Aeliana returned to her chambers, her mind weighed down by the conversation she’d just had with her father. The moment the door closed behind her, she exhaled sharply, as if expelling the sheer magnitude of everything she had just learned.
Then—without hesitation—she threw herself onto her massive bed, the silken covers billowing slightly under her weight.
Staring at the ornate canopy above, she let out a quiet groan, pressing the heels of her palms against her eyes.
‘What the hell am I supposed to do with all of this?’
Her mother. The engagement. Lucavion.
Everything she had thought to be fixed, to be set in stone, had suddenly been upended with a few carefully spoken words.
Her father had been willing to break the engagement—just like that.
For years, she had assumed that the decision was unshakable, that she had no say in the matter. That her life had already been carved out for her, dictated by duty and necessity.
And yet, with a simple sentence, it had all been called into question.
‘You may be wondering why I told you that story.’
Aeliana sucked in a slow breath, trying to steady herself, but her heart was still pounding from the weight of his words.
‘You are free to do whatever you want with him.’
She clenched her jaw, her hands curling into fists against the soft sheets.
Free.
That was not a word she was used to.
And then there was Lucavion.
Her fingers twitched slightly at the thought of him—the reckless, infuriating bastard who had stormed into her life with no regard for propriety, who had treated her with a maddening blend of amusement and sincerity.
She had insisted that she didn’t want him.
But when her father had spoken of ensuring Lucavion never troubled her again—
Aeliana had reacted before she could stop herself.
‘No!’
That word had left her lips without thought, without calculation.
And now, she was left to deal with the consequences.
She groaned again, rolling onto her side and burying her face into the pillow.
‘Damn it.’
She hated this.
She hated the uncertainty, the way her emotions warred with her logic. She hated the way Lucavion had somehow gotten under her skin, how she had allowed herself to become tangled in thoughts of him.
—it was as if Lucavion being the disciple of the Starscourge Gerald didn’t matter to her at all, as if… it had never changed the way she saw him in the first place.
Aeliana pulled her hands from her face, staring blankly at the canopy above. The thought alone should have rattled her, should have made her question everything. Gerald, the infamous Starscourge, a name spoken in fear and awe alike. And Lucavion had been his disciple? It was the kind of revelation that should have sent her reeling.
And yet.
Yet.
She exhaled sharply, pressing her lips together.
She had been surprised, of course. But past that initial reaction, she hadn’t felt anything shift in her heart. Lucavion had always been… himself. Reckless, infuriating, arrogant beyond reason. But also sharp, undeniably capable, and—frustratingly—someone she could not seem to push away, no matter how she tried.
Even now, recalling the way he had stood before her, that ever-present smirk shadowed by something unreadable as he revealed the truth—it wasn’t fear or distrust that had settled in her chest.
It was something far more dangerous.
Understanding.
He never once pretended to be anything else.
She squeezed her eyes shut, willing away the unwelcome realization. Because the truth of it, as much as she despised admitting it, was that Lucavion had already long since taken root in her life. Before she had even realized it, he had slipped past every wall she had constructed, weaving himself into her thoughts with infuriating ease.
Perhaps that was what unsettled her most of all.
Not his past. Not his connection to Gerald.
But the fact that none of it had changed the way she felt.
Aeliana exhaled sharply, rolling onto her back as her thoughts tangled further.
Lucavion.
That bastard.
Somehow, despite everything, despite all the revelations and the sheer chaos he brought with him, she couldn’t separate him from what she had always known him to be.
His identity, his past, the very name Starscourge Gerald—none of it had truly changed her perception of him.
And that?
That was dangerous.
Because it meant that no matter how much she tried to deny it, no matter how much she insisted that she didn’t care—Lucavion had already carved a place in her life.
Her fingers twitched slightly against the silk of her sheets.
And then—
Her mind flickered back.
To that conversation.
To the moment she had almost forgotten about in the sheer weight of everything else.
“For another certain daughter.”
Aeliana’s entire body tensed.
That’s right.
Lucavion had said that.
Another daughter.
She sat up, her amber eyes narrowing.
Starscourge Gerald had a daughter.
And not just anywhere—she had been here. Right under their noses, in her father’s territory.
Aeliana’s lips pressed into a thin line as the weight of that realization settled in.
Another girl.
Another girl.
And Lucavion was going to the Academy because of her.
Aeliana didn’t realize she was scowling until she caught her own reflection in the mirror across the room.
Her expression was cold.
Irritated.
For some inexplicable reason.
‘Why does that bother me?’
She clicked her tongue, shaking her head.
It didn’t.
It shouldn’t.
She exhaled slowly, willing herself to let it go.
And yet—
Her mind stubbornly circled back.
Who was she?
What was her connection to Lucavion?
Her fingers curled into the sheets.
‘Tch. This is ridiculous.’
But as much as she tried to dismiss it, the irritation remained.
Aeliana’s jaw tightened as she pulled her knees up, hugging them loosely against her chest. The more she tried to push the thought away, the more stubbornly it lodged itself into her mind, sinking its claws into her composure.
Who was she?
Her father’s words had already thrown her world into disarray, but Lucavion—Lucavion—had managed to plant something even worse.
Doubt.
A name unspoken. A history undisclosed.
Another daughter.
Aeliana inhaled sharply, but it did nothing to steady the gnawing sense of unease curling around her thoughts. Because no matter how she turned it over in her mind, she couldn’t find a single reason why Lucavion would care about someone like that.
Not just in passing. Not just out of obligation.
But enough to go to the Academy because of her.
She scowled.
Lucavion wasn’t the type to be led around by sentiment. He was sharp, calculating. He never did anything without a reason. So what was his reason this time? What was his connection to her?
Had he promised her something?
Her fingers clenched against the silk of her sheets, and a quiet frustration swelled in her chest.
She could still hear the way he had spoken about it. Offhanded, but with that damnable ease he always carried, as if nothing ever truly shook him. And yet, there had been something else buried underneath, something just beneath the surface.
Aeliana bit the inside of her cheek.
Was that ‘promise’ for her?
Why did it matter?
Why did it matter?
She inhaled sharply, exhaling just as fast, trying to force the thought out of her head. But it was impossible. Lucavion had already carved his place into her thoughts—too reckless, too persistent, too damn himself—and now he had the nerve to toss a mystery into her lap without even explaining it.
Did he think she wouldn’t care?
Did he expect her to simply let it go?
A bitter scoff left her lips.
‘Infuriating bastard.’
And yet, the irritation remained, festering, an itch she couldn’t scratch.
What did he think of her? This girl? This other daughter?
Why had he never mentioned her before?
And why—why did the very thought of her bother Aeliana so damn much?
———A/N———-
I am starting a new book, Transmigrated into Eroge as the Simp, but I Refuse This Fate.
Feel free to check it out.