Chapter 99: Get back here!

Lucien felt incredibly comfortable.

He was having what seemed like the best sleep of his life since coming to this foreign world, so peaceful that he had no desire to wake up. Yet, amid the darkness, a faint sound began to disturb him—the rhythmic dripping of water striking something hard, each drop echoing through the silence.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Lucien frowned in annoyance.

He wanted the sound to stop.

He wanted to keep sleeping.

Even after burying his head between his arms, the noise refused to disappear. It continued relentlessly, slowly wearing away what little patience he had left.

Finally, with a furious curse, Lucien snapped his eyes open, fully prepared to find and beat up whoever was making that damn noise.

But the moment he opened his eyes, he froze.

Before him was his real body.

His real self.

On his own world.

The sight left him completely stunned.

The other Lucien was standing in front of a sink, dazedly brushing his teeth. Water dripped steadily from the faucet, producing the very sound that had disturbed his sleep.

It wasn’t Lucien O’Connell.

It was Cien.

The real him.

Lucien immediately scrambled to his feet, staring at the scene with widened eyes. A transparent screen separated the two sides. His side was swallowed in darkness, while the other was bathed in bright, brilliant light.

"This..."

His voice cracked.

He rushed toward the other person, only to slam into an invisible barrier that erupted with force, violently throwing him backward.

"...That’s my body!"

Despite the pain, Lucien quickly pushed himself back to his feet and rushed toward the barrier again. He slammed both hands against it with all his strength.

"You bastard! Who are you?!"

He shouted again and again, but no matter how loudly he screamed, the other person couldn’t hear him.

The person simply continued brushing his teeth as though Lucien didn’t even exist.

Then, something suddenly caught Lucien’s attention.

Tears.

They slowly rolled down the other person’s cheeks.

The person lowered his head and crouched down, his shoulders beginning to tremble.

He was crying.

Lucien froze.

He stared at the scene in disbelief, unable to understand what he was seeing. Yet, beneath his confusion, a faint ache stirred somewhere deep within his heart.

He wanted to ask the other person why he was crying—why he looked so heartbroken—but no matter how many times he tried, no words would come out.

Then, from outside the bathroom, a warm and affectionate elderly woman’s voice called out to the crying person, who continued to sob silently.

"Cien, breakfast is ready!"

Lucien knew that voice.

He had heard it countless times in his original world.

The other person quickly brushed away his tears. His eyes were red around the edges, yet he forced a smile onto his face before rinsing his mouth and leaving the bathroom.

Lucien remained frozen on the other side of the barrier.

Slowly, his legs gave out beneath him, and he dropped to his knees.

His hands remained pressed against the barrier, desperately reaching toward the person who had just walked away in his original body.

He didn’t understand.

What was happening?

The last thing he remembered was being with Zephyr.

So where was he now?

And why was someone else using his body?

Just as those questions flooded his mind, his vision suddenly blurred.

The next moment, Lucien jolted awake.

He found himself lying atop a wrinkled shirt in the familiar underground chamber. The only light came from the faint, flickering glow of the circular dome surrounding and protecting him.

Lucien’s breathing was uneven and ragged.

He looked around in panic.

The dream had felt so real.

Too real.

He immediately tried to scramble to his feet, desperate to chase after the figure he had just seen, but his legs were still unsteady. He stumbled and fell to the ground.

"No! No! You can’t just leave! Get back here! Stop!"

His voice was almost frantic.

He reached desperately toward the empty air, tears welling in his eyes as the overwhelming feeling of loss tightened around his chest.

Just as he felt as though his heart might stop, a familiar, cool hand grasped his.

A moment later, he was pulled into a tight embrace.

"Cien, calm down. It’s fine. It’s all fine."

Zephyr’s quiet voice sounded beside his ear.

Only after feeling Zephyr’s arms securely around him did Lucien finally snap out of his panic. He took a deep, shaky breath against Zephyr’s shoulder.

What had happened?

He tried to make sense of the dream, but no matter how much he thought about it, he could only arrive at one conclusion.

Someone else had been using his body.

His real body.

In his real world.

While he was gone.

Could that person be the real Lucien O’Connell?

He couldn’t be certain.

But there was one thing he knew.

He had never cried like that in his real life.

The expression on his face, the tears, the forced smile—it was something Lucien had never experienced himself.

So that person wasn’t him.

At least, Lucien was certain of that much.

Zephyr felt the trembling person in his arms gradually begin to calm down. He gently rubbed Lucien’s back, continuing the soothing motion until his breathing finally became steadier.

Only then did Zephyr quietly ask.

"What happened? Did you have a bad dream?"

Lucien didn’t answer.

Instead, he tightened his grip on Zephyr.

Nearby, Onicus watched the two of them in complete silence. For once, the dragon didn’t make a single comment, sensing that this wasn’t the time to disturb them.

After a long silence, Lucien finally loosened his arms and pulled away.

He forced a smile onto his face.

"It’s nothing. I just got startled since I didn’t see anyone after walking up here."

What Lucien didn’t realize was that the smile he had forced was eerily similar to the one he had seen on the face of the person using his body.

Zephyr didn’t press him for an explanation.

Instead, he simply took Lucien’s hand and gently ran his fingers over it, pressing each fingertip one by one as though trying to calm down the sweat-soaked person before him.

"Hmm. If you say so."

The two remained silent for a while.

Then Lucien suddenly remembered what had happened in the chamber before he lost consciousness.

His ears flushed slightly.

He cleared his throat, attempting to regain his composure.

"Regarding what happened earlier between us..."

Before he could finish, Zephyr interrupted him.

He stared at Lucien with an unusually serious expression.

"It was my fault."

He paused for a moment before speaking again, his voice calm but firm.

"Let’s get together, Cien."

Lucien’s eyes widened.

Zephyr continued without hesitation.

"I like you."

His fingers tightened slightly around Lucien’s hand.

"I like you very much."