Lucian relaxed his shoulders and leaned on his arms on the table, resting his chin on his knuckles. The smile he put on his face was polite, yet distant. He didn't answer her right away, instead studied Miss Karina closely.
'Penny's awakened shackled let me use her as fish bait, and it probably showed itself just to scare me. The moment a crowd approached, it vanished to protect its own secret.'
How much did the Voice inside her tell her about him? Lucian's Voice told nothing to him about her, Edmund, or Penny.
The silence stretched between them as Lucian recalled all the findings and questions he had so far.
"You are a wanted man in the Black Heart," she spoke again, trying to convince him, "A safe sea route for your people is what you need, and I can provide that."
She didn't plan to free Lucian in exchange for his help, only a better business deal.
'Not even Celine dares to keep me from leaving a place.' Lucian's smile widened, his golden eyes looking at her without blinking.
An uncomfortable frown appeared above her gaze, "What?"
He stood up, the chair making a loud screech as it was dragged back. He walked around the table, facing Miss Karina directly, his tall figure casting a shadow on her.
"Mathieu Duremont." Lucian whispered, his voice smooth like silk, looking at her from above, his eyes half-lidded, "What is it about him that makes you act so out of character, Miss Karina? I am curious."
She matched his stare, which now looked more human, almost vulnerable, "That's none of your business."
Another silence stretched out.
According to the prophecy, Adeline Duremont was supposed to be in love with Lucian. Mathieu even offered his help to make it work, telling him how she was better than the heroine.
Lucian has been keeping a close eye on Mathieu. Adeline was madly in love with her cousin. It was more than obvious. Mathieu was able to break the prophecy's path, without the shackles interfering much.
Perhaps there was something special about him that made the shackles avoid him like a plague. He was like the male version of the heroine with how easily he was attracting the most powerful women, Lucian wanted to test this theory.
The relationship between Mathieu and his siblings wasn't the best, so having them try to sabotage him shouldn't be a difficult task. Lucian had to lure them in with bait, and the best bait in this situation was himself.
Rumors about Lucian's defeat and capture spread fast, which meant many would sharpen their claws to take over Glory. The Duremonts were among them.
If they managed to get Mathieu follow Lucian's footsteps and get captured by the pirates, it would make it easier for Lucian to throw him at the kingpin's daughter, a minor villainess. All love interests had a female obstacle the heroine had to overcome, Cray Roderick was no different.
That's the reason why he wanted to visit the Black Heart despite the dangers it posed. A pity Ash chose to betray him, he could have used his support.
He thought his plans were over, but who knew Mathieu would have found his way to Miss Karina and even go this far with her?
"Miss Karina," Lucian bent down, his lips inches away from her ear, "Money is the last thing that will convince me to help you, and I'm not in a very charitable mood to give away a favor to a woman who tried to violate me."
He grabbed the knife from the table and placed it against her neck, the edge went through her skin like it was made of paper.
"Wha─" she froze, the knife cut through her vein and blood splurted out. She grabbed his arm, trying to remove the knife, but he pushed harder. Her face turned pale, her breathing quickening.
Lucian grabbed a table cloth and pressed it over his hand to catch the blood flowing from the wound.
Using both a blessing and a curse at the same time was difficult even for Celine, and she wasn't Celine.
Her kicks weren't as painful, her scratches weren't as deep, her strength was nothing compared to the octopus beast's. He took all her blows and endured them.
Now he knew why there was no lead in Rochefort's estates. Calling for help would be impossible through the sound and astral proofed walls. They prefered safety over privacy.
"Show yourself." He continued to cut, deeper and deeper until her eyes rolled to the back of her head. Her body went limp in the chair, her hand sliding off his arm.
He removed the knife from her neck and looked at his hands, then at her pale face.
"Cowards." He returned to his seat before entering Miss Carina's corpse and taking control of it. His own body remained on the chair with his eyes closed.
He had to treat her wound and make sure no one suspected anything. He removed the barrier that was storing the blessings and let them pour in his direction within the confines of the room. His astral body was inside her, so naturally the blessings followed.
The flesh knitted back together, the skin smoothing out, leaving only a thin scar behind. Removing the blood from her would take too long.
He got up from the chair, using her dagger to leave cuts om his own body, chest and arms, making it look like he was the one attacked. He didn't know how much time he had left before the body began to rot, and decided to act fast.
Stepping out of the cabin as miss Karina, he closed the door behind him. The guards looked at him with suspicion.
"Get him out of there and clean the mess," Lucian ordered with Karina's voice, her authority overriding their doubts. "He is no longer welcome on my ship."
The guards nodded, opening the door, the shock evident on their faces when they saw the blood.
Lucian left them to it, walking to the ship's rail, and to her cabin. Mathieu was still sleeping in her bed, looking relaxed with his arms tucked under his head.
Lucian walked to the bed and joined him, snuggling against his back. A fresh corpse had no warmth, and certainly no heartbeat. He wasn't proficient with gravitational force manipulation yet, but was good enough with moving his internal forces. He tunneled the heat from his body to her cooling veins, mimicking the thumping pulse of a living, breathing woman.
Mathieu turned around to hug him, the sleepy smile on his face turning into a frown, "You smell of blood."
"The hay head didn't approve of our relationship, so I had to...deal with him." Lucian yawned, covering his mouth, "Let me sleep, I'm tired."
"What?!" Mathieu rose up on his elbow, looking down at the woman in his bed, "What did you do? Is he still alive?"
"Does it matter?" Lucian closed his eyes, "He wasn't useful anyway."
Mathieu's jaw tensed, and got off the bed. He started to put his clothes back on, "I will go check on him."
Lucian grabbed his arm, pulling him back down, "Don't. I don't want you near him, you are mine now."
"Karina, I'm not a possession," Mathieu tried to reason.
"I will kill myself if you leave this room," Lucian threatened, his voice shaking like he was about to cry, "I killed for you, do you think I won't kill myself for you?"
Fear took over Mathieu's face, and he lay back down, pulling Miss Karina's corpse into his arms, "Fine, fine. I won't go anywhere."
"Promise?" Lucian asked.
"I promise," Mathieu said helplessly, "I won't leave you."
Lucian closed his eyes, falling asleep in the body that was not his. Once Mathieu was sure Miss Karina was asleep, he slipped out of the bed.
Lucian's lips quivered into a smile. Having a large part of the ship covered in lead ended up being quite convenient. There was nobody to witness the murder he had just committed.
'He better stay away from my Celine,' Lucian thought before leaving the body and returning to his own.
This should awaken the biggest Kingpin's wrath, and D'Angelo's desire to destroy the Duremont family.
╔═══ Author's note ════╗
The lack of powerstones and gifts has been causing me to slack off a lot. 😭🙏
Please help me break the spell of laziness that the shackles have put me under. 😔
Anyway, thank you for reading so far!
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