Two figures stood in the centre of the gymnasium.
The audience became much more rowdier than before. This scenery was unheard of—the son of a noble facing against a commoner girl—in a match of swordsmanship! It was obvious for the commoner girl to lose and face humiliation by everyone, but the audience still anticipated for the action.
Lucilline brandished his blade, his slender fingertips dancing atop it like raindrops along cobblestone.
On the opposite side, Daphnne held her breath nervously. She'd never been stared at by so many pairs of eyes before. She knew that they were all waiting for her to mess up. Daphnne had learnt swordsmanship from Azalea before as children, but rarely ever practised since leaving the orphanage. Perhaps her skills had dulled, but...
Her iris blue eyes burned bright. It is time to test it out.
"My dear boy," a low voice murmured in Lucilline's ears. The black-haired nobleman perked awake, his finger accidentally sliding across the sharp side of the blade. A shallow cut formed, with beautiful beads of red snaking down. "Have you ever thought about having the power of a demon?"
No. Lucilline shook his head absentmindedly.
The mind demon laughed, "Allow me to borrow your body." The black-haired nobleman was stunned, his eyes widening. Wait... what are you doing!?
"Let me demonstrate to you..." the laughter was like ringing bells, looming before his head, "What power you can behold, if you listen to me."
Everything happened in the blink of an eye.
It was difficult to describe just what exactly had occurred to Lucilline, but the black-haired nobleman felt all his own control sap away. A sickening swamp laid low at his stomach, forcing his abdomen to sink down a couple of inches. An unknown force seemed to swallow him whole, and entered within the depths of his body.
Only a few seconds passed, and Lucilline found himself peering down at Daphnne's battered body. Her small figure had been dismantled like a broken doll, with all her limbs hanging from a thread. The horrid scent of flesh loomed beneath the black-haired nobleman's nose.
His throat rolled nauseatingly.
"This is my power." The mind demon cackled. "With this, you can do whatever you want to anyone you target. Isn't it wonderful?"
Wonderful? That thought rung in Lucilline's ears. There is nothing wonderful about this.
His golden eyes shyly examined the broken girl. Daphnne's entire figure had been covered from head to toe in a shocking stench, drenched in crimson red. She was for sure, dead.
Her deceased imagery overlapped with Rachelle's.
Their flesh were oozing out of their pungent bodies, and the scent of decay had already been set in stone. Maggots begun crawling maniacally towards their wounds, as if trying to soak up all the lost blood.
*****
Lucilline woke up. His whole body was drenched in sweat, and his beautiful face was ridden as pale as a ghost. Where am I? He found himself dressed in nighttime attire, with his slender figure caressed by silky smooth fabric. The black-haired nobleman was tucked in bed, and a heavy blanket sat as still as concrete atop of him.
"What happened...?" His low voice grumbled.
The black-haired nobleman pulled himself out from bed, his bare legs chilled awake by the numbing wind. His curtains were drawn open, and a cold breeze swam inside his sleeping chamber.
All of a sudden, Lucilline remembered.
"It turned out that the power you've shown me was only an illusion." He sighed. A slender hand ran up to brush his bangs out from his face. "While I was stuck in that illusion, Daphnne utilized that chance to knock my sword out of my grasp. Within a few slashes, she'd knocked me out unconscious. She was determined as the winner, and the entire stadium erupted in... shock."
Lucilline's eye bags were haggard and drooping. The fatigue outlining his golden glimmer became more and more dim.
"It is no surprise that I've now become the laughingstock of all nobles." Lucilline laughed.
"If only you'd borrow my power, then you don't have to be a laughingstock." The mind demon piped up, "With my power, you can make your deepest wishes and darkest desires come true. Isn't that quite tempting?"
Lucilline rolled his eyes.
Either way, he couldn't help but sigh in relief. I'm glad that that illusion was not reality. To kill a person with his own hands was too daunting. He would not allow himself to fall in the evil's path.
"Are you sure about that?" The mind demon suddenly spoke. "You will regret not borrowing my power. Whatever that happens to you next... oh, Lucilline Rubius.... you will forever regret this decision." That sentence seemed to hold a certain insight of the future, but the black-haired nobleman did not dare to rest his thoughts on such a possibility.
"As if." He scoffed.
However, he had no idea just how wrong he'd be.
At school, he was followed around by taunting whispers and malicious gazes. Those insatiable eyes were waiting for him to mess up again. They were waiting for him to make the next move... so they could open their mouths and giggle. The students spoke of him like a joke—he was a laughingstock.
How could a noble lose to a commoner? The hierarchy had been broken—and by the third son of a Grand Duke, no less.
"He doesn't deserve to be called a noble."
"How dare he show his face outside?"
"Isn't he ashamed of losing against a commoner?"
"What a useless son. I wonder where he gets all that pride for being so meaningless."
"I heard that he barely pays attention to class either. He's a slacker, essentially."
"If only I was born as the son of Grand Duke Rubius. I would have made use of that title..."
"Grand Duke and Grand Duchess should disown him already."
"Speaking of which, my father says that Grand Duke Rubius has been recently taking a break... a break for too long, that is."
"Haha, maybe it's because he's too ashamed to face his third son."
Lucilline only searched aimlessly in the library like a maniac. He swiped past bookshelf after bookshelf. The cure for his father's illness hasn't been found yet. The noble families were beginning to suspect Grand Duke Rubius' absence.
The black-haired nobleman sighed deeply. If only you were here, mother.
"Meow." All of a sudden, he perked up. In front of his desk at the library was a black kitten, its outline distorted by the lighting.
For a second, Lucilline had mistaken its silhouette sneaking around like a stealthy snake. His brows furrowed. "What is a cat doing here?" He shuffled in his seat, backing away from the strange creature. For some odd reason, the black kitten had an odd... and rather ominous aura to it.
Before he could react, the kitten leapt forwards!
Its jaw opened, and snatched his copper bell! Within a few second, the black kitten raced off with the copper bell in its mouth.
Lucilline: !!!
That copper bell bracelet was the last gift his mother gave him. Its soft ringing often helped woo Lucilline off to dreamland. The ringing resembled Rachelle's gentle laughter, her brilliant smile able to fend any dark clouds from overshadowing the sun.
However, that sound was gone.
Lucilline leaped out from his chair, chasing after the cat.
The slender figure of a distraught young man had attracted many students. The black-haired nobleman ran across the whole school, but the black kitten outran him, as if it had seemingly grown invisible wings. Each step forward brought it another few blocks. Its dark fur merged with the school's shadows, making it even more difficult to spot.
"MEOW!!!" An erupting scream had torn out of the kitten.
When Lucilline turned the corner, he was greeted by the sight of a familiar young girl. Daphnne was surprised to see the black-haired nobleman.
After how the black-haired nobleman (actually the mind demon) insulted her status as a commoner, Daphnne felt more and more wary of him. His golden eyes were dreamy and mesmerizing, but when he pushed her into the water fountain—she clearly saw that wheat golden colour darken into bloody red. It frightened her.
He was just like... a demon.
The black kitten had long ran away. However, the copper bell was stuffed in Daphnne's arms. Her locks of chestnut brown hair swayed in the breeze.
"...bell." Lucilline's gaze darkened.
He did not expect to run into her.
"...bell?" Daphnne flinched. The copper bell rung in her arms. Lucilline took a step forward, but that only triggered the girl to take one backwards.
This continued onwards.
No matter how many times he stepped forwards, the distance between them neither shortened nor lengthened.
"What is it?" Daphnne cried aloud. Her face was pale. Those pair of monstrous red eyes haunted her—it was as if they'd been ingrained right upon her retinas. She remembered very well the sensation of drowning in that water fountain. The fear that seemed to sleep in her silhouette.
Lucilline frowned. "Give me the copper bell. It's mine."
The chestnut-haired girl paused. She raised a hand, as if handing over the copper bell—
"What are you doing with that infamous bastard?" A weird high-pitched voice suddenly bellowed. It was one of the students, who had a loud and ear-grating voice. The sound could only be comparable to scratching bricks against one another.
That loud-mouthed student shouted, "Don't tell me, is Lucilline Rubius bothering you again, Lady Daphnne?"
"Lady Daphnne?" The said girl herself was confused by the sudden noble name. She'd never been called with such a title before. What brought this on all of a sudden?
The sound of the loud-mouthed student attracted a larger crowd.
Upon hearing the name of "Lucilline Rubius", the entire school grew curious.
"Speaking of which, I've heard that Lucilline hates the commoners."
"I heard that he refused to pay for treating Daphnne's injured arm."
"I also heard that he hired a servant from another noble family to burn her arm!"
"How despicable!"
"Isn't Daphnne a commoner? But Daphnne is so nice and kind to the rest of the class... unlike that nobleman. Isn't it about time he gets off his high horse? We are all humans in the end... whether noble or commoner."
A low voice spoke in Lucilline's crazed mind. "Aren't they just so hypocritical? They all preach about equal rights for the commoners, but ignore the homeless people on the streets." The mind demon laughed giddily like a child. "Borrow my power, and I will help you get rid of all their disgusting murmurs." Lucilline curled his fist, with his knuckles burning ghastly white.
No. I refuse to use your demonic powers. Just give up on it already. He denied the option immediately.
"Just give me the copper bell." Lucilline took a step forward.
Daphnne was pulled backwards by a student. Her eyes widened in shock. "Huh? Stop pulling on me—"
Lucilline's eyes darkened dangerously. Just how much longer must this be? That copper bell belonged to him. He couldn't wait any longer. His mother gifted that to him! Why are they stealing something from him? "That's right." The mind demon giggled. "Take back what belongs to you."
"Hey! Lucilline Rubius, are you trying to hurt Daphnne again!?!"
"How could you do such a thing to a poor commoner!"
"Aren't you sick of doing such horrible acts already?"
Lucilline felt an invading force slither inside his body. Why won't they all shut up? I never meant to hurt anyone... I don't actually hate commoners... I just need to find a cure for Father's incurable illness. Why are you trying to stuff words into my mouth? Once Scarletta and Zephyratt comes back, once Father finally returns back to normal health, I will make you all regret—!
His eyes burned bloodshot red.
Daphnne felt her soul jump out of her body. It's exactly those eyes! All the colours were sucked out from her face, leaving her behind only a soulless frame.
Students were pushed aside one by one. The black-haired nobleman was like an unmovable stone, and the remaining students were like river streams parting away. He kept pushing forwards, not caring about how the students collapsed unto the cobblestone ground.
"Lucilline!" All of a sudden, a familiar voice piped in.
A group of handsome boys marched forwards. Azalea's amethyst purple eyes were flashing with a look of concern. His dashing silver hair casted a ray of rainbow upon the cobblestone ground. He called out, "Lucilline, what's wrong—"
A punch met his face.