Five days passed in the blink of an eye.
Before anyone realized it, it was already August 7.
The carriage rolled along the road, and the first bite of fall felt stronger now. When the wind slid through the trees, leaves would drift down in soft bursts, scattering across the ground.
Golden sunlight spilled over the pale-yellow leaf litter, painting everything with that uniquely autumn kind of quiet.
Luke lay stretched out on the carriage roof, enjoying the cooler air, his mood bright and easy.
"Your Highness, we're almost at the capital."
Yurna's voice came from below.
Luke opened his eyes and glanced ahead. From here, he could already see a white statue standing in the distance, like a beacon for the capital itself.
If you could see it, you weren't far.
A little farther down the road, a towering silver-white wall came into view—solemn and grand. The white bricks linked together like gleaming plates of silver armor.
The sight made Luke remember the last time he'd come here.
Back then, he'd carried a travel pack from Border Town, stepped into this city with nothing but uncertainty about the future…
…and never imagined that after that day, his life would be turned upside down.
Now he was about to enter this city again, and everything—his state of mind, his circumstances—was different.
This time, Quinn was with him. So were Vayne and Frey.
Over these five days, Frey's injuries hadn't fully healed, but she'd recovered enough to ride a horse. Her pace was fast—almost unsettlingly so.
Now all three of them had joined Luke's personal guard.
The mentor and student hadn't let go of revenge. After what happened in the demon priestess's valley, they'd both realized how far their strength still fell short.
So they decided they'd only go hunting that demon again once they were stronger.
On the road, Vayne finally spoke about what she'd suffered back then.
She'd always shown hatred for dark creatures, but she'd never explained where that hatred came from—what had happened that year.
Two years ago, on a single night, a horned demon had broken into Vayne's home and slaughtered her parents with brutal ease.
And sixteen-year-old Vayne had been forced to watch, helpless.
She begged every person she could think of for help—everyone.
But they all treated her like she was raving. Some even lashed out at her with cruel words.
It wasn't hard to imagine how desperate she'd been. How abandoned. How completely alone.
No one would believe her then.
And even now, if someone hadn't seen it with their own eyes, they probably still wouldn't believe it.
But Luke believed her.
Even without seeing it, he would have believed her.
Before Vayne ever brought it up, he already knew that horned demon was real—and not just real, but powerful.
Second tier beneath the Ten Great Demons was more than enough to prove that.
Once they were back in the capital, Luke decided he'd keep an eye on it.
Letting a demon of that level run loose and keep harming people was never going to be "fine."
"That's Demacia's capital…"
Frey rode her horse, staring at the vast, steel-and-silver city for the first time. Awe flickered in her eyes.
Over the years, she'd traveled to many places across Runeterra, but she'd rarely come to Demacia.
Most of the time, she only passed through the borderlands and never went deeper.
Because this was a kingdom that outlawed magic.
If her black magic ever got exposed here, what awaited her would be nothing but disaster.
If it weren't for helping Vayne get revenge, she never would've set foot inside this place.
And none of what came afterward would've happened.
Thinking back across everything on the road…
Frey felt that meeting Luke after entering Demacia had been one of the greatest strokes of luck in both her life and Vayne's.
Now she rarely used black magic. Even if Mageseekers saw her, they wouldn't sense anything.
And with Luke's status protecting them, entering the capital this time came with no worries.
Vayne looked at the capital ahead, her expression complicated.
She still remembered arriving here two years ago after exhausting herself to get here—only to be driven out without mercy.
She never expected to return like this.
And to do it as part of the royal entourage she once resented.
She lifted her gaze toward the carriage roof and glanced at Luke's profile as he rested with his eyes closed.
And somehow… she just couldn't bring herself to hate him.
Sure, he could be annoying. Sometimes he was downright infuriating.
But Vayne knew he wasn't like those people.
These past few days, she'd found herself wondering—if she hadn't met him that night in the hunting woods, what would her life look like now?
Frey had said that if Luke hadn't shown up that night, she would've used black magic to forcibly keep Vayne hanging on until they reached the city.
And after that?
Vayne didn't know what the ending would've been.
But it might not have been the ending she wanted.
She glanced at Frey riding beside her, warmth rising in her chest. Vayne stopped letting her thoughts spiral.
For Vayne, right now—this moment—having her mentor beside her was enough.
But along with that warmth came a sharp stab of pain, and Vayne couldn't help pressing a hand to her chest.
Frey noticed immediately, worry in her eyes. "It still hurts?"
Vayne turned her head and forced a small smile, her face pale and weak. "It's much better than before."
Luke heard them from above and cracked an eye open, glancing down.
That night, Vayne had resisted the Heart-Eater Demon Seed inside her, and she'd won.
But the demon seed hadn't been purged.
Frey used the Carveheart Hex to probe again and found that a portion still lingered deep inside Vayne's heart.
Worse, it had become more agitated—constantly stirring trouble. Vayne would frequently feel stabbing heart pain, and she stayed in a persistent state of weakness.
Before all this, the demon seed inside her had been close to fully maturing. Its influence had already reached a frightening level.
So a single burst of self-resistance was never going to erase it completely.
On that point, neither Luke nor Frey had a good solution.
But Luke did have someone in mind—someone who might be able to deal with what remained.
Whether it would work… they'd have to get back first and see.
The carriage continued on, and half an hour later, they arrived beneath the capital's gates.
"Your Highness."
Several guards at the gate recognized Luke and saluted together.
"At ease."
Luke waved casually.
There was no inspection, no delay. They went straight in.
Back in the capital again, seeing the familiar streets and scenery, even Luke felt a sudden surge of nostalgia.
Like he'd been away for ages.
"Royal City Bulletin! Edessa hit by a beast-swarm crisis!"
"Royal City Bulletin! Why the Mageseekers have been mobilizing nonstop lately—read it first, get the full scoop!"
"Newsboy, give me a copy!"
"Candy apples! Shiny and sweet—candy apples!"
"Make way! Make way!"
The streets were packed and lively.
Bikes zipped through the crowds everywhere.
They'd become a daily staple for the capital's residents—easy, convenient, and not as bulky as horse traffic. On these roads, you rarely even saw horses anymore.
Buying and reading the paper had become another routine little habit. Even now, with new editions only coming out every few days, sales stayed steady.
And every so often, someone would carry a bundle of candy apples and call out while walking along, instantly drawing excited kids.
Quinn, Vayne, and Frey all watched the capital with open curiosity.
"The capital's changed a lot in two years," Vayne said, scanning the street. She clearly remembered that when she came here back then, none of this existed.
Now the streets felt less oppressive—more alive.
"More like the last few months," Quinn replied.
She'd last been here a few months ago, and she hadn't seen any of this either.
Looking around now, even she found it new.
Luke watched it all too, a quiet feeling settling in his chest.
In his eyes, this was only the beginning.
The carriage didn't stop, rolling straight toward the palace.
When they reached the palace entrance, Luke stepped down. Quinn and the others waited there.
Luke headed inside alone, straight for where Jarvan III was.
"Father, I'm back!"
He pushed the door open and looked at Jarvan III seated within, a hint of genuine longing on his face.
Jarvan III froze for a moment when he saw him.
Then the king stood up at once and walked straight over, placing his heavy hands on Luke's shoulders.
"This time, you did very well. I'm proud of you."
Jarvan III's voice was warm, his gaze full of concern and quiet satisfaction.
He studied the young man's sharp features and couldn't help feeling something deep in his chest.
He never would've imagined that the child he'd had with Melli would grow into someone this outstanding.
Everything Luke had done in Edessa, Jarvan III already knew.
It could be said that Luke's decisions alone had saved an entire city from catastrophe.
Because of Luke, Edessa's casualties were minimized—and an entire cult was wiped out in one sweep.
When Jarvan III learned that, his first feeling was pride and relief.
And then came fury.
Xin Zhao stood nearby, watching the father and son speak.
Several days had passed since that meeting, but Xin Zhao could still remember Jarvan III's thunderous rage that day.
It was a kind of anger that even Xin Zhao had never seen on Jarvan III.
Almost everyone present had been scorched by it. Even High Marshal Tianna hadn't escaped.
But in a matter like this, no one would tolerate it.
In a kingdom that prided itself on being exceptionally safe, a cult with hundreds of members had existed at all.
And not only that—this cult had set its sights on a prince, creating chaos on that scale.
If Luke hadn't reacted fast enough, the consequences would've been unimaginable.
From that day onward, the capital's Mageseekers were mobilized constantly, busy to the point of exhaustion.
This sweep didn't uncover any hidden mages inside the capital.
But the climate of harsh investigation wasn't going to fade anytime soon.
"Father, I'm planning to visit the High Marshal later," Luke said after talking for a while, preparing to leave.
He'd just gotten back, but all he wanted was to go lie down in his little courtyard and not move.
Before that, he still needed to see Tianna.
Jarvan III nodded, smiling gently. "Go."
Luke turned and left the room.
The smile vanished from Jarvan III's face in an instant.
Even Xin Zhao could feel the king's anger surge again—days later, still not extinguished.
"Xin Zhao," Jarvan III said heavily.
Xin Zhao answered at once. "Your Majesty, your command."
Jarvan III's voice was cold. "Carry my order. Summon all ministers. Meeting hall. Now."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Xin Zhao took the order and left.
Luke left Jarvan III and headed straight for Tianna's office.
When he arrived, he didn't knock. He simply pushed the door open and walked right in.
"Aunt, did you miss me?"
Tianna's reaction mirrored Jarvan III's.
She paused for a beat, then stood and walked up to him.
She did seem to have missed him—she put a hand on his head and ruffled his hair a few times, a smile rising in her eyes.
"Let me see where you broke something. You wrote it like you barely survived—who exactly were you trying to scare?"
She spoke like she was scolding him, but the concern underneath was obvious.
Luke sighed dramatically, looking wounded. "The injuries on the outside healed, sure… but the injuries in my heart? Those will never recover."
Normally, Tianna would've snapped at him for shamelessly playing it up.
But this time, she surprised him, her tone uncharacteristically gentle.
"This time… it really was my mistake. I didn't think it through, and I nearly got you killed."
After hearing the later reports from Edessa, even she'd felt shaken.
She'd heard of the Shadow God cult before. It was supposed to have been destroyed twenty years ago.
Yet somehow it had clung to life, lurking until now—and had even rebuilt its strength.
And this time it had targeted Luke directly.
That was audacity bordering on insanity.
If Tianna had known the truth, she never would've made the call to send Luke to investigate Kerr Village.
After the Wraith Cave incident, she'd already planned to replace him with someone else for the continued investigation.
But she'd thought: Luke still had to remain in Edessa for a few days, and if he was just going to be sitting around anyway, he might as well keep pushing the lead forward.
If it were only a wraith mage, then with a city's troops nearby, nothing should go wrong.
Who would've guessed the ones watching him were a full-blown cult—one with more than a few black mages among them?
If Luke hadn't sent that letter to the Dauntless Vanguard, or if she hadn't agreed…
then maybe she wouldn't be seeing him today.
Luke understood that, in truth, it wasn't Tianna's fault.
The Shadow God cult had targeted him from the start. He couldn't exactly spend his entire life inside the capital.
The moment he left, they'd have their chance.
This time, it just happened to line up perfectly.
Still… none of that stopped Luke from continuing to act pitiful.
He sighed again, eyes full of tragic sincerity. "No, I'm not blaming you, Aunt. I can see your good intentions clearly. I'm truly not wronged at all."
As he spoke, he even wiped at a few completely imaginary tears.
Face-to-face, his performance was even more ridiculous than it had been in his letter.
Tianna watched him "cry" and sighed helplessly. She already knew he wanted something.
And honestly… after what he'd done, he really did deserve a reward.
His performance in Edessa had far exceeded what she expected. Someone else might not have managed it at all.
She looked at him dabbing at air and said flatly, "Stop acting. Tell me what you want."
Luke instantly returned to normal. "I'm putting together a personal guard unit. And in Edessa, I found a talent worth recruiting."
Tianna nodded. "Who?"
For him to take an interest, it had to be someone special.
Luke answered, "Her name is Quinn."
Tianna paused.
"Quinn…"
A vivid image surfaced in her mind—a woman and her eagle, a pairing so memorable it was hard to forget.
Even by Tianna's standards, Quinn was an exceptional talent.
Tianna's eye for people was rarely wrong. When she'd first seen Quinn's potential, she'd known Quinn would go far.
That was why she'd made an exception and pulled strings to send her directly into the Kingdom Rangers, giving her a higher starting point.
She hadn't expected Luke's "talent" to be Quinn.
If Tianna said she didn't feel reluctant, she'd be lying.
It was painfully hard to hand over someone that good.
Because in her mind, it wasn't "recruiting" so much as it was…
letting this brat ruin her.
Tianna felt a deep, exhausted helplessness at the thought.
Luke saw her hesitating and casually added, "She's already here with us, too. All that's left is for you to say the word and transfer her to my side."
"She's already here?"
Tianna's eyes flickered.
In the end, she nodded. "If she's willing, then I won't say anything. Fine. I approve it."
If the person was already here, what was the point of arguing?
Tianna didn't even need to guess—Luke had definitely done his share of "convincing."
"Thank you, Aunt."
Luke found himself saying "Aunt" more and more smoothly lately. In a good mood, he piled on the compliments without restraint.
"Seriously, it's been so long. You're getting younger and younger. Your skin is so smooth—I almost thought you were an eighteen-year-old girl."
He really shouldn't have said that.
The moment he did, Tianna's eyes narrowed.
"You truly think that?"
"Of course," Luke nodded instantly, wearing the most sincere expression he could muster.
Tianna laughed.
She looked genuinely pleased, her smile softening as she lifted a hand and ruffled his hair again.
"Come to House Crownguard for dinner tonight. I'll make it up to you properly."
She was smiling so warmly that Luke didn't think twice.
Looks like this whole mess really did leave the old woman feeling guilty.
Well… if she was being that sincere with her "apology" and invitation…
then he'd begrudgingly go and humor her.
"Sure. I'll be there tonight."
At that moment, Luke had absolutely no idea what awaited him after sundown.
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