✓ | The Clandestine Memoir (Fate's Transgression Series, #1) [UNDER REVISION]

Special Chapter: Lucius 01 | The Meet Up

The Meet Up

I still remember the time when we first met.

A loud thud echoed in our ears when leveius fell off the tree, then it was followed by a grunt with a displeasing sound of a curse coming from his unruly mouth. I turned to my side when I heard Frencia giggled while holding her bow, and still aiming it to where my dumb brother was.

"Cia, that fucking hurts!" Leveius grunted after recovering from the fall. He let his butt sit on the soil while beaming his exposed displeasure. His royal suit crumpled from his expenditure, while his hair mixed with sweat and moss from the tree where he hid.

"My gosh, this hunt is boring," my youngest sister, Frencia, expressed her mockery over an obnoxious voice, yet her face shows every form of what happiness means. A smile crawled on my lips upon seeing her feel cheerful.

"Do I look like prey to you?!" Leveius, in his defense, stood up and walked towards our direction. "I was just having my me time here and you both came uninvited, ruining my sanctum and foremost, hurting me!"

"I didn't hurt you, I aimed for the tree!" Frencia defended.

"It was half an inch away from my precious brain, Cia!"

"But, I hit the tree," Frencia said in a sly tone. "Quit pouting, brother. I never hurt you even when I think of it multiple times. I know my grounds," she added, putting her bow on the sheath.

"It doesn't change the fact that you almost hit me!" he said.

I inhaled air trying to signal my two siblings from their morning routine: bickering over things that don't match up their age. Their gaze locked on my posture and I gave them an obvious look. Levelius let out an exasperated sigh before he started fixing himself, while Frencia rolled her eyes and walked away.

"Darn that brat," Leveius murmured while looking at Frencia's disappearing footsteps. She went back to the barn, and didn't even bother looking back. "You're training her with a weapon, but she aims tremendously slow. I might be dead the next time she holds her bow."

"What were you doing in that tree anyway," I said, without stressing it as a question. "Father has been looking for you. The chamberlain said you left the room at dawn, and didn't even bother to report your whereabouts."

"Does it matter? I am old enough to stop following these courtesy rules." Leveius gritted his teeth. "Speaking of rules, isn't the Princess of Henia arriving in the Palace this week? Have you prepared your courtesy?"

A scoffed escaped my mouth. "Screw courtesy."

Leveius pointed his forefinger at me while bearing a grin in his thin lips. "Exactly, Lucius. Screw all these rules, all these traditions. I just want to become a Scientist, have my own laboratory, explore the wonders of the world, and...stay away from marriage, which will likely not be subjected to you since you are ordered to marry her."

I glared at his physique, but the punk just pulled off a mocking laugh. I was left to clear my throat as an answer before my feet began to march. I followed the trail where Frencia took, and Leveius followed the same path.

"Will you reject her?" he asked.

He doesn't seem to know the cues of why I didn't answer his statement earlier. My brother may be smart but he is dumb when it comes to conversations that involve humor and shutting up. It would be a perfect revenge if our father, the King, would force his first born son to find a bride, instead of finding the next spot for his expenditures. I sometimes hate my father for not being strict on my siblings, yet his fatherhood to me revolves around discipline.

We arrived back at the Palace, but the moment we stepped into the drawing chamber, everyone was uneasy. I even saw Frencia walking back and forth in the corner, thinking—- overthinking.

"What happened?" I asked, marching towards her and stopping her uneasiness with my hands holding her shoulders. "Did something happen to Francin? Where is father?"

She shakes her head. She immediately eradicated the distance and buried her face on my chest. I embraced my little sister and my mind began to welcome anger upon knowing that my sibling is feeling hurt. "Francin is asleep, father went to the courtroom."

"Then, what caused our little Cia to feel agitated?" Leveius asked upon his arrival. "I noticed the Courtroom is filled with the Royal Subjects, and I happen to overhear that it was an urgent assembly subjected to the Princess of Henia."

"She is not here yet," I said.

Frencia pulled out from my embrace and looked at me, while her hands traced on my arms. "They lost the envoy. Something must have happened to the Princess while she's on her way here."

At that moment, my sense of responsibility arose. I didn't let her finish and march away from the drawing room and enter the court chamber. The entire royal subjects were surprised by my sudden outburst, but I walked with determination towards the chair of the King.

"Allow me with a group of knights to escort the Princess of Henia in the Palace safely."

That statement changed the outcome of my life. A gush of urgency filled my system to utter such words that had never been heard from me. The royal subjects were confused, but I only needed my father's approval, and when he obliged upon my request, it was the start of the new life.

With our skilled horses used for battles, we galloped the terrain leading to the west. In our journey, there was nothing that bugged me more than thinking of the Princess' safety. A foreign feeling that struck my being and forced me to act againsts my accord. Well, maybe because if something bad will happen to her, Huin will be attacked by Henia.

We arrived in the bamboo forest and stopped when we heard a series of distress. A carriage got attacked by bandits, and it wasn't just a normal vehicle that transport people. It has a symbol of Henia's pledge.

The Princess.

The moment I opened the carriage and extended my hand, it was also the same moment that a pair of golden orbs welcomed my sight. Her burgundy hair was in a bun with a tiara that holds it from frizz. She was wearing a dark red dress, accompanied with a silver cape with wolf's fur.

Her scared eyes locked on my wandering pairs. After a moment that made our world freeze, her gloved palms slowly lifted from grasping her dress and accepted my offer. The moment I touched her hand, my chest pounded with a foreign feeling.

I didn't remove my gaze for I fear that I will not bear not looking at her. Her fair white skin shone when the beam of the sun peeked through the bamboo trees. Her glowing skin began to lure my eyes, and her effortless beauty snaked into my subconscious.

"Your highness..."

Even her voice seems like a tune I want to listen to all day. But, as I delve deeper into my amusement, a chain of an irresistible responsibility echoed in the back of my mind. She is a traitor.

Their clan was once a traitor, and even with truce was bestowed, and collaboration commenced, there will still be a chance for vengeance.

I pulled my hand away, an effort she noticed but she didn't express her bafflement. Upon securing her safety and the slaughter of the bandits with the Knights I am with, I return to my horse.

With no emotions, I said, "Let's go back to the Palace."

I glanced at her confounded face that began to express uniformed disappointment. She lowered her head when some maids escorted her to a horse. It was the first, and the last glance I mastered.

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