Chapter 1175: Fortune and Calamity [Part 2]

Chapter 1175 – Fortune and Calamity [Part 2]

Lux reached the central square.

A huge statue stood there.

Two young women carved from white marble.

Twins.

One held a blooming flower.

The other held a broken star.

Lux stared upward.

An inscription decorated the base.

THE TWIN LADIES OF HOUSE VALESSA

Beneath the first: CELESTINE (STAR OF FORTUNE)

Beneath the second: AURELIA (STAR OF CALAMITY)

Lux folded his arms. "So which one of you is ruining everyone’s evening?"

A bell rang.

The entire square changed.

People stopped.

Merchants looked toward the hill overlooking town.

Lux followed their gaze.

There, beyond iron gates and immaculate gardens, stood an enormous noble estate.

A carriage was descending toward town.

People began gathering.

"The ladies!"

"Lady Celestine!"

"The twins are coming!"

Lux watched.

Interesting.

The crowd’s excitement wasn’t equal.

They moved toward one side of the road.

Away from the other.

The carriage approached.

Two girls sat inside.

Identical faces.

One dressed in white and gold.

The other in dark blue.

The golden twin smiled brightly at the crowd.

Flowers were thrown toward her.

People cheered.

The dark-haired...

No.

Same hair.

Same face.

Only different clothes.

The twin in blue sat quietly beside her sister.

Nobody threw flowers toward her.

In fact, several people made protective gestures when she looked in their direction.

Lux’s expression slowly cooled.

Then the carriage passed directly in front of him.

The girl in blue turned.

Her eyes met his.

For one second...

Everything froze.

Not metaphorically.

Actually froze.

Flowers stopped in midair.

A horse’s hoof remained suspended above the street.

People became motionless.

Lux’s eyes narrowed.

The girl’s lips parted.

Fear crossed her face.

Then...

The world moved again.

The carriage continued.

Lux remained standing in the square. "Well." He watched it disappear toward the distant road. "That wasn’t suspicious at all."

Somewhere behind him, a sleepy female voice murmured, "You noticed too."

Lux turned.

A young woman sat on the edge of the fountain.

Long pale hair.

Half-lidded eyes.

Expression approximately three seconds away from falling asleep sitting upright.

Lux stared. "Lullaby."

Lullaby yawned. "You took your time."

"I arrived approximately five minutes ago." Lux walked toward the fountain and glanced around. "Where’s Yue?"

Lullaby’s sleepy expression twitched. "She’s outside town."

"Why?"

"Calming herself down."

Lux stared. "Yue needs to calm herself down?"

"Mhm."

That was concerning.

"Why?"

Lullaby exhaled heavily. "Because this is our tenth loop."

Lux’s expression changed. "What?"

"Tenth." She lifted both hands, showing ten fingers.

"I can count."

"Just making sure."

Lux ignored that. "You’ve gone through this ten times?"

"There’s a looping point." Lullaby patted the fountain beside her, and Lux sat. "The dream always starts around this period. Aurelia and Celestine are still young noblewomen, everyone already knows them as the Disaster Star and Lucky Star, and then events move forward." She looked toward the road where the carriage had vanished. "Aurelia has been treated like that since childhood."

Lux’s eyes hardened. "Because people decided she was unlucky?"

"Because coincidences happened around her. Servants got hurt. Crops failed. A tower was struck by lightning on her birthday. Her mother became sick after giving birth."

Lux grimaced. "And naturally everyone blamed the infant."

"Mhm."

"Mortals."

"Demons do stupid things too."

"Demons usually admit we’re being horrible."

Lullaby considered that. "Fair." She continued, "Aurelia was isolated. Servants avoided touching her. Children bullied her. Adults were worse because they pretended it was justified."

Lux glanced at the statue. "And Celestine?"

"Celestine always let Aurelia sit beside her."

Lux looked at her. "Mercy?"

"That’s what everyone thinks."

Lullaby’s eyes opened a little wider. "It wasn’t."

Lux went still.

"Celestine would defend Aurelia publicly. Let her eat beside her. Invite her to celebrations. Give her dresses. Tell servants not to mistreat her."

"That sounds suspiciously decent."

"Then privately, she reminded Aurelia that nobody else wanted her."

Lux’s smile disappeared. "She made herself Aurelia’s only safe person."

Lullaby nodded. "And then punished her whenever Aurelia did something she disliked. Sometimes ignoring her. Sometimes deliberately frightening her by saying she might send her away. Sometimes telling her the family only tolerated her because Celestine begged them."

Lux looked toward the distant estate. The beautiful white walls suddenly seemed uglier. "So she wasn’t saving Aurelia from the cage. She was making sure Aurelia understood who owned the key."

Lullaby gave him a tired look. "Exactly."

That explained Yue.

Lux could already imagine the dragon watching that dynamic repeat ten times and gradually developing increasingly creative ideas involving fire. "Where does the loop reset?"

"That changes slightly, but always after Aurelia tries to leave Celestine."

Lux frowned. "She tries to escape?"

"Eventually. Different reasons each loop. Sometimes she discovers Celestine lied. Sometimes Yue interferes. Once I convinced Aurelia that she deserved a life outside this town."

"And?"

Lullaby’s mouth tightened. "Something happens. Betrayal. Death. Disaster. Then Aurelia believes leaving Celestine was the mistake."

"And everything resets."

"Mhm."

Lux leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees.

That was vicious.

Not merely repeating trauma.

Reinforcing dependency.

Every attempted escape became evidence that freedom was dangerous.

Lux suddenly frowned. "What about Kaelmor?"

Lullaby went quiet. Then she shook her head. "I don’t know."

"You haven’t found him?"

"I haven’t seen him at all."

Lux turned fully toward her. "In ten loops?"

"Not once." Lullaby hugged her knees. "That’s the most confusing part."

That bothered him more than if Kaelmor had been standing in the town square wearing a sign saying "EVIL KING RESPONSIBLE FOR EVERYTHING".

Lux looked again toward House Valessa’s distant estate.

Kaelmor built prisons personally.

He trapped ancient beings and converted their existence into resources.

Yet here?

Nothing.

No smiling king.

Just two sisters.

One adored.

One despised.

And a nightmare that refused to let either of them move forward.

Lux slowly smiled.

Not pleasantly.

"Then maybe we’ve been looking for the wrong villain."

Lullaby’s sleepy eyes sharpened. "What do you mean?"

Lux glanced toward the distant carriage, then at the pristine statue of the twins."You assumed Aurelia was creating the loop because she’s the traumatized one."

"Yes."

"But what if she isn’t?"

Lullaby went still.

Lux leaned back, eyes narrowing toward the noble estate. "What if the one creating all these loops isn’t Aurelia?" A beat passed. Then his smile turned darker. "What if it’s Celestine?"

Lullaby stared at him.And suddenly, she looked very awake.