expected, you're no simple mortal, Lucilline Rubius."