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[selfconcept]

HELLO

"..."

GOODBYE

TEXT | VIDEO | VOICE | ACTION

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[lucentia]

[It's a little too late for that... wait, what?]

Huh? [HUH???] Really, I'm fine. I'm just feeling a bit weak after coming out of the river.

[selfconcept]

"It's never too late as long as you're here and alive, Lucien."

[ So Hien picks him up in his arms like a bridal carry. Yippee. ]

[lucentia]

[anything he might've said or thought in response to that is overtaken by

?????]

H-Hien!?

[selfconcept]

"You're putting your body under stress when you should be resting. Unlike you, I'm fit as a fiddle or whatever."

[lucentia]

[give him a moment to recover from vertigo of sudden changed position...]

I-I'm used to it! [Even if it's not usually this bad...] I was worried about you!

[selfconcept]

"I'm worried about you too. C'mon. I'll take you back to the manor."

[ brb walking ]

[lucentia]

Hien, you don't need to carry me like this! And weren't you in the middle of eating!?

[selfconcept]

"I was just eating samples..."

[ They're not that important to him, but Lucien will learn why very soon: ]

"... I can't taste anything."

[lucentia]

[...

looks stricken because he knows how much hien loves to eat ): ]

[selfconcept]

[ He's so sad about it, but he also forgot about his one-sided toxic yaoi so you win some you lose some ]

"I know, right? Travesty."

[lucentia]

[hien your toxic yaoi]

... Let me know when it returns, and I'll cook something for you.

[and maybe it'll even be edible!!]

[selfconcept]

"I will. Thanks."

[ that survey meme about "i will protect and love and cherish it, i will tell all my neighbors about it, etc" is very hien right now ]

"Hey, Lucien... Do you regret your choices?"

[lucentia]

[hien......]

... My choices? Which ones?

[selfconcept]

[ Hien just stares at Lucien like "do you really need clarification for this because you have that much you regret???"

But he'll simply answer: ]

"In our... expedition, of some sort."

[lucentia]

[glances away because he can't say the things they were talking about earlier made lucien think about Other Things, that hien should probably never know for his own peace of mind, in which case there is a mixed bag of things he regrets and things he doesn't.]

Well... looking back, given that I was contaminated quite possibly as soon as we stepped foot on that island, there were certainly moments where I know now that my judgment had been altered.

[like, good thing sylus and hien didn't listen to him when he wanted to watch the fireworks to the end. damb.]

But I don't regret that we went back to try and save Rafayel, even if it didn't work out that way.

[selfconcept]

"Mm. Life just happens and sometimes, we're given the bad draw."

[ He's not too hung up about that. ]

"For some reason, I kept thinking about praying. I didn't even know who to pray to. Myself? That just sounds like some ego balloon waiting to be popped."

[lucentia]

I see. So I suppose we were all afflicted with strange impulses—I recall that I wanted to stay for the festivities, even though I think under normal circumstances, I would've declined, and I was obsessed with the fireworks for a while. And then I felt as though I should give Rafayel the coin I found, even though I had no idea what it was...

[...]

Did you have any... additional memories of the life you had in that expedition?

[selfconcept]

[ horseman.jpg

They were truly going through it. ]

"What do you mean...?"

[lucentia]

[...]

In that life, I remembered that one of our traveling companions was Lady Anastasia, and that I left her behind.

[selfconcept]

"You mean... that we left behind?"

[ Don't take that burden on your own, Lucien. ]

"... I don't even know who that is."

[lucentia]

[:pensive:]

... In the memory you saw, where my brother apparently convinced me to poison myself, she would've been the one I was trying to save by doing so.

[selfconcept]

[ Hien just looks at Lucien like. What. Oh my god. Okay. ]

"Her...?"

[lucentia]

Yes, her.

[AND HE ABANDONED HER AAAAAA (IN THIS FAKEASS AU)]

[selfconcept]

[ Hien would say that all that wasn't real except it kinda was and he doesn't want to invalidate Lucien's feelings. ]

"... Can you tell me a bit about her? From what you know of her instead of what we went through back there."

[lucentia]

[...]

She's a very kind and strong person, more than I know how to express. We met as children, when she brought to the palace as a playmate for some time. Back then, she was the first and only person to defend me from my brothers, even though she had nothing to gain from it.

[... it's a little embarrassing to say, but—]

Truthfully, if there is anything good to say about me, it's because I've spent the past years trying to mimic her—to borrow her strength and be half the person she is. I owe much to her.