“I have never heard of someone named Luca in the Empire.”
Silence.Top of Form
Lucavion’s black eyes flickered, but he didn’t react.
“There’s no way someone like you would go unnoticed.” Your next read awaits at My Virtual Library Empire
For a moment—**just a moment—**his smirk faded.
And then—
Lucavion met her gaze directly.
“Sharp.”
Aeliana huffed. “That much is obvious. I don’t need to be sharp or anything.”
Lucavion tilted his head, exhaling softly.
Then—
“Well… now that it’s come to this, I guess I can say it.”
He leaned back slightly, raising his head toward the cavern ceiling, his expression unreadable.
“Your real name?” Aeliana said, looking into his eyes.
Lucavion raised his head slightly, his black eyes glinting in the firelight.
His smirk was still there, but it had shifted—less playful, less teasing.
More curious.
“You knew…?”
Aeliana met his gaze, her amber eyes steady.
“Indeed.”
Lucavion exhaled softly, watching her. Studying her.
Aeliana leaned back slightly, crossing her arms.
She had known for a while.
Or at the very least—she had suspected.
From the moment she had searched for the adventurer named ‘Luca,’ she had found traces, records—
But nothing real.
Nothing old.
The name existed in the guild’s archives, but only recently.
The reports were too new, too hastily written, as if someone had fabricated them after the fact.
The Adventurer’s Guild was an independent organization, a powerful one—but within the Thaddeus Duchy, their authority paled in comparison.
And because of that—
It had been easy to uncover the truth.
This man’s identity was forged.
Luca wasn’t his real name.
He wasn’t just some adventurer.
But—
No one cared.
Because the Duchy had received aid from the Adventurer’s Guild multiple times, and if the guild had overlooked this man’s true origins, then so did everyone else.
Aeliana inhaled slowly.
Her gaze didn’t waver.
“Your real name, what is it?”
“Well, I was just about to say that.”
Lucavion leaned back against the cavern wall, arms crossed, watching Aeliana with an expression that was equal parts amusement and curiosity. The firelight flickered, casting sharp shadows over his sharp features, his black eyes gleaming with mischief.
“Well… now that it’s come to this, I guess I can say it.”
Aeliana narrowed her eyes, waiting.
Lucavion exhaled through his nose, almost like he was laughing at some private joke, before meeting her gaze directly.
“Lucavion.”
Aeliana blinked.
Then—
“Lu…cavion?”
Her brows furrowed as she tried the name on her tongue. The syllables felt foreign, unusual—unique.
Lucavion’s lips twitched. “Having trouble?”
“I’m not—” Aeliana started, but then she scowled. “What kind of name is that?”
Lucavion chuckled, the sound low and smooth. “A rather distinguished one, don’t you think?”
Aeliana crossed her arms, still frowning. “I’ve never heard it before.”
Lucavion shrugged, his smirk deepening. “Are you sure?”
Aeliana huffed. “I’m very sure. I know the names of every noble house, every distinguished warrior, every renowned scholar in the Empire—and I’ve never heard of a ‘Lucavion.'”
Lucavion tilted his head, clearly entertained. “Well… I guess you haven’t.”
Aeliana’s eyes sharpened. “So? Are you famous or not?”
Lucavion’s smirk curled. “You will see.”
Aeliana narrowed her eyes. “See what?”
Lucavion stretched his legs out, completely unbothered. “I’ll become more famous now that I’ve saved the Duke’s daughter, won’t I?”
Aeliana scoffed. “Hah. You’re counting on that?”
Lucavion’s smirk didn’t waver. “Why not? I imagine my reputation will spread rather quickly. A mysterious, devastatingly handsome warrior saving the precious daughter of the Thaddeus Duchy? A tale for the ages.”
Aeliana rolled her eyes. “You really are insufferable.”
Lucavion laughed, a rich, amused sound that filled the cavern.
But Aeliana, despite herself, found the corners of her lips twitching.
Because—for the first time in a long time—she wasn’t cold.
Even with his unnatural chill. Even with the fire between them. Even with his exasperating arrogance.
She wasn’t cold at all.
Lucavion’s smirk remained, playful and knowing, as he leaned slightly toward Aeliana. “When we get out of here, you’ll come to learn more.”
Aeliana’s brows furrowed. “Learn more?”
“Indeed,” Lucavion said smoothly, his black eyes glinting with mischief. “While you were throwing tantrums in your little room, I shook the world quite a lot, you know.”
Aeliana blinked.
Then—
“…”
She punched him.
Right in the chest.
Lucavion let out a small ‘oof,’ but before he could react further, her fingers found his side—and pinched.
Hard.
“Humph,” Aeliana huffed, her eyes flashing as she twisted her fingers just a little more. “Who said I was throwing tantrums?”
Lucavion winced, but his smirk never faded. “What? You just proved I was right.”
Aeliana scowled.
She didn’t speak.
She just pinched him again.
Lucavion chuckled, shaking his head. “Ah… just like a little girl in puberty, all fire and—”
WHAM.
Aeliana tackled him.
With zero hesitation.
One second, Lucavion was relaxed, seated comfortably against the cavern wall—the next, he was flat on his back, Aeliana straddling his waist, her amber eyes burning with righteous fury.
Lucavion blinked up at her.
Then—
“Heh.”
His smirk widened.
“Bold move, little ember,” he murmured, his voice low, teasing. “Didn’t know you liked being on top.”
Aeliana froze.
Her eyes widened just slightly—before narrowing into dangerous slits.
“YOU—”
Her hands shot for his collar, gripping it tightly as she shook him, her face growing redder by the second.
Lucavion laughed, entirely unbothered, his black eyes gleaming with amusement. “Violent as ever, I see.”
Aeliana scowled harder, her grip tightening. “I swear to the gods, I will—”
But she didn’t get to finish.
Because Lucavion—**the absolute menace that he was—**just grinned.
Then—
He lifted his hand and patted her head.
Aeliana froze again.
Her entire body went rigid.
Lucavion tilted his head, his smirk entirely too satisfied. “Good girl. Let it all out.”
Silence.
A deadly silence.
Then—
“LUCA—!!”
Aeliana let out an indignant growl, her hands moving from his collar to his face, pressing down in a feeble attempt to smother his infuriating smirk.
Lucavion just laughed.
Loudly.
Richly.
Like this was the best entertainment he’d had in ages.
And, honestly?
It probably was.
*******
On the surface, things were a little different.
The battlefield roared back to life.
The sea churned violently, the waves thrashing against the hulls of the ships, but the chaos had shifted. The moment the sky had been cut, the atmosphere itself had changed.
The darkness that had loomed over them, thick and suffocating, had weakened.
And though the storm still raged—the sky was brightening.
Faint rays of light pierced through the swirling clouds, illuminating the battlefield in fleeting glimpses of gold and silver. The shadows that had stretched endlessly across the waters seemed to retreat, their oppressive weight lifting ever so slightly.
The monsters did not stop.
They came in waves, their movements still frenzied, still relentless—but something was different.
They were no longer part of an overwhelming, inevitable doom.
They were desperate.
The beasts clawed, lunged, tore through the air with maddened shrieks, but their ferocity felt hollow. As if they were fighting against a force they no longer understood.
As if they were losing control.
And this time—
The Duke was here.