VILLANOUS DILLEMA

"There! These should be enough!"

Luciana was back in her bedroom. Alone.

After having breakfast with her family, she excused herself to retrieve something from her room. In fact, it was a few things rather than just something: few simple dresses and some night gowns, as well as a few bags of gold coins. All stored in a suitcase. It was as if she was preparing for a trip.

A knock was then heard at the door.

"My lady, Lord Desmond and Master Lucius are now expecting you at the garden!" called the head maid from the outside. "The family head is requesting your presence urgently."

"Tell father I shall be down in a moment!"

"Very well, my lady."

As soon as Luciana sensed the head maid's presence faded away, she hovered her palm over the suitcase and chanted a spell.

[Lacrima Arts, Invisible Space]

Luciana snapped her fingers and the suitcase suddenly glowed with white radiance and vanished into thin air. She just casted a spell that stored the suitcase and her belongings inside an invisible pocket space Luciana created through magic.

"Now that is out of the way, I suppose it's time we begin the ritual."

The silver-haired woman then made her way toward the garden behind the Edelweiss Manor, specifically toward the white field of edelweiss flowers at the center of the garden. As the head maid had informed, Desmond and Lucius were already waiting for Luciana there.

The Edelweiss Manor itself was located somewhere in the countryside where only vast prairies and grassy hills decorated with patches of flowers could be found extending beyond the estate. Which was why the picturesque scene where the Edelweiss men were standing seemed like something out of a fairy tale.

"There you are! What's taking you so long, daughter?" called Desmond.

"Ah! Perhaps you were preparing something to get an edge over me in the ritual?" asked Lucius with a sly grin.

In response to their remarks, Luciana flicked her hair and gave them a sentence spoken through a soft and witty voice, "I'll leave it to your imagination."

Luciana joined the two on the field and prompted Desmond to give a speech as to why he had summoned the family there.

"As I've mentioned, today we will be holding a ritual that will decide which amongst you two are going to be the Apostle of Fortuna." said Desmond.

He extended his arms toward the edelweiss field they were standing on.

"The Edelweiss family have been a loyal supporter of Goddess Fortuna for so long that the manor we're living in is actually standing on top of one of Fortuna's Temple."

Temple of the Goddess. It was where people offered their prayers to the high being and received Her blessings.

A goddess could have numerous temples and some of the temples would be more special than the others. The temple under the Edelweiss Manor was one of them.

"And it's not just any Fortuna Temple, for inside the temple beneath our feet lies the Fortuna Grimoire." told Desmond. "The book contained ancient knowledge bestowed by Fortuna that held the secret to great powers. A knowledge that could reshape the world's destiny."

He turned to his children.

"Should one of the Emperor's heirs took possession of the said powers, they would undeniably rise to become the Sun that would bring the entire world to a grand new age, just like the prophecy said." said the Edelweiss family head. "And it is our duty as Fortuna's servants to guide one of the Little Suns of the Empire to gain those powers of Fortuna. It is our duty to empower one of the heirs with Fortuna's blessings and turn them into an emperor that will transform the world!"

Desmond snapped his fingers and the ground started to shake. The edelweiss field suddenly split into two and rose from the belly of the earth two stairwells that led underground. Each of the stairwell headed to the opposite direction of each other.

"The two of you shall journey to the temple and find the Fortuna Grimoire kept within its depth." said Desmond to his children. "Once you find the grimoire, you are to turn yourself into its owner by offering the book your own blood. It is then that you pledged your allegiance to Fortuna and make yourself Her apostle."

He put his hands on the twins' shoulder to make sure they heard what he was going to say next.

"But remember, the book will only accept one owner." said Desmond. "And the Little Sun only needed one guide to search for Fortuna's blessings that are mentioned in Her grimoire."

The family head leaned in closer to their ears and whispered to them with a sinister voice.

"Do whatever it takes to make yourself the owner. And I mean, whatever it takes."

Luciana and Lucius perfectly understood what their father was trying to say to them.

[Kill your brother/sister if you must! Do whatever it takes to make yourself Fortuna's apostle and the owner of Her grimoire!]

The calm look on both Luciana and Lucius's faces indicated that they had known this moment would come. The day when they were about to kill each other.

The two were not exactly bothered by the situation. In fact, Lucius was slightly grinning as if he was excited. For he was, indeed, excited.

Her brother's current face was a sight that did not go unnoticed by Luciana.

"(I believe I had the same grin back in my previous life. No…I bet I even could not stop giggling because I could not contain my excitement for the ritual back then.)"

Desmond lifted his hands from his children's shoulders and the twins set off to the stairwells. Luciana took one of the stairwells while Lucius the other.

Luciana journeyed down her set of stairs and eventually finding herself in a dark labyrinth illuminated by large torches. She examined her path ahead.

"(Well, since this is my second time doing the ritual, I already know where to find the grimoire. I can get there in no time.)" thought Luciana. "(The only thing to think about now is what to do with Lucius.)"

Luciana started treading through the labyrinth. During her stroll, she spared a moment to think about her brother.

The reason Luciana came back to the past was because she regretted the path she took as Fortuna's apostle. How the goddess deceived her about what would happen if she followed Fortuna's will.

Luciana had decided to not become the Apostle of Fortuna, which means she would not offer her blood on the grimoire. But that would mean Lucius will be the one that will become the goddess's apostle. And he would lead the same path Luciana took in her previous life.

"(Lucius will definitely make a great obstacle to my endeavor should he become Fortuna's apostle.)" thought Luciana. "(The logical thing to do would be to kill him right now and prevent Fortuna from gaining an apostle.)"

Luciana shook her head at the idea.

"(But our power level at this point in time is too equal!)" thought the silver-haired woman. "(The only reason why I was able to kill him in my previous life was because I found the grimoire first and used its power to gain the slight upper hand.)"

Luciana was then reminded of the condition the shining woman made with her.

"(But I can't afford to do the same this time.)" thought Luciana. "(I can only pledge myself to one goddess in my lifetime and that decision is irreversible unless I go back in time like I did.)"

She then thought of more reasons that she wouldn't become Fortuna's apostle.

"(What's more, I've decided that I will not pledge my allegiance to Fortuna for I know what kind of future awaits me if I follow Her. And even if I offer my blood, the grimoire will not accept me as the goddess's apostle if my heart isn't truly with Her.)"

As Luciana walked down the labyrinth, she pondered more deeply about the situation.

"(The ideal thing to achieve is to prevent Fortuna from gaining an apostle. But I can't kill Lucius and the grimoire is indestructible. There's nothing I could do to prevent the two from reaching each other.)" thought Luciana. She sighed. "(Is there really no solution to this?)"

Luciana then remembered of the very fact that Goddess Fortuna deceived her.

"(Then again, Lucius did not know the truth about Fortuna.)"

She was reminded of the moment when she regretted her actions in her previous life.

"(Would Lucius change his mind like I did if I reveal the truth to him?)" pondered Luciana. "(Would Lucius even believe my words?)"

Luciana sighed at her predicament once more.

"(Well, let's get to the grimoire first and see what happens next.)"