The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL]-Chapter 520: Boy in the Dark

There were so many ways this could have gone.

Frankly, Xavier had been preparing for a stabbing the moment he stepped inside.

But when his eyes fell on Luca’s crumpled form in the corner of the room, all his thoughts flew straight to D-29’s earlier warnings.

Without a word, and without waiting for permission, he strode inside. His polished boots clacked sharply against the floor as he rushed forward.

And then, upon emerging from the hallway, he saw it.

The Duke and Duchess pressed tightly against the far wall, their expressions grim, a faint spiritual barrier shimmering around them.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out why no one had called the doctors.

They couldn’t.

Not when the air was so heavy and charged that it felt like trying to breathe through water, the wild, suffocating force of Luca’s spiritual energy spilling unchecked into the space.

Even seasoned veterans would struggle to stand in this room. So it followed that most people simply wouldn’t survive it.

Xavier glanced once at the doorway, then stepped back and cracked it open.

"Kyle!" he called evenly. "Evacuate the medical bay. Now!"

There was a moment of hesitation—no one wanted to leave—but finally Kyle nodded. Because the Imperial Crown Prince was ordering an evacuation, and he wouldn’t do that unless there was a justifiable cause.

"Everyone. Out."

The cadets filed away reluctantly, though some kept glancing back.

But one figure broke from the line.

Ollie.

The blonde’s knuckles were white as he shoved something into Xavier’s hand—a revive pill, clutched so tightly it had left an imprint in his palm.

Since the incident with Cece, the hoarder had always kept one close and would normally clutch it like a lifeline.

His voice cracked as Kyle dragged him back.

"Don’t forget to use it if you have to!" he yelled over his shoulder before the door shut again.

The room fell silent, save for the faint hum and hiss of spiritual energy crackling around them.

Xavier turned back and re-entered fully, letting the door close behind him.

His steps were slow now, measured, as he raised his own spiritual barrier against the oppressive force in the air.

It wasn’t attacking him.

It wasn’t even aimed at him at all. In fact, the energy wasn’t aimed at anyone at all. It was as if it was just guarding Luca, keeping him in some sort of cocoon.

But it was dangerous, and even now, he could feel it clawing at his skin, pulling at his own energy.

Still, if this was Luca’s spiritual energy, then as the one bonded to him, Xavier stood the best chance of getting close.

He just had to figure out what set him off.

His gaze flicked to Duchess Amelia.

The Duchess met his eyes evenly, though her calm expression didn’t fully hide the worry there.

"He wasn’t doing well since his father fainted," she said quietly, her voice carrying over the roar of energy. "But it wasn’t this bad...until Leander woke up with a start. Then from that point on, Luca became like this."

Xavier’s jaw tightened.

Amelia looked at Luca worriedly before continuing, "And when we tried to comfort him...Luca suddenly unleashed all this spiritual energy."

Xavier’s fingers curled at his sides, his shield flaring faintly as he braced himself.

Then I just have to reach him, he thought grimly.

And he took another step forward.

In all of this, a young man drifted in limbo.

He floated weightlessly while the world around him swirled like a storm.

One moment, there were screams. Another, the sound of things cracking. Then sobs.

At first, he thought they were coming from somewhere else, but when he focused, he realized they were coming from him.

No, not him.

Not exactly.

From the little boy whose fragile image kept flashing before his eyes, fractured and trembling, curled into himself.

Where was he?

What was he seeing?

Luca looked around the emptiness, the scenes flashing by him like shards of glass, and slowly began to realize.

This was his life.

His pitifully short, fractured life.

Back then, he had known that it was bad.

But he hadn’t really understood. He’d had nothing else to compare it to.

But now...after being loved, after finding a family and friends who saw him as precious...now he could say it with absolute certainty.

His past life had been miserable.

He watched as a little boy hid himself, small and afraid, as an explosion tore through the air.

The scene played fast, but Luca remembered how it had felt the first time.

The shock. The helplessness.

The next scene came, and the boy was running this time, curling up into a ball to protect himself, already expecting what was to come.

As if he already knew what was about to happen.

Or maybe...he really did.

He wasn’t sure. He couldn’t remember. Or was it because he didn’t want to remember?

But then the next scene hit him harder.

Because it wasn’t from his memory of Tesseris.

It was from earlier.

A room in the medical bay, his father’s room.

The little boy was there, curled up on the floor, sobbing, while Duke Leander screamed himself awake.

Luca’s chest tightened painfully.

This wasn’t just some past.

Was this really happening?

The boy in the room suddenly released a surge of spiritual energy, and Luca, who watched, could only scream.

He screamed because his parents were there.

Because it was the little boy who was doing this.

"No, no, no—please!"

"Please stop!"

The energy only spread further, tearing at everything, turning the white room darker and darker.

Luca became hysterical, pressing his hands to his ears, shouting at the boy, pleading.

"Stop! Stop! It’s dangerous! You’ll hurt them!"

He tried reaching out, but an invisible force stopped him every time.

The little boy sobbed harder, his small voice breaking as he cried out over and over, "Papa! Papa! No! Papa!"

Luca’s breath came in broken gasps as he finally managed to push through the wall—or maybe it simply let him through at last—and he fell forward, wrapping his arms around the boy.

The child flinched, still sobbing.

And Luca froze, realizing something.

He didn’t even know how to comfort him.

When he had been that little boy, no one had ever comforted him.

What was he supposed to say?

What was he supposed to do?

The boy shook in his arms, small hands clutching at his shirt, and Luca hugged him tighter, whispering what little he could find inside himself.

"It’s...going to be okay," he said hoarsely. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"It might not feel like it now. It might hurt for a long time. But it will be okay. Because these people...they’re going to make it okay. You just have to stop now. Please...stop."

It wasn’t instant, but Luca felt the little boy’s sobs had lessened.

But the boy didn’t stop.

Not fully. Because he couldn’t. Because little Lucas wasn’t capable of doing that, even if he wanted to.

So just as his sobs quieted, the energy around them surged again, dark tendrils lashing out toward the figures of the Duke and Duchess in the distance.

Both the young and adult guides panicked as the white room finally vanished, swallowed by pitch-blackness.

The black kept creeping closer, devouring everything.

Luca tightened his embrace, shielding the little boy as best he could, whispering apologies into his hair.

"I’m sorry," he whispered.

"I’m sorry, I don’t know how to comfort you better. I’m sorry I wasn’t strong enough. I’m sorry I wasn’t brave enough to say more when you needed me to. I’m sorry..."

The boy clung to him, still crying.

"Papa...No! Papa!"

The words tore through him like knives.

The darkness kept closing in, suffocating them both.

Until—

A new light began to pierce through the black.

It was faint at first, then brighter and brighter, pushing the shadows back.

Something cool. Steady. A contrast to the burning feeling that had been threatening them.

Luca opened his eyes, still holding the boy close, as the light continued to drive the darkness away.