Chapter 90. But I Do

An explosion of power coagulated at one place. It was at first a small bundle, with festering breezes swirling about to leave traces of their trails. However, it evolved into whipping winds leaving a deep cut within the burrows of cobblestone walls.

It did not take long for it to blow up. The power left destruction in its wake—the underground prison became akin to an abandoned ruin painted in red.

Lucilline watched his hand curl into a relaxed clench, then unfurling again. He could not fully control the powers he'd obtained from those three demons. In fact, the ability to control shadows and reanimate his body felt foreign and unknown. He probed the unknown power of demons, and something inside of himself clicked.

This set off a mass explosion of demonic power—shattering the cages of confinement (quite literally).

"Enjoy it?" A voice spoke in his head.

The three demons he consumed—Miss A., Nineteen, and November—were not completely devoured. Their consciousness lingered in his mind, and their voices often interfered in his thoughts.

"With our strengths, there is nothing you have to fear." Lucilline recognized this voice was Nineteen's; the elderly mind demon who'd lived off of the nightmares his mind produced. The black-haired nobleman felt irked, as if something clawed at his heart.

Do I really want this? He questioned it.

The voice of November scoffed, "You are already known as a murderer in the eyes of Lydia Kingdom. What more is there to think of?"

"But there is no point in having power." Lucilline raised his hand towards the sky, which had become visible due to the ceiling and rooftop being blown apart. "It wouldn't stop me from aging, and all my revenge would become meaningless once I die."

"Tch, we have lived for over a century, boy." Miss A. spoke in his mind. "Now that you have consumed us, it is only natural that your lifespan have increased."

"Oh right." Lucilline suddenly perked up. "How did I devour you?"

The three demons living rent free in his head: .....

They stared at one another with exasperation.

Nineteen coughed loudly. "You really don't know? I'd think you would know the truth about your ancestors."

This only gained the puzzlement of the black-haired nobleman.

At last, the three demons sighed simultaneously. "Forget it. Let's just say that your ancestors... well, not only your ancestors... were descendants of our demonic bloodline. All of the Grand Duke Houses—Delta, Rubius, and Leinhart—have portions of demonic blood. If you think about it, you Lucilline Rubius, is principally part demon."

Those pair of gold—no, red eyes now—had widened in shock.

"So I'm actually a demon?" Lucilline's gaze had flickered. "How is it that the Grand Duke Houses have demonic blood?"

The three demons fell silent.

It wasn't because they were dodging his question. It was because of the oppressive figure standing right before Lucilline—despite not being there a second ago. Streaks of snow white hair had flared upwards, almost resembling a candle-wax-coloured flame. A pair of crimson red eyes similar to Lucilline's had appeared from the crevices of shadow.

"What have you done?" A pale ghastly hand reached out.

The white-haired woman—no, demoness had seethed out a glare. "You are neither human nor demon—you smell familiar but also foreign." She could sense the three demons conflicting within the mind of the black-haired nobleman. "You..."

Lucilline took a cautious step backwards.

Upon noticing that, the white-haired demoness grabbed his throat. Her nails pinched inwards, beginning to twist the skin of his neck. "Don't try to escape." From the black-haired nobleman's trembling irises, he could see the skies shaking, as if threatening to collapse unto his body. An overwhelming force invaded his every bone and marrow, and his hands fell by his side lifelessly.

The demoness suddenly dropped him by his throat.

Lucilline collapsed onto the ground.

The demoness snapped, "Get up."

Lucilline did not move.

It wasn't until a few seconds later did the demoness realize that Lucilline fainted.

The demoness: ...was I really that scary?

*****

When Lucilline had awaken, he found himself and the demoness alone in an attic of a commoner's house. The streets outside were loud and rowdy—news of his escape and the destruction of the Underground Prison had reached the commonwealth's ears. Panic had spread like a famine, plaguing every citizen's ears and blinding their sight with grief.

By the black-haired nobleman's side was the demoness.

Her wrathful strands of white hair was more valuable than any silver platter, and her demonic red eyes burned brighter than any forest fire.

"I am Farrah Umbra. Remember this, as it is the name you will see shedding blood all across Lydia." The demoness spoke firmly, not allowing the black-haired nobleman to take a single look away from her.

Lucilline held his breath.

The name Farrah Umbra was infamous—too infamous to ignore without guilt. It belonged to the Fourth Demon Princess of the Ubel Kingdom. She was known to have claimed many people's lives during the war between Lydia and Ubel. Only after the war was Farrah slain, thus her demon-folk fled from the battlefield and abandoned their kingdom.

This caused Lucilline Rubius to fall into confusion. The history records claimed that Farrah Umbra had died, so why in the world is she standing before him alive?

"Nineteen, November, and Miss A. are all my subordinates." Farrah stated proudly. "Now that you have devoured them, I suppose you will have to replace their duties in their stead."

Lucilline was appalled.

He quickly refused. "That is impossible. I refuse to side with the likes of a demon."

A pair of crimson red eyes quickly stabbed straight into his retinas. Farrah wore a hideous smirk, as if amused by something rather ironic. "You say that, but don't you forget, you are a demon on the inside as well. No matter how you try to hide it, you and your ancestors are all—"

"I know." Lucilline cut her off.

Contrary to the Princess Demon's impression, the black-haired nobleman appeared... rather self-loathing. "I have killed hundreds of people already. It is only fair for me to be written as a demon." His golden eyes flickered a bit. "However, I refuse to work with a murderer—especially one that is working for the loss of more lives."

An empty silence scraped at the air.

"You mean to say..." Farrah couldn't stop the grin growing on her face. "Even if you're a murderer, you're a murderer with morals." The black-haired nobleman had no idea that the Demon Princess already had her hands controlling the puppet strings connected to his limbs, his pitiful little figure dancing amidst the Royal Demon's palms.

It was strange. Farrah had the odd urge to dismantle the black-haired villain limb by limb, making sure that his joints would disconnect and snap in half with creaking sounds.

She hated humans—especially two-faced ones.

She was sure that Lucilline was the same as those humans from centuries ago. Humans, who only knew how to lie while keeping a straight face, but the scent of their speeding hearts and rotten guilt had long since lingered under her nose. Humans loved to appear as good and morally acceptable as possible. However, it was all false—she was sure of it.

"...you are still convinced that you can change." Farrah sneered, a barrage of black shadows clouding over her face. "It's over!" She snapped abruptly, "You cannot change the past!"

When the Demon Princess was angered, her blinding white hair rose like riveting flames. Her crimson red eyes burned violently—it was killing intent. "You're a murderer! A killer! You cannot change that fact! No matter where you go, you will forever be regarded as a villain! You can never become a hero!"

Her words spewed out like a flamethrower, as if trying to swallow everything before her into an ocean of flames.

Despite the heated argument, Lucilline only wore a small smile in his eyes.

"But I can still prevent more deaths."

Farrah fell silent. She will see just how long this black-haired descendant will last.

*****

Weeks passed. The entire kingdom of Lydia were suffocated in a fog of fear—they were afraid about the disappearance and breaking out of Lucilline Rubius—the most notorious villain thus far. He managed to murder all priests and children in the Holy Church, while also killing all criminals in the Underground Prison.

The citizens of Lydia couldn't help but gossip.

Lucilline Rubius was such a madman—could it be that he was the one responsible for the fire at Rubius' manor? Perhaps the deaths of his siblings were actually orchestrated by him, and that Lucilline was the true culprit!?!

Such rumours were clinging to the mouths of all passerby.

"Do you hear this?" Farrah laughed. Her ephemeral face contorted into one of disgust, as if she had caught the putrid stench of two-faced humans. "They don't care about your innocence at all. They are all so quick to label you as a villain."

The Demon Princess wore a robe, with the hood cloaking her eye-catching strands of white hair. Behind her was the notorious Lucilline Rubius—his figure cloaked as well.

"It's because I am a murderer." The black-haired nobleman softly replied. "It's no wonder they are afraid."

Farrah sneered, wrinkles stretching over her forehead.

"They have no idea that you're trying to change for the better." As she continued talking, the Demon Princess became more heated, with her hushed whispers sharpening like a butcher's knife. "Yet you still work to protect these useless humans?"

A harsh laugh sounded. "You should just join me in killing them all."

Lucilline did not answer.

It was not because of the Demon Princess' harsh language. Rather, it was because of the commotion storming at the building right ahead of them.

"Poor girl..."

"Why did she have to go like this?"

"...I heard that her body's stench can be smelt across the entire street. For how long has she died?"

"When I entered the building, I was so shocked! It was a hanging corpse! My goodness..."

"Her hair is so beautiful... and I could tell that she was still young..."

"Ah yes, silver hair. It is pretty rare in Lydia, isn't it?"

Slowly, the colour of Lucilline Rubius' face had drained. Whiteness spread all across his skin, as if a blanket of snow draped over a field of roses. Every speck of warmth sparkling in his body had lost its radiance. His figure became akin to that of a corpse.

Farrah noticed this, and she sneered. "When you're a villain, the whole world will go against you."

Lucilline did not listen to her. His weak and trembling body pushed the Demon Princess aside, as he stumbled into the crowd of citizens.

The door to the building was slanted right open.

It allowed Lucilline to witness the sight as clear as crestfallen tears. A disheveled body of a young woman hanging from a rope, tied to the ceiling of the building. A collapsed wooden stool laid across the floor—this left everyone to think of suicide. Strands of silver hair washed down like a cascading waterfall, as the rushing of water treaded and plummeted down the cliff.

A dress of black and white was worn on the corpse. A maidservant outfit.

Lucilline couldn't muffle his cries.

The woman next to him heard his sound, and let out a deep sigh. "A horrific sight, isn't it? I wonder which noble family she belonged to. How badly must they have treated her in order for her to die like this?"

Teary red rimmed around the villain's eyes. A layer of mist fogged his irises, and droplets tumbled out of thin air... dribbling down his pale and colourless cheeks. Lucilline pursed his lips, but his nose clogged immediately, cutting the air out of his body.

He remembered his last few moments with the silver-haired maid.

He was angry at the world—angry that nobody cared about him. He was in pain because the world took away his family.

But little did he know, he was all that was left for a lonely young woman.

Lucilline threw a palm over his face, trying to cover and muffle his trembling shoulders. His cloak shivered like a leaf on the wind—the tip of an iceberg cracking, then nosediving into the unendingly dark ocean. He was in so much pain that he never noticed Willow's suffering. The young maidservant was lively at birth, but had her mother and brother stripped away with a fire.

Her body was punched green and violet, and bulking veins throbbed under the influence of drugs. But an innocent young boy picked her off the streets, signed a contract with her, and gave her a new home.

Oh how sad, a second fire took the boy's family from him too.

He wasn't alone yet—but he was the one who pushed the maid away himself. He was the one who killed her—his only remaining family.

Farrah appeared behind him.

She whispered, "the world don't care if you're hurt... if you cried."

Her crimson red eyes drooped at the hanging body of Willow. The Demon Princess fell silent in thought, then muttered under her breath. "....but I...do."