Chapter 5: Meeting Gift
Lucian wasn't given the time to think of the wonderful meeting gifts that he could give the Valemont family without arousing any suspicion, when a familiar sweet voice that sent a bout of goosebumps to rise on his arms rang penetratingly in the air.
"Brother Lucien! Here!"
Selestine's sudden exclamation silenced the chatter around the pavilion, and they all turned to look at the entrance path, their eyes landing on Lucian's figure.
Madam Seles sported a classic smile that did not reach her eyes, and her husband, Karion Valemont had a gentle smile on his amiable features, with a clear forehead and smiling eyes that does not betray the terrifying jealous monster within him.
Lucian raised the corner of his mouth with difficulty. His legs felt like they are filled with tons of lead, but he still took each step, and entered the pavilion.
The Valemont family, more specifically, Karion Valemonts' can be considered complete, and that is aside from the absent eldest son, Solaire Valemont.
His eyes met the kind and fatherly eyes projected by Karion. It took all his efforts to restrain the urge to bash the face of the bastard until it could resemble the monster the he really is.
"Father, I'm back."
Lucian's eyes reddened, looking as if tears were threatening to fall at any second.
His intense reaction of looking like a teenager that missed his family pleased Karion and Madam Seles.
They've raised the Crownwald scum for seven years from toddler to a thinking individual, and they used up their years of acting skills to stamp their influence in him, and it seems like they have done a good job, considering that the kid has been away for ten years.
The seven years of brainwashing and shaping the Crownwald scum did not go to waste.
Madam Seles met the eyes of her husband, the approval inside them finally turned her fake smile into a real one.
"Oh, you two, father and son can reminisce any time now that Lucien is back, but now, let's all go treat our famished stomachs."
Lucian nodded and raised his hand to wipe the ends of his eyes, to wipe away the tears of anger that leaked out of his restraints.
"Your mother is right, come sit down next to your old father."
Karion patted the back of the chair on his right. They are at the middle of the open-air pavilion, and are sitting around a round table with two empty chairs on Karion's right side.
"That's right, brother Lucien should be hungry, travelling from the isolated island to the capital city." Selestine did not forget to insert herself in the conversation. Her eyes crinkled in a smile, and the dimples on her cheeks deepened.
In her heart, Selestine views herself as the closest to Lucien, and that her words would sway him more than anything else, and she has indeed proved it in the past.
But she would not know that the loyal wolfhound that follows all of her wishes is gone, and what replaced him is the Lucian that suffered and regretted after knowing the truth of his lineage, and is back for revenge.
Lucian's first meal being back at the Valemont proceeded in a friendly and warm manner, much due to the machinations of Madam Seles, Karion and Selestine.
Six and Sevena Valemont could not even bring themselves to pay attention to the stupid fool of a Crownwald in front of them.
They are absorbed inside their own bubbles, and wasn't really in on the careful plannings of their youngest sister, mother and father. But they are the type that would make a move when they are tasked with a mission, and that is also what transpired in Lucian's first life.
The twins were tasked with the mission to go after the fleeing younger descendants of the Crownwalds and the Sinclairs after the fall of their defenses due to the deaths of Lucian's second elder brother and eldest sister.
Remembering that time of bloodshed, wherein his past self was also filled with rejection to the plan, but was unable to go against the family that took him in, Lucian followed the twins, his eyes etched every blood and life that vanished in front of him, the life of his siblings, paternal cousins and maternal cousins, every life disappeared in his watch.
Every memory is a scar that will never heal, and all the more deepened into his soul at the moment that he learned of the truth.
Lucian's hold of the utensils tightened, the veins on the back of his hand bulged, their light green colors appeared exceptionally prominent on his pale-white skin that has been impervious to the harsh sun of the isolated island.
"Is something wrong, brother Lucien?"
Selestine tilted her head and stared at Lucian's suddenly tense figure. Her eyes showed eight parts worried and two parts doubtful, fully showing off her acting skills as she hid the overflowing disgust at calling Lucian her brother.
Lucian snapped back into his senses, and his tense body instantly relaxed as a reflex of a doting smile made its way in his lips.
"No, I was just thinking about my eventual admission to Highcrest University after being away from home for ten years."
The mention of Highcrest University steered the conversation away to propelling Karion's height as a kind and doting father for getting Lucian the university admission.
"Your father really used a bunch of connections just to get your admission letter at Highcrest, and he even faced a bit of trouble due to Lucas Crownwald, an old-time acquaintance that always likes to take a jab at your father since high school."
Madam Seles sighed as she worriedly gave her husband a loving and pitying look.
"And it is for no apparent reason, just because he is a Crownwald, and that your father once accidentally landed the Student Council Vice President position at Highcrest Senior Academy that Lucas Crownwald was vying for."
The moment Madam Seles mentioned his father, Lucian felt his mind go blank. Her words echoed in his ears like a curse, and the urge to just kill all of the Valemont around him almost surfaced into reality.
How dare they try to smear the name of his father in front of him?
'No, looking back, they have done this a lot, and it is all to sway my feelings as an officer of justice, to end the tyranny of the Crownwalds.'
'I was really a fool."
Although Madam Seles wanted to plant more atrocious actions of the Crownwalds in Lucien's head, she did not want to be too suspicious. Her words turned a corner and looked at her twins before reaching out and patting the back of Lucian's hand across Karion.
"Now that you are going to attend Highcrest in three weeks, why don't you tour around the university to get familiar with the place? Your elder brother Six and elder sister Sevena will take you there."
Six and Sevena instantly twisted their heads at the direction of their mother. The disapproval on their faces could not be any clearer than the noon skies.
"That's great! I actually wanted to ask the same thing. I don't want to be a headless fly once the semester starts."
Lucian's smile brightened at the looks of rage that flashed past the eyes of the twins.
And it seems like the first ones to receive his meeting gift would be his dearest twin elder siblings.
"Yes, you would be better to have a sense of direction in that place, because Highcrest is a huge institution that covers a wide expanse of land."
Madam Seles nodded and shot a stern look at her twins. She stood up and clapped her hands.
"Don't waste time and head over Highcrest now…I heard that most of the junior and senior students have already travelled back and arrived at the university ahead of schedule, maybe you can meet a like-minded senior that could be your friend and help you transition to a university life."
Madam Seles did not wait for her twins to utter any rejection, as she rushed them off their seats, along with Lucian and called for a bodyguard to drive them to Highcrest district, the home of Highcrest University.
The twins could only dumbfoundedly sit at the passenger seat of the car as it swerves out of the Valemont villa.
Lucian sat next to the driver as he looked ahead, seemingly curious of the changes that happened in the places that were once familiar to him.
Unbeknownst to the three others inside the car, a blue system screen hang in front of Lucian, his thoughts moved and the system screen flipped to a different page, landing on a screen titled System Mall.
'Now, how about picking the perfect meeting gift before arriving at Highcrest?'
'Knowing the twins, they would surely just drop me off at the entrance of the university without a second thought, and being in the closed space of a car is easier for me to give my meeting gift to the right person.'
Lucian trained his eyes on the System Mall, the dense categories dazzled his eyes, but the ten years in the doomsday wherein the System Mall has been his go-to made it easier for him to look for the items that could cause a damage undetected.
His eyes stopped on the category Harmful Props.
The system really knows how to make a business. Everything seems to be provided as long as you can think of a usage.
His gaze landed on a particular item on the third page of the Harmful Props category.
Vicious Dream Bubble Thread: Turn trusted partners into lifelong enemies with the Vicious Dream Bubble Thread. The bubble thread connects two individuals, and creates vicious dreams of both individuals trying to do anything just to cause misfortune and eventually kill the other party. (500 system coins)
'A perfect gift, indeed.'
Lucian's lips curled slowly as his thoughts sounded the system notification.
"Bzz…Purchased Vicious Dream Bubble Thread with 500 system coins…Remaining system coins: 4,999,500."
Lucian willed his thoughts as he took the harmful prop out of his storage.
A transparent bubble filled with swimming grayish black shadows appeared on his palm.
His eyes drifted to the side and to the rearview mirror, but the driver and the twins at the back did not react one bit.
He was the only one that could see the product of the system, be it in the doomsday and in this life.
The purchase of the prop came with a direction to use, and Lucian immediately put it into action.
He controlled the transparent bubble to float between the twins, and with a wicked smile at the corner of his mouth, he mouthed one word into the air.
"Explode"
A 'pop' sound that only Lucian could hear echoed inside the car.
The trapped grayish black shadows inside the bubble wriggled with excitement, and tentacle-like threads rushed out of them, intertwining with the body of the twins, and connecting them until all threads were knotted and sealed.
'It's done.'