“Nngh…”
The steady beat of his heart told me he was alive. And just knowing that he was alive made me happy. So happy, it felt wrong. My lips quivered with guilt, and Lucas’s eyes lit with a fire strong enough to sear away the consequences of my sins, even in this life.
“But the thought of something happening to you is unbearable. Just the idea makes me feel like my heart’s being torn apart. I’m constantly thinking of how to keep you safe. Sometimes I wonder if giving you my heart would leave a scar you’d carry for the rest of your life. Your husband never runs out of dark thoughts like that.”
“Please don’t let that keep us apart” I whispered in protest. Don’t you dare ever do that. But then he leaned in with a mischievous smirk and spoke a truth I’d rather have forgotten.
“Ha ha. You said you’d be fine without me, remember?”
Eep… He heard me talking to Anna and the others before the welcoming banquet for Prince Akeem!
Back then, I hadn’t even called out to him, and he’d still picked it up. This wasn’t even a matter of spell accuracy anymore.
It’s not fair if just saying his name out loud is enough to link us! This man is cheating!
“I said I’d be fine if you didn’t come back yet! I never said I’d be fine without you forever!”
I turned away in a huff, scorched by his gaze.
And like the twisted demon he was, my darling husband leaned in sweetly to tease me again, and my cheeks flushed bright red.
“I know. You’d never say that. Not even on pain of death.”
“Ugh, Lucas! Stop teasing me!”
“Ha ha!”
Why, you! I swatted him on the shoulder, and he flopped backward onto the bed, making me panic. I hovered over him, my hair falling like rain over his face, and he chuckled, still looking like he was doing just fine.
But then, the moment a strand of my hair brushed his cheek, I noticed something different.
The moonlight brought out the pain in his lowered brow and narrowed eyes in a way I couldn’t miss.
And he was in pain. Deeply in pain. Even though I touched his face, my hands came back dry.
He doesn’t know how to cry. He doesn’t know how to show emotion to anyone but me. He doesn’t even realize he’s in pain!
That realization made my lips tremble. He gave a soft laugh, tinged with something sorrowful.
“I just keep making you cry, don’t I? I already said it. I only need you. Only you, Cece.” His soft murmur sounded like a child begging not to be left behind, and it made my heart ache. Even as a child, he’d known he wasn’t normal.
He had too much power. People had always seen him as an oddity. He must have found such comfort in the marshal, someone who at last shared his strength.
Someone who stood tall, who showed him that power was just power, that Lucas himself wasn’t bad. I couldn’t even imagine how much that saved the heart of a ten-year-old boy.
He was someone too important to lose. Too big to ever replace.
“If I can stand by your side… If I can protect you, I’ll do anything, Lucas.”
And I was sure the marshal felt the same way. He loved Lucas like a son, must have loved him more than enough to jump into the abyss while Lucas was away on his honeymoon in Majaar.
I smiled at him through the tears dripping silently onto his cheek, and he went quiet for a moment. When he looked at me again, his eyes were filled with a different kind of love. Not the kind he showed me, but something deep and steady.
“The Hero of Bern isn’t that weak, Cece. If someone picks a fight with me, I’ll crush them so hard they’ll never fight again. So don’t worry.” His voice was deep and calm and distinctly chivalrous.
“He he. I know.” I could tell right away that was something the marshal had once said.
I smiled through my tears and silently apologized in my heart. Marshal Webber, I’m so sorry that your beloved son’s partner is someone like me. I promise I’ll never betray him. I swear that to both you and your wife. I’ll do everything I can to protect his heart, just like you did. So please, please, show him your strength again, and show him you kept your promise.
And the next morning, after we fell asleep wrapped up in each other’s arms, the royal castle was thrown into a mournful uproar.
News of the death of former Hero Marshal Andreas Webber spread through the kingdom in an instant, and condolences poured in from other nations.
As preparations for the state funeral began, everyone, from the royal family to civil functionaries, threw themselves into their work as if to fill the emptiness in their hearts.
It didn’t take long for everything to be put in order, and an offering of flowers was arranged around an empty coffin on display inside the cathedral.
It was raining on the day of the funeral, as if the very heavens were grieving.
The knights raised their swords to the sky in formation, while a steady drizzle fell from the clouds.
With the solemn send-off ceremony underway, whispers began to ripple through the gathered mourners, who noticed the absence of the marshal’s beloved protégé, Lucas.
Leon turned to me discreetly and whispered, “He’s still searching, isn’t he?”
The pain in his voice made my chest tighten, and I lowered my gaze. “Yes. He hasn’t come back since yesterday.”
“Since yesterday?!” Leon looked utterly shocked. I nodded softly.
Even after the official search was called off, Lucas had kept looking for the marshal and for his sword.
Day after day, he found time to slip away to the border forest and often wouldn’t return until late. I lost track of how long this had gone on for.
But after I saw the marshal’s wife quietly weeping before the empty coffin, I began to wonder if Lucas was sleeping at all.