"Ow! Ow! You brute! Lucian, save me from this savage!" Celine begged, her voice cracking in mock plea. "He is going to kill me!"

"Lucian doesn't care about you," Edmund teased, "He must have lost interest after witnessing your violent behavior towards your own brother. He must prefer my company over yours. Isn't that right, Lucian?"

Their shadows danced across the floor as they approached his hiding place. Lucian could take a side as a neutral party and be on good terms with them, or he could take one side and risk being on the outs with the other.

Lucian shook his head, blinking rapidly to clear his vision and putting on a smile, "Right, Celine can be quite violent when she gets angry," he said, emerging from behind the desk.

"Traitor," Celine hissed.

"..." Lucian chuckled. "If she can't appreciate you, then I will. I'm your new brother now." He scratched his nose before wrapping his arm around Edmund's shoulder and yanking him away from her.

'She tried to isolate me from other people, so she won't mind if I do the same to her, will she?'

Edmund gave his sister a sly grin, "See? You should learn to treat us better, or else you will find yourself lonely and depressed."

Celine frowned at Lucian as if asking if this was how he planned to 'save' her from her brother's clutches.

Lucian kissed the air in her direction, blowing a kiss her way as a sign of his affection, 'Not strong enough to exchange fists with him yet, sorry. Kiss, kiss.'

Celine's face twisted as she tried to hold back her smile. "Hmph." She turned around, stomping out of the office and slamming the door shut behind her.

"That was easy," Edmund said, looking at the closed door in surprise, "I expected her to put up more of a fight. Is the end of the world near?"

"I think she is just tired from the work she did today," Lucian said, walking over to the chair to pick up his waistcoat, "It's pretty late and you are still drunk. Let me accompany you to your room."

"I can walk on my own," Edmund protested, but didn't pull away.

Lucian didn't want him to, he needed a distraction from the thoughts that were plaguing him, "It's better if I escort you. I can't have you trip and break your neck, now can I?"

"...I'm not that drunk," Edmund grumbled.

"I insist," Lucian said, and they both left the office.

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After escorting Edmund to his bedroom, Lucian left the estate, and walked to the caravan, greeting the guards that were patrolling the area.

His workers had retreated to their wagons, most sleeping or preparing to go to bed.

Lucian entered his caravan to wash and change into a fresh set of clothes. He had been jealous of others his whole life, but it was usually reasonable envy.

'I hope I didn't catch my father's sickness. I'm not sure if I can handle more than I already have,' he thought, laying down on the bed. His arm covered his eyes as he took a deep breath. 'It's the stress, it must be. I'll get better soon...' he thought, drifting off to sleep.

It was scary how easy it was for Celine to gain his trust in the loyalty aspect, like nobody ever did. She didn't use promises or words of love, and yet, she managed to do what the rest of the world failed to do.

Anytime he interacted with another woman, he would become self conscious and think of all the things that could go wrong.

For someone, who had so much control over others, he began to wonder if Celine's occasional lack of restraint was a show put on purpose.

'I'm thinking too deeply into this. She's just being playful in her own way.'

The evil deeds were not all that bad if they were done to people that deserved it, but if the line between good and evil became blurred, how would one know where to stop?

He didn't mind becoming her partner in crime to give her a peace of mind, and to make up for the times when he failed to do so.

'People shouldn't depend on heroes for their survival, but develop their own ways of protecting themselves,' he thought, justifying his decision, 'I'm fighting for my little wife now, so to hell with everyone else.'

If voice had a mouth, it would have twitched the corner of its lips. The brat, who preached the good and the right, was getting corrupted by his own hypocrisy.

Great leaders were not great for their right decisions, but the difficult ones, where there was no other choice.

Finally, the bottle neck that prevented his growth was gone, and the brat's potential was starting to unfold.

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The duke's children's birthday party was so grand that Lucian could barely get a glimpse of Celine through the crowd.

Both siblings were busy socializing with their guests, their parents staying by their side like guardian angels.

All Lucian could do was stand in the corner with a plate of bites. He blended more with the staff than the nobles, so whenever he ate, some people would give him looks as if he was stealing.

Some even mistook him for a servant and snatched his food.

Lucian made more than a baron and viscount combined annually now, so the people who recognized him waited for him to come up to suck up to them.

'Such a waste of food,' Lucian walked toward the buffet table for a refill instead. His priority was to waste his mouth on chewing the food, not the chatter.

Celine didn't like him eating leftovers after the parties with the rest of the staff, so he had no choice but to stuff his belly with food now.

He would then go out for a walk to let his stomach digest the meal before he would stuff himself again. That was his strategy.

He missed the royal family's arrival, but apparently, the crown prince asked Celine to dance, which was a great honor.

Rumors among the staff started to spread and before Lucian knew it, the duke's daughter got enamored by the Crown Prince at first sight.

"Everyone loves him," Celine fed Lucian a piece of her birthday cake she sneaked inside of the bathroom, "I was just acting like every young lady in the ballroom, to fit in with the rest of them. Men in power love novelty, the different and new, and the moment you become one of the crowd, they lose interest in you."

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