(7)

The realization that he had been talking to a Marquess all along made Lucian's face turn pale. There was no way he would be able to guess that this young man was a marquess.

Ivan's steps were getting closer to the pavilion, until he finally stood near Lucian, Ivan pulled his wrist rather roughly.

'Ah Ivan...' The man also stood up, greeting Ivan with a faint smile. But Ivan looked a little nervous,

'Excuse me, Gerald, I'll borrow this person for a moment.'

Ivan smiled back at the man, Lucian noticed the glare Ivan threw at him. The man named Gerald had a slightly confused face, looking at the two of them in turn, although in the end he gave a small nod.

He winced as Ivan firmly grasped his wrist and pulled him back to the mansion. They ascended the stairs and he closed the door to his bedroom with a loud bang. Ivan glared at him, his face contorted with rage.

'Lucian how many times have I told you not to go out during important events! Is your hobby seducing alphas? Shameless whore!'

Ivan gripped his jaw hard, pushing his body roughly against the wall. 'Cutting your hair is not enough, I should burn your face!'

He shouted in rage. His grip on Lucian's jaw was so tight that it began to suffocate him. Ivan's eyes reddened with fury and his hand slowly lowered to choke him. With all his might, Ivan squeezed his neck, a sinister smile forming on his lips as he watched Lucian's face gradually turn blue.

'I never agreed for you to live here. I don't want to see your face … You seduced my brother, almost all the alphas who came to this mansion, and now you're trying to seduce Marquess Gerald?! Are you out of your mind, Lucian Gifford?! You are just the son of a criminal. The Giffords whose name has been tarnished!'

Lucian could not breathe, his eyes were dazed staring at Ivan who was giving him a death stare, his blue eyes shaking with anger. He tried to take a deep breath but the hand that were still gripping his neck cut his airways. He could have pushed this man away considering Ivan's body proportions were smaller and shorter than him, but if he resisted then Ivan would be even more irritated so Lucian chose to remain silent, accepting the man's tantrums of annoyance.

'Oh, now I think about it .... — ... Jake Gifford, your dad, he murdered both of his father and brother .... It would be over if I told him you are the son of the man who killed his family ...'

'????!!!!'

Ivan let go of his hand, he took a few steps back with a cold smile on his lips. Lucian's complexion immediately paled, he clamped his mouth shut. No wonder the man's name was familiar. Gerald Warrick. Son of the former marquess of west Rosaenia, Edward Warrick.

Satisfied with Lucian's reaction, Ivan laughed pleasantly as if he was in a good mood.

His stomach churned suddenly feeling nauseous, Lucian's lips trembled, he stared at Ivan who was amused seeing Lucian's body shaking in fear.

'Yes, he would definitely hate the son of his family's killer … Even if it was not your fault, you are still the son of a murderer.'

'Can I go back to my room ...— urgh—'

Lucian immediately covered his mouth that almost felt like vomiting, seeing that Ivan put on a disgusted face. He shouted, 'Don't puke in my room! Go away!' At that order, Lucian immediately opened the door of his room, then running to the hallway.

Unfortunately, he came across a man he did not want to see.

Marquess Gerald Warrick, who was standing by the stairs, his head looked up, their eyes met. He gave a warm smile to Lucian while climbing the stairs, his hand was holding a red scarf, the scarf that Lucian was wearing earlier. However, as Marquess Gerald drew closer, Lucian's feet involuntarily backed away.

'Lucian ... What's wrong? ... You look pale.'

The man walked closer to him, Lucian flinched which made Marquess Gerald put on a confused face. As the man's eyes dropped from his face and fell to his neck area, his expression hardened. He walked faster. Lucian, who was trying to run, was caught by Marquess Gerald's hands that grabbed his collar, his face inched closer to Lucian with worried eyes.

'Did Ivan do this?'

'????'

'It looks like someone strangled your neck, tell me Lucian, was this Ivan's doing?'

Lucian shook his head he pushed the man roughly, Marquess Gerald's facial expression was sincerely worried about his condition, but that made Lucian's complexion even more blue. He did not deserve to be treated with so much care by someone who should not treat Lucian well.

'Lucian?!'

Forcing his weak legs to run as fast as he could, ignoring the screams of the man who called his name many times, Lucian opened his bedroom door, closed it hard and then locked it tightly. Right after he stood inside the room, his vision began to blur, another feeling of nausea stirred up his stomach. Lucian bent down, vomiting out all the food he had eaten, he vomited so many times that it made his throat hurt.

How could I do such cruel things to a good man?

This is my fault. It's my sin. Should I tell him the truth?

He will kill me, that man will surely kill me if he finds out about the sin that I committed against his family.

Unable to vomit anymore, yet his stomach still felt nauseous, his head throbbed violently. The sight of the liquid scattered on the floor only added to his distress, and he could not help but feel a deep disgust.

Disgusting.

I'm so disgusting.

Lucian kept cursing to himself.

But even in this state, Lucian's heart still tried to deny his sin. Blaming all of this on his father who already got the death sentence years ago.

It's not my fault.

It's my fault.

It's not my sin.

It's also my sin.

Amidst the contradictory words, deep inside Lucian knew that it was all his fault, he chose this path, and this was the consequence of his action.

He curled up, feeling his eyeballs heat up but there were no tears in them. It was a mess, his mind felt heavy and his head felt like it was about to explode. Lucian should not have met that man.

That night Lucian planned something that would change his life.

A plan that was again the decision of a cowardly man.

Running away from his sins.