Exusiai was the one who chose to reset things with Lucian.
And that meant everything they'd been through—from the moment they fled Laterano to the day they reached Lungmen—was wiped clean.
Lucian and Exusiai weren't lovers. Just a pair of noisy childhood friends.
Exusiai no longer had Oripathy. Her arm hadn't been left with any lingering damage—just a faint scar she could erase with a bit of Arts treatment.
They were partners who escaped Laterano together for one reason: to track down Mostima. That was their shared goal.
Beyond that, they were nothing.
Lucian exhaled heavily and closed his eyes. "I guess that was her way of sorting out her feelings. I brought her out of Laterano, and what happened between us was only to treat her Oripathy. Now that she's healed, and her arm's recovered, she wants to go back to how things were."
"She even told me that if I liked someone else, I should go for it. As if I needed her permission… Honestly, she looks completely normal now, right? As loud and reckless as she was back in Laterano."
"That's true." Texas nodded.
She'd been closest to Exusiai during this time, yet even she hadn't sensed anything unhealthy in her mentality—just a tsundere Sankta who liked Lucian too much to say it out loud.
But if that was the case, it meant their roles were reversed. Exusiai was the one who refused to stay in a romantic relationship with Lucian.
They'd been basically acting like a couple before. And afterward, she deliberately kept a polite distance. It was awkward as hell.
Then Texas realized something. "She doesn't want to cheat, does she? You're both chasing that Fallen Sankta—Mostima. Exusiai wants to compete with her fairly, doesn't she?"
Lucian nodded. "I never asked, but that's my guess too. Trying to understand a woman's thought process is a guaranteed way to get proved wrong, so I gave up."
"So now you're just a scattershot playboy? That's kind of extreme, isn't it?"
Texas almost never made comments like that.
She shifted her grip and laced her fingers with his—quiet, deliberate, like they were already lovers.
Her tail swayed side to side. She leaned in, voice low. "If you were the faithful type, you'd be waiting for Exusiai to come around, wouldn't you?"
"I've never claimed to be a good man."
Lucian leaned toward her just as boldly. "I like El. No point hiding that. She wants to stay as we are and sort out her heart, so I'll wait for her. I like you too, Texas. Is that a problem?"
"A huge one. Normally."
Even Texas was cornered into complaining.
But for the Holy Son of the Sankta, "problems" were optional. Nothing said he had to stick to one partner.
Still, something occurred to her. "Even if she's sorting herself out and keeping things ambiguous… what if one day, Exusiai falls for someone else? Marries them?"
"..............."
Lucian didn't speak for a very long time.
Texas stared straight at him, tracking every twitch of his expression.
A slow, triumphant smile spread across her face. "You know, Lucian… this is the first time I've ever seen killing intent on you."
"If I took a picture of your face right now and sent it to Exusiai, she'd probably sprint over here and confess on the spot. Should I do that?"
"Please don't." Lucian surrendered instantly.
Even a scattershot playboy had possessiveness. Completely unreasonable.
Texas was satisfied. She understood both her brother and sister far better now—their messy tangle of feelings was finally making sense.
Though hearing Lucian and Exusiai had already been intimate did make her feel a bit cheated… but that had always been inevitable.
She wanted to confirm one last thing.
"Lucian. To you, what exactly is Exusiai?"
"She's my responsibility."
His answer was immediate—firm, unwavering.
"No matter what ends up happening between us, she's mine. I'll take care of her. Stay with her. All the way to the end."
"…I see."
Texas smiled softly.
Lucian grew uneasy. "Uh… Texas? Are you mad?"
"No. I just find it funny."
She cupped his face between her hands, leaning in close enough for their breaths to mingle. Her eyes narrowed playfully.
"The most handsome expression I've ever seen on you… and it came out while you were declaring your devotion to my friend. Thinking 'Lucian looks really good saying that to Exusiai'—is that my problem?"
Lucian put on a mock-serious face. "If you want, I can say it to you too. Texas, spend the rest of your life as my best partner."
"Sharing the same room and the same bed? …Sure."
Texas leaned forward and kissed him—light as a feather.
Lucian kissed her back, and somehow it escalated instantly into something far more heated.
His hands found her waist, pulling her closer. Texas's fingers slid from his cheeks into his hair, gripping tight as their mouths opened against each other. She tasted like the pocky she'd been snacking on earlier—sweet, with a hint of chocolate.
A soft sound escaped her throat when he deepened the kiss. Her tail swayed erratically behind her, completely out of her control.
Lucian's hands roamed lower, tracing the curve of her hips. Texas shivered and pressed herself against him, her chest flush against his. The heat between them was dizzying.
When they finally broke apart, both were breathing hard. Texas's lips were flushed and slightly swollen, her usual composure completely shattered. Her golden eyes were hazy, unfocused.
"Lucian…" she whispered, voice unsteady.
He leaned in to kiss her neck, and she tilted her head back with a quiet gasp. Her hands clutched at his shoulders as his lips trailed down to her collarbone.
But then—
"…I can't."
Texas's voice cracked. She pressed a hand against his chest, gently pushing him back.
Lucian stopped immediately.
Her ears were flat against her head, tail drooping. She looked genuinely pained.
"Exusiai… I can't do this to her. I'm sorry."
Lucian exhaled slowly and rested his forehead against hers. "Don't apologize. I get it."
He meant it. Rushing things would only leave them both with regrets.
The relationship between men and women was delicate like that. As long as they could find the version of it that felt right to both of them, that was enough.
"Oh, right. I forgot to ask something."
That night, after everyone had gone home and finished dinner, Texas quietly slipped up beside Lucian.
She made sure Exusiai and Blaze weren't nearby, then whispered:
"Why didn't you want to stay in Laterano? Was it because of Mostima falling?"
"Yes."
Lucian glanced around to confirm no one was listening, then murmured:
"The Sankta—the Sankta—intervened in the Sarkaz civil war. That was what Mostima told me right before she left."
"And my blood became a weapon."
Texas's pupils widened.
Lucian wore a playful smile, but there wasn't a trace of humor in his eyes.
He raised a hand in front of her face, fingers curled like he was holding something.
"Imagine it. Blood that can dissolve Originium Crystals, refined to its highest potency… packed into a bullet… then fired into the body of a heavily Infected Sarkaz warrior."
Bang.
Lucian snapped his hand open. "Every muscle, bone, organ touched by Originium gets shredded. Your body can't even hold its own weight. All that's left is a pile of unrecognizable flesh."
"That's…"
Texas was speechless.
Not even the mafiosi of Siracusa killed people like that. There was no need to be so cruel.
But what if cruelty became the simplest method?
What if it could be justified by "faith" and "justice," used to slaughter an enemy the Sankta had hated for generations?
"The elite forces of the Sankta—the war Sankta and the Papal Knights—descended from their warships. Light Wings and Halos filled the sky like stars. They shouted 'Long live the Holy Son' and 'Sweep away the filth,' wiping out those horned Sarkaz I'd never seen before. Cool mental image, isn't it?"
Lucian grinned—wide, exaggerated, grotesquely amused.
"For the fifteen years since I was born, that's how it always was."
Truly, unbelievably grotesque.