Chapter 106 Ch 106: Lucien Doesn’t Like Olivia?

Lucien watched as Olivia turned and walked away with a frustrated, angry click of her tongue. Joseph followed suit behind Olivia.

Charlotte did not turn away and stood rooted to her spot, her eyes fixed on Lucien. "Don't you like them, or what?" Charlotte asked, her face already resigned to defeat, though she must still be wondering at the reason behind Lucien's refusal to tour the twins around the city.

For Charlotte, it might be hard to arrive at the reason for Lucien's refusal, but for Lucien it was a no-brainer of an answer, because he was not sure whether Olivia and Joseph were important characters or merely simple NPCs, or, in the novel's own words, background characters.

Though they were the literal, direct bloodline of the reigning king and queen of the elven kingdom, and that alone should have made them important, what gave Lucien pause was his own lack of full knowledge of the novel, combined with the fact that he had cleared the forest after encountering the twins with surprising ease.

As far as his knowledge of the story told him, he should have been challenged by far stronger beasts and should have struggled to guide the twins out of the forest, but instead he had encountered no such trial. The twins being safe and sound now stood as proof of that.

So he could not be certain of how significant the twins truly were to the novel's plot. And there was another concern entwined with this one: if they really were significant characters with arcs yet to unfold, then guiding them around the city now might cause complications for whatever was to come in the future.

Even though the story had already strayed from its original path because of Lucien’s interference, he still clung to the hope that it would continue to follow the plots he had read, at least up to the point where his knowledge ran out.

Another crucial reason behind his refusal was that he had saved Olivia from death. He did not know for certain whether she had died in the original story, but he knew one thing without doubt: until the point where he had read the story, the elven kingdom had not waged a war against the empire.

Honestly, Lucien suspected that Olivia had indeed died in the original story, because there was no way the twins could have escaped the forest alone. The assassins sent after them had been far too powerful for them to defeat, and in the course of escorting the twins out, Lucien had not come across a single soul who could have possibly saved them in his place.

That meant that even though Joseph had likely made it back to the kingdom in the original story, the elven kingdom still had not declared war on the empire for the death of their royal princess by the kidnappers which Joseph would have thought they were till the end.

Why the elven kingdom had not waged a war was something Lucien did not yet understand. But that brought him back to his original worry: if Olivia had truly been meant to die in the original story, then the assassins working for those five kingdoms would already know she was alive now, and they would not hesitate to send new killers after her. And what better opportunity than someone seemingly ordinary murdering her right inside the empire's own city, near the academy itself?

It would be a scandal, witnessed by everyone, and it would only invite more trouble. Lucien was confident he could protect both twins, but he could not predict what might happen in a world built on magic, where logic bent in ways his old world never allowed. This world was nothing like the one he had come from. Things that made no sense back there made perfect sense here.

Lucien shook the thoughts from his head. He had already made his decision, and the safest course was to let the twins stay inside the vice headmistress's home. Who would dare attack her manor, right? It stood within the academy's very walls.

All of a sudden, a creeping unease crept through his mind.

Damn it.

"Is your manor sufficiently protected?" Lucien asked, frowning. He had not considered this at all. What if those bastards decided to attack the vice headmistress's manor itself, even within the academy's walls?

"It is." Charlotte answered without questioning why he had asked so suddenly even though he had not answered her earlier question. "Guards and knights protect my manor. There has never been an incident."

No, that’s not how things worked in this world.

Lucien's face twisted with irritation at having overlooked something so obvious. Charlotte would not even be at her home during the day, since she would be occupied within the academy itself, and would likely not return to her manor until late at night. And, she would not take the twins with her around the academy. So, they would be in her manor. Right where the assassins would be planning their next attack to cover up their failure and they would surely kill Olivia. There was also the possibility that they might kill both the twins this time instead of just Olivia.

Lucien could not allow such a gap in their safety. He refused to be careless, not after saving Olivia, not when everything he had gone through to save them. He had to save her and her brother and change Olivia’s fate which meant he had to make sure she would be able to live unlike how in the original story she had likely never lived to see another sunrise. His gaze drifted from Charlotte toward the two figures walking quietly away.

No number of guards or knights could save them, or rather, could save Olivia, if the assassins were truly set on her death.

And what if they hadn't revealed the whole truth, what if there was some deeper plot hidden beneath the surface of what the assassin had confessed to him? Though he doubted there was any conspiracy more elaborate than what the assassin had already admitted, it was always wiser to assume there might be layers beneath what lay before one’s eyes.

"Stop, both of you." Lucien's voice cut sharply through the air.

Both twins froze in place, their bodies stiffening like ice, as though they feared he might strike them. He would have liked to savor their reaction a little longer, but this was not the moment for it.

"Turn around and come back here, both of you." He added nothing more, offering them little explanation, since he had always hated raising his voice or speaking any louder than necessary.

"What is going on?" Charlotte finally asked, unable to remain silent and passive any longer.

"They will be staying with me until their people come to collect them." Lucien answered plainly, without a trace of vagueness, his expression still impassive as he continued, "I won't be touring them around the city. They will stay close to me and follow behind me to the academy instead."

"What?" Olivia exclaimed sharply, having stopped a few steps behind Charlotte after catching every word Lucien had just said. Though shock colored her face, Lucien did not miss the small, telling tilt at the corner of her lips, a flicker of joy dancing beneath her startled eyes.

***

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