Chapter 1182: The Truth [Part 2]

Yue stared at the enormous forest of black spears surrounding Celestine. "Are you insane?"

"Frequently!"

"Lux!"

"Trust me!"

Lullaby’s eyes narrowed. She looked at Celestine. Then Aurelia. Then the spikes. Something clicked. "Oh..."

Lux grinned. "There you go."

Lullaby nodded. "Yue! We need to reach Celestine!"

Yue looked offended. "I HEARD HIM!"

Another spike attacked.

Yue kicked it aside. "And I still think it’s a terrible idea!"

"Most of my best ideas are!"

"THAT’S NOT REASSURING!"

Lux ran. Straight toward Celestine. The spikes immediately reacted.

Five erupted in front of him.

He slid beneath the first, twisted around the second, and jumped onto the third as it rose.

The fourth struck.

Lux leaped from the moving spike, caught a hanging curtain, and swung toward the center of the ballroom. The curtain tore. He dropped. A spear shot toward his chest.

Lux twisted midair, allowing it to scrape across his ribs rather than pierce him.

Pain flashed.

He hit the floor rolling.

Behind him, Lullaby released another burst of Sloth magic. The nearest spikes slowed. Only slightly. But slightly was enough.

Yue rushed through the opening.

Lux followed.

Celestine lifted her head. Her eyes were wet. Terrified. "No..."

Lux reached toward her.

A wall of spikes erupted between them.

He ducked, slammed his shoulder against a gap, and forced himself through before the shadows closed. A sharp edge cut his cheek. Blood ran down his jaw. Lux ignored it. "Celestine!"

She screamed.

The entire forest of spikes lunged.

Lux moved faster.

He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her firmly against himself, turning so her body stood between him and the approaching spears. Not gently. Not romantically. This was a hostage situation involving the nightmare’s own favorite person.

The spikes stopped instantly.

Their sharpened tips hovered inches from Celestine’s back.

Lux stood motionless.

One arm locked around her waist.

His other hand braced against her shoulder.

He waited.

One second.

Two.

Three.

Nothing attacked.

Across the ballroom, Yue stopped running.

Lullaby lowered her hands.

The shadows trembled.

But none moved.

Lux exhaled. "Okay."

He looked down at Celestine. Her face was pale. Her breathing ragged. She stared at the suspended spikes as though she couldn’t understand why they refused to touch her.

Lux’s smile slowly returned. Not charming anymore. Something colder.

The expression of a man who’d finally found the forged signature hidden inside a fraudulent contract. "Celestine..."

She trembled. "Don’t..."

Lux tightened his hold just enough to keep her from collapsing. "Now you need to face the truth." Her eyes widened.

"No..." He leaned closer. His voice dropped to a whisper. "Or..." He paused. The entire ballroom seemed to hold its breath. "...should I call you Aurelia?"

Celestine went rigid.

Across the room, the woman in blue opened her mouth.

And smiled.

For the first time that evening.

Not a frightened smile.

Not a grateful smile.

A slow, beautiful, utterly unfamiliar smile.

Lux saw it. And his own smile vanished.

Because suddenly... He wasn’t entirely certain which sister he’d just caught.

"No..."

The woman in his arms began shaking.

"No, no, no! You’ve got it wrong!"

Lux tightened his hold around her waist as another tremor rolled through the ballroom. The black spikes surrounding them remained motionless, their sharpened tips hovering dangerously close.

She grabbed his sleeve.

"I’m Celestine!"

Lux looked down at her. "Are you?"

"Yes!" Her voice cracked. "She’s Aurelia! I’m Celestine! I’m the Lucky Star!"

Across the ballroom, the woman in blue tilted her head.

The movement was small. Almost innocent. Then she smiled. "Am I?"

Lux’s eyes narrowed. That smile.

Oh, that was interesting.

He knew that smile.

He knew it far too well.

The slight upward curl of the lips. The theatrical innocence. The amusement hiding behind an expression that suggested the speaker was merely enjoying a harmless conversation.

A smile that belonged to someone who considered other people’s suffering a perfectly acceptable form of entertainment.

Lux slowly exhaled. "Well, well, well..."

The woman in blue smiled wider.

Lux’s own expression darkened. "Ladies."

Yue looked toward him. "What?"

"I believe we’ve found the king."

Yue frowned. "Where?"

Lux didn’t release the trembling woman in his arms. He merely tilted his chin toward the other twin. "There."

Yue turned.

Lullaby followed her gaze.

The blue-dressed woman stood beneath the broken chandelier, surrounded by the motionless shadows. Her hands were folded neatly in front of her, her expression carrying the same delicate helplessness she’d displayed throughout the banquet.

Except now... She wasn’t bothering to look frightened. Her smile had become positively delighted.

Yue’s jaw tightened. "Kaelmor?"

The woman in blue gave a graceful little curtsy.

Lux almost applauded.

"Is that really him?" Yue demanded.

"No." Lux studied the figure. "Not the real one."

Lullaby blinked. "What?"

"Look at him. Or her. Whatever pronoun His Majesty’s theatrical hobby currently requires."

The blue-dressed woman laughed softly.

Lux continued, "This is a dream. The real Kaelmor doesn’t need to be physically here. What we’re seeing is the version of him that exists inside this nightmare."

A memory.

An imitation.

A representation shaped by the prisoner’s experiences.

And apparently, even someone’s traumatized subconscious couldn’t resist recreating Kaelmor as an insufferably smug bastard.

Lullaby stared at the woman in blue. Then slowly covered her face. "I can’t believe..."

Lux glanced at her.

"We helped him," Lullaby said.

Yue’s expression became murderous.

Lullaby lowered her hands. "Nine times."

Lux winced. Right. Every previous loop, they’d assumed the woman in blue was Aurelia, the abused Disaster Star. They’d protected her. Comforted her. Tried to separate her from Celestine. And every time, they’d unknowingly been following the nightmare’s representation of Kaelmor.

Yue’s fingers curled into fists. "I spent three loops protecting that thing."

The woman in blue smiled sweetly. "You were very kind."

Yue took a step forward.

Lux immediately spoke. "Don’t."

Yue stopped. Barely. Her expression suggested she was considering whether dream violence counted as a legitimate therapeutic activity.

Lux couldn’t blame her. He was considering it himself. But there was a more important question. "Where’s the real Celestine?"