Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 56786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
It had been the right thing to do.
It had been.
Doing the right thing had never hurt more.
The dream—the memory—didn’t always end the way it had in real life. Sometimes Lucien’s subconscious tried to fix the memory, make the ending happier, make Aksel realize that Lucien had lied and come back to him, but even in his dream, Lucien knew it wasn’t real.
Even in his dream, he couldn’t believe it.
Chapter Fifteen
At first Lucien tried to come up with some excuse in order not to attend the house party.
But Royce wouldn’t hear of it. “You’ve been avoiding social functions as it is,” he said, frowning deeply. “You haven’t gone out at all ever since Eric left. You were pretty sociable when the kid was around, and I thought you’d started feeling more comfortable at social gatherings, but it wasn’t that at all, was it?”
Lucien shrugged, averting his gaze. He had made more efforts to attend society events when Eric had been there. Eric was a Pelugian omega who had been a guest in their house for a few months. He was a distant relative of Royce’s mate and the Cleghorns had given him shelter while he tried to recover from a scandal back home. Lucien had sympathized with the poor kid: he could certainly relate to being the center of a nasty scandal. Eric’s scandal hadn’t been as bad as his, of course, but he was still a young, vulnerable omega whose reputation had been ruined through no fault of his own.
Lucien had wanted to help the boy. That was why he’d made an effort and accompanied the Cleghorns and Eric to various social gatherings: he had wanted Eric not to feel alone. And Lucien was cynical enough to know that his presence distracted people from Eric’s scandal, making it look insignificant in comparison. And it had worked marvelously. Until it didn’t.
When Eric had returned to Pelugia, Lucien had stopped going to social events. There was little point anymore.
“You know I hate them, Royce,” Lucien said. “I attended them only for the sake of the kid. I have no fondness for being gawked and sneered at. Please. Don’t make me attend this house party.”
Royce gave him a long look.
“And it has nothing to do with Aksel?”
Lucien’s stomach clenched. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Lucien, I’m not blind,” Royce said with a sigh. “I know I’m rarely home, but even I have noticed that you and Aksel avoid each other these days. Haydn says it’s actually been like this for a year.” He gave a rueful smile. “Which was news to me. I really need to spend more time with the family.” He ran a hand over his face tiredly. “But this job has been sucking me dry; it’s a good thing Haydn works so close or I would neglect my mate too.”
“Everything is fine, don’t worry,” Lucien said, forcing a small smile.
Royce’s dark eyes bored into him. “Did he do something to offend you? Do I need to have a talk with him?”
“No!” Lucien said. “Look, we did have a bit of a... disagreement, but the fault was entirely mine, not his. Please don’t bring it up with him.”
Royce hummed thoughtfully, not looking entirely convinced. “Fine,” he said. “But I will not allow you to become a hermit, Lucien. You will attend this party. It’s a perfect opportunity to socialize: it’ll happen in your own home. No one will dare to insult you in your own home.”
Lucien wished he could have Royce’s confidence—or rather, Royce’s naivete.
***
There were fifty-two guests in total, and eighteen of them were young omegas from some of the most influential families in the country.
“Nothing but the very best for my son,” Vagrippa all but gloated as they waited outside the house to greet their guests.
Aksel’s lips twitched into something that wasn’t quite a smile, but his face remained stony, his eyes inscrutable as he looked steadily at the arriving guests.
Lucien averted his gaze away from him and looked at the arrivals, too.
His stomach knotted up when he saw a gorgeous omega walking toward them. The omega was very young and startlingly beautiful. His coloring was similar to Lucien’s, but he was about fifteen years younger, if not more, and his body was normal: lithe and fit, his flat chest and stomach accentuated by his elegant clothes.
Lucien immediately became painfully aware of his own body. He had stopped being self-conscious about his curves while he and Aksel had been having sex, but now, seeing the young omega Aksel had supposedly approved of… Maybe Aksel had just been humoring him all along and he actually preferred slim, fit omegas. It would make sense.
His stomach clenched when Aksel stepped forward and shook the omega’s hand. He couldn’t see Aksel’s face, but he could see the omega’s: it was lit up with a lovely smile, and his eyes roamed over Aksel’s handsome face before traveling over his tall, muscular body.