CHAPTER 204: _VULNERABILITY IRKED HIM

Lucian’s POV

*****

"What do we do now?" Aurora’s voice broke in a panic as she helped Lucian back on his feet. "This is getting out of control. Is the Dark Hand threatening to destroy us? Are they—"

"You’ll have to calm down, sister," Lucian spoke through heavy breaths, sitting on the edge of his bed and keeping the Dark Hand letter aside.

Aurora paused her panicking, glaring at him through the darkness in the room. "Calm down? After all of this? It’s clear whoever wiped your memories still has some kind of hold on you."

She kept on pacing around while Lucian rubbed his forehead with an exhausted sigh.

His mind flashed briefly with all the things he saw when he touched the Dark Hand letter:

The man wearing a black cloak and a mask. The sickly yellow eyes which looked way too close to gold. The flames. Elian’s voice saying something incoherent through it all.

And then the words that spurred fear in his being.

"The truth you see shall destroy you first." He muttered under his breath, clenching his fists on the bed.

Aurora turned her attention to him. "M–Maybe it’s just their way of trying to scare you into not getting back your memories."

Lucian blinked at her for a few seconds but soon looked away, shaking his head. "It was a clear threat. Also, there’s a question that has bothered me for a while."

Silence dawned in the room, stretching thick and adding to the tension.

Hesitantly, Aurora walked to the bed, her steps on the marble floor echoing. When she sat beside Lucian, the latter slowly turned his head to her.

"What question?" Aurora queried, her voice soft like someone looking after a child.

Lucian should find that irritating in more ways than one. Vulnerability irked him.

But for once, he felt alright being this bare before someone who cared about him.

And speaking of which—

"Elian," Lucian responded to her last question, bringing his eyes to a random wall. "Of all the memories they could wipe... Why him? Why make me forget him and everything involving him?"

They could’ve made him completely forget about literally anything else. They could’ve made him forget he was ever an Alpha Prince.

Heck, they could’ve erased anything relating to the Dark Hand from his mind.

So why come specifically for his memories of Elian?

"Maybe they know how much of a threat a mate bond can be," Aurora remarked. "Or maybe they just wanted to break you."

Those seem plausible... But Lucian had a feeling there was something deeper.

However, before he could think any more about it, his skull split with a numbing headache that forced him to grit his teeth.

Aurora noticed and hastily patted him on his shoulder. "Let’s stop digging into this. Probably best for your brain."

Yeah... No shit.

Lucian sighed with defeat, staring at the ground.

He was getting close to recovering his memories. He could feel it. He just needed a few more triggers and then—

"Anyway." Aurora got on her feet, adjusting her dress. "I need to go check out my gown for tonight. I haven’t seen it yet and I feel like that’s a bad omen waiting to explode."

Her lips curled as she held Lucian’s jaw tenderly. "You’re going to be fine, right?"

Lucian hesitated, fiddling with his fingers. He avoided her gaze for a few seconds, eventually forcing a smile.

"I’ll manage."

Aurora lingered there for a bit before turning around and walking. When the room door shut behind her, Lucian brushed his hand through his hair.

"Is there anything I haven’t tried to get these memories back at this point?" He asked himself, getting on his feet.

The room felt like a cage. The walls seemed to be closing in on him the more he peered through the darkness.

Lucian was just about to tell the room’s AI system to brighten the place up when his communication ring pulsed.

His brows furrowed, his eyes falling on the ring glowing faintly on his finger.

After pausing for a moment, he tapped on the ring, picking up the call. To his surprise, a holographic projection flickered out of the ring, revealing the live image of a man.

The man looked to be in his early seventies and had sharp silver grey eyes like stained steel and golden red hair that fell down his features like flames. He wore a white robe, and the projection showed only from his waist to his head.

Lucian was disoriented at first but his mind soon flashed with recognition, causing his eyes to widen.

"Did you leave your respect for Elders in the Dark Lands or has it always been absent, Alpha Prince?" The man asked before Lucian could find the words to speak.

The latter’s face flushed with embarrassment. "N–No, Elder Mateo. You know my memories haven’t been as they used to these past few weeks and I was just—"

"Condolences." Elder Mateo interrupted.

Who was Elder Mateo?

Oh, only one of the most important Elders from the Northern wolves council.

Lucian definitely wouldn’t have known shit about him if he hadn’t gone out of his way to do research on the council after they contacted him about Elian.

"I decided to contact you directly to remind you of our imminent arrival for the new moon masquerade ball tonight." The Elder continued plainly. "I hope you and your mate are prepared. We need to know where you plan to take your relationship next."

The Elder paused for a bit before adding with a scoff. "That’s if you have a ’relationship’ anyway."

Lucian’s jaw tightened. "What do you mean?"

"The Omega," The elder began, closing his eyes briefly. "Is mated to two others. Including the Rogue king. And from what I’ve heard, he’s been residing in the Dark Lands for close to a month."

Lucian stared at the old coot silently.

He had no way to defend himself on that.

"I understand you see him as weak because of his Omega status. Unworthy." The Elder lowered his voice as if it were a curse. "But you know how much we value the tradition of having children with your mate. The moon goddess’s way can not be discarded."

The moon goddess’s way...

Lucian knew saying anything would be irrelevant so he simply nodded with a smile.

Elder Mateo stared at him intensely for a few more seconds before shifting away from the holographic projection.

"See you soon."

With that, the call ended and the hologram disappeared, leaving Lucian with his thoughts.

Time was running out.