But Lux quickly thought of something, and her mood shifted with it.
The next second, she looked at Luke and said, "Sounds like my place is about to serve dinner."
"Yeah?" Luke stopped counting money, swept it all up, and tucked it away.
"At noon, I prepped a pot of meat sauce, and the pasta's ready too. When the time comes, have Yurna boil it for you guys."
Luke had originally planned on having spaghetti for dinner.
But he'd already promised Tianna that he'd go to the Crownguard estate tonight, so he made the sauce ahead of time and planned to eat it as a late-night snack when he got back.
As for Fiora and the others, they could treat it as their dinner first.
After giving those instructions, he and Lux headed out for the Crownguard estate.
Outside, the sky was so dark it might as well have been night already, everything dim and shadowy.
Lux jogged into the courtyard, hopped right onto the back seat of a bicycle, and blinked at Luke—her meaning couldn't have been clearer.
Luke glanced at her and sat on the front seat.
From behind him came Lux's cheerful voice at once. "Let's go!"
Luke pushed down on the pedal, and the bicycle started up, rolling slowly out of the courtyard.
But his speed was basically a turtle crawl—nothing exciting at all.
Lux rested one hand on his shoulder, dissatisfied. "Can you ride faster?"
Luke yawned. "It's barely any distance. Why ride so fast? If you want, we can switch—go ahead and pedal."
"No way." Lux huffed and quieted down, no longer demanding he speed up.
When she paid closer attention, this slow, easy ride actually felt… pretty nice.
But the instant she relaxed, Luke suddenly stomped the pedal hard.
The bicycle surged forward in a burst.
"Ah!" Lux jolted in surprise, yelped, and immediately hugged Luke tight from behind, pressing right up against him.
Feeling the girl tense up behind him, Luke laughed loudly. "Miss Crownguard, you happy now?"
Lux snapped out of it, stared at his back, and bit down in embarrassed annoyance.
She forgot this was exactly the kind of thing he loved to do—suddenly pulling that on her!
Hearing him laugh so smugly, Lux reached out and jabbed him hard in the side.
"Hiss!" Luke's laughter cut off instantly. He sucked in a sharp breath, his whole body jolting.
The bicycle wobbled twice, nearly losing balance, and he hurriedly warned, "Don't mess around—if we crash, I'm not taking responsibility!"
"If we crash, we crash together!" Lux didn't care at all. Her hand darted to the other side and jabbed him again.
Luke was genuinely sensitive about getting poked in the waist. Same with being tickled.
But right now, he couldn't dodge—he had to steer. And he couldn't retaliate either.
And the menace behind him clearly wasn't planning to let him off easy.
So Luke decided to go all in. He pushed down hard again, and the bicycle shot forward even faster.
At this speed, it was practically a blur.
The road ahead wasn't smooth—every so often it bumped and jolted.
Which meant Lux had to use both hands to keep herself steady. She clamped onto Luke's waist and didn't dare mess around anymore.
Even she knew that if you wiped out at this speed, it was going to hurt.
The sky was dark, and the road had no electric lamps—visibility was poor. But Luke's eyesight was excellent, and the dim road didn't affect him at all.
Demacia's nights still relied on oil lamps for lighting.
The Crownguard estate was only about a ten-minute ride from Luke's place.
With Luke's sudden sprinting pace, it got cut down to three.
He hit the brakes, swung the bicycle into a sharp, stylish drift, and brought it to a steady stop right in front of the Crownguard estate.
"Hah…" Luke let out a breath. The back seat suddenly felt lighter.
Lux hopped down and glared at him. The thrill had her cheeks flushed bright red, and her heart was still pounding.
The next second, she gave a spoiled little snort, ignored him completely, and marched inside.
Luke parked the bicycle properly first, then followed.
Inside the Crownguard mansion, in the living room—
Augatha looked at Luke coming in behind Lux, and her face lit up with a smile. "It's been so long since I've seen you. Come, sit."
Luke smiled back and greeted her. "Good evening, ma'am."
"Good evening." Augatha's eyes were gentle.
Luke walked in, sat on the sofa, and chatted with Augatha.
Not long after, Tianna wrapped up her work early and came home.
The Crownguards usually ate around this time.
The kitchen started preparing dinner as well.
Since they'd known ahead of time that Luke was coming, the meal was especially lavish.
It still didn't take as long as Luke would've needed to cook a whole spread of comfort food himself.
About half an hour later, dish after dish was set on the table.
The Crownguard family chef clearly had some skill, but compared to Luke, the gap was enormous.
During the meal, Tianna kept smiling as she served Luke food nonstop.
She took care of him so attentively it was almost excessive.
In a way, it was also her method of expressing "apology."
So Luke accepted it without a shred of guilt, and the dinner tasted even better for it.
After eating—
Luke leaned back on the sofa, fully satisfied, sipping hot tea slowly, acting like this place was his own home.
Augatha went back to her room to read.
Lux also left, claiming she "needed the bathroom."
Tianna sat to the side. Watching Luke, she smiled. "Full?"
"Full, full," Luke replied, relaxed as could be.
Tianna was quiet for a second, then her tone turned more serious. "Consider this meal my apology. Sending you to investigate Kerr Village—yes, that was my oversight."
She wasn't the type who couldn't bring herself to apologize to someone younger.
And in this case, she really had nearly put Luke in danger.
So the apology needed to be made—properly.
Seeing the high-and-mighty older woman lower her head and apologize, Luke instantly felt himself float a little.
He crossed one leg over the other, waved a hand casually, tilted his chin up, and looked down his nose like a big shot. "Ah, Aunt Tianna, that sounds so distant. We're family—no need to apologize so formally. But since you're being sincere, I'll accept it."
Watching him get all arrogant—
Tianna's smile deepened. "Since you've accepted my apology, then we should talk about something else."
Luke's ego was inflated right now. He'd completely forgotten who he was dealing with and asked, high-handed, "About what?"
Tianna stood up. As she stretched, her joints cracked faintly, and she asked, "Do you think I'm old?"
Luke froze. Looking at Tianna standing there, he quietly uncrossed his leg. Then he sat up straighter without even realizing it.
He answered from the heart—meaning, from pure survival instinct. "Of course not. If I saw you on the street, Aunt Tianna, I'd think you were some young lady who wandered out of the house."
"Really?" Tianna smiled. "Is that what you truly think?"
Her smile was still there, but now it looked… cold.
The moment Luke saw that smile, a bad feeling crept up his spine, a chill flooding his back.
He knew Tianna well.
That was a dangerous smile.
In that instant, Luke mentally reviewed everything he'd done.
Then he connected it to her question and jolted, suddenly realizing what this was about.
He couldn't stay calm anymore. A guilty smile tugged at his mouth as he backed away step by step while Tianna advanced.
"Aunt Tianna, no matter what Lux told you, you can't believe her. In my heart, you'll always be the most beautiful, the most gorgeous, the most gracious woman there is."
His desire to live was screaming.
"Is that so?" Tianna calmly took a letter out from her clothing. "Then how do you explain the words 'old woman' in this letter? And I heard you've got quite a few private nicknames for me too."
"Old woman. Tiger mom. Menopause." Her voice grew colder with every word. "I'm not even forty yet and you're already calling it menopause?"
With each sentence, a terrifying chill radiated off her.
Where was the apologetic Tianna from earlier?
Luke felt like he'd been thrown into an ice pit. His whole body went cold—hands, feet, everything. He swallowed.
So this was the soft approach first, then the hammer.
He forced a harmless smile, clinging to one last shred of denial. "Slander. Someone with bad intentions is obviously trying to drive a wedge between us…"
"Then they succeeded."
The moment her words fell, Tianna moved.
Luke tried to spin and run, but before he could even use his footwork, Tianna grabbed the back of his collar like he weighed nothing.
And that was when Luke saw—near the corner of the living room—just a hint of blonde hair.
His heart sank into pure tragedy.
He'd been played.
Me, Luke—brilliant my whole life—falling for something like this?
And only now, at this exact moment, did Luke finally understand.
This hadn't been an apology dinner at all.
It had been a carefully prepared trap from the very beginning.
Not long after, the skies above the Crownguard estate echoed with the miserable screams of a certain prince.
The beating his older brother had taken since childhood—Luke couldn't escape it either.
And Luke learned a very important truth.
Women were absolutely, unquestionably vindictive creatures.
Outside the living room, Lux leaned against the wall, listening to the screams inside. She held a moment of silence for Luke—lasting exactly a tenth of a second.
And inside her heart?
Pure, refreshing satisfaction.
A few minutes later—
Tianna left the living room looking bright-eyed and energized, like she'd vented every bit of anger she'd been holding onto.
Lux waited a few seconds, then stepped into the living room.
At a glance, she saw Luke sprawled face-down on the sofa, wearing the expression of a man who'd given up on life.
She thought about it, walked over, crouched down, and studied his pale face up close.
That paleness added a strangely fragile, sickly kind of handsomeness to his sharp features.
She reached out and poked his cheek. "Did it really hurt that much?"
A little light returned to Luke's eyes as he looked at Lux.
"Is this about pain?" he said. "Do you understand how humiliating it is for me, at my age, to get my butt smacked? And yes—it does hurt."
Right now, Luke felt pain in both body and soul.
That woman really didn't hold back.
So this was what Jarvan IV had endured all these years?
At this moment, Luke finally understood the hardship of being the older brother.
Seeing how miserable he looked, Lux wanted to laugh out loud—but she held it in.
Luke watched her struggling not to laugh, and silently clenched his fist.
Demacia, Year 679. August 7.
Lux caused my humiliation. I will remember this.
Luke didn't want to stay in this cursed place for even one more second.
So he stood up and got ready to go home.
At the entrance—
Lux looked at the bicycle, thought for a moment, and said, "I'll take you."
As she spoke, she sat on the front seat.
Luke didn't refuse. He sat on the back seat, then carefully adjusted his position so he wouldn't bump his injured pride.
"You steady?" Lux asked.
"More or less."
With Luke's answer, Lux pushed down on the pedal, and the bicycle started forward.
She didn't ride fast—probably because she knew Luke was sore. But she was still a little quicker than Luke's earlier turtle crawl.
At this pace, you could feel a soft breeze against your cheeks.
Staring at Miss Crownguard's back, Luke noticed that at some point, she'd learned to ride a bicycle too.
This stretch of riding was actually pretty nice.
Unfortunately, the road ahead had a bumpy section. When they reached it, the bicycle jolted and rattled—
"Hiss…!"
Luke's butt suffered a second devastating impact, and he sucked in a sharp breath.
The moment Lux heard that sound, she couldn't hold it anymore.
She burst out laughing, louder and louder, more and more unrestrained by the second.
Luke's mouth twitched. Then he raised a hand without hesitation and pressed a finger into the soft flesh at Lux's waist.
He knew medicine. He knew exactly which pressure point was extra sensitive.
The instant he touched it, Lux's laughter vanished. A tingling, itchy current surged through her, and her whole body jolted. A small sound escaped her lips.
The bicycle wobbled and nearly tipped over.
In the next second, her face turned bright red at a visible speed.
After steadying the bicycle, she turned her head and glared at Luke, suddenly switching sides. "Don't move. If we crash, I'm not taking responsibility."
Luke snorted. "I also know where your tickle spot is. Want to experience it?"
"No!" Lux immediately sped up, afraid Luke would mess around again.
That electric, tingling feeling had been… kind of intense. But after losing that round, Miss Crownguard definitely didn't want a second.
Fortunately, Luke didn't make another move after that.
A few minutes later, the bicycle came to a stable stop inside the courtyard.
By now, it was completely dark. There were no oil lamps lit in the yard, so the light was dim.
When the two of them entered the living room, Fiora and the others were sitting around chatting—clearly they'd already finished dinner.
They saw Lux walk in first, her cheeks still flushed.
Then they noticed Luke's gait—slightly strange.
Fiora couldn't help asking, "What happened to you?"
"Nothing. I fell on the road," Luke lied casually.
A soft snort escaped Lux at once, like she was about to laugh again.
Luke's mouth twitched, and he silently clenched his fist again.
Blondie.
Just you wait.
Don't let the day come when you fall into my hands.
"Enough. I'm going to soak in the hot spring for a while," Luke said. He needed it to soothe his wounded soul.
With that, he headed to the backyard.
Yurna had already filled the hot spring pool.
Looking at the clear water steaming gently, Luke felt a wave of longing. He'd been out for so many days—where would he have found the chance to soak?
After thinking about it, he decided to do an herbal soak tonight.
So he started preparing. When a light medicinal fragrance rose from the pool and the water's color shifted, it was about ready.
Then he started undressing.
He'd only taken off two pieces of clothing when footsteps sounded.
He looked over and saw the girls arriving together. From the entrance, they could see Luke in the middle of undressing.
Luckily, he'd only taken off his upper clothes so far. His skin was fairly pale, and his physique was unexpectedly good.
His muscles were firm without being overly bulky—strong, but with a clean, balanced aesthetic.
Paired with his sharply defined face, he was frankly eye-catching—almost bright against the night.
In an instant, many sets of eyes settled on him.
Men liked admiring women's figures.
Women weren't any different.
Right now, the girls' gazes openly lingered on him, filled with appreciation.
Fiora, Lux, Kahina, and Sona had already seen him in the hot spring a few times, so they were used to it.
Besides, with a body like Luke's, it didn't seem like it would ever get boring no matter how many times they looked.
But for Quinn and Vayne—who spent plenty of time with Luke, yet had never seen a scene like this—it was their first time.
Before they even started soaking, their faces were already turning red.
With that many eyes on him, Luke's expression didn't change at all.
He put his hands at the sides of his pants, looked at them, and said, "I'm going to keep going, then."
As soon as he spoke, the girls started walking toward the other side of the white curtain they'd set up in advance.
Before long, the soft rustle of clothing came from behind it, and through the curtain you could vaguely make out a few graceful silhouettes.
But Luke's attention was on the pool.
He finished undressing quickly. By now, a thin, pale mist had formed over the water.
He walked to the edge and eased in slowly, starting from his feet.
As his whole body sank under, warmth replaced the lingering chill, and every hair on his body seemed to stand up at once.
Feeling a hot spring soak again after so long, Luke went soft all over.
"So good…"
The next second, he sank his head under too, letting the water wash over him completely.
When he surfaced again, he let out a long breath and leaned back against the edge, feeling unbelievably refreshed.
Soaking again after twenty-one days really was different.
His body felt warm and loose, like he didn't have any strength left. He didn't even want to move a finger.
And his wounded soul…
was healing at an incredible speed.
//Check out my P@tre0n for 30 extra chapters on all my fanfics //[email protected]/Razeil0810.