The Exalted Prince Lives Again-Chapter 59: Interrogation

"What is Lux Mortis?"

Lucien asked, and the room went silent.

Arthur thought for a second and answered, "I have heard of this name, but I don’t have much information on this.

"Even I don’t know much despite my power and influence, so we could only imagine how powerful it must be."

Lucien nodded, moving on to the next topic, "What about the spirit that caused the mayhem from yesterday?"

"The guilds are looking for it," Arthur paused, then continued his answer, "It kinda is a big deal, since normally, the city always stops these from entering inside."

"So, nobody has any idea yet?" Lucien asked concerningly.

Arthur shook his head in denial.

"Would you mind narrating everything from last night to me? It might help with the investigation." He asked, sitting on a chair next to his bed.

Lucien agreed, and for the next few minutes, he went on to explain everything that happened last night.

From sensing the Marionette in the alleyway, to what it looked like, what kind of powers it used, and how the fight ended.

Arthur kept nodding and noting them in his mind, making sure to investigate this further.

"Thanks," Arthur said, showing his gratitude, "It would be helpful."

"Also," He continued, "The guys who kidnapped you and also knew about you, I tracked their background down a few weeks ago, but didn’t have time to inform you."

"Go on." Lucien bobbed, his ears perked.

"The main guy’s brother was also a diplomat of Solstice into the Cythos, and had a few visits to the Roseveil Palace. He must’ve seen you there and told his brother about you."

Arthur told him the gist, not bothering with every single detail. "They are dealt with already."

He finally added, before Lucien could ask about it.

"Here," Arthur placed a pouch full of circular disks on the drawer right next to him.

His silver disks.

"Thanks," Lucien said, and adjusted his posture in the bed.

"..."

"..."

An awkward silence dawned over them after that, but that was soon broken by Lucien.

"You must have a reason to come here apart from those miscellaneous things, right?"

Arthur moved again, answering, "Ah, yes, yes. I just wanted to inform you that I would be leaving the Lumen for a mission for a few days, so if you need me for something,"

He took out a card and handed it to Lucien, "You can contact me through my other phone number."

Lucien accepted the card gratefully and pocketed it.

Arthur stood up, leaving the room, when he suddenly paused again.

"Is there something else?" Lucien asked.

Arthur sighed and rubbed his temple.

He looked distressed, almost frustrated and depressed, as he said, "Call your mother. She has been blasting the Academy’s lines to complain all night."

"Ahh!" Lucien forgot how protective that woman was.

He started looking for his phone frantically, and found it on top of the drawer, right next to his disks.

Arthur left, and Lucien dialed Maria’s number.

Tu!

Click!

Not even half the ring, and the call was picked up in no time.

{Lucien, are you fine? Are you hurt? Who hurt you? Just tell me the name, and they would vanish from existence under 12 hours. What happened? Tell me everything.}

Just as he expected, a truckload of questions was dropped on him like carpet bombs, stunning him for a few seconds.

"I am fine, Mother." He started his possibly hour-long chat with his mother.

"I was out with Selene last night, shopping, when we were suddenly attacked by a failed Marionette who had lost control. It was a quasi-Ascendant realm Marionette, so it took us a lot of work to go through, but we managed it somehow."

{And that snake’s son ate all your credit,} Maria added, her voice irritated.

"So you do know everything," Lucien said, silencing Maria for a while. "And still asking me everything."

{...}

{I just wanted to double-check my sources, my glazed donut.}

She made an excuse, making Lucien sigh.

"It’s okay, mother. Everything’s fine." He wanted to do everything in his power to make sure Maria’s mind was at ease.

He knew how protective and aggressive she could be for her children.

He didn’t want this loving lady to be anxious about anything.

{If you say so.} She sounded sad, which made Lucien feel guilty for taking risks.

But he knew he had to.

It was better than dozens, if not hundreds, of people dying due to that.

{Tell me everything that happened yesterday, Lucien.}

Whenever she called him by his name, Lucien knew that she was dead serious, and probably pissed on someone.

"Ok, so yesterday night..."

He started narrating everything to Maria, just like he did with Arthur.

But this time, he intentionally hid a few parts where he was injured or harmed.

It was sugarcoated for her, but he knew Maria was no fool.

He was just worried about saying anything directly, even though Maria knew.

{I see.} Maria hummed.

Lucien somehow knew that his mother was bobbing her head while she said this.

{Thank God that you are fine.} She sighed, a big burden lifted from her shoulders.

{Anyways, let’s shove this negative aside.} She quickly changed the topic and continued, {Tell me about your first day at the Academy.}

’Ah shit, here we go again.’

From then on, Maria made Lucien tell everything about his day in the Academy.

She asked if he had made any friends, what the teacher taught, how Selene was, how their date went, and so on.

Lucien was getting tired.

His battery was running out, and he felt like any more of this and he would blast away.

"Mother, I want to rest now." He told her straightforwardly.

{Awww!} She sounded bummed out. {I guess we have been talking for a while now.}

"Mhm!" Lucien didn’t even want to say a word more, in case it ignites yet another topic to chat about.

"I am hanging up, mother."

{Ok, but remember to call me daily, and tell me what you did. Mama loves you...}

Beep!

He hung up.

[02:13:28]

Sigh!

He got out of his bed.

He wanted to go out now.

The room felt suffocating.

Stretching his body, he walked towards the door, feeling a lot better than before.

But just as he opened the door, he came face-to-face with three Cadets.

"Prince Lucien, please join our faction."