Ascension of the Dark Seraph

Leandra had watched Lucivar from the sidelines for the longest among the others.

As time went on, she noticed one stark change.

Slowly but surely, the number of times Lucivar was surprised lessened.

It had become increasingly difficult to catch him off guard. Every step he took was calculated—every move plotted with machine-like precision. Because of that, the world—and both friend and foe alike—found fewer and fewer methods to truly surprise him.

Seeing him caught in surprise became rarer, as most of the time, the surprise he showed was fake.

A performance to deceive the targets he wanted to deceive.

But at this moment, when Leandra said those words, she saw genuine surprise on Lucivar's face.

Knowing how Leandra operated, he never thought she would say something like this.

Becoming a Vestal meant surrendering herself to him and the Gods within him, which were all malicious and evil beings who recognized only wickedness as currency. Leandra wouldn't lose all her freedom,

So, to think that she said this was incredibly shocking for Lucivar.

Lucivar blinked and cleared his throat, averting his gaze, "What sparks this change?"

Hearing this, Leandra looked ahead again.

For the first time, she looked down at her fidgeting hands, recalling the night of tragedy.

"I… When Master Tobias confessed what he did, that he built the family for the sake of you, and how he coldly killed Bob without so much as an afterthought, it… hurts." She mumbled whisperingly with a shaky voice. "I always thought that despite our differences, our family bonds are strong. So, when he said that, I'm heartbroken."

A long pause followed as Leandra collected her bubbling emotions.

She blinked back the tears and then inhaled deeply.

"But at that moment—I realized that the family is very important for me. You are very important to me. Only now that I realized I'd rather look the other way than see you leave," She turned and met Lucivar's gaze, staring at him with the seriousness she never showed. "The family is all I have…"

Lucivar looked at her left eye, and then her right, trying to find whether she was playing around or not.

He found none.

Surprisingly, these were her real feelings, and Lucivar could tell from her eyes alone.

Lucivar leaned back, spreading his arms across the bench and resting his elbows.

A low chuckle slipped from him, "Since when did you get so sentimental?"

"Huh?" Leandra clicked her tongue and folded her arms again. "Don't get your hopes up. I said soon, perhaps soon, so it's not like I couldn't change my mind later on. Besides, there are still things that I'm not going to look away from, so you better not go overboard."

"My aim is to fix karma," Lucivar raised his gaze to the sky again.

Somewhere up there, karma was looking down on him, perhaps even watching him.

And he looked skyward as if he could meet its gaze.

"Fix karma?"

"Yes. It might sound abstract, but I knew for sure that karma is reversed. Someone is making a fool out of this world—and I'm going to find and kill him. Nothing is stopping me from reaching that goal. No matter how long it would take me, I'm going to reach it. I'm playing by its rules first until I'm strong enough."

"After all, how could I face it when I can't even win against others easily."

Hearing this, Leandra's eyes widened slightly.

'Did he just… Did he just tell me his goal? Is that the real, one truth he had ever said to me?'

Following that surprise was brimming elation.

Leandra never knew how their relationship was progressing, but today, she can be confident to say that it's progressing well. For him to open up to her—and he said his goal was a step that she wasn't expecting, and she was glad that it happened.

"Hmm," She nodded firmly. "I'm going to try and not let you go insane in the process."

Just then, Lucivar looked at her again.

But this time, his gaze lingered longer, more intense than before.

So much so that Leandra could feel her face burning.

Leandra stiffened when Lucivar's gaze dipped, his eyes lingering at her neck as though something there had stolen his attention. His hand lifted without a word, reaching for her, and instinctively, Leandra pulled back—a small flinch betraying her wariness.

She only realized that she flinched when it was already too late.

'What are you doing, Leandra? This is supposed to be a good development, and you flinched?!'

Inside, she was reeling, cursing her instincts that ruined the moment.

But Lucivar didn't take any offense at this.

It was only natural for her to flinch, considering what he did that night.

"Are you… afraid of me?" He asked softly, but before she could answer, he continued. "It's okay."

Feeling no edge of malice from him, no sudden threat in his presence—she forced herself to stay still. Then, she slowly, cautiously returned to where she had been. After what she said, being afraid of him would defeat all the messages she was telling him.

Lucivar extended his hand again; his fingers brushed lightly against her violet hair.

He combed a loose strand behind her ear with a disarming ease that unsettled her more than any cruelty ever could. Then, with the faintest tilt of his chin, a faint smile bloomed as he gestured toward the pendant resting against her collarbone.

"You're still wearing it?" Lucivar asked in amusement.

Leandra reached for her necklace in surprise, before her face instantly reddened like a tomato.

It was the necklace Lucivar gave her while they were on their way to Sunhold City, the one he bought for her—the small cat-shaped charm glinted under the moonlight. Her breath caught as his lips curled, just barely, into a smile.

She had never taken the necklace off, but most of the time, it was hidden well behind her hair.

"D-Don't get the wrong idea," Leandra turned away bashfully. "It's not that I wear it all the time. I liked how it feels around my neck, it's definitely not because you gave it t—"

Leandra's words tumbled over each other in nervous rumbling, but before she could finish, a hand—firm and demanding—cupped her face and turned her sharply. She barely had time to grasp, to process, when something warm and soft pressed against her lips.

Her breath caught.

Her heart slammed against her ribs like it wanted to escape.

Heat flooded her face until she thought she might ignite.

It took a stunned, suspended heartbeat for her to understand what had happened.

Lucivar was kissing her!

At that realization, the world spun—making her feel light-headed, dizzy.

She wasn't ready, not for this, not for him.

Every instinct screamed to retreat, but the pressure of his lips was persuasive, commanding, almost as if they were saying؅—that this was inevitable. Her resistance faltered. Her body betrayed her mind. And before she knew it, her hands rose of their own accord, sliding against him, clinging as though he were the only solid thing in a world suddenly tilting off its axis.

For a good moment, the kiss stretched on, endless, timeless.

Both of them devoured each other's lips under the watchful gaze of the waxing gibbous moon.

It was unreal, a dream made dangerous by how vividly alive it felt.

Eventually, Lucivar was the first one to draw back—their lips parted with aching reluctance.

Leandra's breath shuddered in her throat.

She stared at him—lips tingling, cheeks aflame, and eyes burning with a heat she couldn't smother.

Couldn't smother alone.

Clearly, the sensation lingered sharply in her chest as every fiber of her longed for more.

Once she regained her senses and realized what was going on, she raised her hand, covering her lips with it. She tidied herself and gazed ahead again, trying to bury the embarrassment she was feeling right now.

"Womanizer…" She muttered under her breath.

Lucivar raised a brow, "What do you mean?"

"I knew you had a thing with Ravenna and a few other women."

"Hahah, I'm not going to deny it."

"Then you admit it… that you're a womanizer."

"Upon arriving in the city, I have nothing. We have nothing. But there are things that I need to get done. It just so happened that the people I need are mostly women, and the easiest way to gain their favor is by making them like me."

Lucivar crossed his leg calmly as he said this.

It was the truth.

Thalia, Elira, Angel... All of them were means to an end, nothing more.

"Besides, can you blame me? For someone with my kind of face, it's easy to make them head over heels for me." Lucivar said shamelessly, shrugging his shoulders as if it were an obvious fact that irked Leandra greatly. "And in case you wanted to know, I never gave any of them a specialized gift—like I gave to you."

Hearing the sweet words, Leandra sneered, "A specialized gift? That's a glorified way to say—an item you bought randomly."

"I'm not talking about that," Lucivar shrugged and reached for his pocket.

From it, he took out a small wrapped gift—and handed it over to Leandra like it was nothing.

"What's this?" She asked, pleasantly surprised.

"Like when I got you that necklace, something caught my eye—and made me remember you. Open it when you're alone." Luivar stood up, patted his pants, and stretched his body. "It's getting late. We have to wake up early tomorrow for Bob. Come on."

Lucivar trotted ahead, walking leisurely towards the exit.

He left behind Leandra, who was still stunned at what had happened.

It was too much stimulation for a night, and she was overwhelmed by it.

A few steps away, Lucivar stopped and lifted his gaze.

"Oh, and earlier you asked how I was, and I said I felt like shit." Lucivar's voice was casual, careless, even, but he glanced over his shoulder, catching the way Leandra blinked as though snapped back into the moment. "That was a lie. Truth is, I'm not doing so well. I've been living in a lie, and that's… not something I can swallow easily.

"If I seemed different to you… That's probably why." He added. "But talking to you has been a great help. You don't have to worry, I think I can manage this."

Not even waiting for Leandra to answer, Lucivar continued walking away.

He didn't stop as he exited the garden and headed for the dormitory.

Leandra, on the other hand, lowered the gift onto her lap as her face softened.

'So, he's being weird because he was hurting?' Leandra bit her lower lip as she felt guilty for doubting him. It seemed like her assumption was correct, that Lucivar was struck hard by the realization that his choices were pre-determined. 'He's really hurting… I really should be more compassionate.'

Meanwhile, as soon as Lucivar exited the garden, the gloomy air around him vanished.

A smirk curled on his lip, 'Hmm… the groundwork is done. Let's proceed.'