Chapter 150 - 77: Demanding a Title

Chapter 150: Chapter 77: Demanding a Title

"Speaking of which..."

Lilia pulled a map from the small cloth bag she carried with her.

"I started preparing this while you were busy earlier."

She pressed the map into Lucian’s hands and looked up at him with an obedient expression. "I just finished it recently. Take a look and see if there’s anything you want to add."

Curious, Lucian unfolded it.

With just one glance, his gaze froze.

It was a massive map encompassing the entire territories of Ovis and the Light Kingdom.

And the "preparation" Lilia had mentioned was actually a... travel itinerary from Adrian to Hillflan.

Yes. It wasn’t a marching route, but a sightseeing tour.

She must have consulted a vast amount of materials or asked many people to select this route—the longest one, but the one that allowed them to visit the most cities.

Furthermore, she had marked every single place they would pass through. Beside each stop, neat, elegant handwriting detailed the estimated duration of their stay and the activities they could do there.

Lucian’s eyes traced over the words bit by bit.

The smooth letters were like tiny hooks, tugging at his heart with a dense, subtle ache.

He even felt his eyes growing hot.

Taking a deep breath, Lucian feigned a relaxed tone. "What’s this? You want me to accompany you to see all of Ovis?"

"Mhm."

Though it was meant as a tease, Lilia took it seriously.

The girl nodded. "Didn’t you say before that you never thought about what you would do after getting your revenge?

"If that’s the case, then we can take our time traveling and figure it out slowly.

"The future... as long as you quiet down, you’ll eventually figure it out."

Lucian instinctively gripped the map tighter.

He only felt the sting in his eyes intensifying. He opened his mouth a few times, yet he didn’t know what to say, or how to say it.

He had indeed said something similar to Lilia.

He had told her that he never imagined he would have a future.

He couldn’t picture what life would be like after his vengeance, nor did he know what meaning his life held beyond it.

After all, he was born for revenge, and perhaps one day, he would die for it too.

As for another ending where he simply lived on? Lucian had never considered it.

...No. More accurately, before Lilia appeared, Lucian had never considered it.

These past few days, aside from dealing with the aftermath, Lucian had been thinking. Thinking about the future, about what meaning his life actually had now that his revenge was complete.

It was just that he hadn’t figured it out yet, so he could only leave with Lilia for now, heading to the Light Kingdom, to Hillflan.

He thought Lilia hadn’t noticed his confusion, but to his surprise, she was sharper than he imagined, and more... understanding of him.

Lucian fell into silence.

Lilia watched him for a moment before speaking up. "If you grip any harder, you’re going to tear the map I worked so hard to make."

When she made the map, she hadn’t thought it through completely and didn’t use a more durable parchment, resulting in a very fragile material.

Lost in thought, Lucian had been tightly clutching the edge of the map. A Mage’s strength couldn’t compare to a Knight’s, but gripping it that tightly would still easily ruin it.

Lucian was speechless.

The melancholic mood vanished in an instant.

He couldn’t help but laugh. "Sorry, sorry."

He loosened his grip and carefully smoothed out the map, his movements gentle and cherishing.

Lucian looked again at the long line traced in red ink. "...I understand. Then we’ll follow this route you’ve set and just keep moving forward."

"This way, we won’t need to use Magic Items," Lilia added. "We can switch to an ordinary carriage."

That way, not only could they enjoy the scenery along the journey, but they also wouldn’t be too flashy and attract unwanted attention.

"Alright."

Lucian nodded.

Right now, he would naturally agree to whatever Lilia said.

Since they had decided to leave Ovis, his properties here naturally had to be liquidated completely.

These past few days, the butler, Mr. Wolf, had been busy with this very task.

Lucian had started out as a merchant and had countless properties and channels on hand. Converting them all into cash would be more than enough for them to buy a house in every single town Lilia had marked down.

Such a large-scale transaction naturally alarmed Duke Williams, who was far away in Lien.

A while ago, he had been commissioned to investigate matters related to Demons. However, perhaps because he was currently too far removed from the true circles of power, or because Caius had hidden everything too thoroughly, his long investigation yielded no results.

Fortunately, perhaps because they had been dealt a heavy blow, there hadn’t been any moves from Lien for quite some time.

This matter was temporarily shelved.

Duke Williams hadn’t been idle for long when he suddenly received news: the revenge was successful, Colin and the others had received their due punishment, and Lucian was selling off all his family assets.

His first reaction was naturally excitement, but it was quickly followed by utter bewilderment.

He wondered, "What is this kid... what is he trying to do?!"

Before he could inquire in detail, another piece of news reached him.

It was a notice of engagement between Lucian and Lilia.

No... wait a minute.

Wasn’t he Lucian’s father in name?

Why was it that his son got engaged, yet he, the father, knew absolutely nothing about it?!

He hadn’t even heard the name Lilia Seville before!

He quickly ordered a background check. Upon seeing the various titles and the extensive resume attached to that name, he fell silent for a very, very long time.

Then, he entrusted the messenger to bring back a gift.

A wedding gift.

By the time the gift arrived, Lilia and Lucian had already reached a coastal town called Nestway.

This was a vacation spot Lilia had carefully selected. With summer approaching, not only could they wear light clothing to play by the sea, but when the fishing boats returned to port in the early morning, they could also find many delicious seafood delicacies in the market that Lilia had never tasted before.

In this playthrough, Lucian was still terrible at cooking.

Fortunately, living by the sea meant eating from the sea; the one thing Nestway did not lack was restaurants skilled in preparing seafood.

On their third night in Nestway, Lilia and Lucian returned to their rented villa and received the gift sent by Duke Williams from the butler, Mr. Wolf.

After seeking Lucian’s opinion, Lilia opened it.

Inside was a custom-made ring. A crystal-clear blue gemstone was set in a platinum floral mount, reflecting a brilliant light under the evening lamps.

Lilia looked at Lucian. "This is..."

"The heirloom ring of the Williams family," Lucian said with a smile. "For the lady of the house."

"Oh."

Lilia nodded and accepted it with a clear conscience.

She suddenly grew curious. "You already have a noble title in Ovis. Will you still return to Lien in the future to inherit the title of Duke Williams?"

"Probably." Lucian nodded. "The two don’t conflict. Besides, other than me, the Williams family doesn’t have any suitable candidates for succession."

For some inexplicable reason, Lilia thought of Caius.

Instinctively, she didn’t want Lucian to have any contact with Caius. After all, in the last playthrough, he was the one who had meddled just as they were about to reach the happy ending, rendering all her efforts entirely in vain.

In this playthrough, they had little interaction with Caius, but due to the previous war, the two sides were considered enemies.

...Forget it. Even if he had to inherit the title, it would be after Duke Williams passed away. It was still too early to worry about that.

As Lilia was lost in thought, Lucian gently held her left hand and slipped the ring representing the lady of the Williams family onto her ring finger.

"A perfect fit."

Lucian casually pulled her into his embrace. "Now that my father knows about us...

"When do you plan to make it official in the Light Kingdom?"