CHAPTER 397: ORCHIDS AND STEEL

The mansion felt less like a building and more like a living thing. Vines crept along carved pillars. Hanging plants draped from balconies and archways, spilling blossoms in every color across polished floors. Water trickled softly from hidden fountains, weaving through narrow channels that ran along the hallways like veins. Even the air carried the earthy perfume of moss and orchids, clinging to skin and hair as though the house itself demanded you breathe it in.

Leo could not tell where the greenhouse ended and the mansion began.

The deeper they went, the wilder it seemed, though never disordered. It was a cultivated wilderness, every flowerbed and ivy-draped wall placed with intention. The wealth showed in the marble floors and antique furniture, but the life growing around it all softened the edges, making it feel less like a home for men and more like a sanctuary claimed by the green.

Lucian stopped before a tall doorway framed in climbing roses. His silver eyes swept across the group, and when he finally spoke, his words carried the weight of someone who had commanded attention all his life.

"While you were gone," he said, his tone calm but firm, "the world changed more than you realize. The government came to me."

Lily blinked, startled. "The government? Why would they come to you?"

Lucian’s expression barely shifted, though his eyes glinted faintly with amusement. "Because there are things the government cannot do."

Leo frowned at the phrasing, arms folding. "Cannot? Or will not?"

Lucian leaned lightly on his cane, his voice smooth but carrying steel beneath it. "Both. The government is drowning. They cannot be everywhere. People vanish in the chaos, left without homes or families after the system appeared. My people find them. Feed them. Give them shelter. We do what the officials cannot."

Leo stared at him, caught off guard. He had expected greed. Corruption. Selfishness. Not this. The thought that Lily’s family might actually be helping those abandoned by the world unsettled something in his chest. He realized with a twinge of discomfort that he had already judged them before even listening.

Lucian turned, walking deeper into the mansion’s twisting corridors where orchids grew from silver urns and sunlight slanted through stained-glass windows onto creeping vines below. His voice carried easily over the rustle of leaves.

"And in addition to the Umbral Moon organization," he said, "the Gattioni family takes care of the criminals the government cannot touch."

Leo stiffened immediately. "Takes care of? What exactly does that mean?"

Lucian did not so much as blink at the edge in his voice.

Before the silence could stretch too long, Lily spoke first, her tone calm but carrying curiosity. "What kind of criminals?"

Lucian paused where a narrow bridge of white stone arched over an indoor pond choked with water lilies. The tip of his cane tapped softly against the marble as he looked out over the drifting flowers.

"The worst kind," he said at last. "Rapists. Serial killers. Predators who used the leveling system to make themselves untouchable by ordinary law. Monsters hiding behind power they did not deserve."

The words settled over them like dust.

Morgan’s expression tightened as he stepped closer to the bridge railing. "And the police? What were they doing while this was happening?"

Lucian exhaled slowly, almost like he carried the weight of that question on his shoulders. "Struggling. The police have lost most of their power. Handcuffs snap like twigs if the one wearing them has even a fraction of enhanced strength. A single Level Ten can walk through most holding cells like they are made of paper. Guns help, but not enough. Against someone who heals faster than bullets can injure?" He shook his head faintly. "You can imagine the result."

That silenced the group. Even Leo found no words.

Lucian’s voice stayed even, though the green shadows cast by the leaves painted his face in shifting patterns. "The world is changing. People are still adjusting. New powers rise every day. Some use them for good. Others for evil. In times like this, the dark must work with the light, and the light must learn to accept the dark. Neither can stand alone."

Leo looked at him, uneasy. A part of him wanted to call it wrong, to say killing outside the law was evil no matter the reason. But memories of monsters in human skin, those who would have slaughtered innocents without hesitation, tangled the words on his tongue.

Lucian finally turned from the water and faced Lily. His expression softened, pride and weariness threading through his silver eyes.

"Lily," he said quietly, "I need to ask you three things."

She straightened, as though she had been through this before.

"First," Lucian said, "do you understand why I must do this?"

Lily met his eyes. "Yes, Father. I understand."

He searched her face for a moment before nodding slightly.

"Second," he continued, "do you need anything?"

She hesitated, then shook her head. "No. I have my friends. That is all I need for now."

Something faint softened in Lucian’s features at that.

Then came the third question. He turned his head slowly, his gaze cutting toward Leo with the precision of a blade.

"And finally," Lucian said, his tone still even but carrying a dangerous undercurrent, "why did you bring your boyfriend to meet me?"

The words cracked through the quiet like lightning.

Lily froze. Then color flooded her cheeks so quickly it was almost comical. "He is not my boyfriend!" she blurted, voice rising higher than she probably meant. "He is the leader of our group, nothing else!"

Lucian stared at her, clearly unconvinced. His gaze slid back to Leo, sharp enough to pin him in place.

Leo stiffened under the weight of it.

That look promised a thousand quiet deaths if he so much as breathed wrong near Lily.

Lucian’s expression never changed, but the message was unmistakable: hurt her, and no one will ever find your body.

Leo swallowed, suddenly very aware of how loud his own heartbeat sounded.

Lily crossed her arms, still flushed scarlet. "Unbelievable," she muttered under her breath.

Lucian finally turned away, cane tapping softly as he headed for the next hallway where vines wrapped thickly around marble columns.

"Come," he said, his tone once more calm, controlled. "There is more you must hear before this day ends."

And with that, the mansion’s living walls seemed to close around them again, the plants swaying faintly as though listening.