Chapter 52: Temporary Interest

Lumi closed her eyes.

’You have harmed me more than my future.’

The thought lingered in her mind as she took a slow breath. She had heard enough. If Darian continued standing between her and her parents, things would only become more difficult for him.

After a moment, she opened her eyes.

"It’s okay, Darian. Let us talk for a while." Her voice was soft, but there was a quiet determination beneath it. "May I ask you to wait outside the door for me?"

Darian looked at Lumi for a few seconds before gently nodding his head. "Of course. I’ll be right outside the door."

Before leaving, he gave Felix a brief glance. It wasn’t an openly threatening look, but the message behind it was clear enough.

He was watching.

Darian then turned toward the door and stepped outside, leaving it slightly open behind him.

Esther immediately lunged forward, her hand raised as she moved to slap Lumi, but Celestine quickly stepped between them and caught her mother’s wrist.

"Mother..." Celestine took a deep breath, keeping her voice low.

"You know that if you leave another mark on her, our Pei family will be in deep trouble. We are already in the middle of a crisis. Please don’t make things worse."

Esther’s expression remained furious, but her raised hand slowly lowered.

Celestine released her wrist and glanced toward the slightly open door.

"If Mr. Voss sees another injury on Lumi, do you think he will simply ignore it?" Her words made Esther’s expression change slightly.

Celestine turned back to her mother. "We need to be careful now."

Felix’s anger finally flared. He slammed his palm against the table beside him, the sharp sound making Lumi’s shoulders tense.

"Careful?" His voice was low, but the anger behind it was unmistakable. "Since when does my own family need to be careful around a mere daughter?"

Celestine remained silent.

Felix’s chest rose and fell heavily as he glared at Lumi.

"First, she refuses the Fated Guide Transfer. Then she runs away from home, gets involved with the most dangerous Sentinel in the Empire, and now even the Caesar family’s people are standing between me and my own daughter."

His hand remained pressed against the table. "And somehow, I am the one who has to be careful?"

Lumi quietly lowered her gaze. She had heard these words before.

Only this time, they no longer hurt in quite the same way.

"Now listen..." Felix pointed a finger toward Lumi. "I told that damn Raphael that Celestine has a healing ability, and you need to cooperate with us."

His expression turned cold as he glared at her. "Don’t you dare open your mouth and tell anyone that she doesn’t have it."

Lumi’s eyes widened slightly. Her gaze instinctively shifted toward Celestine.

Celestine stood quietly beside Esther, her expression difficult to read.

Lumi’s lips parted, but no words came out. So that was what Father had done.

He had told Raphael that Celestine was the one with the healing ability. And now he wanted her to go along with the lie.

"But..." Lumi hesitated, her voice barely above a whisper. "I thought Raphael already knew..."

"He doesn’t need to know anything else," Felix snapped. "As far as everyone is concerned, Celestine is the one who healed you."

Lumi’s fingers tightened around the blanket. She looked at Celestine again. Her sister avoided her gaze for a moment.

Then Felix’s voice became even colder. "Do you understand, Lumi?"

Lumi slowly nodded. "Yes..."

"Good." Felix lowered his hand. "Then keep your mouth shut."

Esther cleared her throat before stepping forward, her expression still filled with displeasure.

"You should be glad you didn’t die yesterday. What a fool, trying to Guide a Sentinel when you don’t even have any Guiding ability, and just because you were angry with us, you decided to follow that monster?"

She scoffed, "The most powerful Sentinel in the Empire, no less. Do you really think someone like you could possibly handle him?"

Lumi lowered her gaze.

Esther’s expression became colder.

"If it weren’t for his family background, I wouldn’t even have considered transferring your Fated Connection to Celestine in the first place."

Lumi remained quiet, her gaze fixed on the blanket covering her legs. She knew there was no point arguing.

If she told them what really happened, would they believe her?

Probably not. And even if they did, she wasn’t sure whether that would make anything better.

Esther continued, her voice filled with frustration.

"Do you know how much trouble you’ve caused the family since that ceremony? The entire Empire is talking about it. The Pei family’s reputation has been dragged through the mud, and now you are lying here because you thought you could play Guide with an SSS-rank Sentinel."

Lumi’s fingers slowly tightened around the blanket. "I didn’t mean to cause trouble..."

"You never mean to... You never mean to..." Esther’s words came immediately. "But somehow, trouble always follows you."

Lumi lowered her head even further.

Celestine quietly watched her from the side. For a brief moment, her expression softened, but she quickly looked away.

Esther folded her arms. "You should be grateful that Evan Caesar hasn’t abandoned you after all this. If he had decided that you were useless and demanded another Guide, what do you think would have happened to you?"

Felix’s expression hardened.

"Let her rot on the street when he abandons her. Maybe then she would finally learn how high the sky is."

Lumi’s face went pale. She lowered her eyes, quietly absorbing the words.

Felix’s voice remained cold.

"You’ve been living under the Pei family’s roof your entire life, eating our food and enjoying the protection of our name, yet you seem to have forgotten how insignificant you are without it."

Lumi’s fingers curled tightly beneath the blanket.

"I..." The word barely escaped her lips before she stopped.

There was nothing she could say that would change his mind.

Felix looked at her for another moment before turning away.

"So don’t mistake Evan Caesar’s temporary interest in you for something permanent. The moment he decides you are more trouble than you are worth, you will have nowhere to go."