Chapter 56: And after doing all those things to me, she abandoned me.

"What did Lady Vivienne do to you?"

"Bad things.

She did very bad, unspeakable things to me."

Lucian answered dramatically, even wiping a fake tear.

The girl blinked, she had no clue how she was supposed to react to that answer and before she could think—

"And after doing all those things to me, she abandoned me."

Lucian wiped another fake tear.

"W-What...?"

"My instructor abandoned me."

He spoke with teary eyes.

"Lady Vivienne?"

"Yes."

"She... abandoned you?"

"After doing bad things to me."

"..."

The girl had no idea what she was supposed to do. Lucian looked at her with amusement, then, he held her hand with a desperate look on his face and—

"Will you save me from dying in a hallway?"

He asked.

"W-What?"

She stuttered.

"I have not seen the outside world in a month, I do not know which path leads to freedom, will you grant me freedom? Will you so kindly ensure I see the sunlight?"

"You are... very strange."

The girl commented with a light, easy smile on her face.

"I have had a difficult month."

That made her laugh even louder. Lucian smiled, the girl looked at him and—

"I’ll show you the way."

She agreed to help.

"That makes you my favorite person in this hallway."

"There are only two people in this hallway."

She answered with a deadpan look on her face and Lucian just waved his hand dismissively.

"Don’t be such a nerd."

She rolled her eyes, then, she guided Lucian out.

And just like that, for the first time in a month—

Lucian Cross stepped out of the Enclave building, back into the real world.

...

The next morning, Lucian stood in front of the campus gates.

For a few seconds, he did not move, he just... looked at the University in front of him.

Everything was the same, the University Gates, the wide path leading inside, the same laughter, arguments, everything was... normal.

And after spending an entire month inside four walls with a woman with half a screw loose in her head training him till his body was pushed to the absolute limits and beyond—

Normal felt... strange.

Lucian laughed at all that.

He skipped the gym and MMA today, at this point, nothing there was of value to him, so he simply rested like he was told to.

Scrolling his phone after a month. Honestly, he had actually forgotten something like a phone existed, he left it back in the Enclave when Vivienne took it from him. By the time he realised it, however, he was already coming back, so he decided he would take it tomorrow, he had not used it for a month, one more day wouldn’t make a difference.

Though when he returned home, he found it lying on the table, charged and repaired.

Lucian didn’t even question it.

There were too many things in his life now that appeared in places they should not.

A phone on a table was not worth questioning.

"Is that him...?"

And while Lucian was thinking all this, he heard it.

The whispers.

"Yeah, that’s him."

"Lucian Cross?"

"Mhm."

"He came back?"

"I thought he left."

"Didn’t he almost kill Ryan?"

"You should have seen it, it was brutal. They said he used a knife."

"Holy..."

Lucian heard every word.

Clearly, people had started giving the story their own twists, if Lucian had heard all this a month ago, those words would have tightened his chest.

Anger, shame, fear... even hunger, all those intense emotions would have mixed together, pretty much disabling his mind.

But now?

Now, he simply smiled.

The attention was not unpleasant.

Actually, it was... amusing.

He walked with his hands in his pockets, his eyes lazily observing the campus, some students looked away the moment he looked at them, some girls stared at him a few seconds longer than they normally would.

That deepened his smile even further.

He liked it.

The attention was definitely... enjoyable.

And while he basked in the attention he received, Lucian walked into the classroom.

The class had not started yet, a few students were already seated, talking among themselves but the moment Lucian came in, their voices faded.

Lucian looked around, then—

"Good morning."

He greeted everyone with a relaxed smile.

No one answered, not until the silence was too unbearable so one boy caved in and—

"Morning."

He muttered.

Lucian looked at him, the boy stiffened, that only made him smile even more.

"Relax.

I only attack before lunch."

A few students froze.

"I am kidding, I took my medicine today, I am good now."

Lucian joked and when he saw he didn’t get any reaction, he just sighed and shook his head.

’Tough audience.’

Then, he walked to his seat and sat down. The students looked at him, he knew they looked at him but since none of them were talking, he closed his eyes, or at least, that was what he intended to do but then, his expression changed as he looked at the door.

Just then, the door opened and... Naomi walked in.

She looked... tired.

Her eyes looked heavier than before, she walked towards her seat with her head hung low, but then, her eyes fell on him and she froze.

For one second, she only stared like she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She was shocked, but then—

Her shock turned into... anger.

A lot of anger.

"You...

You have a lot of balls showing up here like this..."

She spoke as her eyes glowed in anger, not caring about the students around them.

"Good morning to you too."

Lucian smiled.

"Oh yeah? The morning’s good for you?"

She smiled.

It was a terrifying smile.

"It is indeed."

Lucian smiled back.

For a moment, the two of them stared at each other in silence until Naomi snapped.

"One message, Lucian.

One.

You sent one message saying you had to go somewhere, you would not be using your phone, and I should not worry, then you never texted me, or picked up my calls."

Lucian tilted his head when he heard those words.

He had absolutely no idea who sent that message because it wasn’t him.

He never sent any message to anyone.