Luca's eyes snapped open as if a frozen blade had been pressed against his throat in the pitch blackness. His breath came in ragged gasps, and beads of sweat rolled down his temples, disappearing into the grime of the dungeon floor. He felt a steady warmth against his neck—he realized he had fallen asleep with his head resting on Lane's shoulder. The intoxicating scent of that beautiful garden was gone, replaced by the same old, rotting stench of the cell.
Luca slowly lifted his head and saw that Lane was already watching him. In Lane's eyes, there was a strange tenderness and deep concern that seemed to glow even in the heavy darkness. He was looking at Luca so intensely, as if he wanted to read every single image hidden behind Luca's eyes.
"When... when did I fall asleep?" Luca asked in a trembling voice. He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with shaking hands and pulled himself slightly away from Lane.
"You've been asleep for quite a while," Lane replied in a voice that was low and hauntingly calm. There was a peculiar stillness in his tone. "Why are you so terrified? Your body is still shaking."
"I... I had a dream," Luca whispered. The word 'dream' felt pitifully small compared to the bloody carnage he had just witnessed.
"Was it a nightmare?" Lane asked instantly. There was a sharpness and a curiosity in his voice that set off alarm bells inside Luca.
A soft, innocent smile spread across Lane's lips—the same mask of purity that Luca had trusted from the very beginning. He reached out and gently patted Luca's shoulder. "Then don't be afraid. After all, it was just a dream. It wasn't reality."
Lane leaned in a bit closer to Luca, his voice dropping into a deep whisper. "Would you like to tell me what actually happened in that dream? What did you see there?"
Luca looked deep into Lane's eyes. The innocence was still there, but now, Luca could sense a terrifying void behind that spark—exactly like the boy who had plunged the sword without even blinking. A lump formed in Luca's throat. He thought to himself: "Should I tell him about the sword? Does he know about that horrific name 'Celestial'? If he is the one, telling the truth might be my death sentence."
Luca forced his heart rate under control and spoke very carefully. "There were three people... they looked like brothers. What was happening between them was like a game... but it was beyond horrific."
Luca's gaze remained fixed on Lane's smiling face. He was trying to catch every micro-expression, every tiny shift in Lane's features, knowing that in this dungeon, the walls were no longer the only enemies.