h4Chapter 80: Lucian’s Confession/h4

    strongLucian’s POV/strong

    The moment that bullet shot me, the sharp pain coursed through me, and I knew I was done for. But at the same time, I tore apart that bastard before he could even think of touching her.

    I turned to her as if it was basic instinct. All I could think about in that moment was her—not the pain, not the death that was about to swallow me.

    The pain of that deadly silver bullet was like it was burning my soul, but all I wanted was to reach her for thest time.

    I barely took a step toward her, but the deadly silver in that damn bullet worked faster, ripping away any ounce of strength I had left. I fell to the ground without even getting to touch her onest time. I was lying there in my human form, helpless, waiting for death to approach me.

    But the worst part was, I had never thought to let her see me in such a condition—when I had always been nothing but inhuman strength.

    Despite all these small regrets running through my mind, something good happened. She came to me—she was right there next to me. My eyes barely open.

    iAm I dreaming?/i

    I closed my eyes as it felt so unreal, and if it was a dream, I didn’t want it to break by keeping them open. Maybe, being closer to death, your mind lets you imagine what you truly want.

    I heard her say weakly, her words barely reaching my ears. "...I am sorry... I didn’t mean to..." She was apologizing—she was crying.

    Is it real? It must truly be a dream. She can’t possibly cry for me.

    When I heard her say, "Please... don’t die... please..."

    I couldn’t help but open my eyes to look at her. Maybe herst memory of crying for me would make me feel better before I died.

    When I saw her truly crying for me, I was happy.

    I wanted to tell her not to cry, not to feel bad if I died. That I would always protect her—even if it meant dying for her—that I didn’t regret dying while protecting her. She meant a lot to me. So much, that despite my hate towards her, I couldn’t suppress my care for her.

    I brought Fluffy back home only for her sake, because I knew how much he meant to her. All that food I cooked all these days—it was always meant for her. How happy I was to see her eat everything I cooked, and she was getting better now.

    But, the moment I opened my mouth, as always, the bitter words came out. "...You must be happy to see me die... goddamn bitch..."

    In response, she apologized again. "I am sorry... I didn’t mean to..."

    I felt bad to see her apologising, and decided to say something good. But before I could say anything tofort her this time, Roman came to us and pushed her away, cursing her angrily.

    The moment I saw Roman, reality rushed back into my muddled mind. My brothers—I had to think about them, not about this bitch.

    Roman looked horrified as he begged me to stay with him.

    I was dying. That was fine—but I needed to advise my brothers to protect themselves. This bitch was everyone’s doom, and I didn’t want her to be the reason for my brothers’ deaths as well.

    "Roman... this bitch is truly gonna kill every one of us..." I told him suppressing my pain. "It’s fine, I die—but kill her before she bes the reason for my brothers’ deaths... Don’t let her kill any of you..."

    Roman told me not to die and assured me that we would kill her together.

    I couldn’t agree to it, because I knew I wouldn’t be able to kill her—though I always said otherwise. But it was totally alright if my brothers killed herter once I was dead. They needed to protect themselves first.

    Roman walked away from me, as I heard Rafe calling for him. I looked at that bat for thest time—he was still so determined to protect us. Not bad. I was sure I was going to miss him badly after my death, while bearing the torture in hell. He would make a perfectpanion in hell.

    As I watched them, darkness slowly started to spread in front of my eyes. My soul felt cold, as if I was drowning in cold water, sinking deeper and deeper, and there wasn’t a tinge of light.

    But then, in the dark depths of that cold water, I heard a faint and distant voice echoing around me.

    "Don’t leave... Open your eyes... Look at me..."

    I couldn’t respond to it anymore and continued to drown further into the darkness.

    "Don’t die... I can’t feel your heartbeat... You can’t leave me... I won’t let you..."

    I wanted to tell that voice to stop. Everything was useless. But then, I felt a warmth surrounding my soul. All of a sudden, the darkness around me started to disappear. The water no longer felt chilly.

    Threads of soft glow surrounded me, pulling me out of that water and into the bright, clear sky. But there was no one—only me, alone. I looked around, seeing only a vastnd with buckwheat nted everywhere.

    iWhere am I? Why is there no one?/i

    I continued to walk and walk, not sure for how long. Then, I finally saw someone—a figure in a beautiful long white dress, walking along the field, her back facing me. Her long hair swayed in the wind, her hand gently brushing over the buckwheat nts as she continued walking ahead.

    I knew who that was.

    Eira.

    I ran toward her, but before I could touch her, she disappeared.

    "Eira!" I called out, and suddenly the view around me vanished—only to be reced with another familiar surrounding. My room.

    But something was different, and I still felt like I was in a dream.

    In front of me, she was there, right in my bed, facing me, sleeping peacefully.

    Thinking it was another dream, I reached my hand to touch her—but I heard a voice.

    "Are you awake finally?"

    My hand stopped before it reached her, and I turned to look at Jason, who was standing at the door of my room.

    A little confused, I asked him, "Don’t tell me you’re dead as well. If you are, I’m going to beat the shit out of you."

    "I’m not," Jason said as he came to the bed, "and neither are you."

    The next moment, I sat up in bed, looking at my bare chest—which was spotless. No signs of any wound. "What the hell."

    "Your wound was healed," Jason told me. "And you’re safe now."

    Realising it was not a dream, I looked at the bitch lying on my bed. "And what the hell is this bitch doing here? In my bed? Has she lost her mind, or is she just tired of living?"

    "The entire house is a mess. Roman left her here in your room so we could keep watch on you both together," Jason exined.

    I jumped out of my bed quickly, as if I was disgusted. "That Roman has lost a few screws in his brain to keep her here." I put on some clothes quickly and told Jason, "Tell him to take her away and change everything in my room wherever she has touched. Or I will burn this entire room."

    Without looking back, I left.

    I didn’t want to ept what I had confessed to myself after I was shot, and what I had been thinking about that bitch just a while ago.

    The only thing I was allowed to feel towards her was hate. There was no ce for anything else.