CHAPTER 199: _A TENDENCY TO ANNOY HIM

Elian’s POV

*****

"Elian? I’m starting to get scared now." Lucian blurted as Elian led him somewhere blindfolded. "Seriously, where are we going?"

Elian had gotten an idea on getting Lucian’s memories of him back:

He’ll take the Alpha Prince to every spot where they’ve had a major breakthrough in their relationship!

[Breakthrough might be a stretch. You sure you don’t want to take him to a romantic dinner instead?]

’As usual, I’ll not let your negativity discourage me.’

[And as usual, I’ll keep on talking. See? Some dynamics just never change.]

"It’s a surprise, Lucian." Elian smiled, keeping his right hand clasped around Lucian’s wrist.

The Alpha Prince was blindfolded with a black cloth and seemed completely at his mercy like this.

[Slut...]

Elian rolled his eyes but his smile didn’t disappear. After a few more minutes of walking through the hallway and passing curious maids, they finally arrived at their destination.

"You can take off the blind fold." Elian stepped away from Lucian, stretching out his arms excitedly.

Lucian hesitated at first but soon grabbed the straps of the blindfold. When the black cloth fell to the ground, the Alpha Prince’s brows knitted.

Elian had taken them to the palace’s main training hall.

Aka the birthplace of one of the craziest missions the system ever gave Elian.

Seducing the Alpha Prince into giving him a blow job.

[Ah... You never forget one of your firsts. Aw, does this mean you want to recreate that glorious day for prosperity? Maybe I—]

"Why... Why are we here?" Lucian’s voice cut through the system’s voice and Elian’s thoughts.

Elian watched as Lucian walked deeper into the large hall and away from the entrance, scanning his eyes around. "It’s... Been a while since I trained here. But..."

He froze, his back facing Elian now.

The latter tilted his head, his fingers crossed hopefully.

Was this it? Did Lucian’s mind spark with a memory?

[Sadly, I doubt that’s the case.]

"I-I don’t understand." Lucian shook his head, turning around to face Elian. "Is this place supposed to mean something to us? Did you use to train with me as well?"

Elian’s lips curled slightly. "What? You think an Omega like me is probably too weak to train alongside the great white wolf of Lunaria, huh?"

Lucian’s lips parted with exasperation. "N–No! That’s not what—"

"Lucian, I’m joking!" Elian rushed to him, grabbing his wrists and giggling.

Lucian blinked erratically but soon smiled as well, joining Elian in laughing.

That went on for several seconds before Elian let out a soft sigh. He stepped closer until Lucian’s breath hit his face like a phantom kiss.

"We... We began something here that led to our..." Elian’s face flushed with embarrassment.

How the fuck does he tell Lucian: Oh, we had a steamy makeout session here, got briefly interrupted by Estella and then scooted along to your room, where you gave me a blow job?

[Uhm... If you ask me you could literally just say it the way you thought it.]

Goddess. Heck no!

"Elian?" Lucian’s whisper brought him back to reality, tender and grounding. "Talk to me. Why’s this place important to us?"

Elian’s mouth opened and closed several times, but no sound came out. It was just too embarrassing to say and he’d been hoping simply bringing Lucian here would be enough to spark something.

As his mind reeled on how to get out of this sticky situation, his gaze trailed until finally it landed on something.

Or rather, a few things dotted around the training hall.

Small security cameras!

[Ugh... How primitive.]

Back in the Dark Lands, Kyren’s training hall had a robotic system that could control a variety of things.

That was most likely the same here.

"Hold that thought, Lucian." Elian patted his shoulder before brushing past him, drawing in a breath. "AI system?"

[Yes, daddy?]

’Ugh, not you.’ Elian grunted mentally.

However, his eyes lit up when a robotic voice different from the system echoed through the hall: "Greetings. I’m the training hall’s AI system. How may I assist you today?"

Elian smiled broadly, his eyes flicking to Lucian briefly before he went on. "Please, bring the camera footages from your log. From as early as say... Twenty-three days ago."

There was a short pause at first, causing Elian to tap his right foot on the ground impatiently.

But then—

"Understood. Footage from twenty-three days ago loading." The AI’s feminine but mechanical voice echoed again. "If you want, I can help you search for a particular footage if you give me keywords."

Ah-ha! A keyword.

[Hehe... "Blow job"?]

Elian clicked his tongue but persisted, speaking out to the training hall’s AI. "In that case... Find me footage with Beta Axel, Alpha Prince Lucian and me in it."

Suddenly, a holographic screen appeared in front of him and Lucian.

But unlike the holographic screen the system usually showed him, this one was visible to Lucian as well.

The screen flickered erratically for a few seconds before flashing with images. Those images soon settled on a scene that made Elian’s lips tug into a victorious smile.

Bingo.

"Here it is." Elian pointed at the screen and the video playing on it, turning to face Lucian. "On this day, you had an argument with your dad and came here to blow off steam."

Lucian’s expression softened slightly, his silver eyes flicking between the holographic projection and Elian’s face. "That... sounds like me."

"Yeah." Elian’s lips quirked faintly. "You told the guards to attack you at once. And then I showed up—"

He stopped short, rubbing the back of his neck. "Things got... intense."

Lucian tilted his head. "Intense how?"

Elian’s heart skipped. Why did that sound so innocent coming from him now?

"Well..." He tried to laugh it off, but his voice came out small. "Let’s just say I had a tendency to annoy you. You were always so serious about training, and I—well, I wasn’t. You told me to leave and I told you I wasn’t afraid of you."

Lucian’s brows drew together, and Elian could tell the prince was trying to piece something together. A faint crease appeared between his brows, like the ghost of a memory stirring beneath the surface.

"I remember being angry that day," Lucian murmured, glancing at the flickering footage as though it might whisper the rest. "But I don’t remember why."

Elian swallowed, his voice softening. "You were mad at your father. He’d compared you to Axel, I think. Said you’d never live up to the crown’s expectations. You came here to fight that anger off. But I didn’t leave. I made you talk. And... somehow that turned into..."

Lucian looked at him expectantly. "Into?"

Elian’s cheeks flamed crimson. "Into something else entirely."

The silence that followed was electric. Lucian stepped closer, his boots echoing softly on the polished floor. "Something else... like a fight?"

Elian’s throat bobbed. "Not exactly."

Lucian’s gaze lowered, sweeping briefly over Elian’s parted lips before snapping back up.

"Elian." His voice dropped an octave. "Tell me."

Elian tried to hold his composure, but his breath hitched.

"We argued, yes—but it wasn’t hate. It was heat. You cornered me right about here—" He motioned toward the same spot where they now stood, near the mirrored wall. "And you kissed me before I could talk myself out of wanting you."

Lucian’s breath faltered. He took a step back, like the air had turned too heavy to breathe. "I kissed you first?"

"Like you meant to erase every doubt I ever had," Elian whispered.

Lucian’s eyes flickered with something raw—yearning, confusion maybe.

"That... feels true."

Elian blinked. "You remember?"

Lucian shook his head slowly, but his voice trembled when he spoke. "No. But my body does."

He reached out before Elian could move, fingers brushing against the side of Elian’s jaw.

The contact sent a jolt through them both. The bond between Alpha and Omega shimmered faintly—subtle, yet powerful enough that Elian felt it pulse under his skin like a heartbeat.

The system’s voice was faint in his mind now, whispering, [Oh, this is gonna be spicy.]

Elian ignored it completely.

Lucian’s thumb traced his bottom lip, his voice barely a murmur. "I may not remember the past, but right now—" he paused, leaning in closer until his breath fanned against Elian’s cheek, "—I know what I want."

Elian’s body tensed, heat crawling up his neck. "Lucian..."

"Tell me to stop."

"I—"

Lucian didn’t wait.

His lips found Elian’s in a slow, searching kiss that felt both foreign and achingly familiar. The taste, the warmth, the way Lucian’s fingers trembled as they slid behind his neck—all of it hit Elian with the force of a crashing tide.

Every repressed longing he’d buried since the memory loss came flooding back.

His knees nearly buckled when Lucian deepened the kiss, pulling him closer until their chests pressed together, until the hum of the training hall faded into nothing but the rhythm of their hearts.

Elian’s hand came up instinctively, clutching the front of Lucian’s uniform. He broke the kiss only to whisper against his lips, breathless, "You remember this, don’t you?"

Lucian’s eyes fluttered open, dazed and glowing faintly silver. "I don’t know if I remember..." He leaned in again, voice trembling. "But gods, I can’t forget how it feels."

Elian exhaled shakily, their foreheads pressed together, the mate bond thrumming in the air like static.

"Then maybe we start there," he whispered. "You’ll remember me—not with your mind, but with your heart."

Lucian smiled faintly against his skin, and for the first time in weeks, it didn’t look forced. "Then don’t leave," he said.

Elian’s laugh was soft, almost broken. "I wasn’t planning to."

Outside the training hall, the AI lights dimmed automatically, reacting to rising body temperature levels in the room.

And as they stood there, lost in each other, the holographic footage disappeared and got replaced by a screen notification from the system:

[MEMORY RESTORATION: 7%... IN PROGRESS.]