That's the blond paladin.
Bright.
…
There was a warm oil lamp burning in the room. Lucian sat on the bed, wiping his face with a hot towel.
This room originally belonged to a former priest of the church, but now it has been cleaned up by Bright and has become a shelter for him, a fugitive.
Now, it has become Lucian's "shelter" without any hesitation.
This was the scene Bright saw when he closed the church door and went into the room.
Lucian was wearing a black coat and sitting on the bed. Under the warm yellow light, his profile was clean, warm and beautiful—just like when he was reciting the morning scriptures in the temple three years ago.
Bright couldn't help but let a gentle smile appear on his face.
When he got closer, he saw Lucian had taken off his boots, and his white ankles were hanging in the air. Bright's eyes flickered, and he remembered the scene he saw in the prison.
—The scene where Lucian is held in Vader’s arms.
"You're here?" He heard Lucian's voice.
Lucian tilted his head to look at him. He took off his headband, and his long silver hair fell on his body, shining softly. His wine-red eyes were gentle as he looked at the person who came.
But at that moment, his long silver hair fell into Bright's eyes, which was extreme hatred.
Succubus.
A succubus with long silver hair.
By Vader's side, every day and every night... She is no longer as holy as before, and even her long hair has become the sated look she has now, a beautiful succubus.
At that moment, countless dark tides surged up from Bright's heart. For the first time, this knight, who was known for his brightness and integrity, had the urge to hold the man in front of him in his arms, remove all the annoying traces, and make him return to his former pure and spotless appearance.
"... Bright?" He heard the other party's slightly puzzled voice.
Bright finally came to his senses. He held the rattan frame and sat down on the chair next to Lucian. Lucian looked up at him, and the wine-red eyes seemed to show the same expression as yesterday: "The wound on your face..."
Bright subconsciously touched the scar on his face, shook his head and said, "It's okay, they were all left by Wade's lackeys."
Lucian nodded, his eyes still filled with soft worry. He pursed his lips and said, "It's all because of me... I know a potion that can heal these wounds, if there are tools to make it... By the way."
He touched Bright's face with his cool fingers, his eyes moistened with tears: "Does it hurt?"
At that moment, Bright shuddered.
"No..." He said hastily, and after a pause as if trying to cover up something, he quickly said, "I found these utensils in the cabinet next to it. They should be the ones that the priest didn't move away in the past."
"That's good." Lucian said softly.
Bright raised his eyes again. He looked at the holy Son whom he, as a paladin, had sworn to protect for his whole life. Lucian had a slight smile on his face, but his body was pale and fragile. The silk court shirt was loose on him, and his calves were thinner than when he saw them above, and the place where the anklets used to be...
Now it is empty.
"Why are you here?" Lucian asked him.
"I have some friends in the royal city. I tried to pass on the message and asked them to help me." Bright did not shy away from explaining his escape process. "Originally, I should have set out from here to go to Dusk City. That place is also where you sent me to wipe out the demons. A wave of power was formed there, and many old nobles who were afraid of that traitor ran there..."
"Oh..." Lucian said, "So here..."
"This is where I'm staying. I originally planned to rest here for a few days and then make other preparations for my escape." Bright said, "Someone will come to pick me up in the next day, and then I'll leave from there... And..."
At this point, he looked at Lucian again. The red-eyed succubus listened attentively, the light shining on his profile.
"I originally wanted to take advantage of this day to find an opportunity to enter the palace to find you..." Bright suddenly said, "Speaking of which, how did you escape?"
When he mentioned this topic, Lucian in his eyes flinched for a moment. Lucian seemed to be very uneasy, pinching the towel with his fingers. He whispered: "He locked my magic power, and when he wasn't paying attention, I found the blueprint, unsealed it and escaped..."
"not pay attention to?"
"Elizabeth Green is touring the palace today." Lucian forced a smile, as if he really didn't want to mention this. "Well, there weren't many people along the way. I walked in the mountains for a day and finally got here."
Bright's face was still sunny, and he showed a somewhat distressed look, but he thought of a rumor in his heart.
The Green family intends to send Elizabeth to the palace to be Wade's queen.
So... this is why Vader diverted his attention and "had enough fun" so that Lucian could escape
More and more dark tides surged from the bottom of his heart, but on the surface, he was still Lucian's cheerful good friend. He looked at Lucian and said worriedly: "What happened to your body? I heard those people say... It's as if everything changed overnight. Everyone said that you did that kind of thing. And the magic pattern on your forehead... Do you mind telling me?"
Lucian twisted his fingers even tighter. He said palely, "I don't really want to talk about this... Don't make me forget it."
He trembled and said in a trembling voice: "You know, from the beginning, he wanted to be the only heir of the Cecil family. But I didn't expect him to do such a thing... When I found out, everything was irreversible. Afterwards... No, I don't want to recall... It was a long nightmare."
Lucian covered his face, as if he had thought of something extremely scary. Bright put his hand on his back and patted him gently.
Lucian's long hair was indeed very soft in his hands.
"He framed you, didn't he?"
"No... don't let me say this again!" Lucian hugged himself and shook his head in fear, "I don't want to mention his name anymore, and I don't want to think about those things anymore... I just want to find a place and live a good life... I don't want anything..."
Bright asked another question, but Lucian just kept shaking his head, revealing a few broken phrases. Finally, there was a sob in his voice: "Please... don't ask anymore."
"Your magic pattern..."
"My mother was actually a succubus slave. My bloodline has never awakened in the past, and the Cecil family never told me about it. I don't know how Wade knew about it. Maybe from the beginning, he wanted to tear me into pieces." Lucian sobbed, "Suddenly overnight, I became a so-called 'succubus', and then, I became what I am now..."
He finally couldn't hold back his sobs, but the beauty's tears were so pitiful.
Bright hugged him to comfort him. He put his chin on Lucian's shoulder, and at that moment he smelled a strange fragrance.
A scent that seems to be gradually becoming stronger, but at the moment, it is still very subtle...
"Don't be afraid." He pressed all the dark tides into his heart and comforted his former Son, "I am here."
He thought for a moment and said in a deep voice: "I will take you to Dusk City."
"But... now everyone knows that I'm... a bad person." He heard Lucian's increasingly fragile and panicked voice, "If I show up, they will tear me to pieces. Who will believe me?"
—No, you won't be torn to pieces, Bright thought.
At that moment, seeing Lucian so isolated and helpless, he suddenly felt a sense of satisfaction.
"I'll find a way, don't be afraid." He said, "I know it's hard to explain to others..."
"And I've become what I am now." Lucian grabbed his sleeves and said in fear, "You know what they think of succubi. If they see me, I will..."
"I know a potion that can make you look different." Bright said softly after a long while, "Although brewing potions is forbidden in the temple, don't..."
He brushed Lucian's hair with his hand and said gently, "We are not in the temple now, are we?"
Lucian's breathing calmed down after a long time. He whispered softly in Bright's ear, sobbing, "Thank you, Bright. I really don't know what to say... Why... You are so reliable. Thank you, my knight."
Bright just patted him on the shoulder.
After everything was over, Lucian wiped the tears from his eyes and said in a soft voice: "I'm so sorry for letting you see me like this..."
He smiled hastily: "That's good, the person I met is you."
Bright smiled but said nothing. He took the wicker basket off the coffee table and said to him, "There are some fruits in it. You must be hungry after all this journey, right?"
"I didn't actually... No, thank you."
Lucian smiled beautifully and took the fruit.
Bright watched Lucian chewing the fruit carefully, and at that moment, he suddenly remembered something.
That's how the succubus actually gets its energy.
At that moment, he saw the juice staining Lucian's fingers red, and a strong sense of chill surged into his heart again.
"What's wrong?" Lucian looked at him again unconsciously.
"Nothing." Bright shook his head. "I'll go patrol outside again."
"Your scars..."
Bright was stunned. He looked at the gentle white-haired succubus, and he once again overlapped with the holy Son of God in his memory.
"No hurry, you should rest first." He said after a long time.
Bright closed the door. When he saw Lucian yawning through the crack in the door, he knew he couldn't stay here any longer. Just thinking about the "unclean" marks that Vader had engraved on him, he felt like he was going crazy.
No, he couldn't do that, he was an upright and loyal paladin. Lucian was a holy and gentle son of God, so the Lucian he saw now was just a false appearance after being polluted and twisted by Vader.
He would find a way to purify him.
After closing the door, Bright thought gloomily in the moonlight.
He would find a way to purify him, eliminate all traces of Vader, and take him to Dusk City. And by then, Lucian would be his Holy Son Lucian.
Just as he had promised to protect the "Son of God" throughout his life!
On the other side of the closed door, Lucian found a handkerchief and slowly wiped the juice off his fingers.
He took the half-eaten, very sour fruit and threw it out through the window.
When no one was around, Lucian finally stopped pretending to be pitiful. After confirming that the cabinet did contain the utensils he needed to make the potion, he returned to the bed.
Of course he couldn't go to Dusktown with Bright - he wasn't a lunatic. Moreover, in the conversation just now, Bright had asked about the details of "what" happened between him and Wade, almost to the point of paranoia.
When he was a saint, Bright had been his loyal and brave friend, but at this moment he became extremely strange.
Fortunately, in terms of martial arts, he is actually superior to Bright. The Temple does not advocate the study of magic, and the clergy only master a few spells that are defined as "white magic" by the Temple. Bright, as a traditional paladin, naturally obeys all the rules of the Temple, and he does not know as many spells as Lucian.
only…
Lucian grabbed his collar. He felt his throat tighten and his body began to heat up.