The Anomaly Beyond The System

Chapter 169: Pretending peace

Over half an hour passed with Lucian resting his head on Seraphina’s lap, appearing completely asleep while his mother remained exactly where she was.

Her gaze never left his face. Again and again, her eyes traced his features, noticing countless subtle differences after his transformation into a vampire.

The sharper jawline, the slightly longer eyelashes, and especially the pale, bloodless skin.

The atmosphere around Seraphina had long since calmed.

The earlier traces of instability on her face had disappeared, leaving behind a serene mother whose cold fingers remained buried within his dark hair, absentmindedly stroking through the strands every now and then.

The library remained completely quiet, so quiet that she could hear every one of his inhales and exhales.

Occasionally, the soft rustle of the open book—the one left on the table—as its pages shifted from an unseen breeze.

Other than that—

Nothing.

Just mother and son.

And the pretended peace that existed between them.

Then—

After several more minutes had passed, Lucian’s eyes slowly fluttered open.

The first thing he saw was his mother’s unreadable... mostly blank expression staring down at him from above.

And the moment she noticed the change in his face...

"You’re awake," Seraphina muttered quietly.

Her expression immediately softened into a gentle smile.

Though... something about that smile felt slightly different than usual.

Lucian gave a quiet hum before slowly lifting his head from her lap.

The warmth on her thigh disappeared, leaving her with an odd sense of loss.

For a brief second, Lucian simply looked at her, observing her, trying to read something hidden beneath her expression.

"Dear?"

Seraphina tilted her head slightly, and a faint confusion appeared in her eyes.

As he saw that, Lucian shook his head inwardly.

Before she could understand what he intended to do, he suddenly leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her.

Seraphina froze.

Her entire body went rigid from the unexpected embrace.

"Lucian...?"

She quietly muttered once again, uncertain, confused.

Yet Lucian...

He didn’t answer.

Instead, he simply tightened his hold slightly and patted her head.

Seraphina’s fingers twitched slightly as she felt his warm touch.

’She has suffered too much...’

The thought crossed Lucian’s mind as he looked down at her, feeling a dark resentment mixed with guilt toward himself for not noticing her state earlier.

Even though he had drifted into sleep from the comforting feeling of resting on her lap, the moment she had shifted even slightly, he had woken up instantly.

When her fingers trembled, when her body began shaking from the nightmarish memories she couldn’t escape...

He had noticed everything.

He had wanted to open his eyes immediately at that exact moment...

But he didn’t know how she would react to that—no, maybe he did know.

Seraphina... she would hate herself for it, would blame herself for showing such weakness before her son.

Unlike Lia, who could—struggling, but still relatively easily—talk about what had happened to her, his mother was the exact opposite.

She was someone who would keep everything to herself, no matter what.

It was seriously confusing where she got that from.

And there wasn’t even much he could do about it.

There weren’t any physical wounds. They were old, hidden scars within her mind... scars that had existed for years and were far more difficult to remove—if that was even possible.

So right now, all he could truly do...

Was staying beside her, so she could lean on him whenever she needed to.

Seraphina remained completely confused, but even after calling his name once again, he didn’t respond.

For a moment... a sudden realisation flashed through her mind.

Her pupils dilated violently. Her stomach tightened.

’He... h–he didn’t... hear—’

But before that horrifying thought could even finish forming—

"I missed you."

Lucian finally spoke, his voice low and soft.

Seraphina froze once more.

Then, the tension inside her chest instantly disappeared.

Inwardly, her mind relaxed, and after hearing his words, a soft, genuine smile slowly came to her lips.

"You could’ve said that earlier."

Her voice came out quiet, almost affectionate, as her own arms moved around his back, patting him gently... as if he were the one needing comfort.

For several seconds, neither of them moved.

Then, eventually, Lucian pulled away and leaned back.

Seraphina immediately felt the warmth disappear, but didn’t show any change on her face.

"Anyways..."

Lucian looked at her relaxed posture for a moment before speaking.

"We are going back home."

Seraphina blinked.

"Back to Earth?"

Lucian nodded.

There were still too many things waiting for him there, too many unfinished matters he had to deal with.

And besides—

He couldn’t remain inside Scarlett Castle forever, because as comfortable as this place was, it wasn’t truly home.

And he definitely wasn’t going to make Valentina his sugar mommy, despite how tempting the idea occasionally felt.

And the most important thing...

He needed to become stronger, much stronger.

His vampire transformation had increased his power far beyond his expectations, causing his body to change dramatically during this time.

His muscles had become denser, his shoulders broader.

And his height...

Before entering Valentina’s training, he had already grown taller by a few inches, and during those two months, he had almost reached 190 cm—6.2 feet in height.

His body was lighter, and even his senses had become frighteningly sharp, enough for him to hear Seraphina’s breathing and even the beating of her heart if he focused properly.

His senses had already become superior to those of many noble vampires... at least, that was what Valentina had told him during one of their training sessions.

But despite all of that—

He was still weak compared to the many noble vampires residing within Bloodveil.

He was still a C-rank awakened, and that had to change. Quickly.

And the fastest way to increase his strength was obvious.

He needed to devour monsters, which immediately led to the idea of going back to Earth, where dungeon breakouts were still happening, and monsters were still pouring into the world.

Pushing those thoughts aside for now, Lucian shifted his attention back toward Seraphina, who appeared to be lost in her own thoughts.

He slowly stood up, and she followed immediately afterward, lightly straightening her nightgown before pulling down her sleeves.

"I’ll go talk to Valentina."

"I’ll come too."

Lucian tilted his head slightly.

Then nodded.

"Okay, let’s go."

"Wait."

Seraphina immediately rushed toward the table and closed the open books before quickly gathering them together.

"Mom, what are you doing?"

"Keeping the books in their place," she said, placing them all into a neat stack.

Lucian was about to point out that there were maids who would handle that.

But instead—

He grabbed the stack of heavy books from her hands and easily lifted all of them in one go.

"I’ll help."

Seraphina didn’t argue, and after a few long yet peaceful minutes, all the books were back in their exact places.

Lucian tried to open that book once again, but Seraphina immediately snatched it from his hands and shoved it back into its shelf, silently glaring at him while doing so.

A few moments later, both of them finally stepped out of the library.

The massive doors closed behind them.

"Do you know where she is?" Seraphina asked.

Lucian nodded.

He didn’t actually know where Valentina was, but he didn’t need to.

Immediately, he tried using the Tracking Skill he had gotten from the System, which could let him find anyone as long as he remembered their name and face—which he obviously did.

But unfortunately...

[Warning!]

[The level of the target is impossibly too high compared to the host.]

It seemed the skill was useless right now.

’I used this skill for the first time, and it didn’t work.’ His lips twitched.

’Awesome.’

[That’s because you used it on a Transcendent.]

Akasha’s retort came immediately, almost like a mother defending her children.

[Do you think it would work on literally anyone? That would be a bit too overpowered.]

Lucian sighed inwardly.

’Fine. My bad.’

Truthfully, even he knew it was a ridiculous expectation to think it would work.

But he was just experimenting with his skill... since he hadn’t really been able to use it on anyone while being held inside that strange, dark forest.

Abandoning the failed skill, Lucian switched to the old, much simpler method.

Seraphina’s brows furrowed faintly as she noticed him standing still.

But then—

His crimson eyes glowed, and in the next instant, the numerous red silhouettes within the castle appeared before his vision.

His gaze swept through them rapidly before landing on the slightly darker, heavier silhouette among them all.

One whose presence felt so still that it was as if she didn’t even exist.

Valentina.

"She’s in the training ground."

Lucian finally spoke.

Seraphina simply nodded.

She didn’t ask how he knew that—since it was clear he was using some skill similar to those strange skills he had possessed since the start of the apocalypse.

Alongside her, there were a few more familiar presences—and though he couldn’t exactly pinpoint who they were, he was fairly sure they were Vivienne, Lia, and Kanna, along with Valentina.

Just as he was about to dismiss his ability—

Valentina’s silhouette suddenly moved.

Her head slowly turned.

Directly toward him.

A strange chill crawled down Lucian’s spine.

Unconsciously, his lips curled into a wide smile... because he was absolutely certain she had the same expression right now.

"Lucian...?"

Hearing her slightly concerned voice, his vision immediately returned to normal.

The crimson world vanished.

The silhouettes disappeared, and only the castle corridors remained.

"Nothing," he said, shaking his head lightly.

"Let’s go."