On a road that stretched beyond sight, lined with elegant light poles on either side, Lucas walked ahead, his two maids, Sari and Mei, trailing behind.
Their gazes lingered on his back, their lips parting as if to call his name, only for hesitation to take hold. A second later, they turned away, swallowing their words.
"Do you have something to say?" Lucas asked without turning around, his pace steady.
"N…No, young master…" Sari replied, shaking her head vigorously.
Yet, for some reason, she flinched at his voice.
Lucas was still the young master she knew—kind and caring—but at this moment, even his tone sent a shiver down her spine.
After a few more steps, Lucas spotted a lone bench by the roadside. Walking toward it, he brushed off the fallen leaves and dust before sitting down.
A fresh trickle of blood ran from his nose, further staining his white shirt in crimson.
"Do you have a napkin?" he asked, stretching out a hand.
Sari flinched again. "Um… o-one second, young master." She rummaged through her storage ring, her fingers trembling.
Before she could produce one, Mei stepped forward, offering a neatly folded napkin with an ice cube wrapped inside.
"Here, young master."
As Lucas' maids, they were trained to anticipate his needs—even the ones he hadn't voiced.
Taking the napkin, Lucas leaned forward and began dabbing away the blood.
A few breaths later, a cold breeze swept through, making their clothes ripple beneath the vast, breathtaking planet that loomed above.
Sari and Mei still looked like they had something to say, yet hesitated.
"Do you know why I asked you to come along and witness everything?" Lucas asked suddenly.
Both twins shook their heads, their confusion almost cat-like.
He observed them for a moment before speaking plainly. "Because you're both ambitious. And you wouldn't hesitate to hurt someone to fuel that ambition."
Their heads immediately lowered in shame.
"Y-young master...." Sari stammered, but before she could defend herself, Mei gently shook her head, silencing her.
Lucas continued, his tone neutral. "There's nothing wrong with ambition. And I, of all people, wouldn't judge you for hurting someone because of it—"
Before he could finish, both girls dropped to their knees.
"I'm sorry, young master… we were wrong," Mei said without hesitation.
Though they were twins, their personalities starkly differed—at least in front of Lucas.
Mei was composed, mature. Sari, on the other hand, turned timid in his presence.
How they behaved in the outside world when he wasn't around was not something Lucas had ever asked about, nor did he care to.
They were obedient in front of him, yet he saw the ambition in their eyes. But Lucas was no naïve, self-absorbed young master from a cliché novel, expecting blind devotion from those around him.
That was a fool's dream. A fantasy.
"What are you wrong about?" Lucas asked, his voice patient, a gentle smile on his lips.
"We… we shouldn't have involved ourselves with people who wished to harm young master NOX," Sari confessed, tears streaking her face, her cheeks flushed red.
Mei, however, remained silent, waiting for Lucas to say all he wished before offering her own apology.
Unlike Sari, she was mature enough to understand—under normal circumstances, when a master discovered that his personal maids had mingled with those who sought to harm his best friend, rage would have been the natural response.
He should have yelled. He should have cast them aside.
Yet, he didn't.
Instead, he was speaking to them with unnerving calm. So calm it was terrifying.
Because the Lucas standing before them, the young man they thought they knew, was no ordinary 17-year-old.
He was an ancient entity—a being who had lived for two billion years.
He may have looked the same as them, but his gaze saw far beyond. His presence, though restrained, carried an innate dominance, laced with unfathomable wisdom.
And those who spent even a few moments in his presence would later find themselves flinching at every shadow, haunted by the mere echo of his aura.
"You shouldn't have, yet you did. Was it an impulsive choice?" Lucas asked calmly, his tone revealing nothing of his true thoughts.
The two remained silent, heads bowed, still kneeling.
In Empyrean families like the Celestial Heaven Clan and the Dark Heaven Clan, being a maid is not merely a position—it is a privilege earned through relentless discipline and brutal training.
No child older than five is accepted. From the moment they enter, they must be orphans, severed from all past ties, belonging solely to the family they serve.
Their training is merciless. They are not just maids but protectors, advisors, and shadows at their master's side. Politics, combat, strategy—every skill is drilled into them, ensuring they can serve in all aspects, from personal care to matters of life and death.
But above all, they are taught one unshakable rule: know your allies, know your enemies. A single mistake could spell disaster, and it is their duty to ensure their masters never provoke the wrong person.
Failure is not an option. Mistakes are unheard of. Their training is designed to create perfection, molding them into terrifyingly capable individuals.
And if one among them is deemed worthy of serving the heir of such powerful families, they must surpass even these grueling standards. To hold that position is to be more than exceptional—unshakable, irreplaceable, unmatched.
Sari and Mei belonged to this elite standard. They would never act on mere impulse, especially not against NOX—someone whose background rivaled that of the Celestial Heaven Clan and, more importantly… they were, relatively speaking, probably rather complicated allies.
And above all, NOX was Lucas' best friend.
This was no rash decision.
Sari and Mei remained silent because they understood this truth. Their actions would inevitably lead to catastrophic consequences. In the best-case scenario, the Celestial Heaven Clan and the Dark Heaven Clan would be at each other's throats.
In the worst-case scenario, the entire Lower Plane would drown in blood, galaxies filled with corpses.
They had willingly joined forces with lunatics to harm NOX, making this decision with full awareness of the consequences. It wasn't a fleeting impulse but a carefully considered betrayal—one that defied both Lucas and the clan that had raised and trained them. And the punishment for such betrayal was absolute.
Death. No other outcome existed.
Seeing their silence, Lucas spoke again.
"Do you want to hear my guess as to why you did it?"
Sari and Mei stiffened. They didn't understand what their young master was getting at, but they nodded.
They wanted to know—what did he truly think of them?
Did he hate them?
'He must hate us… right?'
Lucas continued, "My guess is… you two are exceptionally talented. Perhaps your abilities rank among the very top of the [Destiny Chosen List] in this Lower Plane. How could someone like that be content with servitude? At some point, you must have asked yourselves—Do we really have to shackle ourselves just because they fed us and trained us?
That was where your ambition took root. You had talent, ambition, but no resources or connections—at least, none outside my family. And the only opportunity that presented itself… was the group planning to torment NOX.
So, you seized it. Or at least, you were about to.
Am I right?"
Lucas exposed their thoughts with chilling clarity.
Sari and Mei were even more terrified of him now than they had been before.
Just as they parted their lips to offer their version of the truth, Lucas raised a hand, halting them.
"I no longer care about your reasons," he said plainly. "We practically grew up together, so I don't have the stomach to kill you. But I can't let you stay, either. NOX was your friend too, and yet you made the conscious decision to hurt him."
If Lucas had still been a teenager, this betrayal might have devastated him. In his past timeline, when he first learned the truth, he had nearly killed them both.
But back then, he had been too soft-hearted. He couldn't bring himself to strike down those he had once considered sisters.
Now, he was different. He was no longer that naive boy. He had endured enough betrayals in his past life to become numb to them.
Sari and Mei's hearts sank at his words.
They understood now. In Lucas' eyes, they weren't even worthy of his hatred.
As trained maids, it was ingrained in them to analyze every consequence of their and Lucas' decisions from every possible angle.
They had anticipated this outcome when they chose to plot against NOX.
Yet, knowing did not make it any less painful.
They never wanted to lose their young master. They were ambitious, not heartless.
But did they regret their decision? Not entirely.
In their eyes—no, in the world's eyes—NOX was a devil. He wasn't entitled to their kindness or mercy.
Devils were vile, corrupt creatures by nature. It was only a matter of time before NOX revealed his true colors.
Lucas sighed. He understood their thoughts, and perhaps, in this world, they were right.
Maybe he and NOX were the anomalies.
"For the sin of growing up with you, I will offer you two choices," Lucas said. His voice was steady, emotionless.
"One—resign from your position as my maids and return home as common servants.
Two—abandon everything and carve out your own path in the world. Your lives and deaths will be yours to decide."
"Y-Young Mast—" Sari barely managed to speak before—
"Take some time," Lucas interrupted. "Think it through."
He then ordered them to leave.
This might be the last conversation he would ever have with them.
Ironic, wasn't it?
The first people he lost in his past life were his maids.
And now, the same was happening again.
Was fate correcting itself?
Or was history merely repeating itself?
Lost in thought, Lucas raised his gaze to the planet hanging in the night sky.
Then, after a single moment, he called out—
"Elder Guardian."