Ch 104: Lucien’s Apology

"Sorry," Lucien apologized as his eyes settled on Charlotte, whose purple hair flowed freely down to her waist while her black eyes bore into him with barely contained fury. She wore a plain white top paired with a long black coat and blue trousers. Today she looked quite different in a beautiful sort of way, appearing even younger in this outfit than she usually did in the robes she typically wore.

The outburst of Charlotte dissolved like a wisp of smoke rising and thinning into open air the moment Lucien finished speaking his apology. She looked back at him with those dark eyes, and for a brief second Lucien caught her almost stuttering before she pressed her opened mouth shut again.

Charlotte leveled a finger at him, "You drop the twins at my door without so much as a message, and now you think a sorry is going to solve all of it." Her voice still carried anger but nothing like the earlier outburst that had made his ears ring.

"I had appointments to attend to," Lucien replied, placing his hand on top of Melissa's head. "She was waiting for me."

He felt a slight tremor pass through Melissa's head the moment he placed his hand over her head.

He had been expecting a reply from Charlotte, perhaps more so from Melissa to push his hand away, but he had not anticipated that someone else would speak first.

"Who is she?" Olivia demanded, pointing her finger straight at Melissa.

Lucien withdrew his hand from Melissa's head, and as he did, Melissa shook her head ever so slightly. Perhaps she truly disliked having hands rested upon her head.

Lucien then turned his gaze toward Olivia, his eyes dropping briefly to her outstretched finger pointing at Melissa, before catching from the corner of his sight that Charlotte was still pointing hers at him.

Lucien felt the urge to laugh at the sheer absurdity of it all, imagining how comical the entire scene must look from a distance. He turned his head around to check whether anyone else was nearby. He breathed a quiet sigh of relief upon finding that the entrance was empty save for the five of them. Just him, Melissa, Charlotte, and the royal twins.

"I am Melissa Waters." Melissa answered.

Lucien was surprised to find Melissa herself answering by composing herself quickly. Her voice was simple and plain, almost unknowingly mimicking his own in its restraint, though it carried neither his iciness nor his coldness but rather it was neutral, and he could sense she was trying her best to sound confident. To some extent, she was succeeding.

"I did not ask for your name. I want to know whether you are his fiancée or perhaps his wife," Olivia grumbled, narrowing her black eyes back toward Lucien as she finished the last part.

Why is she looking at me like that? Lucien was genuinely dumbfounded by this sudden turn. Why was the elven princess even interested in knowing whether Melissa was his fiancée or wife? What did it matter to her either way? Had she not asked about his marital status once before, back in the forest, where he had avoided giving her an answer?

Charlotte lowered her pointing finger and let her hand rest at her side, and Lucien noticed Olivia followed suit almost immediately afterward. Perhaps Olivia was mimicking Charlotte under the assumption that pointing was simply how humans conducted themselves. Maybe she had convinced herself that humans behaved differently from elves and was trying to adapt accordingly. It was a plausible enough theory, though Lucien did not linger on it for long.

Lucien stepped in quickly, seeing that Melissa had gone completely silent, "She is not my fiancée, nor is she my wife. She is my student." He answered plainly, and without giving Olivia room to fire back with something else, he turned his attention fully toward Charlotte.

"I am sorry for leaving the twins at your door the way I did. As I just mentioned, I had an appointment with Melissa and I did not wish to be late as I was already running considerably behind. So, in order to avoid making it any worse, I brought them to your house because I trust you and I know without any doubt that you would not allow anything to happen to them." He spoke all of it in one steady breath, not pausing even once. He had no desire to be interrupted, and even less desire for the situation to spiral down in the wrong direction.

Charlotte pressed her lips tightly together and gave a single nod. Lucien caught Olivia looking slightly relieved and at the same time absolutely flustered out of the corner of his eye, for reasons he could not quite place and frankly had no intention of figuring out. He had matters to discuss.

"Let us talk inside the house," Lucien said as he turned on his heel and had taken barely a single step through the entrance when Charlotte's voice stopped him.

"Wait," Charlotte called out, her voice a little louder than its usual tone but far softer than it had been just a while back when she was absolutely furious.

Lucien turned back at once and found Charlotte's gaze waiting for him. His silver eyes met her black ones. She did not flinch, nor did she show even a flicker of unease in front of him. She was stronger than him and on any given day could suppress him outright. If not totally suppressed, she could at the very least would not die even if he threw everything he had at her.

"I have things to attend to. I have been quite busy lately," Charlotte remarked, and her eyes slid briefly toward Melissa, which Lucien understood at once. She was likely caught up with the paperwork surrounding Melissa's sudden admission, or if not that, then the admission itself had left her earlier work piling up and she now needed to return to it without further delay.

Lucien nodded without a word. Taking that as her cue to continue, Charlotte continued, "The elven twins wish to tour the academy and the city. But since I am occupied, I cannot help with that."

She paused, and Lucien frowned inwardly, though whether it showed on his face was another matter entirely. Why is she telling me this? What do I have to do with them wanting to tour?

"Let them stay at your house for now. Their people will be coming to collect them soon enough," Lucien said, turning his head toward Olivia, who gave a small confirming nod. "Their escort will protect them and can take them around the city themselves."

"No, I want you to be the one to take us," Olivia burst out in a single rushed breath, and then immediately pressed both hands over her mouth as though the words had slipped out entirely against her will.

"Ahem," Joseph cleared his throat. "That would take some time, and when our people arrive to take us back, we would not be able to stay. In all likelihood, we would be returning the very same day they come for us," he explained, speaking up for the first time since Lucien had left them in the vice headmistress's house. Lucien had not heard Joseph speak even once all this time.

"I do not have the time for this. I am not going around babysitting either of you," Lucien replied bluntly, his usual icy voice dropping even more colder than usual.

***

On Patreon, you can read 50+ chapters ahead. Your support would greatly help me continue working toward completing the story.

Patreon link: /imissmysun