Free Web NovelChapter 159: Reason for Lia’s Guilt.
Several minutes passed before Lucian finally withdrew his fangs from Lia’s neck.
Noticing a faint smear of blood lingering on her pale skin, he instinctively leaned forward and licked away the remaining traces before lifting his head.
The small gesture made Lia shiver within his embrace. A faint tremor ran through her body.
Lucian slowly pulled away. His crimson eyes settled on the puncture marks on her neck as they visibly began healing within seconds, leaving nothing but flawless, pale white skin.
A few seconds later, Lia too withdrew her own mouth from his neck.
But… she didn’t move away.
Instead, her forehead rested against his shoulder as her mind finally calmed down, reminding her of something she had almost forgotten upon seeing him again after such a long time.
“Lia…?” Lucian called softly, but got no response as she suddenly went silent.
Only her warm breath brushed faintly against his neck. He could feel her fingers tightening around the back of his shirt, wrinkling the fabric beneath her grip.
“Bro—Lucian…”
Lia’s faint, muffled voice reached his ears while her head remained pressed against him.
Lucian immediately noticed how she had suddenly changed the way she addressed him, but he chose not to comment on it.
“What is it?” he asked gently.
For several seconds, Lia said nothing… and only after gathering enough courage did she finally speak again.
“Do you… Do you remember what happened after that… gigantic monster died?”
Lucian was caught off guard. He found her out-of-nowhere question a bit confusing, but after a brief silence—
“I do.”
“Everything?”
Lucian’s brows faintly furrowed.
“What do you mean by that?”
“…”
No answer came.
The silence stretching between them suddenly felt much heavier than before.
“Brother…”
She called him again, not even bothering to call him by his name.
Lucian’s frown deepened. He could feel her body trembling noticeably, and her fingers tightened even further.
Something was genuinely wrong, but before he could even ask her—
“Why don’t you hate me?”
Lucian’s expression went still.
For a moment, he didn’t even understand what she said, and even when he understood—
“What?” he could only ask her that, still having no idea where that abrupt yet strange question had come from.
His eyes searched hers in complete confusion, but she only repeated herself.
“Why don’t you hate me?”
“Lia—”
“Why don’t you hate me?”
Her breathing became uneven, and her voice began to shake.
“Why don’t you hate me?
Why?
Why?
Why don’t you hate me?!”
Lia muttered frantically, her voice getting louder and louder with each repetition, as though she had asked herself the very same question countless times before finally gathering the courage to ask him.
Lucian immediately grabbed both of her shoulders and firmly pulled her away from his chest, only to feel his heart sink the moment he saw her face.
Her eyes had turned bloodshot, glistening with unshed tears, while her teeth were clenched so tightly that it genuinely felt as though they would shatter if she continued.
“Lia…”
Lucian tried calling her again, this time more softly, more carefully, but the instant his fingertips brushed against her cheek—
SLAP!
The sharp sound echoed throughout the empty chamber as Lia slapped his hand away.
The force behind it wasn’t strong, but the emotion was.
“Why are you being nice to me?!” Her voice exploded through the chamber.
Lucian remained completely still. His hand lingered in the air for a brief second as he saw her furious expression—before lowering it back to his side.
He didn’t grow angry at her reaction, and simply looked at her quietly, confused.
“Despite what I did to you, why are you being nice to me?!”
“Lia, what are you talking about?”
Lia’s lips parted as if she were trying to say anything, but the moment she opened her mouth, she paused, then closed it again.
Her shoulders shook violently
“Why don’t you hate me…?”
Tears finally streamed down her face as she once again leaned in—more like her head collapsed against his chest.
Her hands desperately clutched the front of his shirt as she held onto him with all her strength.
Lucian’s expression finally cracked. The temperature inside the room seemed to rise as he saw his sister break down before him.
He couldn’t take in that sight.
It was painful.
But—
He didn’t even know what to say.
For a moment, he tried patting her head to calm her down, but his hand halted halfway in the air as he remembered how she had just slapped his hand away.
‘What just happened to her?’ he thought internally, trying to find anything that could’ve made her this sad, trying to read her broken expression.
No, it wasn’t just sadness—more like guilt that was making her break down.
But…
‘Guilt of what?’
Just as his brain was racking over the question again and again—
A familiar voice echoed directly within his thoughts.
[The answer is with you, you’re just not using it yet.]
Lucian’s eyes narrowed slightly.
‘Akasha, don’t talk in riddles right now. I’m not in the mood.’
For a moment, there was silence.
Then, through their link, he instantly felt her growing annoyed, but right now, he couldn’t worry about that.
His eyes lowered to Lia, whose muffled, broken sounds of crying could be heard clearly through his vampiric senses.
Despite letting out her emotions, she didn’t speak a word, didn’t say anything about why she was crying… or why she was behaving like she had committed some horrifying crime.
[Just use analysis on her.] Akasha said in an irritated tone, then went silent with a “hmph”, as if deciding to end their conversation.
Lucian didn’t even ask why, and without thinking further, he activated the skill on her.
[Analysing…]
[Analysis Complete.]
A translucent blue-gold screen unfolded before his eyes.
[STATUS WINDOW]
Name – Amelia Scarlett
Race – Vampire(Noble)
Rank – D
Titles – Hidden Heir, Killer of Her Beloved, First Bond
Bloodline – Scarlett Bloodline
Affinity – Fire
Talent – S
[Attributes]
Strength: E+
Agility: C-
Endurance: D-
Charisma: S
[Evaluation — A young vampire brat who has come to learn the secrets of her bloodline and the truth of her existence. Yet among all things she treasures, none holds greater value than her brother, Lucian. Her attachment has deepened into something that can no longer be described as sibling affection alone.]
[Affection: 95% (Forbidden Love, Guilt)]
— — —
Lucian’s gaze lowered to the last sections almost instinctively, and a slow, stunned silence settled inside his mind.
The evaluation was slightly surprising, but not really something he hadn’t expected—not like he hadn’t noticed her behavior around him.
He had just tried ignoring those signals until now, but that wasn’t even the most shocking thing—at least it wasn’t to someone else residing in his head.
[This girl’s a gone case.] Akasha’s voice came back, despite having vanished just a moment ago, almost as if she couldn’t help but speak out loud after seeing the percentage.
[You don’t need me to explain what that means, do you?]
‘Keep quiet, will you?’ he replied, carrying a faint annoyance in his tone.
He didn’t need to know about its implications right now—since he already did—and after a few seconds, his attention shifted, finally finding the reason she was suddenly behaving like that.
‘So that’s it…?’
The screen instantly faded from his vision, and his gaze shifted back to the still trembling Lia—still clinging to him tightly despite having pushed his hand away a moment ago.
Her tears had soaked into his shirt by now, and it was still doing so.
Gradually, Lucian raised his hand once again and, this time without any hesitation, placed it over her head, gently stroking her hair.
Lia’s body jolted as her head snapped upward, her moist eyes turning furious once again as she felt his hand gently resting on her head.
But before she could even try to push him away—
Lucian spoke first.fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
“Killer of her Beloved…”
Lia froze.
Her eyes widened abruptly, as if the words had struck something deep within her.
“That’s the title you got, right?”
It wasn’t difficult to tell who this “Beloved” referred to, especially when she had been shouting at him moments ago as if he had done something unforgivable by still caring about her.
‘Not like I’ll let anyone else be her beloved.’
“H-How…”
Her voice broke as she barely managed to form the word.
She hadn’t told anyone about that, never wanting anyone else to know, especially Seraphina—Lucian’s mother.
There was no telling how she would react upon hearing that her son had once died—that too at the hands of the one he had cared about the most.
Even though he had been revived through the blood ritual, it did nothing to lessen the shame and guilt she felt. Her head lowered, as if she couldn’t bear to meet his eyes.
Her lips parted slightly, but the question caught and died in her throat.
“Is that why you’re angry at me right now?”
Lia didn’t answer immediately.
Her entire body seemed to lock up again, torn between nodding or denying, but under his unwavering gaze… her head dipped even lower.
Slowly, she gave a shaky nod.
300 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter.freēwēbnovel.com
I’m starting this offer once again.
I didn’t really have the time to write as I had my internship, and I was also slacking off, playing games and procrastinating from writing much.
I have a few chapters, but it takes too much time just to edit them-much more than it take to write them.
