The room was dimly lit, stripped bare except for a large desk and two chairs facing each other with the table between them. A few extra chairs lined the corners of the room, but their emptiness only added to the suffocating atmosphere.
Lucas sat on one end of the desk, his posture casual but his eyes sharp. Opposite him, Amelia sat with her arms folded neatly, her expression unreadable.
She had already dismissed her squad for the night, but Dustin had stubbornly insisted on staying, declaring outright that he didn't trust Lucas enough to leave Amelia alone with him.
Right now, though, Dustin wasn't present. Amelia had sent him to check with Sophia about the girl they were waiting for—the intern from the Beast Tamer Academy who was supposed to help verify Lucas's words with her truth-detection beast.
They had been waiting for over twenty minutes. The silence pressed down, interrupted only by the faint sound of Lucas tapping his finger on the table.
He remembered the way Dustin had glared at him before leaving—suspicious, hostile, almost like a dog baring its teeth. Lucas had found it more pathetic than threatening. This guy is too dumb to realize glaring won't change anything.
Still, the longer he sat here, the thinner his patience wore. He had already wasted enough time, and each passing minute felt like another deliberate attempt to keep him from seeing his sister.
Lucas had just pushed his chair back, ready to leave, when the door clicked open.
Dustin stepped in first, his worried gaze darting to Amelia as though confirming she was safe before turning on Lucas with another of his hostile glares. Lucas ignored him completely, his eyes sliding past to the figure standing timidly behind Dustin.
She looked around his age, maybe a year or two older, dressed in the silver robes of the Beast Tamer Academy—a mark of a fourth-year student. Her jet-black hair tumbled down her back, framing her face, and a pair of glasses rested on her pointed nose.
But to Lucas, she was already irritating. She lingered awkwardly at the doorway, clutching the folds of her robe like a lost child.
"Are you coming in," Lucas said flatly, "or are you standing guard at the door all night?"
The girl flinched. "Ah—I'm sorry!" She bowed clumsily and nearly stumbled her way into the room.
"You—!" Dustin began, outrage bubbling up, but Amelia cut him off with a raised hand.
"It's okay, Dustin." She rose from her seat with a small smile and approached the girl. "No need to be nervous. What's your name?"
The girl ducked her head, mumbling, "My… My name is Winter."
"That's a lovely name," Amelia said warmly. "I'm Amelia, squad leader of Eagle Squad. That's Dustin, and this is Lucas." She gestured around the table. "I'm sorry to trouble you this late, but we really need your help."
Winter's nervous expression softened, her eyes lighting up. "Ah—squad leader Amelia, I'm actually a huge fan of yours! It's an honor to be able to help you."
"That's good to hear." Amelia's smile grew just a little. "You already know why you're here, right?"
"Yes. Miss Sophia explained… you need my truth-detection beast." Winter's gaze flickered nervously to Lucas. "I assume you want me to use it on him."
"You're absolutely right." Amelia retrieved a sleek tablet from her storage ring and handed it to Winter. "These are a few records we have on Lucas. You'll ask him questions based on these. Your beast will confirm if he's telling the truth."
Winter nodded quickly, taking the tablet before sitting opposite Lucas. She exhaled sharply, pressing her index and middle fingers together. A glowing yellow circle formed in the air before her. With a soft ripple, a small creature leapt out, landing gracefully on her lap.
She smiled gently and placed the creature on the table so everyone could see.
Lucas eyed it with detached disinterest. The beast was the size of a housecat, sharing the same feline shape and proportions. But unlike a cat, it had five small tufts of fur atop its head, each forming a perfect ring.
"Activate detection rings," Winter said softly.
The creature mewled, and the ring-shaped tufts lit up, glowing faintly. They elongated outward, each ending in a golden band that shimmered with energy.
"Mister Lucas," Winter stammered, "please… stretch out your hand so the rings can attach to your fingers."
Lucas blinked once. "…What did you just say?"
"P-please stretch out your hand… so the rings can enter your fingers."
"I'm sorry," Lucas said plainly, tapping his finger against the desk. "I don't think I can do that."
Winter's eyes widened. "Eh? But… why not?"
Lucas didn't answer. He wasn't sure himself—only that the thought of letting that creature touch him filled him with revulsion. A deep, instinctive disgust churned in his chest, as though the creature was something far beneath him.
It unsettled him. He had loved animals once. Back when he and Maya were younger, they had taken in a stray cat and cared for it despite barely having enough for themselves. Its eventual death had left him devastated, and Maya had cried for days.
So why now, did this harmless creature feel so revolting to him? Why did the idea of touching it make his skin crawl?
Lucas frowned, troubled by the strange emotions stirring inside him. Outwardly, though, his face remained as cold and indifferent as ever.
Dustin, however, had had enough.
"Look," he snapped, slamming a fist against the table, "I don't care who you think you are—or what the hell you are. I don't even care if your messed-up sister is—"
He never finished the sentence.
Lucas's expression shifted in an instant. His lazy indifference vanished, replaced by a murderous glare. His deep blue eyes burned, flickering into a violent shade of crimson.
The air cracked.
BOOM!
The wall behind Dustin caved inward with a thunderous crash as his body slammed into it and crumpled to the floor, unconscious. Dust and fragments of plaster rained down.
Amelia shot to her feet, her eyes wide. Lucas now stood where Dustin had been, his fists trembling with restrained fury.
"Lucas, stop!" Amelia's voice rang out, urgent and pleading. "If you don't, it might be harder for you to see your sister!"
The words cut through him like a blade. At once, Lucas froze, his rage colliding with the one thing that anchored him. Slowly, his breathing steadied, and his crimson eyes dimmed back into their usual blue.
He straightened, his composure returning almost unnaturally fast, though his gaze lingered on Dustin's limp form without a hint of remorse. He deserved it. No one speaks about Maya like that.
Finally, Lucas turned his cold stare toward Winter, who sat frozen in terror, her beast trembling on the table. Then his gaze shifted to Amelia, whose expression betrayed a flicker of relief despite the chaos.
"What's happening to me?" Lucas asked. He had meant for his voice to carry urgency, even fear—but what came out was plain and cold, just like always.
Amelia met his gaze, her tone steady. "I don't know. But what I do know is this—you lose control when you're angry. You can't restrain yourself. If you don't learn to control it, things will spiral out of hand… and fast."
The silence that followed was heavy, almost suffocating.