The Devil's Betrothed-Chapter 637: You Are My Family

The next morning, Lucian returned to his cousin Ken’s home, where his mother was staying. After leaving Ahrens the previous night, he had spent time with his people, instructing and planning for their next journey to the northeast.

As he entered the compound, he spotted a familiar figure: his sister Rina.

"You’re finally back, Luke," Ken greeted him, pausing from helping his wife clean the front yard. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com

Rina, who was busy preparing the morning meal, immediately looked up. She put aside the vegetables and stood up excitedly. "Brother..."

Lucian approached her, and Rina tried to contain her excitement at seeing him after so long.

"When did you arrive?" he asked.

Rina maintained a bit of distance and replied calmly, "I arrived yesterday with Father."

He lightly patted her head. "Good to see you here."

Rina kept quiet, simply watching him enter the house. ’Father told me yesterday that he is not truly my brother but a lord, and I should treat him that way.’ Her face turned sad. ’Now I won’t have a brother. Why did he have to be a lord? I liked him as my brother more.’

Inside the house, Lucian stopped at the door of the room where Gwen and her husband, Paul, were talking.

"I’m glad that he finally got justice for his family," Gwen’s voice carried through the door.

"Hmm, now we can rest assured about his safety and there is no need to hide his identity," her husband, a middle aged man with dark hair, replied.

"All these years, I have been fortunate to raise him as my son. He is just like Lord Colin, his father."

"But now that his identity is no longer a secret and he is safe, we must return to reality and treat him as our lord," her husband replied.

"True. Make sure Rina remembers this as well," Gwen added.

"I told her yesterday, and she understood it well."

Lucian, having overheard their conversation, now understood why Rina had been reserved with him. He stepped into the room and looked at the couple.

Gwen smiled at him. "You’re back?"

Lucian nodded and knelt in front of his mother, who was sitting at the edge of the bed. "Are you two planning to abandon me?" His usually cold and emotionless eyes were filled with emotion. "I heard you."

"My lord, we would never dare abandon you," Gwen said.

"The moment you called me ’my lord,’ I already felt abandoned, Mother."

She shook her head. "Not at all. We were just talking about—"

"I want things to remain as they have been. You two are my parents, and Rina is my sister. This fact will never change," he insisted. "Once we return to the northeast, we all will carry the surname Rainier."

Shocked, Gwen looked at her husband and then back at Lucian. "This can’t be..."

"Or I won’t go back to the northeast, and we can continue living our lives on the move as before," he interrupted.

Her eyes turned moist. "After so much effort, you achieved it. I know how much you have struggled. You can’t give it up..."

"I can if it’s for you, Mother. I can give up anything," Lucian said. "You saved my life and raised me. For me, you have always been my mother. It was never just in name; I have always considered you two as my parents."

"Luke..." she choked on her tears. "Or shall I call you Lucian now?"

"You can call me Luke. I know it was your son’s name, who you sacrificed to save me," he said, tears welling up in his eyes as he imagined the pain she must have felt.

Tears rolled down Gwen’s cheeks. She could never forget the sight of a sword piercing her young son’s body as she hid, carrying little Lucian in her arms. That memory haunted her, and she blamed herself for not being able to save her own son. But there had been no other way.

Lucian wiped away her tears. "I will always be Luke for you two. Let Lucian be for others."

With teary eyes, she looked at him, only to hear him again. "Will you always be my mother?" he asked.

She nodded, unable to stop the tears, her throat choked with emotion.

Her husband, who had been sitting silently, couldn’t hold back his tears either.

Lucian looked at him. "Father?"

The man nodded, speechless. Like his wife, he had witnessed their son’s death but had known their duty was to protect the last Rainier.

Rina, standing outside the room, heard everything. She wiped her tears and walked back to resume preparing breakfast.

"Mother, how is your health?" Lucian asked. "I had to be away, so I couldn’t pay as much attention to you."

"You’ve already done enough. I’m doing well now. Master Erich truly is a magician. We should thank Orian for that," Gwen said, then asked, "Where is that lad? Is he doing well?"

"Mother, there is something I need to tell you." Lucian explained everything about Oriana and how her family also suffered because of the Mortimers.

Gwen and Paul were shocked to hear it.

"That poor child," Gwen said.

"But she is fine now," Lucian assured her. "She is the Crown Princess of this kingdom and happy with her husband."

"I’m glad to know that. But it seems we won’t be able to meet her now. At least, I wish to visit old Phil’s grave," she said.

"I will take you to meet her as well, don’t worry," Lucian assured. "I believe she wishes to meet you as much as you do. She was worried about you, but I had to keep her away while I was dealing with dangerous things. I didn’t want her to be associated with me in any way."

"You did well."

"After everything here is taken care of and His Majesty allows us to, we will leave for the northeast," he added.

"We will do whatever you say," she replied, then turned to her husband. "Can you give that to me?"

Her husband handed her a cloth bag with a few things inside. Gwen rummaged through it and pulled out a small wooden box. She handed it to Lucian. "Now, you should keep this with you."

Lucian accepted the box and opened it, his fingers tracing the white jade token. It was given to him by his biological mother after he was born and was the proof of his identity.

He didn’t have any memories of his mother but it wished to cherish this thing which was given by her, making himself feel that she was still with him.

That day in the royal court when he saw the portraits from Aurialor, he wondered if any of his family members potraits were still there in their residence. Once he would go there, he would make sure to find them if they still existed and Luis had not gotten rid of them already.