It was raining outside. Lucian woke up in the wet rain. He turned over in bed and looked out the window.
Vader's arms were wrapped around him from behind, warm and strong.
"It's raining." Lucian said.
"It's just the morning. It will be clear tomorrow." Wade said.
Lucian laughed, raised his chin and leaned forward to kiss Wade in his warm body temperature.
Wade kissed him closely, letting his breath permeate every inch of Lucian's skin. But when the atmosphere was about to explode, he stopped.
“Don’t want to do it?” Lucian lay on the bed and looked into his eyes.
"…Tomorrow is the wedding." Wade whispered, "I want you to be in high spirits when you attend."
Lucian couldn't help laughing. He was so beautiful when he laughed, and the whole dim room was illuminated by his wine-red eyes. He looked at Wade with his eyes that seemed to have light, and Wade turned his slightly red face to the other side as if he was embarrassed to look at him.
“Can I… help you?” Lucian whispered, stretching out his slender fingers towards him.
"... Stop it. If you start making trouble, you won't be able to stop." Wade put his hand to the other side seriously.
Lucian couldn't help laughing again. The room was filled with warmth and affection. They looked like an ordinary, extremely loving couple who were going to get married one day, just like...
The confrontation the day before never happened.
"Okay, get up." Wade finally pushed away Lucian, who was leaning on him like a cat afraid of the cold and drawing circles on his abdomen with his fingers. Lucian rolled to the side and said lazily, "What are you going to do?"
"Go through the wedding process, which is rehearsal." Wade raised his eyebrows. "You won't forget it, right?"
"… How could that be? You are being wronged."
Wade turned around and stared at him coldly. Before Lucian felt uneasy, he stretched out his hands to scratch the itchy spots on Lucian's body.
Lucian was so amused that he chuckled. Finally, Wade let go of his hand, still with a cocky expression: "Alright, hurry up and get dressed."
Wade put on his clothes with his back to Lucian. At that moment, the mask of smile that had always been on Lucian's face before Wade disappeared. Only the indifferent and cold Lucian remained behind Wade.
He supported himself with one hand, imprinting Wade's back in his eyes. At the intersection of day and night, when Wade faced him and when he turned his back to him, Lucian sometimes felt that he was split into two people. One of them was always smiling and using his most familiar gestures and methods to deal with all situations. The other one was indifferent and confused, like a bystander, or an observer who hid himself in a cocoon for self-protection, integrating all the scenes he was about to witness into his eyes.
Now the observer had the upper hand again. The observer heard Vader say, "Let's go."
"… Um."
With the help of Wade, he put on the crimson dress. The dress was extremely luxurious, with every inch of wrinkles and every rose petal pattern being exquisite. It set off Lucian's beautiful face, and it was a fine piece made just for Lucian. Wade carefully fastened every button and every lace for him.
When his fingers touched his throat, Vader paused.
"… What's wrong?"
"nothing."
They looked at each other at the moment when they lowered their eyes and raised their eyes.
"... Just thought of it... suddenly." Wade suddenly laughed.
That was a smile that should never appear on his face. It was pure and gentle, not at all like a demon king who would destroy the world. He said, "I just suddenly felt... it's incredible to be able to meet you."
"What?"
"Just now I suddenly thought, if I hadn't met you, where would I be now, what would I be doing? Maybe I would have taken another path, and wouldn't be here." Wade said slowly, "When I think of this, I feel that... being able to marry you is like a miracle that can only be achieved after going through thousands of small probability choices."
"… "
“I am very happy, Lucien,” he said. “I am very happy indeed.”
He held his hand and lowered his head. Then, with an expression that didn't dare to look him in the face, he smiled and said, "Let's go."
"… Um."
Lucian, wearing the crimson dress, walked through the flower-filled corridor led by Vader. The corridor was empty on both sides except for portraits and sculptures.
But Lucian knew that tomorrow this place would be full of people. They came from all corners of the world, and knew Lucian's past or had heard of his name. They would applaud, smile or be surprised, and watch Wade holding his hand and leading him through this long corridor.
The castle's dome was very high, and sunlight shone in from all directions through the glass windows, falling on the freshly blooming flowers, the marble pillars with delicate reliefs, and the crystal branch-carved lamps with candles overhead. Lucian stood in the center of all the light, on a pure white carved round platform, with his back to the center of the hall with stained glass windows.
His silver hair was like flowing moonlight, his lips were as red as flower petals, and his eyes were like clear lake water. He stood beside Wade, and imagined cheers came from all directions. The white bouquet fell to the ground, and Wade leaned down and pushed the ring onto his finger.
Vader.
Love him.
He is together.
Amid all the imagined cheers, Lucian's earlobes began to burn again. He saw Vader lift his finger and kiss the gem on the ring on his ring finger.
"I love you." He said, "Do you love me?"
The purple eyes looked at him, like sparkling amethysts.
"Do you love me?"
Do you love me
Do you love me
You love...
"… I."
Lucian, who was always good at sweet talk, felt at this moment that those two simple words seemed to carry a heavy weight.
"… I."
All the cheers came towards him.
“… I love it.”
Every breath seemed to suck the air out of the surrounding area.
He saw his body lose weight, as if floating in the air. He became the observer again, watching and coldly watching himself speak.
"… I love you."
He saw himself saying this.
All his fantasies were shattered at that moment. He watched himself being held in Wade's arms, with no one else around.
"That's great." He heard Wade say, "I really want to be here tomorrow and say this to you again."
“…Does it feel that good?” Lucian said.
"I don't know why, but from that moment on, I suddenly felt that I should have told you 'I love you' from the first day I met you." Wade buried his face in his shoulder, "But it's not too late to start now."
"… "
Vader was so happy, Lucian thought.
He looked up and saw the dome of the palace that soared into the sky. On top of that dome, there seemed to be a Lucian—or, rather, number five.
Number Five sat on the crystal chandelier, swinging her legs and looking at him blankly.
— Was it me? Lucian thought in a trance. Was it me who hugged Wade and said "I love you" to him
Is it number five or Lucian
There was no one or any other sound in the empty hall. But when he turned to leave, he heard a cold laugh coming from behind him.
That laughter was the voice of Number Five.
Lucian walked out of the hall with Wade in the trance-like sound. The bright sunlight poured down on his head, and at that moment, he looked at the lake beside him.
The lake reflected his and Vader's figures. He looked at himself until his face gradually deformed into a face that was unrecognizable due to sulfuric acid.
…
Lucian didn't know how he got back to the room. According to the custom of the Demon Realm, the two parties could not sleep in the same room on the night before the wedding. Wade would still sleep here, and he would sleep in another room.
"Good night," Vader said.
"… Good night."
Lucian said.
He watched Vader disappear down the hallway. Vader looked so happy.
But Lucian was distraught.
He sat in the room, his finger still feeling the burning pain from the moment the ring was put on. Gradually, his face became more and more gloomy, as if he hated and hated himself from the bottom of his heart.
He gritted his teeth, countless images spinning in his mind. Those kissing, entanglement, hugging, wearing rings, wearing earrings, all seemed to become his enemies. They surrounded him, looking at him coldly as he sat there, veins popping out on the back of his hands from exerting too much force.
He suddenly felt like vomiting.
"...Lucian." The system asked him tremblingly, "When do you plan to leave?"
"… "
“…Lucian?”
"… roll."
"... ?!" The system was shocked. "What's wrong with you? Why are you suddenly so angry..."
"roll!"
Lucian put the system into silent mode. It was so anxious that it didn't care that it was muted, and continued to yell, "What are you thinking about, Lucian? The wedding is tomorrow. Didn't you say you would leave before the wedding? Why are you suddenly angry? Wade is just the male protagonist of a small world. He..."
Lucian couldn't hear its sound.
At that moment, the system had a feeling that everything was about to go off track and lose control. It watched Lucian sitting on the bed, awake all night, and the lonely look reminded it of the original number five.
“… I’m so stupid.”
At dawn, it heard Lucian's lazy voice.
system:
It saw Lucian lying back on the bed comfortably, as if all the entanglements from last night were cleared away. Lucian turned over in the bed, and his expression became relaxed again.
—Like he had finally figured something out.
But now the system can't even tell whether Lucian has figured it out or is just pretending to be happy.
There was a knock at the door. Several maids filed in, carrying dresses and hair accessories. When the system saw that Lucian was still in the room, it noticed that the last maid quietly left the team and walked to the other side of the corridor.
"She was reporting my whereabouts to Vader."
The system heard Lucian's voice. Lucian continued in a brisk voice, "Didn't you notice? There are experts guarding me inside and outside the room. Wade seems to have let me sleep alone in a room. In fact, he is also on guard against my escape - that's how it is. We are all on guard against each other."
"you… "
"Don't worry, everything will be over soon." Lucian said.
At that moment, the system's heart was horrified as never before. It watched Lucian very naturally let the maids dress her up, put on the robe, the headdress, the delicate necklace, and the bracelets. It was not until she was about to put on the earrings that Lucian said the next sentence to the maids.
"Don't use this one. I don't like it." He said, "Just use the one I was wearing before. By the way, is Witt in the room?"
He pointed to the extremely luxurious earrings on the tray and ordered a maid to go to Wade's room to get the earrings he usually wore - which was also the ruby earring that Wade prepared when he pierced his earlobes.
"No." The maid said, "His Highness Werther is dressing in another room."
The maid went to get the jewelry, but she didn't come back because she couldn't find it. Lucian finally got impatient. He said to the maids, "Go find it yourself."
As he walked along, Wade's bedroom finally appeared before him. Lucian said to the maids, "Wait outside, let's go in."
Wade never liked too many strangers entering their bedroom, and everyone in the palace knew this.
After entering the bedroom, Lucian began to search in front of the embarrassed maid. Finally, he quickly found the earring in a box that was hidden very deep.
He held the earring in his palm and suddenly attacked, knocking the maid unconscious!
The maid was caught off guard and fell limply to the ground.
At this moment, Lucian jumped out of the side window. A large number of guards were outside his room, and there was a blind spot in Wade's bedroom. He walked out along this blind spot.
Go faster and faster. Go faster and faster.
The corners of his robe fluttered, like a red cloud or a fleeing flower. Finally, he arrived at the small gate where few people visited. He grabbed a horse and rushed out of the small gate at lightning speed!
The guards didn't realize someone had escaped through this small door until he had fled. They roared and wanted to send people to chase him. But Lucian was too fast. When he was Master Cecil, his horsemanship was also first-class.
The horse crossed the gurgling stream and finally reached the cliff. Before reaching the cliff, he pinched the seal in his hand!
Burton's figure walked out from the shadow behind the tree and appeared in front of him. After seeing Lucian in his best clothes, he smiled and said, "You're on time, aren't you?"
"Let's go." Lucian said coldly.
He seemed to have no interest in smiling at people. But Burton didn't care. He transformed his body into a dragon. At the moment when the dragon spread its wings, Lucian also jumped off the cliff and landed on him!
Lucian sat on the dragon indifferently. He knew that he was the conspicuous red in the sky. In the distance, there seemed to be a commotion in the castle. Burton: "It seems that Wade found out that you escaped."
"… "
"Have you completed your plan? I guess it has been completed, right?" Burton said. "I can see the light on your body gradually getting stronger. That is the sign of charging, isn't it? His rapidly rising hatred is providing you with the energy to leave."
"… "
Familiar energy poured into Lucian's brain. Lucian also released the system at this time. He heard the system's surprised voice: "Lucian, I feel that the energy value has reached 90%!!"
"… "
Lucian turned his head expressionlessly on the dragon's back. At that moment, he seemed to see a black figure on the cliff, looking at him with bloodshot eyes.
But that was impossible. Burton was moving very fast. They had already flown to a place in the sky that Wade could not see.
"You look like you're in a bad mood," Burton said.
“…Is there?”
Lucian's voice sounded a little lazy. Burton smiled and said, "Number Five, maybe it's because you're not used to it yet. But for other travelers, it's very common for the male protagonist of the fast-travel world to fall in love with the strategist. This is normal, just like a necessity to complete a mission, and this love is also like a cookie-cutter consumable. Why do you feel guilty about being such a consumable? Think about it, there are already dozens of male protagonists who have dated Number Five. You're just not used to it now. And you are the lonely fast-travelers outside of these worlds. Don't you think so too?"
"Their lives themselves are different from theirs. Even if it's not you, there will be other fast travelers coming to capture him. They are just the male protagonists like an assembly line in each world - at least they are different from the fast travelers."
“… Stop using such language.” Lucian said in annoyance, “You talk too much nonsense. Let’s go.”
Burton smiled softly. He activated the program to return. A warm light that returned to the control center lit up at that moment. It was a beam of light that no one in the native world could see. One beam of light belonged to him, and the other to Lucian. At the same time, their bodies were pulled away and moved upwards.
This should have been the most suitable ending. All the accidents that had happened were perfectly made up at this moment. Lucian returned to the control center with 100% hatred and was still No. 5 - the perfect but heartless time traveler who had never overturned or made any mistakes.
Until the system saw Lucian blinking hard.
It saw Lucian lowering his head and blinking hard. Burton also saw Lucian's expression at this moment. At that moment, he seemed to have thought of something, and panic finally appeared on his once gentle face. He shouted loudly: "You..."
"madness."
He heard Lucian's voice.
"What?"
"Disgusting, stupid, disgusting." He heard Lucian's voice, "It's really stupid. Tell me, why would a fast traveler do such a stupid thing? But..."
"what are you up to!"
Burton stretched out his hand at that moment. He felt terrified that he was really going to lose something completely—before he could express anything. He stretched out his hand to grab the corner of Lucian's clothes, but the corner of Lucian's deep red clothes slipped from his palm.
He saw Lucian close his eyes, turn around indifferently, and then in a gesture that no one could stop...
At that moment, jump down from the rising column of light.
“Number Five!!”
Burton made a heart-wrenching sound. But it was too late to stop him. He was completely pulled out of this world by the control center—through this rising beam of light.
The last thing that remained in his eyes was a red shadow.
The figure in the crimson robe resolutely jumped out of the light column and fell from it. He fell at a high speed, and the hem of his robe was blown up by the strong wind, and it swayed. He closed his eyes because of the strong wind, and did not hear the system's screams, nor did he see the light column that tried in vain to catch him back.
He returned to this world amidst the whistling wind.