CHAPTER 93: JULIAN, A FRAUDSTER!

"Answer me, Julian!!!" Lucien snarled, his grip tightening until his knuckles turned white. His entire arm shook, torn between the urge to choke the life out of his brother and the desperate need to find Rin.

But Julian only stared back, his eyes gleaming with defiance. Lucien’s chest heaved, his breath ragged. He wanted to end this... end Julian... right here, right now. But every second he wasted was another second Rin slipped further away.

With a guttural sound of frustration, Lucien released his grip, shoving Julian back against the wall one last time. "You’ll pay," he hissed, his eyes blazing like twin fires. "If anything happens to Rin... you’ll regret being born."

Julian coughed violently, clutching his bruised throat, but his laughter rang out, hoarse and unhinged. "You should’ve finished it, brother," he rasped, his voice dripping with mockery. "You should’ve done what Father almost did to me. Squeezed until nothing was left."

Lucien’s jaw clenched so tightly it ached. He didn’t respond. His mind screamed at him to keep moving, to find Rin before it was too late. Every fibre of his being burned with the need to act, to save the one person who mattered more than anything.

He turned on his heel, leaving Julian gasping and laughing in the shadows. The sound of that laughter chased him, echoing against the stone walls, cruel and wild. "You’ve fallen hard, brother!" Julian called after him, his voice sharp and gleeful. "I can see it in your eyes. You care more for that omega than you ever did for me. It’s so obvious you’d burn the world down for him. And that’s why I’ll do it again. I’ll destroy him... just to watch you shatter."

Lucien didn’t look back. His boots pounded against the cobblestones as he ran, his heart hammering in his chest. He had to find Rin. He had to.

By the time Lucien reached the courtyard, the enforcers had already shoved Rin into a black carriage, its doors sealed tight and guarded by three towering figures. Their uniforms glinted in the torchlight, and their faces were set in grim determination. Lucien skidded to a halt, his breath coming in sharp gasps.

"Let me see him!" he demanded, his voice rough with desperation. He stepped toward the carriage, but one of the guards blocked his path, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword.

"Step back," the guard growled. "No one’s allowed near the prisoner."

"He’s not a prisoner!" Lucien snapped, his fists clenching. "He’s... Rin’s not some criminal! Let me talk to him, just for a second!"

The head enforcer stepped forward. His presence alone was enough to make the air feel heavier. Lucien knew him since he was a child.

His father was the one who made the enforcer team to capture rogue and unregistered omegas for the kingdom. But secretly, his father had done that so it would be easy for him to gather more omegas for his game.

"You’re Lucien Vortellion, aren’t you?" he said, his voice calm but laced with authority. "You know better than to interfere. Step back, or I’ll have you restrained."

Lucien’s hands shook, his nails digging into his palms. He wanted to fight, to tear the door off the carriage with his bare hands, to drag Rin out and run far away from this cursed place. But he knew the head enforcer wasn’t bluffing. The man was a legend in the academy, rumoured to have taken down entire squads single-handedly. Lucien wouldn’t stand a chance, not like this.

"Please," Lucien said, his voice dropping to a hoarse plea. "Just let me see him. I need to know he’s okay."

The enforcer’s expression didn’t soften. "He’s alive," he said curtly. "That’s all you need to know. Now move."

Lucien’s chest heaved, his vision blurring with frustration and grief. He stepped back, but his eyes never left the carriage. He could almost feel Rin inside, so close yet impossibly far. His hands trembled as he backed away, his gaze locked on the sealed door.

"...Fuck..." He turned and slammed his fist into the nearest stone pillar. The impact sent a jolt of pain through his hand, but he didn’t care. He hit it again. And again. The stone cracked under his blows, blood smearing across his knuckles, but he didn’t stop. "Fuck, fuck, FUCK!"

The world around him blurred, his chest aching like it was being torn apart from the inside. He had sworn to protect Rin, to keep him safe from the academy, from his family, from the world that wanted to break him. And now... now Rin was in his father’s hands.

From the grand hall, the sound of cheering drifted out, bright and lively, as if nothing had happened. The graduation ceremony was in full swing, the air filled with laughter and celebration. Lucien’s name was called over the crowd, his certificate waiting to be claimed. He was supposed to walk across that stage, smile for the nobles, and accept his place as the academy’s pride.

But he couldn’t. He couldn’t step inside, couldn’t force himself to smile and pretend everything was fine when the only reason he’d fought so hard to stay at the academy... Rin... was gone.

He sank onto the steps outside the hall, his bloodied hands trembling as he buried his face in them. The world felt too heavy, too cruel. His chest burned with every breath, his mind replaying the moment he’d seen Rin’s blood in the dirt, the moment he’d realised he’d failed him.

.

.

Hours passed, the sky darkening above him. The cheers from the hall grew louder, then quieter, as the ceremony wound down. Lucien didn’t move. He couldn’t. His body felt like lead, his heart a hollow shell.

When the doors finally opened, a wave of nobles spilt out, their voices bright and carefree. At the centre of the group was a man whose presence silenced the chatter around him... Evan Vortellion, flanked by the Dean and a handful of high-ranking nobles. His black coat billowed slightly in the evening breeze, his sharp features as unyielding as ever. The crowd parted for him, bowing like reeds before a storm.

"Father!"