Vaylen Blaze.
This was the third ti I’d t him.
But unlike the first two, when he was accompanied with an entourage and a spine, this ti he was alone.
He sat timidly on the sofa, shoulders hunched, head bowed so low it looked like he might fold into himself at any mont.
"What is it?" Lucian’s cold voice sliced through the air, chilling the entire living room.
Vaylen gulped, the sound audible even from where I stood.
Slowly, he lifted his head. I could see him trying to gather whatever scraps of courage he had left before looking Lucian in the eye.
"I... I need to talk to Celeste..." he finally said.
His voice was low, wavering.
Already defeated before the conversation even started.
"And... what for?" Lucian asked, leaning forward. He tried to sound casual, but it still ca out intimidating.
Vaylen gulped again, this ti louder, more obvious. "H-her mother is having a fever because she’s... missing her."
Lucian slowly turned his head toward , then chuckled under his breath before facing Vaylen again.
"Why would she miss soone who isn’t even her daughter?"
Vaylen’s eyes widened instantly, panic flashing across his face as sweat gathered at his temples.
"W-what do you an, Lord Lucian?"
"I an..." Lucian clasped the hand I had resting on my knee, his grip firm, "my wife is not your daughter. And she is not Celeste."
"My lord!"
He lurched forward and dropped to his knees in front of us, trembling.
"I— I didn’t an to deceive you... please, let explain..."
"Then explain," Lucian said calmly. Calm in a way that made the air feel thinner.
Vaylen swallowed hard.
"T-The truth is... I hid Celeste."
My breath stopped.
Lucian’s eyes narrowed slightly, "You hid her from ?"
Vaylen bowed deeper.
"I did. I admit it. I didn’t want to marry my daughter to soone with your reputation, my lord. You were..." he gulped, "cold... ruthless... unpredictable. Every clan warned us. Everyone said marrying the Blaze’s daughter to an ice dragon like you was the sa as offering her to a storm."
Lucian’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t speak.
Vaylen continued, trembling harder.
"So I... panicked. I hid Celeste far away where no one could find her. Then you demanded to proceed with the ceremony and everyone said the alliance had to happen... so when I saw her..."
His gaze flickered to , sha twisting his features.
"She looked exactly like Celeste. Sa face. Sa height. Sa age. I thought... I could get away with it. Just for the engagent ceremony. Only one night."
Lucian’s voice dropped lower, "And afterward?"
Vaylen swallowed again, "You were supposed to reject her. Imdiately. That was the plan."
His voice cracked, "But you didn’t."
Lucian’s eyes sharpened. "Because I had no intention of rejecting her."
Vaylen’s breath hitched, he looked like the floor had just been pulled out from under him.
"And yet," Lucian continued, voice calm in a way that sohow felt worse, "you still ca here today. Why?"
Vaylen’s fingers curled against the floor, sha swallowing his voice.
"M-my wife..." he began, struggling for air, "Celeste’s mother... She collapsed two days ago. She has been crying for her daughter ever since. Her fever won’t break."
He lifted his head slightly, only enough to et my eyes for a second before flinching.
"She keeps calling Celeste’s na. Refusing to eat. Refusing dicine. I—I ca to beg for the lady’s presence... just for a mont. To ease her suffering."
"And what," Lucian said, brows lowering, "does that have to do with my wife?"
The entire living room tensed.
"You have your daughter. The real Celeste."
Vaylen’s breath hitched.
"I know..." he whispered, sha flooding his face. "Celeste is ho. She’s been sick as well. Very sick. She hasn’t left her bed for days."
Lucian’s expression didn’t shift.
"Then why are you here," Lucian asked, voice cold enough to frost bone, "bothering mine?"
Vaylen swallowed, fingers twisting nervously.
"A-actually... I heard about the incident at Caelora Garden..."
Lucian’s eyes snapped up.
Instantly, the air shifted.
He didn’t speak. He simply turned his head, just slightly toward the guards by the door.
Just a glance.
But it was enough.
Every guard straightened in terror.
One instinctively pressed a hand to the weapon at his hip.
Another bowed his head, already knowing what that look ant, Find the leak. Erase the problem.
Vaylen saw it and all color drained from his face.
Panicked, he threw up both hands, shaking his head frantically.
"T-the man... the man your lady saved!" he stamred. "H-he ca to ! That’s all! He wanted to express gratitude... he thought she was my daughter, Celeste... I didn’t ask him anything, my lord, he just—he just spoke!"
Lucian’s jaw flexed, irritation sharpening every line of his face.
Vaylen scrambled to explain before anyone disappeared permanently.
"I swear he didn’t an harm!" he babbled. "He only ca because she saved his life... he thought she was Celeste... he didn’t spread this to anyone else! I swear on my position!"
Lucian remained silent. Silent... but dangerous.
Vaylen trembled.
Lucian finally tilted his head, just enough to look down at him.
"And you expected," he said slowly, voice like carved ice, "That coming here... would make agree to let you use my wife again?"
The word ’use’ sliced through the room like a blade.
Vaylen’s face crumpled, panic flooding his eyes.
"I—I didn’t an to use her, my lord!" he protested, shaking his head violently. "I only—only hoped she could... ease my wife’s suffering. H-her fever won’t go down, and Celeste—she’s getting worse—"
Lucian didn’t blink. His expression didn’t soften and he didn’t move.
He just stared. Unmoving, cold and unyielding.
Vaylen trembled under the weight of it, shaking his head weakly as if he could shake off fear itself.
"I know I was wrong from the start," he whispered, voice cracking. "But please... I beg you, Lady—"
He stopped. Uncertain and hesitating.
Like even saying the wrong na might get him killed.
"Seraphina," I finally spoke, my voice cutting into the heavy air. "My na is Seraphina."
Vaylen’s head snapped toward , eyes wide, not with recognition, but with raw desperation.
He... didn’t even know my na.
Of course he didn’t.
He hired to replace his daughter for one night, used as a stand-in, a placeholder, a convenient face and he didn’t even rember my na.
A broken scoff slipped from my lips.
I actually found it darkly funny.
But beneath that... I had questions of my own.
Questions only he could answer.
So I inhaled slowly, ignoring Lucian’s sharp turn toward , his stare instantly narrowing.
"I will help you," I said.
Lucian’s entire body stiffened beside .
Vaylen’s face lit up with desperate hope.
And the air, already tense, tightened further, drawn like a bowstring ready to snap.
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