(1)

"Hey! Wake up!"

Lucian was startled awake by the sound of someone screaming at him to wake up. Despite his tired body, he managed to open his eyes, but before he could get up he was met with a splash of cold water on his face. He quickly sat up to find a blonde-haired man standing beside his bed with a glass in hand, looking very displeased. It was clear that the man was not happy with Lucian for not waking up on time.

"Didn't I tell you that today is an important day?! I'm not allowing you to stay here to relax as much as you want!"

Important day.

Lucian continued up to see the man's disapproving scowl and heard the click of his tongue. He shivered, realizing his clothes and face were drenched, and hastily wiped his face with the back of his hand. He gave a small nod in acknowledgment, but it was clear that the man was not pleased.

"Don't be late, and come to my room after you change your clothes!"

The man went out with a stomp, slamming the door shut behind him and leaving Lucian sitting there, staring blankly at the weak thin door. A heavy silence filled the room and Lucian let out a sigh, rubbing his aching head. He noticed that the bed was also soaked in water. He thought to himself that he would have to dry it later, but for now he needed to change his clothes and head to the man's room immediately, otherwise this situation would get more complicated than it already was, and he surely did not want to irritate the man any more than this.

Lucian changed into his clothes and then grabbed a towel to wipe his face. The reflection in the mirror showed his pale face, with dry lips and eye bags, a clear sign of exhaustion from the work he had done the day before. He stared into his own reflection, he looked so pathetic. How had his life gone so wrong? He found himself chuckling ironically before washing his face with cold water.

It might be better like this, he should not be enjoying life, he should be dead by now but he was just a coward. After what he did, it was natural for him to suffer. So Lucian looked directly into his own blue eyes in the mirror, all he saw was emptiness.

Twitch. His head throbbing, he urged himself to walk out of the bathroom. Opening his drawer to get his medicine, he took some medicine in the hope that his headache would not bother him today, because just like the man said, today was an important day.

Stepping out of the hut, he walked past the flower garden in bloom, Lucian did not forget that he was tasked with watering the flowers and plants in this garden every day so he turned around to walk towards the well, took a bucket to collect water but before he could lower the bucket into the well, a servant with a short breath ran up to him.

The servant was a man Lucian knew quite well even though they rarely spoke, the personal servant of Ivan Douglass, son of Earl Douglass. Lucian stopped what he was doing, placing the empty bucket down.

"Lord Ivan wants you to come to him immediately."

"Then who will water this garden?"

"Maybe later ... I'll send for the gardener or another workers."

It was strange, he remembered Ivan would not allow the gardener to water the flowers and instead assigned Lucian the task, maybe because today was an important day then he had to obey the man's words.

The moment he entered the mansion, many of the maids lowered their gazes as if not wanting to make direct eye contact with Lucian. He was used to that kind of treatment from them, in fact he did not care anymore and walked nonchalantly up the stairs to the second floor, when his feet were in front of Ivan's room, he knocked lightly. The door suddenly opened in a flash, revealing a man his age with a facial expression holding anger.

"Why are you taking so long?"

"I was going to water the flowers..."

"Oh, haha..." He laughed, tugging Lucian's wrist roughly to enter his room, "You can do that later, if I call you then you should come quickly! Got it?"

Ivan let go of his hand, he walked towards the small table to take out a piece of paper and gave it to him, Lucian took it then he read what was written on it.

His eyes widened for a moment, then as if realizing his reaction, Ivan laughed again. "Don't mess around, and do all the tasks I put down on paper, without exception."

Still reading the long list written on the paper, Ivan then shooed him out of his room.

Lucian knew very well that this man hated him so much, so he walked out of his room without saying a word. Even though Ivan could have left this paper when he went to wake him up, or ordered one of the maids to deliver this paper to him, this man called Lucian into the mansion just to have fun seeing his reaction.

When he walked through the main hall he noticed that the decoration of the room looked more luxurious than before. Given that this afternoon was a tea party, and invited noble guests would visit this mansion to celebrate the anniversary of the Douglass family mansion.

There was a small stage at the front, Ivan was a man who was good at playing the violin so Lucian could easily guess that the small stage would be used for Ivan's musical performance, also many elegantly designed chairs were neatly arranged in the middle of the hall, it seemed they invited more guests from latest event.

Today was the Douglass family's important anniversary, so Lucian quickly returned to the flower garden, picking up some of the flowers that Ivan had asked him to pick. Carefully placing all the rose and pink tulip sprigs into a large basket, he then looked up at the bright blue sky.

The clear sky and the fragrance of the flowers made him remember the days when he was little, he would often sit quietly with a book in hand, enjoying his days in the flower garden. It was a peaceful day before he came to this mansion. Living here was not too bad, but sometimes Lucian still felt guilty about the sins he committed for obeying his father's orders. A sin that he could never forget until the end of his life, even though he often denied that it was his own fault.

Twitch. His head was throbbing again, even though he had taken a lot of medicine but his head often hurts again, no matter how much medicine he took.

Putting down the large basket filled with flowers, Lucian decided to rest a bit, laying down on the thick grass, eyes still looking up at the white clouds moving slowly.

A gentle breeze touched his body, at that time the fragrant aroma of flowers wafted around him, closing his eyes, feeling the pleasant warmth of the sun hitting the skin.

For a moment, he could not think of anything, his head was still twitching but he felt better as he lay here, but a moment later the bitter smell of alpha pheromones made his eyes widen, he hurriedly sat up to find a man he never wanted to meet, walking up to where he was sitting.

Lucian took the flower basket and stood up, he wanted to run but his hand was tightly gripped by the man.

"Aren't you tired of reacting like that every time you see me, my beautiful Lucian."

The man smiled at him, Lucian made a disgusted face, he tried to free his hands from his grip but the man was much stronger than him. "Ah flowers, did Ivan tell you to pick up the flowers?"

"If you know then let me go, I don't have much time to have useless conversations like this."

"You never change." He jerked his hand, causing his body to jump closer to the man's body, the basket in his hand fell down, "You should be respectful to me because I am an Earl, I let you stay here. Lucian, son of a former Earl who committed corruption and murder, you are lucky that my father adopted you here."

His other hand touched Lucian's cheek, brushing back strands of hair, he added, "Imagine if you were not adopted by my father, maybe you would have been stranded in the slum, and if people found out that you were the son of a corrupt Earl, people who hate your father will torture you to death."

"Stop, Eric."

He spoke weakly, he knew that even without being told he was very grateful to the late Earl Douglass who decided to welcome him here. Lucian would never forget the kindness of that man. "You should not use your late father's name to threaten me."

He heard the man's cold laugh and his grip tightened, "I'm not threatening you, just warning you."

This man, although his face closely resembled his father's, had a completely contrasting personality, his father was a gentle man, possessing a warm aura, while this man had an extremely sinister aura, Lucian could never interact normally with this man.

"I'm tired Lucian, I've been busy for weeks immersed in my work, now I have some free time ... It would be better if you cheer me up."