Lucian quickly peeled Exusiai and Croissant off of him and cleared his throat. "Sorry you had to see that."
"I'm the one in charge of Penguin Logistics. Just call me Lucian."
"Of course, Mr. Lucian. Welcome to Rhodes Island."
Amiya offered him a polite smile and held out her hand.
Even with her long rabbit ears, the small Cautus girl barely reached Lucian's chin. Up close, she looked even more delicate. Lucian once again wondered how someone so young and small could be Rhodes Island's leader.
Questions were one thing—manners were another.
He looked down at Amiya's hand.
(Rings on every finger? What's she using those for?)
Both her hands were covered in pale teal rings. They looked like they'd scrape against everything—not exactly practical.
But asking about it the moment they met would have been rude, so he reached out and took her hand.
The moment their fingers touched—
"—Urgh!"
"—Ah!"
Both recoiled from a jolt of searing pain.
Lucian felt as if he'd plunged into ice water—every drop of blood in his body frozen stiff. A sharp stab ripped through his chest, violent enough to make him look down—
—and what he saw stunned him.
A sword was buried in his chest.
Then he realized it wasn't happening to him. It was a vision—someone else's memory.
A woman's memory.
He saw the hem of a long dress. Before the blood spread, it must have been a beautiful white gown.
A whirlwind of questions spun through his head:
Whose memory is this? Why can I see it? Who killed this woman?
He tried to lift his gaze, to see who held the sword—
—but the hallucination shattered.
He was back in the room on Rhodes Island.
Amiya stood before him, her reaction nearly identical—clutching her chest, gasping, face drained of color.
Blaze rushed to Amiya's side. "Amiya! Are you okay? Where does it hurt? I—I'll go get Kal'tsit right now!"
"N-No, it's fine. I'm fine."
Amiya caught Blaze's arm, still holding her chest as she breathed deeply.
Her color returned quickly. She nodded to Blaze.
"It's all right. Don't worry. …Mr. Lucian, are you unharmed?"
"Yes." Lucian nodded.
A moment ago, he had felt death with impossible clarity—a visceral certainty that he'd been run through. Unpleasant, to say the least.
But knowing it was an illusion made it tolerable. He mentally filed it under "experience: stabbed through the heart."
And Amiya clearly understood that he'd seen something.
The little rabbit girl exhaled and turned to Blaze.
"Blaze, could you take the rest of Penguin Logistics for their medical checks? I'd like to speak with Mr. Lucian alone."
"Huh? Alone?"
Blaze looked back and forth between them, frowning.
"I mean, I can… but why? Are you sure you're feeling okay? Don't push yourself."
Amiya gave a soft smile. "I know. I can take care of myself."
"I just want to discuss a special contract with Mr. Lucian, and I'd like to keep it confidential for now. Is that all right?"
Lucian nodded. "Sure. I trust you."
Ever since that handshake, the subtle sense of being watched had faded.
Whether that meant Rhodes Island had accepted them—or that his contact with Amiya had triggered something—he didn't know.
But he could tell one thing clearly: Rhodes Island had hidden depths. And he needed to understand them.
Blaze led the others out, leaving Lucian and Amiya alone.
When the door closed, the two simply stared at each other for a moment, the silence growing awkward.
Amiya finally broke it, flustered.
"Um… Mr. Lucian, would you like milk or orange juice?"
Lucian laughed. "No other choices?"
"Uu…"
Amiya blushed. "Kal'tsit says I'm only allowed one cup of coffee a day. If I drink it too early, I get sleepy in the evening… Ah! There's tea! I can serve you black tea, Mr. Lucian!"
Lucian almost melted. The little rabbit was too adorable.
He grinned and pulled out his thermos.
"Tea is fine. But if you're curious… want to try my fresh-made soy milk?"
"—It's spicy!!"
Amiya squeaked the moment the red soy milk hit her tongue, sticking her tongue out and coughing as tears welled up in her eyes.
Lucian sipped his plain white soy milk smugly. "The spicier it is, the better it is for you. Come on, drink up. If you really can't handle it, mix it with plain soy milk. It'll weaken the effect a little."
"…Please let me mix it."
Amiya surrendered, still sniffling, pouring herself half a cup of plain soy milk before adding a splash of red. Only then did she start drinking again—tiny, cautious sips.
When she finally recovered, she asked quietly:
"Mr. Lucian… your blood really can alleviate Oripathy, can't it?"
Lucian countered, "You already figured it out?"
Amiya nodded.
She held her cup with both hands, her voice steady despite the lingering heat.
"After Blaze's routine checkup, we found her Originium Crystallization density and fusion rate had decreased dramatically."
"With Rhodes Island's current level of treatment, the best we can do is stabilize a patient's condition. We've never once heard of anything that could alleviate Oripathy in just a few days."
She gazed at him, blue eyes unwavering.
"We also analyzed the Sugar Cubes you gave Blaze. They were made with your blood, weren't they?"
Lucian raised an eyebrow. "And why assume it's mine?"
"Even if you detected blood in the candy and knew it helped Oripathy, shouldn't your first assumption be some rare creature?"
Amiya nodded.
"Yes. That was my initial thought. An unknown species, perhaps. I've never heard of any race whose blood shows absolutely no trace of OriginiumCrystals."
"But someone aboard Rhodes Island knows your identity."
Her eyes shone brightly.
"You are the Holy Son of Laterano. The one written in ancient Sankta doctrine—the Holy King who will descend before the end of the world to deliver final judgment and purge all sin."
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