False07

“The purest smile hides the deadliest knife.”

Lucien lived a life of poverty and humiliation, struggling under the heavy gaze of a cruel world. When the Church branded his mother a demon and burned her alive, something inside him shattered — and something darker awakened.

Betrayed by humanity, Lucien forges a secret alliance with the true demons — not as a pawn, but as their hidden master. With a tongue that deceives kings and a mind that twists fate itself, he moves unseen, gathering power in the shadows.

In a world where trust is a weapon and faith is a lie, Lucien will smile... and the world will bleed.

— The Devil Who Smiled.

The Devil Who Smiled

The rain came down in whispers that night, not in torrents, but in soft, persistent drops—like the sky itself was mourning something it couldn't name. Lucien stood by the narrow window of the abandoned chapel he had taken as a temporary refuge, watching the world blur under the curtain of drizzle.

The candle on the wooden table flickered, casting long shadows that danced against the cracked stone walls. Behind him, a rough map of the city lay pinned with dull iron nails. Red markings sprawled across it like veins—routes, names, schedules. It was a plan in progress, a web waiting to tighten.

Elara entered without a sound, the damp of the rain still clinging to her hood. "They're moving the relic tomorrow," she said softly, dropping her soaked cloak near the door.

"The Chalice. From the Inner Vaults to the Grand Cathedral. They've kept it under wraps, but my contact confirmed it."

Lucien's lips curled into a faint smile. "Perfect. That'll draw the Bishop out."

Elara hesitated. "Lucien… are you sure about this? It's not like the others. The Chalice is—"

"Sacred?" he cut her off, turning now to face her. His eyes, sharp and unreadable, held no reverence. "To them, maybe. But to me, it's a key. One of many."

She looked at him, trying to see the boy she had met months ago—the poor, quiet one with eyes too old for his age. But he wasn't that boy anymore. Or maybe he never had been.

"They think you're just a pawn of the demon king," she said. "The church whispers that you've been brainwashed, that you don't know what you're doing."

Lucien chuckled under his breath. "Let them believe that. Let them think I'm weak, lost… controlled. It makes it easier to move the pieces."

Silence settled between them, thick and tense. The only sound was the distant rumble of thunder and the occasional crack of a shifting beam in the ruined ceiling.

Then Elara asked the question that had been gnawing at her. "And what if they find out? What if they finally see you for what you really are?"

Lucien stepped forward, the candlelight catching the edges of his smile—a calm, dangerous thing.

"Then they'll come for me," he whispered. "And I'll be ready."

Chapter 23 – Beneath the Surface