"Ah, Mrs Rosanne, how are you." Lumian said, bowing politely.
Rosanne covered her mouth as she giggled sweetly. "I never knew they were still gentlemen, in this era." She teased. Stepping closer to the door, she pulled out a small silver key and unlocked it. She stepped in first, as Lumian followed after her. Placing her bag neatly on the table, she turned towards Lumian with her arms folded.
"So, what do you want, cutie? She asked with a temptative tone.
Lumian scratched the back of his head, trying to resist the allure of beauty. "Well, captain called me here to collect my improved salary."
She raised her head up slightly, as if recalling something, before reaching into one of her drawers, pulling out an envelope.
"Here, ten pounds.. enjoy!"
Just as Lumian was about to grab the money, Rosanne suddenly wrapped her arms around his shoulder and swung a leg around him, placing herself on the edge of the table.
"Lady Rosanne, please can you let me go!" Lumain said as he stammered.
"Isn't it every boys dream to be in this kind of situation?" She said with sly smile.
Lumian was at a loss for words, but still tried to break free.
She leaned close to his ear and said, in an almost intimate voice. "I'll let you go, if you kiss me."
Lumian mind nearly exploded—not because of disgust, but pure panic. He had never even held a woman's hand before, let alone kissed one.
Before his thoughts could spiral out of control.
Peck!
She landed a quick one on his lips.
Lumian immediately turned bright red, as Rosanne finally released him, giggling behind her hand.
Without another word, Lumian bolted out of the door, faster than a bullet, slamming the door shut behind him, only to be met by Mr. Richard about to enter.
"What's wrong with this guy, always about to enter, when I'm about to leave." Lumain silently complained.
"Lumian, what are you doing here, and why so tense?" Richard asked, feeling puzzled.
Lumian wiped the sweat of his brow and forced himself to flash a friendly smile. "Ah, it's nothing, Mr. Richard. I just wanted to get something from Mrs. Rosanne."
Richard scratched his beard. "Anyways, how was your talk with captain? Hope you didn't rat me out.
"Why would I?" Lumain said wagging his finger, with a smile.
Richard then placed a hand on Lumian's shoulder and looked up, like a dad, proud of his son. "I knew I could count on you, bro."
Lumain adjusted his black coat and said, "so, what do you want to discuss with lady Rosanne?"
Richard removed his hand from Lumian's shoulder and placed it on the doorknob. "Nothing important really, just the management of the church finances."
Lumain stretched, turning back to leave. "Well, goodluck—till whenever, I guess."
"No problem." Richard said, as he opened the door.
Lumian rubbed his nose and muttered inwardly. "Hopefully, you'll be safe from her.."
...
Eventually, the crimson sun had gone down the horizon, signaling evening. Lumian approached the door to his house and opened it softly.
And as usual, little Laura came running towards him, throwing her arms around him.
"Big brother! You came home early today!"
Lumian crouched down and patted her head. She then noticed the envelope sticking out of his pocket and immediately snatched it.
"What's this? Another love letter from another girl? She said with a disgust expression.
Lumian quickly took it back, puffing his chest proudly he said. "No! This is not love letter, it's my improved salary."
She kept her hands on her cheek as she asked excitedly. "So how much are they paying you now ?!"
He made a peace sign and posed dramatically. "Ten pounds!"
She giggled, as she started jumping up in excitement. "We're rich!"
Lumian joined her, laughing. "We're rich!"
Soon enough, they both collapsed to the floor, gasping for air.
Laura still catching her breath, suddenly asked. "So, what are you going to do with the money?"
Lumian sat up, and rubbed his chin. "Well, I'm thinking if I can save it properly, I'll be able to afford a new house."
Laura sat up, as she looked at him in bewilderment, without warning she burst out into laughter. "Brother." She said between laughs, "I think you should use that money for a new jacket, new shoes and most importantly, new glasses! And besides, why do you want to buy a new house?"
"It's just a suggestion,why are you making fun of my current predicament."
At that point, Lumian was baffled, unsure whether to cry or laugh.
Recovering from the insult, he rubbed his chin and finally said. "You know Laura... Kelvin is getting married soon, and he'll probably won't want any disturbances during his honeymoon... so that he can... hehehe..."
Poor little Laura, raised her head up slightly, as she clutched her black dress. "So that he can what, brother?" She asked innocently.
Lumian smiled awkwardly,as he didn't quite know how to explain it, for his little sister. He quickly racked his brain, looking for ways to explain, until he found the perfect method. Which was using the cat method!
He coughed twice, straightened up his posture and said seriously, like a teacher lecturing a student. "You see, when two cats are deeply in love and get married, they do something which leads to another, and then a new cat is born.
Laura lowered her head, as she said in a gloomy tone. "Brother, I'm so sorry, but I don't seem to understand you."
Lumain moved close, and brushed a strand of hair from her face. He cupped her cheek and said with a smile, "Stop that, you look ugly when you're angry."
Having heard that, she immediately slapped his hand away, and folded her arms. "God,why did you give me such an annoying brother!"
Then, suddenly remembering something, she ran off to her room. "Big brother, wait for me, let me quickly get something!"
Moments later, she came back holding a toy car. Pulling the string, it made some noises, before moving across the floor.
Krr! Dum! Dum!
"Laura, what are you doing?" Lumian said, walking slowly to her.
"This is what I use to remove stress, and also to entertain myself, when you and Kelvin aren't around... Since I can't really go outside." She replied camly.
Before she could utter another word, Lumian picked up the car and started inspecting it, from the exterior all the way to the interior.
The inside weren't well arranged, like the usuals, and the paint were uneven, surely it must be handmade!
"Laura, did you make this?" Lumain asked, a bit surprised.
She replied indifferently, "Well... yeah, I actually made it myself with some spare parts at home. It was mostly to avoid the suffocating boredom."
Lumain smiled and pulled the string, watching it move—like a child who had just gotten a new toy.
He couldn't quite hide his excitement, because as a child he was never good at creating things, so seeing his sister make one—made him proud.
Seeing her brother, behaving like a child, Laura couldn't help but giggle behind her hand. Lumian taking notice of it, turned his gaze towards her. "What's so funny."
Trying to suppress the smile she said. "Nothing brother."
Lumian stood up—and said with a bright smile. "After dinner, we'll go out and have a little fun."
Laura kept her hands on her cheeks, as she gasped in surprise. "Really!?"
"Yeah!"
She ran forward and hugged him tight.
...
In another part of the city a banquet was already underway. The lawn was filled with white chairs and tables, with nobles and officials, chatting with each other under the glowing lanterns.
A man with orange hair, sat quietly at a table, until another man in hat approached him.
"Whitefield," The hat wearing man said, "What do you think Mr shadow, would do today?"
Whitefield said casually. "I don't know, how I'm I suppose to know? Today's a big occasion, so he might as well do something big."
The man—Grey—scoffed. "What can Mr shadow possibly do to impress the king?"
Whitefield chuckled low. "I don't know.. fly maybe."
Both men chuckled at the thought, dismissing it as rubbish, until a voice boomed over the microphone, silencing the entire crowd and bringing their gaze to "Him."
He had short orange hair and wore a black suit instead of his usual royal garb. Beside him, stood a man in black clergyman suit, wearing a white featherless mask.
"Hmhmhmh." The king let out a small grunt before speaking." As we all know, since the emergence of the crimson sun, we have struggled in our daily lives. It was not until the "Sorcerers" helped us adapt, constantly fighting against monsters and madness—which overall brought peace back into our land. And Mr shadow here is a prime example, we are all gathered here today to thank him."
He handed the mic to the masked man,as applause filled the air. He didn't say anything for a while—just looked at the crowd, like they were new creatures he had not seen before. Bringing the mic close to his lips he finally said in a deep voice. "Good evening, people of Betyl. I don't need your thanks, to be honest. I'm simply just doing my duty as a helper to humanity. And in all aspect, a man can't watch his people suffer, and not step in when he has the power, if he won't that's just evil. So I really don't need your thanks—that's all I have to say."
He then bowed slowly, as the crowd clapped again. Smiling behind his mask, he began to lift above the ground, graceful and effortless like a feather.
The king raised his glass high. "To peace!"
"To peace!" The crowd replied in awe.
...
Later that night, in a dimly lit room, Mr shadow sat across from a man with white blindfold and black hair.
"No happiness, no satisfaction either. No joy in slowly taking over betyl," the blindfolded man spoke calmly while fiddling with a wine glass. Later he let out a dry laugh and continued. "You must be entirely mad, aren't you ashamed of what you did, even a little."
Mr shadow just looked at him in bewilderment. "Ashamed? Why would I be ashamed?"
The blindfoldeded man stood up with a smile, while holding the glass wine. "Because what you did was monstrous, because what you did was just fucking insane, because wiped out leochi's innocent lives—women, children, the elderly, all those who had nothing to do with your damn plan and the damn gods. You doomed them all."
Mr shadow remained silent for a while, eventually he said in his deep voice. "Wouldn't you Lancelot?"
Lancelot sat back down, and crossed his legs. Adjusting his blindfolded, a faint crimson glow shone beneath it.
"Tch, touche brother."