The Slave Is Too Handsome - Chapter 93

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

The slave is far too handsome!
093.
Rain still fell from the dawn sky, dark as if a curtain had been drawn across it, and the sound grew louder here in the cave.
“Strange, isn’t it?”
At his subdued voice, Lucian’s gaze drifted quietly toward Eloïse.
“I’m this old, and yet I still dream of my mother like a child. I suppose I haven’t escaped that time at all.”
It was the first time Eloïse had brought up her mother of her own accord. Lucian’s eyes widened slightly before he asked carefully.
“What was your mother like?”
Lost in thought, Eloïse spoke abruptly, her expression unreadable.
“A lonely person.”
“Lonely?”
“It was a political marriage between families, but Mother seemed to love Father quite dearly.”
Lucian’s mind naturally drifted to George’s face—that sudden, bolt-from-the-blue kind of figure.
“So when she discovered Father had another woman, the shock was devastating. She refused food for days on end, destroyed everything in sight, yet Father wouldn’t even react. That’s what I heard.”
“…”
“Her last hope, as it always is, was a child. She believed having a son would change things, but reality…”
A look of indifference crossed Eloïse’s face, as though speaking of another’s affair.
“Did you like your mother?”
“I’m not sure.”
Her gaze drifted naturally toward the ceiling. Her expression seemed worn as she reached back into those distant years.
“When I was very small, I think I did like her. I used to visit her in the bedroom, hoping to make her smile. I’d make flower crowns and bring them to her, or take her perfect test papers on purpose.”
“…”
“But she never smiled. Not once. I don’t have a single memory of Mother laughing. I didn’t understand it then, but I think I know the reason now.”
Eloïse’s eyes grew even darker.
“Mother failed to achieve the purpose she had in bearing me.”
“Eloïse.”
Lucian called her name as if gently reproaching her. He didn’t need to hear the rest.
Yet Eloïse continued muttering to herself. She felt that if she let this story run its course to its bitter end, some of the suffocation in her chest might finally ease.
Reading the faint echo of her heart in that hollow expression, Lucian fell silent once more.
“She must have hoped I could win Father’s favor. Dreamed that he might show me some interest. Well… I failed spectacularly.”
“…”
“What was it about Father that Mother loved so much? Once she realized she could never win his heart, no matter what she did, she simply withered away. All she left me was a warning not to lose my title. And then…”
A heavy silence settled over them.
Eloïse had thought that laying everything bare might ease the turbid confusion left by the nightmare, but it brought little relief.
Instead, only the question she’d been denying resurfaced.
‘No matter what happens, you must inherit the title. That is the reason you were born into this world.’
Was she clinging stubbornly to a path everyone said was impossible simply because of what her mother had said?
Was she, trapped by her mother’s ghost, mistaking her mother’s desire for her own?
These were the thoughts that always tormented her when she woke from a nightmare.
It was a gentle voice that pulled Eloïse out of that endless doubt.
“You’re doing well, Eloïse.”
Her green eyes, which had been fixed on empty air, slowly took him in.
Something in his serious manner made her listen intently to every word.
“The road ahead is long, I know. But I’ll make sure to shorten the path for you.”
Eloïse gave him a light, sidelong glance at his jest—this man who had gotten lost in the rain and dragged her all the way here.
“What’s with all that confidence?”
“As far as I can see, the title belongs to you. And if you ever change your mind, I won’t forgive you.”
His gaze was steady and sincere, fixed on her. At his few words, the doubt that had wound around her like vines for so long crumbled to ash and scattered.
Yes. This isn’t stubbornness haunted by my mother’s ghost. It’s my goal, and soon it will be my reality.
“That won’t happen.”
At Eloïse’s resolute expression, Lucian smiled faintly. But while his mouth curved upward, something mournful lingered in his eyes.
Sensing that subtle quality in his face, Eloïse spoke again.
“Your turn. Tell me.”
“Hm? Tell you what?”
“There’s something you haven’t told me.”
At her rather firm tone, Lucian himself looked flustered. He laughed awkwardly.
“There’s nothing. I told you everything before we fell asleep.”
“…Is there something you can’t tell me?”
“…”
How does Eloïse always know?
Lucian paused, caught in thought. He had always meant to tell her, but now that the moment was here, he felt lost as to where or how to begin.
“It’s all right. Do it your own way.”
Just as Eloïse, her expression understanding, was about to lie down again, he gathered his courage.
“It might be a bit disjointed.”
“…”
“Just listen comfortably, all right?”
As she straightened up and nodded, Lucian began his story matter-of-factly.
As he spoke of memories awakened beneath the surface of unconsciousness, he carefully confessed that he was in fact Prince Valensio.
Eloïse’s expression, which had been intent upon his words, gradually hardened.
“Aren’t you surprised? What a twist of fate—I’m actually the—”
Lucian trailed off, trying to sound lighter than he felt.
A small frame wrapped around him. Or rather, nestled into him would be more accurate.
“Eloïse?”
Eloïse bit her lip hard, pressing her teeth tight to hide the sudden surge of emotion. She didn’t want him to see her cry—not for a second time, not like this.
But the moment she imagined the young Valensio being neglected by his mother, something inexpressible welled up from deep within her chest.
“…”
Her arms around his neck grew stronger. If she could, she would hold the young Valensio herself.
“…Don’t cry, I said.”
Lucian whispered softly as he patted her small shoulders. Eloïse slowly drew back from his embrace, turning her face away.
“It’s just rainwater.”
“It rains inside the cave? And only your comfort brings it?”
Sitting quietly on his lap, Eloïse shot him a light, teasing glance.
Lucian laughed aloud. She looked endearing, her face sullen and her cheeks wet with tears.
How happy he would be if he could spend his whole life looking at that face.
As Lucian gazed long at Eloïse’s furrowed brow, he carefully lowered his lips to her wet cheek without quite thinking.
Eloïse stiffened for a moment, but instead of pushing him away, she slowly closed her eyes.
Wherever his warm lips touched, she felt them linger and then withdraw.
Part of him wanted to taste her soft lips, but he knew that if he did, he would never let her go. So he held himself back once more.
When Lucian finally placed a brief kiss on her chin and drew away, Eloïse slowly opened her eyes.
His ears flushed, Lucian asked casually, as though nothing had happened.
“I thought you’d be shocked by what I told you. You seem awfully composed, El.”
Eloïse shook her head.
“I was shocked. Truly. But… I’ve actually been suspecting it for quite some time.”
“Really?”
“That you might be… that you could actually be the missing Prince Valensio.”
Lucian stared deeply into her eyes, as if unable to believe what he was hearing.
“Since when? What made you think so?”
“Haven’t you suspected it yourself more than once?”
“…”
Their gazes crossed in the empty air.
“When I first heard that you were abandoned and found at five years old, that’s when I first thought of it.”
“…”
“And when His Majesty welcomed you so warmly on first meeting. When I saw his portrait from his younger years, the suspicion grew stronger. And then…”
“There’s more?”
“When I realized your body remembered the secret passages of the Imperial Palace, I kept suspecting.”
It was a logical suspicion. He now found it rather amusing that he had thought himself a mere servant. Lucian nodded silently in acknowledgment.
More than anything, when he’d met Hugo, his body had responded first, and he too had come to seriously consider the possibility that he was Valensio.
The two of them, having exchanged their deepest secrets, continued to talk of future measures and various other things before finally managing to return to sleep. Both their bodies and hearts needed time to recover.
“Eloïse.”
Lucian whispered her name softly. No answer came back. She was already deep asleep.
Eloïse lay facing him, her sleep peaceful and her expression serene.
Watching her face, Lucian murmured to himself.
“If I had never had that accident… if I’d grown up as prince all along… what would have become of us?”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————