Chapter 1

Stella Everette remembered me three days later.

She hurried to the prison and found me sitting in a corner, fully healed and writing something.

"Lucian, I'm here to take you home," she said.

I put away the piece of parchment in my hand. Unlike before, I didn't angrily demand to know why she had treated me this way.

I simply nodded, walked out of the cell, and left her behind.

Stella watched me walk away, her brows furrowing in irritation.

She thought I had no reason to throw such a childish tantrum just because she had forgotten to let me out.

With that thought, she quickly caught up to me and explained, her voice edged with irritation.

"Louie wasn't doing well, and his injuries were worse this time. I was so busy taking care of him that I lost track of time. That's why I didn't let you out sooner."

When I still didn't answer, her frown deepened. Her tone grew reproachful.

"If I didn't come, couldn't you have found a way out yourself?

"You expect me to think everything for you, but you're not a child anymore. Stop relying on me for everything."

Suddenly, I remembered the day that marked five hundred years since Stella saved me.

She had gone alone to Mount Skyven for a crimson lotus I loved. She came back covered in blood.

I cried and told her she had been reckless and childish, but she merely kissed me on the lips and said, "Happy 500th birthday, my Lucian. I'll always be by your side."

I had endured 100 years of being skinned alive because I couldn't let go of the Stella who had once loved me so earnestly.

Now, it was time for me to leave.

I stopped looking at her and headed for my room, but Stella stepped in front of me.

She stepped in front of me and spoke coldly. "Louie is too weak. Only your blood essence can make him feel better."

100 years ago, after Louie Linfield's first failed suicide attempt, he never woke up. Stella was frantic.

I couldn't bear to watch her lose the only family she had left, so I gave Louie the blood essence my mentor had given me to keep me alive.

It turned out Stella hadn't come today because she was worried about me in the prison. She had come for the blood essence that could save Louie's life.

I stepped back and looked at her from a distance of one arm's length.

I softly asked, "If I give you my blood essence, will you end our engagement?"

I didn't want to return home, still bound to her by our contract.

Stella's expression darkened, and she reached out to grab me. But when she touched my scarred palm, she quickly pulled her hand back.

I gave a bitter laugh.

This body covered in ugly scars was indeed hard to look at.

Ever since Stella saw the scar running across my chest 100 years ago, she had never touched me again.

I still remembered the look in her eyes back then. Her gaze was filled with shock, fear, and disgust.

She had fallen from the bed and didn't even dare look at me. After making up a flimsy excuse, she had fled.

But hadn't she been the one who had torn that wound open?

Stella frowned at me. After hesitating for a long moment, she reached out to me once again and grabbed my sleeve.

"Lucian, stop being difficult. Louie is too sick to wait while you carry on like this."

Ignoring my resistance, she restrained me with her demonic power and took me to Louie's room.

She used the dagger I had gifted her to cut open my wrist and forced out the last drop of my blood essence.

Then she gently fed it to Louie.

Completely drained of strength, I collapsed onto the floor as the world around me blurred.

All I could see was Stella's gentle, concerned gaze.

She was staring at Louie lying in bed and didn't spare me even a glance.

How could she possibly remember what I had told her when I gave her the dagger?

"Stella, this dagger is the only thing in this world that can kill me," I said.

At the time, she carefully stored the dagger, promising me that she would never let anyone hurt me.

The truth was, I had already chosen to trust her before she even said those words.

I just never imagined that one day, she would use my trust to cut me nine times.

The blood essence my mentor had given me to protect my life was exactly nine drops.

Before I passed out, I remembered what my mentor had said to me in the prison.

"Seven days from now, once Lucian Veyne's body dies, Kieran can go home."

Lucian is me, and so is Kieran.

In four more days, I would return to the High Heavens.