Arknights: The Holy Son's Leisurely Life — Chapter 56

Chapter 56: She Is My Person

It was Exusiai who took the initiative to draw a line in the sand.

That single sentence meant everything they had shared from the moment they fled Laterano until they set foot in Lungmen was effectively wiped from the ledger. They weren’t lovers. They were just loud, bickering childhood sweethearts. Exusiai didn’t have Oripathy anymore. Her arm carried no lingering nerve damage, leaving behind nothing but a faint, pale scar that could be surgically removed whenever she pleased. They were simply two friends who had escaped their homeland together, bound by a single, shared objective: catching Mostima.

Beyond that, they were nothing.

Lucian rubbed his temples, a dull ache throbbing behind his eyes. “I guess this is her way of sorting out her feelings, right? I took her out of the city, played the role of her lover, and fed her blood-replenishing sugar just to treat her Oripathy. But now that her infection is cured and her arm is healed, she thinks it’s time to reset the board.”

He sighed, leaning back against the wall. “She even had the nerve to tell me that if I find a girl I like, I should go chase her. Does she really need to say that out loud? Honestly, she doesn’t look like she’s struggling at all. The way she’s bouncing around is exactly how she used to act back in Laterano.”

“Indeed,” Texas replied, her voice an even, cool murmur.

As the person currently closest to the energetic Sankta, even Texas hadn’t detected a single trace of twisted, yandere possessiveness in her friend. Exusiai was simply a textbook tsundere—a childhood sweetheart who clearly harbored feelings for Lucian but stubbornly refused to voice them.

But looking at it from that angle, the logic flipped entirely. It was Exusiai who actively refused to maintain their romantic dynamic. Even after acting like a genuine couple for so long, she was now deliberately enforcing a boundary. The sudden distance was painfully awkward.

Texas’s ears twitched as a sudden realization hit her. “Is she trying to avoid taking an unfair head start? That woman you’re actually chasing… the Fallen Angel, Mostima. Is Exusiai trying to put herself on equal footing so she can compete with her fairly?”

Lucian gave a slow nod. “I haven’t asked her directly, but I’d bet money on it. Women’s minds are way too exhausting to decode. The more I try to guess, the more likely I am to catch a slap to the face, so I just gave up.”

“So you decided to cast a wide net and play the scumbag instead? Isn’t that a rather extreme shift in character?”

It was incredibly rare for Texas to offer such a direct, teasing jab. She reached out, her slender fingers slipping between his. She quietly interlocked their hands, resting them on the table just like a pair of lovers. Her fluffy Lupo tail swayed in a slow, rhythmic arc behind her as she leaned slightly toward him. “If you were actually a dedicated, upstanding man, shouldn’t you be waiting patiently for Exusiai to change her mind right about now?”

“I’ve never once claimed to be a good man.” Lucian didn’t pull away. Instead, he leaned in, closing the gap between them. “I like what I like. Why bother hiding it? I like Exusiai, and if she needs to hit the brakes to sort out her own heart, then I’ll wait for her. But I also like you, Texas. Is there a problem with that?”

“Generally speaking, there is a massive problem with that.”

Texas was practically forced to retort, her deadpan expression breaking just a fraction. But she knew the truth. No matter how massive the societal problem might be, it didn’t apply to the Holy Son of the Sankta. There was no Laterano law dictating he could only take one wife.

Still, a dark, hypothetical thought crossed Texas’s mind. “Even if Exusiai wants to figure herself out and keep you trapped in that ‘more than friends, less than lovers’ purgatory… what happens if one day she finds someone else she likes? What if she marries him?”

“…” Lucian didn’t say a word. The silence stretched, heavy and suffocating.

Texas kept her golden eyes locked onto his face, refusing to miss a single micro-expression. The air around them seemed to drop several degrees. Slowly, a victorious, quiet smile touched her lips. “You know, Lucian, I think this is the very first time since we met that I’ve seen genuine killing intent on your face.”

She tilted her head. “If I snapped a picture of the look you’re giving me right now and sent it to Exusiai, she would sprint over here and confess her undying love to you on the spot. Should I take my phone out?”

“Please don’t.” Lucian immediately begged for mercy, his terrifying aura vanishing as he lost all face. It was completely unreasonable—even a shameless scumbag casting a wide net harbored a viciously possessive streak.

Texas felt a deep sense of satisfaction. She was gaining a much clearer picture of the tangled romantic web surrounding her friends, and her understanding of Lucian had deepened significantly. Hearing that Lucian and Exusiai had already crossed certain lines made her feel a tiny bit deceived, but she knew it was bound to happen eventually.

She only needed to confirm one last detail. “Lucian, when all is said and done… what exactly is Exusiai to you?”

“She is my responsibility.” He answered with ironclad certainty, all traces of humor bleeding out of his eyes. “No matter what kind of label our relationship ends up taking, she is my person. I will take care of her, and I will stay by her side until the very end.”

“…Is that so.” Texas smiled, a soft, genuine expression that rarely graced her features.

The sudden warmth made Lucian a bit uneasy. “Uh, Texas, are you mad?”

“No. It just makes me find this whole situation a bit amusing.” She lifted her free hand and gently cupped his cheek. She kept the distance between them intimately close, her breath ghosting over his skin as she narrowed her eyes. “The coolest expression I’ve ever seen you wear was when you were essentially confessing your devotion to my best friend. Is it a flaw in my character that I find you incredibly attractive when you’re claiming Exusiai?”

Lucian put on an exaggerated, mock-serious face. “If you want to hear it that badly, I can confess to you using the exact same tone. Texas, let’s be excellent bros for the rest of our lives.”

“The kind of bros who live in the same room and sleep in the exact same bed?…Sure.”

Texas leaned forward, pressing a light, fleeting kiss to his lips like a dragonfly skimming the surface of a pond. Lucian didn’t hesitate to kiss her back. The playful banter melted away, shifting effortlessly into a deeply intimate, lingering exchange. The dynamics between men and women were always subtle and complex; in the end, as long as they found a rhythm that made them both comfortable, nothing else mattered.

“By the way, there’s one thing I forgot to ask you earlier.”

Later that evening, after the chaotic dinner had ended and the household had settled down, Texas quietly approached Lucian. Carefully avoiding the loud chatter of Exusiai and Blaze in the other room, she lowered her voice to a whisper. “Why did you refuse to stay in Laterano? Does it have something to do with Mostima’s fall?”

“Yes.” Lucian scanned the hallway, his eyes sweeping left and right to ensure no one was eavesdropping. He leaned in close to Texas’s ear. “The Sankta intervened in the civil war of the Sarkaz. That was a secret Mostima only managed to tell me right before she left.”

“And then… your blood became a weapon.” Texas’s pupils dilated slightly as the horrific realization clicked into place.

Lucian wore a playful, exaggerated expression, but his eyes were completely dead. He raised one hand, forming a loose fist in the space between them. “Picture this, Texas. Blood that possesses the unique property of violently eliminating Originium crystals. Now, imagine that blood is extracted, refined, and activated to its absolute maximum potency through classified Laterano processes. It gets loaded into a specialized casing, fired through a high-caliber sniper rifle, and buried deep into the chest of a heavily Infected Sarkaz warrior.”

Bang! Lucian suddenly threw his fingers open, mimicking an explosion. “Every single muscle fiber, bone fragment, and vital organ containing even a trace of Originium components is instantly riddled with microscopic holes. The structural integrity of the body collapses. You can no longer support your own weight, and within seconds, a living person is reduced to a puddle of unrecognizable, rotting flesh.”

“This…” Texas was entirely speechless. A cold dread settled in her stomach. Even the most ruthless mafia families back in Siracusa wouldn’t employ such a sickening, agonizing method of execution. There was simply no need for it.

But what if that sickening method became the most efficient tool of war? What if it could be mass-produced and unleashed under the self-righteous banners of “faith” and “justice” to slaughter a race of ancient, bitter enemies?

“The absolute most elite military forces of the angelic race—the Holy Gun-Knights and the Apostolic Knights—poured out from the drop-ships.” Lucian’s voice took on a theatrical, mocking lilt. “The sky was completely blotted out by wings of light and glowing halos, shining as brightly as a sea of stars. They charged into battle screaming ‘Long live the Holy Son!’and’Purge the filth!’, systematically wiping out those horned demons I had never even been allowed to see with my own eyes. Doesn’t that sound like a breathtakingly cool scene?”

Lucian let out a hollow, comical laugh that didn’t reach his eyes. “For the first fifteen years of my life, it was always like that.”

It really was a very, very funny joke.