Chapter 29: The Truth And The Lie
When Lumien’s gaze met the red-haired woman’s eyes, he soon froze in place. At first, he recognized her as the beautiful woman Bernard had once tried to flirt with. That incident had left a vivid impression on him, not only because of Bernard’s quirky antics but also because of her unique charm and striking features.
Yet, as he examined her face more closely, his heart suddenly skipped a beat.
A wave of unfamiliar yet strangely familiar memories began to flood his mind, catching him off guard. A strange blush crept to his neck, his face was burning.
For a moment, his mind became dazed, and by the time he snapped out of his trance, he noticed his family looking at him with concern.
"What’s wrong, dear?" Eleanor asked in a worried tone.
Azalea didn’t say anything, but the questioning look in her eyes said enough.
"I..." Lumien stammered, struggling to find the right words. When he glanced at the red-haired woman again, an unexpected surge of heat coursed through his body, overwhelming both his emotions and his senses. "I need to go to the bathroom," he blurted out.
His face was strangely flushed red.
He couldn’t make sense of the memories swirling in his mind. Were they real or just figments of his imagination? Either way, he felt an urgent need to clear his head, and a splash of water seemed like the best solution.
His family didn’t seem to think much of his sudden request and allowed him to leave.
Azalea narrowed her eyes as she watched Lumien’s retreating figure, but ultimately didn’t follow him.
At the center of the hall, the red-haired woman followed Lumien’s departure with her gaze before turning to Duke Sauron beside her. "I’m going to the bathroom,"
"Return quick," was the only reply that came from Duke Sauron.
The red-haired woman took another glance at Duke Sauron before disappearing down the corridor.
...
As he walked, he struggled to make sense of it all. The memories felt nonsensical, ludicrous, almost like something out of a dream. And yet, they also felt real in a way he couldn’t explain.
Even if I’m getting pent-up from the lack of sensual activity, isn’t it a bit absurd if I start hallucinating about doing it with a girl I barely know and only saw once?
What’s wrong with me? Am I experiencing what they define to be going insane over a woman?
Lost in thought, Lumien wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings and suddenly bumped into someone. The softness of the impact brought him back to reality.
As he turned to apologize, his words caught in his throat. His smile vanished, and he instinctively took a step back, eyes widening as if he’d seen a ghost.
"You..."
Standing right in front of him was exactly the person that had occupied his mind. It was the beautiful red-haired woman.
Isn’t she supposed to be in the main hall? How is she here?!
Lumien’s heart, which he thought had calmed down, stirred once more, now roiling with wild emotions. His mouth went dry as unbidden memories he had tried to suppress came rushing back to his mind.
At the moment, the woman leaned casually against the wall, her lips curling into a sly smirk. "Judging by your reaction, it seems you remember our passionate moment, huh?"
"Ah?"
S-she knows?!
Wait! Does that mean those memories weren’t just my imagination? Those indecent scenes... they actually happened?!
Lumien felt a fresh wave of shock hit him, his mouth hanging open in disbelief in an ’O’ shape, almost comically resembling a surprised Pikachu. A lot of questions rose in his mind.
"Follow me," the woman said simply, without waiting for his response. She turned and began walking away at not-so-fast steps.
When Lumien looked at her slender back, he couldn’t help but recall the scene of last night. Her naked slender back, her enticing curves, her bouncy buttocks. In just a few moments, his breathing turned ragged.
He quickly shook his head to try and clear the dirty thoughts and took a deep breath.
Lumien hesitated for only a moment before making up his mind.
I need to know what really happened.
Without further delay, he followed after her.
However, he hadn’t expected the place she’d led him to would be a women’s bathroom.
"Hey, is it even okay for me to come in—" he started, but she had already stepped inside, ignoring his words entirely.
Gritting his teeth, Lumien paused briefly before steeling himself.
Well, there’s no turning back now.
With a silent sigh, he thickened his skin and followed her in.
To his relief, the bathroom was empty. He exhaled deeply, grateful that they wouldn’t run into anyone else.
Taking a moment to gather his thoughts, he drew in a deep breath, ready to ask the questions that had been weighing on him. But as soon as he opened his mouth, he realized he was completely at a loss for words.
How do I even begin?
Should he ask:
"Hey, did we... you know... did it last night?"
Or something more direct, like:
"Did we have sex last night?"
Both sounded way too blunt and awkward. He just couldn’t bring himself to ask something so personal and embarrassing to someone he barely knew.
As Lumien wrestled with his internal dilemma, the woman broke the silence.
"To be honest, if I were you, I’d do my best to forget about what happened last night."
"Why?" Lumien subconsciously asked, her words catching him off guard. Her response, however, confirmed one thing: he had indeed done the ’deed’ with her.
Despite having once lived in an era where one-night-stand relationships were the norm, he always considers himself as someone with a relatively conservative mindset.
He believed sex was something sacred, meant to be shared only with someone special—someone you were committed to.
Of course, he couldn’t deny the hypocrisy in his beliefs. On one hand, he felt sex should only happen within a committed relationship; on the other, he often fantasized about building a harem. Wasn’t that a contradiction? Still, it was a dilemma he figured he should only be worried about in the future. Perhaps it was possible to love multiple women at the same time.
For now, though, his mindset left him feeling conflicted. The fact that he had crossed that line with her left him with a complicated mix of emotions. Guilt tugged at him, but so did a sense of responsibility.
Thus, in the beginning, Lumien had planned to ask whether the memories haunting his mind were real. If they were, he had resolved to step up and take responsibility, even if it meant committing himself to a woman he barely knew.
But her words threw him off completely. Telling him to forget it ever happened left him stunned—and, if he was being honest, a little hurt.
Her casual dismissal of the situation stung his pride more than he expected.
"Why? Because there’s no point in remembering such a meaningless event." Her words felt like sharp needles, piercing every corner of Lumien’s pride.
Meaningless?
He couldn’t help but feel a spark of anger as his frown deepened. "Was it really meaningless to you? Even though it was your first time?"
If his memory served right, there was blood trickling down her private part when he first penetrated her. It hadn’t just been his first time—it had been hers as well. That was why his feelings were so complicated, and why he’d felt a sense of responsibility toward her. Yet, despite that, it doesn’t seem like their feeling were mutual.
"Pfft!" She let out a dry laugh, her tone mocking. "You’re just a kid, so, it’s understandable that you viewed virginity as something special. Unfortunately, I don’t see it that way."
Before Lumien could respond, she smiled and said, "Do you want to hear the truth or a lie?"
Without waiting for his answer, she continued, "The lie is... I’ve taken a liking to you. Out of hundreds of people, I specifically chose you to be the one to take my first time."
She paused briefly, her smile fading slightly. "As for the truth? It doesn’t matter who took my virginity, as long as it served the purpose of my objective."
Lumien let out a contemptuous laugh, feeling foolish for going through an emotional rollercoaster when it was clear the other party didn’t care at all.
"What kind of objective are you trying to achieve by whoring yourself?" he didn’t held back his tongue.
Faced with Lumien’s accusation, the red-haired woman smiled faintly but remained silent.
Lumien scoffed at her silence, crossing his arms. "What exactly did you do to me last night?"
While he remembered sleeping with her, the memory came in a puzzle with missing pieces. He couldn’t remember everything, especially the details that had led him to end up in bed with her.
He might be like any other guy who appreciated beauty, but the idea of sleeping with a woman who was practically a stranger was hard for him to accept.
That’s why he was convinced that in the missing details of the night, there had to be some external factor that pushed him into having sex with her.
"I added an aphrodisiac to the drink you had before going to bed," the red-haired woman admitted bluntly.
Lumien’s eyes widened in realization, then narrowed as a smirk crossed his lips. "So honest? Aren’t you afraid I might tell others what you did to me? The drug could still be in my system, after all."
The red-haired woman shrugged casually. "You can try, but don’t blame me for what happens to you and your family if you do."
"Are you threatening me and my family?" Lumien’s voice rose in anger.
"No," she said with a slight smile, twirling a strand of her hair nonchalantly. "I’m just warning you in case you’re thinking of doing something stupid."
Her calm, indifferent attitude only fueled Lumien’s frustration. He was on the verge of punching the wall out of sheer irritation, but the thought only lingered for a second before he forced himself to let it go.
He felt like the angrier he got, the more amused she became. To her, he was nothing more than a toy to play with.
With that thought, he took several deep breaths, calming his raging heart. Once he regained control, he avoided looking directly at her, letting his eyes rest on anything else in the room.
"Since we’re done talking, can I leave now?" he asked flatly.
"After you promise to act like last night never happened,"
"Sure," Lumien agreed without hesitation.
The red-haired woman paused, seeming to consider something before adding, "And pretend you never met me."
"I don’t even know your name," Lumien snickered in ridicule.
"Good," she said with a radiant smile. "Then you can go."
Lumien left the room almost immediately, as if he couldn’t stand being in the same space as her any longer.
The red-haired woman finally relaxed her left hand, which had been tightly clenched the entire time. She had gripped her fist so hard that her nails had left deep marks in her palm.
