maid • kaeya

xxvi

• third person •

Luca's eyes narrowed, his head down, staring at the floor of the rattling carriage.

"Are you serious?!" his friend yelled. "Why would you let him kick us out?! Are you going fucking crazy or something-?!!"

August grabbed Leon's arm, pulling him back. "Oi... Calm down."

Leon huffed, pushing him off. August observed Luca's defeated demeanour, chewing at his lip.

"Luca, you can't hide this from us forever," he warned. "You're not going to be able to deal with this alone. We'll all get killed."

Luca shook his head. "They're not after you two..."

"Then who are they after?!" Leon exclaimed, his fists clenched. "Nothing's making sense anymore, Luca! Who is that damned man?!"

Luca's expression wasn't visible as his head hung low, his hair covering whatever they could see of his face. Perhaps that was why Leon could actually yell at him now.

"I-It..."

Luca shook his head.

"It has nothing to do with the Winery," he whispered. "Nothing to do with Master Crepus. This trip has never been about any of them."

"What?"

Gripping his hair, Luca could feel his nails digging into his palm. "All this time..."

"They made everything so difficult... to lure me out."

"Who the fuck is 'they'?" Leon cursed. It took everything in him not to stand and give Luca a piece of his mind.

"Your family," August murmured. "Isn't it?"

Luca's breath trembled.

He couldn't help it as tears gathered in his eyes, his entire body frozen still.

"The Fatui was all just bait," he continued. "The man we were supposed to kill, making it so difficult for everyone else who was sent on this trip: it was all to get them to send me. And now that they've confirmed it is really me after all of these years, Mr Dumont has shown up."

"Mr Dumont is... my uncle," Luca muttered. "My mother's brother."

Neither August nor Leon were surprised. This was exactly what they had discussed privately, right before this meeting. Luca only ever acted this way when it came to family.

"Of course he fucking is." Leon rolled his eyes, leaning back. "And why do they want to kill you?"

In his tears, Luca suddenly let out a small bittersweet chuckle. "The same reasons why any other businessman wants to get rid of me. As well as my betrayal... all of those years ago..."

"Now that Ilse's dead... they can take advantage of me as much as they like... My heart is too weak to fight against my family."

"They're not your family, Luca." August sat up. "No family would want their child to die."

"Is it not the same the opposite way? I cannot kill my uncle. He is still my blood."

Leon's mouth opened. August pushed him back, shutting him up.

"No matter what your heart wants, Luca," August muttered, "they still are willing to have your blood on their hands. I know you don't think she is to blame for this, and we don't think so either, so this must be an inside operation to stop you from disrupting and being an outside threat to the company. After all, they have never trusted her to take over."

"You were taught everything, Luca. They poured everything into you. Now that they've caught you in their web, they want to squeeze all of what you know out."