Now this was embarrassing.
No,this was catastrophic.
Lucifer Obsidian Valcrest had never forgotten to lock a door in his life.
And certainly not when he was speaking to himself like a lunatic.
He never expected her of all people to be here.
He also forgotten about her ability to never knock on hisdoor.
His carefully maintained noble composure , the cold, untouchable distance that protected him had shattered in seconds. Reduced to a boy muttering fantasies in front of the one person whose opinion he pretended not to care about.His face almost turned green due to this.
He hadn't wanted her to see him small.
Her name was Amelia Valcrest.
His only maid.
His first friend outside the suffocating structure of House Valcrest.
The only person who once looked at him without weighing his surname first.
And in nearly every version of the future,
The one who killed him.
In the novel, the protagonist ended him.
In the game?
Most routes belonged to Amelia.
The remaining ones to his fiancée.
Between the two of them, they had erased him more times than anyone else.
And yet
Lucifer felt no resentment.
Only guilt.
He remembered laughing when she flinched.
Remembered dismissing her silence as obedience.
Remembered the day she stopped arguing back.
That day should have hurt him.
It hadn't.
Now it did.
"Stop staring," Amelia said coldly.
Lucifer blinked and turned away.
"Wasn't," he replied. "Just thinking."
He suddenly found the wall behind very fascinating.
"Well?" she asked. "Do you need something, Master?"
The word carried distance now.
"…What's the situation?"
"It has been two days since the incident."
Lucifer's heartbeat skipped and he turned around.
"Two…?"
"The Patriarch has decided. You are to be removed from the family."
Removed.
Not disciplined.
Not corrected.
Removed.
"And the Monarch," she continued calmly, "will arrive this evening to pass judgment."
The Monarch.
Not internal censure.
Not quiet exile.
Public judgment.
A Duke's son standing before a ruling Monarch.
This was not a scandal.
This was a statement.
Too fast.
Too clean.
In the original sequence, there had been delay confusion, hesitation, enough time for him to spiral into desperation.
This?
Two days unconscious. Immediate removal. Monarch summoned the same evening.
No investigation.No negotiation.No time.
Lucifer's thoughts sharpened.
This was not fallout.
This was containment.
He wasn't being punished.
He was being sealed.
Amelia was still watching him.
"Bring me something to eat," he said evenly.
She raised an eyebrow.
"Anything will do. Just make it quick. "
She hesitated, then left.
The moment the door closed, Lucifer exhaled.
Two days lost.Guards outside.
Restricted movement.
Accelerated judgment.
He wasn't reacting to scandal.
He was reacting to a script tightening around his throat.
"They shortened the window," he murmured.
In every version of the story, he destabilized.
He made noise.
He lashed out.
He disrupted noble order.
Someone did not want that branch.
Someone wanted him removed before he could become unpredictable.
"There is a conspiracy," he said quietly.
Not panic.Conclusion.
"I was never meant to think."
A cold understanding settled in his chest.
He had been an extra before.
As Anthony.
Background character in his own life.
Polite. Invisible. Unfinished.
He would not repeat that mistake.
He had died once wishing for a second chance.
He had woken into one.
Lucifer stood and took parchment.
He wrote without hesitation.
Variables. Names. Leverage.
He tried to remember how the original character in the game escape through this situation.
If he remembers correctly,even though Lucifer's fate was decided, he was not expelled from family until much later.
But nothing comes to his mind at the moment.
If he could not stop the judgment,
He had to shift its cost.
When he finished, he crossed a lot of unnecessary lines.
Only a few lines remained worth keeping.
He copied them cleanly.
Burned the rest.
Ash fell like quiet snow.
The door opened.
Amelia returned.
"Amelia," he said carefully. "I need a favor."
"No."
The answer was immediate.He had already expected this.
"Just listen to me once."he took a deep breath then said
"I know you don't like me."
She did not respond.
"I earned that."
He bowed slightly.
"For what we used to be."
A pause.
Her expression did not soften.
"Amy."
Her eyes flickered at the nickname.
"I won't ask you to forgive me," he continued. "I won't pretend I deserve it."
His gaze steadied.
"But this time, I am not guilty."
Silence.
"And someone made sure I would not have time to prove it."
That landed.
She watched him longer than before.
"…Fine," she said at last. "But I will not help you escape or do anything unlawful towards the family."
"I wouldn't ask you to."
That was almost true.
He handed her his storage pendent from his neck and folded parchment.
"Go to 20 miles south to the Mansion.
There you will find the black market of this town.Find someone named Diego.He owns several Illegal card stalls there. Told him that the order is from Ronald Webnar of the West."
Her suspicion deepened.
"No matter the price he asks, pay it from this."
He gave her the card.
"Password is my birthday."
"And please don't open the box."
"Why?"
"Because if you see what's inside, you might hesitate."
She studied him.
"Why am I already regretting this?"
But she still took it and then left.
Lucifer lay back, staring at the ceiling.
The Monarch was coming specifically for him.
His father had already chosen silence.
The estate had sealed him like evidence.
He was supposed to collapse here.
Desperation.Fear.A stupid escape attempt.
Instead,
He smiled faintly.
"Well if the world stubbornly insists on killing me early…"
"…then I guess I'll just have to be rude enough to survive."
He paused.
"…Man. I really should've locked that door."