Chapter 28: Wet The Bed?!
When Lumien woke up the next morning, the first thing he did was groan loudly, cursing under his breath.
"Bloody hell, why does my whole body feel like it’s been hit by a truck?"
He winced, shifting uncomfortably. "Oh... my poor waist."
"Anyway, why does it smell so awful in here?" Lumien muttered, wrinkling his nose.
Then, a wave of confusion hit him as he glanced down at himself. "Wait, why am I naked? And where the hell are my clothes?"
As his gaze shifted to the bed, his alarm grew. "What the... why is my bed soaking wet?!"
For the next few minutes, Lumien sat clutching his head, his mind racing to piece together what could have happened the night before. Yet, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t remember anything in particular. It was as if nothing unusual had occurred, and he’d simply slept soundly through the night.
Staring blankly at the ceiling, he let out a long sigh. "Could I really have wet the bed? At my age? That’s unbelievable..."
"Or maybe it was one of those toilet dreams," Lumien muttered to himself. "You know, where you think you’re using the bathroom in your dream, but you actually do it in real life? Yeah, that must be it!"
The thought made him cringe. "If my parents or sister ever found out about this, it’d be the most embarrassing black mark in my history. I can’t let that happen!"
With newfound urgency, Lumien hurriedly scrambled to his feet. "I need to clean this mess up. Right now!"
As he bent down to pick up the scattered clothes, a sudden realization hit him. Right now, he wasn’t in his own room, rather, he was in one of the guest rooms of the Duke’s mansion!
As the truth sank in, he couldn’t help but become panic. If the Duke found out he had soiled one of the beds, Lumien was certain his family would be sent to the gallows without delay.
His movements became frantic as he scrambled to fix the mess. Fortunately, whether by design or sheer luck, there was a spare bedcover neatly folded inside the closet. Without a moment’s hesitation, Lumien stripped off the damp cover, bundled it up, and replaced it with the fresh one.
While he worked, he couldn’t help but notice that the wet spot on the bed smelled... odd. It wasn’t bad, just strange. For a moment, he wondered what it could be, but he quickly shook off the thought. Cleaning up was more important right now.
After what felt like forever, Lumien finally finished tidying the room. He threw his worn clothes and sheets into a bucket that his family servants would pick up later.
With the mess taken care of, Lumien hopped into the bathroom for a quick shower. For some reason, he’d felt sticky ever since waking up, and the effort he’d just put into cleaning just added another layer of sweat to his body. He couldn’t wait to rinse them off!
When he stepped out of the bathroom, he wasn’t surprised to see his sister sitting on his bed, waiting for him. Azalea had a habit of visiting him every morning, and locked doors had never been much of a deterrent for her.
Just as he opened his mouth to greet her, he noticed her crinkle her nose and brush her fingers against the bedcover.
Did she find out..?
Lumien’s heart pounded with nervousness, but he forced himself to stay calm. He greeted her with a hint of irritation in his voice. "Sister, I thought I told you to stop coming into my room without my permission. It’s called privacy, did you get it?"
"Pfft! Privacy? As if a kid like you had any privacy." Azalea retorted with a scornful laugh. Her eyes flicked back to the bed as she added absentmindedly, "Did you change your bedcover just now?"
Lumien froze for a second before replying, "Yeah. How’d you notice?"
"There’s barely any smell of you on it," Azalea muttered under her breath.
"Huh?"
"Nothing." She shrugged, brushing off her words. "I guessed it because it looks so fresh and tidy. So, what happened?" She turned to him with a curious look.
Before Lumien could deliver the excuse he had carefully rehearsed in the shower, Azalea blurted out, "You didn’t wet the bed, did you?"
"Ah?" Lumien froze, unsure if he should take this chance to tell the truth.
After a moment of hesitation, he sighed inwardly and said, "Actually... yeah, I did."
"What?! Really? No way!" Azalea stared at him, wide-eyed in disbelief, before bursting into laughter. "Puhahaha!"
Her laughter was so uncontrollable it went on for nearly half a minute, tears streaming down her cheeks. Eventually, she collapsed onto the bed, clutching her stomach as her whole body shook, trying unsuccessfully to suppress her laughter.
As she wiped the tears from her eyes, she gasped, "Ah, this is all your fault! I’m completely drained from laughing so hard. You’re always bragging about how grown-up you are, and now look at you—wetting the bed! Pfft! Hahaha! The more I think about it, the funnier it gets!"
She paused, then smirked mischievously. "Wait a minute. That night I came to your room and saw you changing the bedcover... Don’t tell me it wasn’t because you spilled water from a glass—but because you actually wet the bed?!"
"Sister!"
"Hahaha!"
Lumien watched her laugh, utterly mortified, his cheeks burning with embarrassment.
Sigh, I kind of regret telling her the truth...
After enduring her endless teasing, the two finally left the room to meet their parents.
"Please don’t tell our parents," Lumien muttered, his face still slightly red.
Azalea’s face was also flushed, but not from embarrassment, but from laughing too much.
"That depends on how well you behave~," she teased with a sly grin.
Lumien sighed, already dreading the mischief his sister was surely planning to torment him in the days ahead.
As the two walked down the corridors, they unexpectedly crossed paths with Marquis Duncaster and his family.
However, they could sense something was wrong with them immediately.
The Marquis looked pale and agitated, speaking hurriedly to his pregnant wife before rushing off down the hall with one of his servants. His wife, left behind with another attendant, appeared equally pale and worried.
The commotion quickly drew the attention of other nobles nearby, who began approaching the Marchioness to inquire about what was happening. Before she could answer, however, she suddenly collapsed, seemingly unable to bear the stress. Her servants moved quickly, carrying her away—likely to the infirmary.
Lumien and Azalea lingered at the scene for a moment, exchanging glances before deciding to return to their parents to inform them about what had just occurred.
When they reached their parents’ quarters, Lumien and Azalea found their parents already outside, fully dressed and waiting.
"You two are finally here," their mother said, her expression softening with relief.
"What happened?" Azalea asked.
"We just received some terrible news. The Marquis Duncaster’s estate caught fire last night. From what we’ve been told, there are no survivors. Everyone in the house at the time is presumed dead, including the Marquis’s eldest and youngest sons." their father replied in a grave tone.
Lumien and Azalea exchanged shocked glances as their mother commented.
"Sigh... How could such a tragedy befall such a happy family? Just yesterday, I spoke with the Marchioness. She was so proud of her eldest son. He’d recently graduated from the academy and was planning to spend a few months with the family before joining one of the official organizations to strengthen their family’s position among the nobility. His future is definitely bright."
Her voice faltered as she continued. "And the youngest... he was about your age, Lumien. Whenever she talked about him, her eyes would light up with joy..." Her words trailed off, and a soft sob escaped her as she brought a hand to her mouth, overcome with emotion.
Lumien’s father wrapped an arm around his wife, gently comforting her as she wept. Turning to the children, he asked, "Did you see anything unusual on your way here?"
"We actually ran into Marquis Duncaster," Azalea replied. "He seemed deeply worried and left the building in a hurry. His wife collapsed, though, and was probably taken to the infirmary."
Their father nodded thoughtfully at Azalea’s explanation. "Let’s hope for the best. Perhaps there’s still a miracle, and their sons somehow survived the calamity."
After a moment, he straightened and said, "We should take our leave as well. But first, we must bid farewell to the Duke."
Shortly after, Lumien, his family, and their servants made their way to the mansion’s entrance. Along the corridors, the nobles they passed were all discussing the tragedy that had befallen the Duncaster family.
From the snippets of conversation Lumien overheard, he learned that the fire was believed to have occurred during the fierce storm that swept through Arsnova last night. However, since the Duncaster estate was located several hours away, it seemed the storm hadn’t reached the area in time to extinguish the flames. That explained why the fire was able to consume the estate so completely.
Though, so far, the cause of the fire remained a mystery.
When Lumien and his family reached the entrance, they saw the Duke standing in the center of the hall, bidding each noble farewell.
As they approached, Lumien’s eyes were instinctively drawn to the tall figure standing gracefully beside the Duke.
It was a beautiful woman with long, straight red hair, and an exquisite face. She wore a proud expression, but Lumien, for some reason could feel her exhaustion.
As if sensing his gaze, the tall lady abruptly turned around to meet his gaze.
