Chapter 3 – The Vanishing of Lucien

The kingdom never discovered who took him.

One evening, after leaving a council meeting alone, Lucien's carriage was found abandoned on a lonely mountain road.

The guards were unconscious.

The horses had fled.

Lucien Everhart had disappeared without a trace.

The entire Empire erupted into chaos.

Cassian sealed the capital's gates.

Adrian searched every border himself.

Rowan used forbidden detection magic until he collapsed from exhaustion.

Elias unleashed his network of spies across the continent.

Caelum prayed day and night, yet even the divine could not reveal Lucien's location.

Six months passed.

No clues.

No ransom.

Nothing.

Only silence.

The Prison Beneath the Mountains

Lucien awoke in darkness.

His captors never showed their faces.

They wanted only one thing.

"The Everhart heir is a threat."

"Tell us who taught you."

"Who commands Silver Eclipse?"

"Who are your allies?"

Every time Lucien remained silent, they tried another way to break his resolve.

They isolated him.

They deprived him of comfort and hope.

They tried to convince him that everyone he cared about had abandoned him.

But every lie met the same calm response.

"...You're wasting your time."

As the months passed, Lucien changed.

Not into someone cruel.

Into someone harder to deceive.

He memorized the guards' footsteps.

Counted every hour.

Observed every weakness in the prison.

He waited.

Patiently.

The Escape

On the first night of winter...

The prison shook.

Not because someone came to rescue him.

Because Lucien had finally decided to rescue himself.

Years of preparation, hidden magic circles, and careful observation came together in a single night.

The chains that restrained his mana shattered.

The prison walls cracked.

The guards barely understood what was happening before Lucien slipped past them.

He did not stay to seek revenge.

He walked into the snow.

Free.

Home

Weeks later, the gates of Everhart Estate opened.

The servants froze.

A lone traveler stood in the falling snow.

His silver hair had grown long.

His once-bright smile was gone.

His golden eyes were colder than winter itself.

"Young... Master?"

Lucien gave a faint nod.

"I'm home."

The entire estate burst into tears.

When Adrian arrived, he stopped several steps away.

For the first time in his life...

He didn't know what to say.

Lucien smiled faintly.

"I'm alive."

Adrian crossed the distance in an instant and embraced his younger brother without a word.

The other four male leads arrived before sunrise.

None of them asked what had happened.

They could see it in Lucien's eyes.

Something precious had been taken from him.

A New Resolve

Days later, Lucien stood before the map of the Empire.

Colored pins marked dozens of noble houses.

Secret organizations.

Merchant guilds.

Unknown symbols.

"I don't want revenge," he said quietly.

"I want the truth."

He looked toward the capital.

"Someone united factions that should have been enemies."

"They framed me."

"They kidnapped me."

"They wanted the kingdom to fear me."

He closed the map.

"So I'll uncover every lie."

"And if those responsible threaten the innocent again..."

His voice became steady.

"I'll tear their conspiracy apart."

Dreams of Another Life

That same night...

Cassian dreamed.

He stood in a palace from another lifetime.

Beside him was Leonard Ashbourne—the original protagonist.

Across the hall stood Lucien.

Forgotten.

Alone.

Cassian remembered himself turning away.

Remembered believing rumors instead of seeking the truth.

Then he watched Lucien walk toward his lonely death.

Cassian woke with tears on his face.

"...No..."

Rowan dreamed next.

He remembered choosing ambition over trust.

Ignoring Lucien's warnings.

Only realizing the truth after it was too late.

He awoke gripping his blanket.

"What have I... forgotten?"

Elias saw himself laughing with Leonard while Lucien's name was dragged through the mud.

He had investigated too late.

By the time he uncovered the conspiracy...

Lucien was already gone.

Caelum dreamed of praying over a grave.

A nameless grave.

The inscription read:

"Here rests the man who saved the Empire, though no one believed him."

He fell to his knees in the dream, unable to stop weeping.

Even Adrian dreamed.

He remembered failing to protect his little brother.

Remembered arriving only after the battle had ended.

Remembered carrying Lucien's lifeless body through the rain.

He awoke with a cry.

The five men gathered before dawn.

Each had seen different memories.

Different regrets.

Yet every dream ended the same way.

Lucien had suffered because they had failed to stand beside him.

Cassian broke the silence.

"...These weren't ordinary dreams."

Caelum nodded.

"They were memories."

"From another life."

Elias looked toward the horizon, where the sun was beginning to rise.

"If fate has given us another chance..."

Adrian finished the thought.

"Then this time..."

Rowan clenched his fist.

"...we will protect him."

Far away, in a hidden chamber beneath the capital, the mastermind behind Lucien's kidnapping smiled as another piece of the plan fell into place.

"The memories have begun to awaken."

"Good."

"Now let us see whether destiny... or free will... will decide the end of this story."

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