Chapter 23 – Lucien Monroe

  Merik abruptly stood up and slammed the desk, glaring straight at Landon.

  Landon was unfazed by his action but weirdly enough, his eyes carried some traces of guilt and regrets, again.

  It was unlike him.

  Nonetheless, these traces cooled Merik off and he slowly sat back onto his chair.

  “I’m sorry, Merik. I should have been able to help, as your Head Captain, as your senior.”

  Merik snorted slightly but replied in a steady tone.

  “You don’t need to be sorry. I understand. It wasn’t your will, after all.”

  Merik didn’t really mind because he understood how the things worked – what he really worried was them finding out about his secrets.

  And the way Landon was acting a little bit, strange, as well. On the other hand, if Landon knew, the first thing he would want to ask would be Merik’s powers. If he didn’t ask till now, maybe there was a slight chance that couldn’t be the case.

  Merik calmed his heart from beating wildly and kept his indifferent expression.

  Landon coughed slightly and continued, but this time his tone firmer and more decisive.

  “Merik, as a fellow colleague, I will warn you. You should take care of yourself more. You should tread carefully everywhere you go. And also...”

  Landon lowered his voice to the point it came out as a whisper but loud enough for Merik to hear.

  “I believe they were watching you. They claimed it was for the mysterious being but in hindsight, they were closely paying attention to you. I didn’t know the reason but still, I just think you should know this as much as I do.”

  Merik was shocked before complex emotions overwhelming him in an instant. What he was fearing was actually right!

  Why was he being watched? What did he even do?

  They know. They know! Is it because of my power or something else?

  He kept pondering in panic for several moments and he couldn’t come to a reasonable answer.

  He was anxious. He tightly clenched his teeth and fist at the same time, to at least distract his heart towards the pain.

  Does he know?

  He looked up at Landon and saw that the man was still with guilt-ridden gaze – not one of questioning.

  “Why... why were they watching me instead of helping me? What were they even trying to look for?”

  This time, Merik was acting anxious naturally but his eyes were intently observing Landon’s expressions.

  However, to his surprise again, Landon seemed to be anxious, as well. Then, the Head Captain slowly answered,

  “I don’t know. All I know is that it was their top priority and nothing else seemed to matter. What they were looking for in you, I have no idea. And that makes me want to ask... why would they want to observe you, Merik? What really happened?”

  The two men’s gazes met each one another.

  Merik gently sighed before replying in a low tone.

  “I wouldn’t know. All I know is that I blacked out after pulling the trigger. That’s all.”

  “I see.”

  With both of them went into deep thoughts, the room turned silence once again.

  Merik finally felt a bit at ease and genuinely thanked his superior officer.

  It seems he doesn’t know.

  “I must thank you again, Landon. Thank you for warning me and at least, coming to my rescue. Also, Mrs. Green told me how you carried me back home.”

  “No need. I would gladly do it for my subordinates. It’s the least I could do.”

  Merik lightly smiled at the mention of “subordinates.”

  “Well, then. Your humble subordinate will take his leave. I still need to stroll for my daily check-in after all.”

  “Don’t worry about it, too. Cora said she would do it so I believe she had already left for it. You should take a good rest. Only come back when you’re fully healed.”

  Merik raised his eyebrows and praised in his mind. He nodded slightly and got up.

  “Oh, I have to ask...Arghhh...!”

  A heartrending pain assaulted his body out of nowhere which made Merik trembled uncontrollably and dropped onto his knees.

  “Merik. What happened? Merik.”

  Merik was grabbing his chest in a tightened grip as if he was in a heart attack, but only this time, it was far more painful.

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  There it was, again. The devouring flames.

  Landon in panic stood up from his chair and held Merik’s shoulders.

  The pain was unbearable; he was being tormented under immense pressure both physically and mentally.

  He familiarly felt that he was being devoured.

  After several moments, the pain slowly subsided.

  Landon was about to call out for help but he was promptly stopped by Merik.

  “I’m okay. Don’t worry about it. The injury isn’t gone completely yet, but nothing a day of rest can’t fix.”

  “Go home. Don’t come back if you’re not completely healed. That’s an order.”

  Merik was able to slowly drag his feet towards the door and turned his back towards Landon.

  And he replied in a restrained manner.

  “That’s the first order from you that I will ever enjoy.”

  He politely closed the door and left his worried superior behind.

  Landon was in a daze staring at the door.

  He strangely found himself tightening his fist, even hurting himself slightly but he didn’t let go of it nonetheless.

  Then, his mind started to shifted back to last night, precisely towards that very particular moment.

  The leader of the Light’s Envoy, Lucien Monroe, was observing how Merik was struggling against the monster.

  However, his gaze seemed unperturbed by the conflicts happening in front of him.

  “Your grace, Merik seems to be in danger, shall I go help?”

  The one who could no longer stay still was, Landon and he promptly requested to help his colleague.

  A certain glint of light flashed in Lucien’s eyes which pierced straight into Landon’s very own thoughts.

  His blue eyes and his extremely calm demeanor screamed of an unshakeable confidence but it wasn’t his vibrant appearance that held the overwhelming presence over his surroundings; it was the way he carried himself.

  “By all means, do what you believe is right. Helping a person in need is, after all, a noble thing to do. Isn’t it, Head Captain? And moreover, he’s your beloved subordinate.”

  The corner of his lips slowly curled up in a satisfied manner but Landon felt that his smile was not expressing his intentions, in a bit.

  Furthermore, the way how the rest of the Light’s Envoys were acting – standing in reverence near Lucien himself made Landon relentless and anxious.

  He knew Lucien and his kinds weren’t to trifle with mundane matters.

  After all, he was one of the six Light’s Envoys, Light’s most trusted spear and shields.

  Which meant…

  “We, as Light’s children, should never be restrained in any manners. If you believe that you are doing for the greater good of our Empire, what you decide shouldn’t weigh on your mind needlessly. We are but humble servants of Light, that doesn’t mean we don’t possess a will of our own.”

  The light smile never disappeared from the Envoy’s face but Landon felt that he was slowly losing his breath from the immense pressure he was suffering from.

  It was a test. The test to see his royalty.

  Loyalty and furthermore, whether he would be someone useful for them. More so since he was a freshly promoted leader of his division.

  The uncertainties were slowly strangling him, making him far more indecisive than he should be.

  “Ordering me outright would have been better.”, he thought to himself.

  He was frustrated with himself because he had always been one with extremely sharp decisions.

  But now, under the immense pressure of supreme authorities, it didn’t seem to matter.

  Light’s Envoys, as well-known as they were, were extremely secretive in their doings.

  Even as a Head Captain of Overseers, Landon could only read glimpses of how they functioned as they upheld the rules of their whole Empire, from the shadow.

  When he stole a glance at Lucien again, he thought for a moment that the mysterious, golden-haired envoy was like a shining light unfazed and untainted by this eerily dull grayness.

  Landon, could more or less guess the intentions of these Envoys – they wanted to check and learn something about Merik, albeit it was still unknown.

  They wanted to draw out… something from him.

  What is it that you do to even attract the attention of these absolute authorities, Merik?

  Even more, they wanted to know where Landon’s royalties laid, catching two birds with a single stone.

  He couldn’t help but wonder what Albert would do in this situation.

  “Doing what is right takes courage but doing what is essential for the Empire…takes something more than courage. You know what it is?”

  The vibrant envoy didn’t bat an eye even when the sacred lantern was destroyed but when Merik fell onto his knees after missing his shots, his eyes emitted a light of subtle intrigue.

  Landon heart sank at the sight.

  Landon looked at Merik and back at Lucien in a panic.

  “It takes a strong will to act.”

  The already sharp enough gaze of his intensified to a certain degree.

  It no longer mattered what he chose; as it wouldn’t be good either way.

  Landon decided in a heartbeat, preparing his footsteps but then...

  His tracks stopped abruptly from even attempting to move and he was caught up in a daze once again.

  It was, in fact, his selfish choice to learn of Merik’s backgrounds, after all.

  Despite Albert warning him not to, despite his morals and responsibility as a leader, despite being an heir of the Yarrows, he painfully wanted to learn of it.

  That was the whole reason he decided not to intervene, even now.

  Merik, who seemingly always managed to solve impossible cases alone and even came out unscathed every time.

  Merik, who seemed so nonchalant, cool and imposing, and whose eyes told a story of a self-fulfilled, unshakable man.

  Merik, who was shrouded in mysteries right from the very beginning, who in turn, effortlessly became Albert’s favorite.

  He knew Albert for a very long time, the guy wasn’t the type to choose favorites or what not.

  The mysteries around Merik were just like an impenetrable armor of a flawless knight and he couldn’t seem to chip even a tiny bit off its steel.

  He just couldn’t shake off his unsavory curiosity ever since.

  Lucien‘s smile widened ever so slightly seeing Landon speechlessly observing his subordinate’s struggle against his timely demise.

  “Landon Yarrow, it seems that my eyes didn’t betray me, after all. You certainly have potential, befitting of a true leader.”

  Lucien’s face raised up in a noticeable notch.

  “I must congratulate you for achieving your family’s ambitions as well. It is quite commendable. You’ve accomplished what your family has been painstakingly going for. Now, your voice speaks louder than all of them combined.”

  Landon in dejection was helplessly staring at both of his subordinates' lying figures with complex emotions burning faintly in his eyes.

  Nonetheless.

  “Thank you, your grace.”

  At this moment, without warning, Landon felt intense suffocation in his neck and under his own eyes, the entire atmosphere was turning pitch-black. Soon, he couldn’t see anything anymore.

  He couldn’t feel... things anymore except the unsettling sense of intense fear. Fear of losing himself.

  Before he couldn’t understand what was happening, he heard a loud laughter from the man beside him.

  Lucien Monroe broke out in amused laughter while staring intently at the slowly-spreading, pitch black smokes from where Merik previously was.

  Landon thought that he even saw traces of insane obsession, looming in the Light’s envoy’s excited eyes.

  Several moments later, a blinding light consumed all of them.