Chapter 249: Happy now?

"Hey... bring that fucker to me."

The Boss gritted his teeth as Lucian’s cold voice reached his ears, but feeling the pressure on him, faint sweat appeared on his palms while his heart began beating faster.

At that moment... he understood.

This man wasn’t unawakened.

Nor was he an F-Ranker, as the Boss had previously assumed.

This man... was far stronger than that. Much stronger than the Boss himself—who had reached the higher stage of E-Rank.

He was only about a year away from reaching D-Rank, and among the people working under him, there were few who could truly threaten him.

"Ian—"

"No. Not this guy." Lucian suddenly interjected, his gaze briefly shifting towards Ian.

"He might run, so let him stay."

Ian’s face immediately went pale.

"Oh, and also call that brute who tried attacking... my Mom."

The temperature inside the room began growing warmer as the atmosphere grew heavier.

The Boss didn’t even linger on the word ’Mom’. He immediately ordered another of his men to bring Glenn before turning back towards the masked man.

"Glenn is currently resting due to his injuries, so it might take some time."

He tried to keep his voice calm, trying to make the atmosphere less tense, but there was a clear edge beneath his words.

Lucian ignored him.

He briefly looked at the group, his gaze landing on the man who had attacked him earlier and was now lying among the others, his hand still twisted unnaturally as he groaned in pain.

But Lucian didn’t care.

The man could scream his guts out for all he cared.

"Kanna..." he muttered lightly, his voice slightly carefree.

The moment he called that name, the shadow beneath his feet trembled, and within a second, the black-haired maid emerged.

"Shit—!"

A man from the group almost cursed as he saw another figure suddenly appearing before them, but the moment Lucian’s gaze snapped towards him, his lips instinctively closed.

"..."

Kanna silently looked at Lucian, her expressionless face taking in the environment around her, yet there was no noticeable change in her expression.

"Kanna, dear... do you have something to sit on? This place is too filthy for me to sit on those."

He looked at the sofa behind the Boss, and his lips curled in disgust.

Just looking at the thing was enough to make him feel uncomfortable, and for some reason, the entire place disgusted him.

Perhaps because of the filthy environment, or perhaps the men themselves, whom just looking at gave him an irresistible urge to kill every single person.

But... not just yet.

And it wasn’t like he was a skilled killer who could simply do it just because of a simple urge... possibly.

Kanna didn’t reply, nor did she question his strange request.

The emotionless maid silently nodded, and before Lucian could understand—

A royal, luxurious-looking chair suddenly appeared behind him.

Lucian slowly turned around, and his eyebrows rose.

"Where did you get these from?" he couldn’t help but ask as his expression gradually became amused.

"You didn’t steal these from Valentina’s castle, did you?" he asked playfully.

"..."

In response... Kanna slightly, almost imperceptibly, shifted her gaze away, not replying.

It was so subtle that no one would’ve caught it, but Lucian, however, did.

’She did, didn’t she?’

[She did.]

Both Lucian and Akasha muttered inwardly almost at the same time.

Shaking his head in amusement, Lucian pulled the chair towards himself and calmly sat down, casually crossing one leg over the other.

"Do you have another one?"

Kanna nodded.

"Then take it out... and sit beside me."

The emotionless maid’s eyes flickered slightly in surprise, not understanding his words.

Why would he want her to sit beside him?

Kanna simply stared at him, her eyes meeting his masked face—the same mask she had given to Lady Seraphina yesterday.

Lucian didn’t repeat himself and simply waited.

After a few seconds...

Another chair appeared beside him, yet it was placed a short distance away.

Seeing that, Lucian pulled the chair directly beside his own, then gestured for her to sit... and after another long moment...

She eventually walked towards the chair.

Gracefully lowering herself onto it, she placed both hands neatly over her lap, sitting with her back straight.

And Lucian... he couldn’t help but chuckle faintly, instinctively feeling the nervousness inside her.

Silence fell over the place, with only the sound of the muffled, pained groans of the broken-armed man.

And for some reason... even their Boss ordered them to remain where they were—despite their partner crying out in pain.

After a brief moment...

Lucian slowly raised his hand, then placed it gently on top of Kanna’s head.

"...!"

Kanna’s body jolted slightly.

She had been lost in her own thoughts, and the sudden touch caught her completely off guard.

Before she could even understand what had happened, Lucian’s voice reached her ears.

"Thank you... Kanna."

Lucian muttered in a soft, gentle voice... his voice completely contrasting with the one he had just used moments ago against these men.

"Thank you for helping Mom while fighting, and for listening to my orders despite me... not being your actual master."

He knew just how much Kanna had helped his mother.

No matter how talented his mother might’ve appeared during the battle against those monsters, fighting a horde of Kobolds would have been difficult for her.

She would’ve normally struggled much more, and perhaps even gained a few injuries along the way... if Kanna hadn’t been secretly hiding inside her shadow.

The maid had been covering up for Seraphina’s small mistakes and had made sure not a single wound would appear on her body while still keeping herself completely hidden from everyone else.

Lucian was genuinely grateful for that.

Kanna looked at Lucian’s face... or rather, at the black mask that had been covering his entire face.

For some reason... she couldn’t help but have an unfamiliar thought rising inside her.

She wanted to remove that mask, though she didn’t know why.

She simply... wanted to see his expression.

’...?’

Kanna herself was confused by that thought.

Her brows twitched almost imperceptibly, but her expression barely shifted.

But Lucian, somehow... almost instinctively, understood what was going through her mind.

"I don’t think I need this mask," he muttered to himself.

’Why was I even wearing this anyways?’

Even he didn’t know why he had even thought about wearing this mask, but he felt a familiar feeling while wearing it, nothing else—and it was cool too, so that was that.

[...]

His hand remained on her head for another moment.

Then, he reached towards his face, and grabbing the edge of the mask, he removed it, revealing the face that had been hidden beneath it.

The sight immediately made several men feel their faces twist... in jealousy.

"Happy now?" Lucian softly asked as a playful glint appeared within his blood-red eyes, as if he had read her despite the complete lack of emotion visible on her face.

"..."

Kanna silently continued observing his face, feeling something strange inside her chest.

Meanwhile...

The others... especially the Boss, looked at them with weird and bewildered expressions, their faces slowly turning into utter disbelief.

What the actual fuck was going on?!