Transmigrated Into a Cannon Fodder Phoenix, Stuck With the Ice Dragon-Chapter 121: The First Love

Lucian crouched in front of the wheelchair, lowering himself until he was eye level with his mother.

"Everything is going to be okay," he said quietly, holding her hand as if it were the only thing anchoring him to the ground. "I’ll make sure he won’t come again."

Arienne’s lashes fluttered. She closed her eyes for a brief second, then nodded weakly.

After Severin left, and Lucian calmed down, slowly, the cold began to fade from the room.

The frost that had crawled across the walls melted into thin streams of water. The air no longer bit at the skin. The heavy pressure finally lifted.

Only then did I release my flame barrier.

The warmth rushed back into my body all at once, and I let out a breath I hadn’t even realized I’d been holding.

Lucian straightened and turned toward me. For a moment, he just looked at me as if checking whether I was still here and not something he had imagined out of fear.

"Are you okay?" he asked softly.

I nodded without speaking and turned away, my feet already carrying me toward the stairs.

But he stopped me, his hands closing gently around my arms.

"We need to talk..."

His voice trailed off as his gaze flicked around the room, looking for someone. Then his tone sharpened, familiar authority returning like armor.

"Take my mother to her room. Now."

Ena, who must have been waiting nearby, appeared at once and hurried to Arienne’s side, "This way, my lady."

As Ena began to wheel her away, Arienne turned her head toward me.

"Seraphina..." Her voice was weak, but certain.

"Believe him," she said. "And I don’t mean blindly... I only mean this..." She paused, her eyes soft as she looked at me.

"For the first time in many years, I saw him smile without pain behind it." She met my gaze with quiet sincerity, "And that... cannot be faked."

Then she was guided away, leaving her words behind like a fragile echo in the air.

Eventually, we moved to our bedroom.

I sat at the edge of the bed, hands folded on my lap, staring at the floor as if the patterns in the carpet might give me answers before Lucian did. The silence stretched between us, heavy and careful, like both of us were afraid that one wrong word would crack something beyond repair.

The door finally closed behind him with a soft click.

I didn’t turn. I heard the sound of him crossing the room instead, slow, measured steps, until he stopped in front of me.

Then he crouched down, looking at my eyes like a man who was afraid of losing the one person sitting in front of him.

He lifted his eyes to mine.

"What do you want to know first?" he asked quietly. "I’ll tell you everything... everything you want to know. No lies. No hiding. No half-truths."

His voice wavered, just slightly. "Ask me anything, Seraphina. I won’t run from it."

I swallowed. For a moment, I thought my voice would fail me, but it didn’t.

"Your first love..." I said quietly. Then lifted my eyes to his, "Who is she?"

The question landed between us like a blade wrapped in silk.

Lucian didn’t look away.

But something inside his eyes shifted slowly, like ice cracking under pressure.

He released a breath through his nose, long and heavy, then gave a small, grim smile that wasn’t really a smile at all, "I was expecting that question."

His hand tightened round mine.

"She wasn’t a mistress," he said first, firmly. "Or a story my father twisted to hurt you. She wasn’t someone I used and threw away."

He lifted his gaze again, straight into mine, "She was a promise I never got to keep."

Silence settled between us, heavy and unmoved.

I swallowed, then asked quietly, "She’s dead?"

Lucian shook his head.

"No," he said. "Barely alive... She’s in a coma."

My brows drew together. "A coma...?" I whispered. "What happened to her?"

Lucian looked away, his jaw tightening like it hurt to breathe.

"It was... Elyndra," he said at last.

The name felt like frost against my skin.

"She appeared back then, the same way she always does," he continued. "With lies wrapped in kindness. With help that always costs everything." His lips curled faintly. "She told me she could protect the woman I loved. That she could hide her from my father, from the clan, from fate itself."

My hands slowly clenched in my lap, the word ’love’ suddenly tightened my chest, "And you believed her," I said softly.

He smiled, a forceful and sad one.

"I was desperate enough to believe anyone," he admitted. "So I agreed. I did what she asked. Followed every instruction." His voice broke a fraction. "I was the one who brought Elyndra into her life."

My chest tightened again, "What did she do?" I asked.

Lucian swallowed, "She gave her something she said would ’shield’ her," he said bitterly.

"A charm. A spell. A lie." His eyes finally met mine again, dark with guilt. "It didn’t protect her. It shattered her."

My heart sank.

"She collapsed that very night," he said quietly. "No warning. No sickness before. Just... gone." His fingers curled into his palms. "And I... I didn’t even stay long enough to understand what was happening to her. That was the moment I broke. I hunted Elyndra down and destroyed her body with my own hands."

I stared at him, my thoughts a tangled mess.

"Then... Why did you believe her in the first place?" I whispered. "I thought fairies were forbidden. Banned to the end of this world."

Lucian let out a breath that sounded more like a wound than air.

"They are," he said. "Because they twist fate. Because wherever they go, disaster follows." His jaw tightened. "That’s exactly why she found me."

I frowned. "Found you...?"

"She appeared when I was at my weakest," he went on. "When I was ready to tear the world apart just to save one person. Fairies don’t offer hope to the strong. They prey on the desperate."

His voice lowered. "She didn’t come as a fairy. She came as a miracle."

I stared at him, hollow inside. For a moment, my lips refused to move.

But I guessed my brain refused to give me peace, a word slipped out from my mouth, "Dumb."