CHAPTER 88: THREE IDIOTS

Adrian did not want to leave the island.

If it were up to him, he would have stayed in the shadows, watching Lucien from a distance just to make sure he was safe.

That had been enough for him for years and he would have accepted it again if he had to.

But Silas was beside him, silent and unreadable as always. Adrian knew that silence too well.

It was the silence Silas used when he folded his pain so tightly that it stopped showing on his face. It was the silence that came right before something inside him cracked.

That was the real reason Adrian agreed to leave. Lucien would survive without them for a while, but Silas might not.

"Just for a while," Adrian said softly. Silas did not answer.

His eyes remained fixed on the island even after the ferry pulled away from shore.

Guilt weighed heavily on him. He had been the one who revealed everything to Lucien. If he had stayed quiet, the fragile balance they lived in would have remained untouched.

The three of them could have kept flirting and teasing and playing around Lucien as if nothing had changed.

Even so, Silas knew the truth was necessary. And knowing that did not make the pain less sharp. They loved Lucien too much for lies, even the comfortable ones.

Adrian gently rubbed Silas’ back. The man who always declared himself the older brother, the one who always said Adrian could lean on him, now looked as if the wind could break him.

"I’m glad you told him everything," Adrian said, his voice calm despite the ache in his chest.

Silas took a slow breath and gripped the railing. "Do not try to soothe me. I know I was wrong. I was the one who told you not to tell him, and I still..." He stopped, unable to finish the sentence.

"Silas, I wanted this. So stop blaming yourself. We are in this together." Adrian’s tone was firm, giving no room for argument.

"This is not forever. We will go back, and Lucien will be fine." His voice trembled for a moment.

"Even if things cannot go back to the way they were, I am glad you told him. I am glad he remembers us again."

Silas finally looked at him. Their gazes locked, deep and steady, the way two people look when their hearts have grown from the same soil.

They did not need words to understand one another. They never had. They had been together since their first breath and they intended to remain together until death separated them.

That was what being brothers meant to them.

Adrian felt tears building again and puffed his cheeks in frustration. Silas, in contrast, let out a sudden laugh so strong he nearly choked.

"You are unbelievable," Adrian muttered, frowning. "Do not ruin the moment. I am genuinely sad here."

He secretly wished Silas would cry once in his life. Just once. It would make Adrian feel less like the only emotional one in their pair.

"Come here. Stop crying like that. We are only taking a short vacation."

Silas pulled him into a hug. Adrian rolled his eyes, pretending to resist.

He knew he should have been the one comforting Silas, not the other way around.

But he accepted the embrace anyway. Silas needed it too. He was simply too proud to say so.

"Today is a beautiful day. I even planned to hunt oysters with Lucien and make a seafood boil." Adrian sighed and stared at the shimmering blue ocean.

Silas only nodded, understanding exactly what he meant without needing more words.

"We will stay in Sabbia Bianca and eat seafood boil," Silas replied calmly.

Adrian snapped his head toward him, already annoyed. "That is not the point and you know it."

Before he could continue complaining, his eyes widened. "Look, Silas! A dolphin is swimming beside the ferry!"

He broke out of their embrace and rushed to the railing, leaning out with excitement. The ferry was moving slowly, giving everyone on board a full view of the sea.

It felt peaceful, the kind of gentle departure they had both needed.

"Wait. A dolphin? They usually do not appear during this season," Silas muttered.

He followed Adrian’s line of sight, then squinted at the water below. Something was keeping pace with the ferry, moving with surprising intention.

A moment later, realization hit him like lightning. "Adrian. That is not a dolphin. That is a human."

The figure lifted its head to breathe, and both twins froze.

"IT IS LUCIEN!" they shouted together.

Adrian shot toward the cockpit, shouting, "Stop the ferry! Now!"

The captain blinked in confusion but obeyed, slowing the vessel until the engines hummed softly.

"Lucien! What are you doing!" Silas called out.

Lucien treaded water weakly, his lips blue from exhaustion. He looked as if he would pass out any second.

Adrian grabbed a buoy and threw it toward him. Lucien clung to it and slowly made his way to the ladder.

By the time they hauled him aboard, he was sprawled out on the deck, gasping like a fish out of water.

"Are you alright? Oh my God, did you actually swim from the island just to catch us?"

Adrian’s voice trembled with panic, then suddenly broke into laughter.

"You know phones exist, right?"

Lucien glared at him with pure betrayal. "Do you think that bastard would give me my phone?"

Silas wrapped a warm blanket around him as Lucien continued, "This was supposed to be romantic. A dramatic declaration. And you ruined it!"

Adrian snorted so hard he almost choked. Lucien looked like a drowned carp, yet somehow the most sincere and determined one he had ever seen.

Joy hit Adrian so strongly he felt dizzy. Lucien came for them. Lucien wanted them.

His laughter cracked into sobs as he pulled Lucien into his arms. "It is romantic. It is also the dumbest thing you have ever done. You could have died before you even reached us. You absolute idiot."

"What? You insulting bastard!" Lucien snapped back, hugging him tightly, his own voice trembling.

"I did it for both of you!" he huffed.

But then his voice wavered, "I am sorry. I should not have left you there in that burning building. I should not have forgotten you."

Silas joined the embrace, wrapping both of them in his arms. "We resented you a little for forgetting us," he admitted, his voice low.

"But we resented ourselves more for not approaching you sooner when we finally had the chance."

His grip tightened. "Both of us have been cowards. But we love you. We love you so much it feels like our hearts want to burst."

Silas never cried. Not during punishments, not during training, not during the worst years of their lives.

Yet now his voice shook, and his breath hitched as tears slid down his face. His big brother had come back to them. Because of that, he finally allowed himself to cry.

"That is ridiculous," Lucien whispered.

"Because I felt the same thing. I love both of you. Let us make new memories again. The way we used to."

His sentence broke with a soft sob. "Your Lucien is here. He is really back."

They clung to one another, laughing and crying in turns.

The world shrank until it held only the three of them, hearts beating against each other like they did when they were young, when the only thing they ever needed was one another.

For the first time in years, it felt complete.

***

"Hahh... three idiots." Edmund lowered the binoculars and shook his head slowly.

He truly did not expect Lucien to swim across the ocean like some deranged sea creature just to reach the twins.

"He knows phones exist, right?" he muttered, even though no one was around to answer him.

Despite his complaining, a faint smile touched his lips. The sight on the ferry was ridiculous and heartwarming all at once.

Lucien was shivering like a cold shrimp, the Twinster were crying and yelling at him, and somehow the whole reunion looked like a scene from a cheap romance film.

He knew very well that if the Twinster actually left the island, he would have Lucien all to himself. Everything would be simpler. Quieter. Easier.

But watching Lucien break apart yesterday had felt far worse than any imagined rivalry. If keeping them around meant Lucien could smile again, then Edmund would grit his teeth and endure it.

He lifted the binoculars again and watched the three cling to each other on the deck, laughing through their tears.

"I am really envious of them," he whispered.

They shared a history he could never touch, moments he could never recreate, and wounds he could never fully understand.

Yet even so, he wanted to be part of Lucien’s world in a way that did not hurt him.

Maybe one day, he would stop hesitating. Maybe one day, he would be able to look Lucien in the eyes and speak honestly about everything he felt.

For now, he simply watched from afar, letting the warmth and ache settle into his chest.