A Midsummer Breeze

Chapter 39

If humans had no greed, then they wouldn't be human at all. And if they had too much greed, then they would be monsters.

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The first thought that came into Lucius' mind when he saw his student with her partner in the garden, he recalled the events he had with his partner. And the last moment he spent with her.

It wasn't the crystal orb he activated to see how things were going, it was the small gap between the giant oak tree that showed him. Having rest by the tree, he decided to interfere with their short conversation.

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A sudden downpour of water splashed on the couple, the Duke was confused by the strange occurrence while on the other hand, Estelle had a hunch on who poured water. As she looked up to gaze into one of Lucius' entrances she found herself welcomed with glittering constellations she's never seen before.

The stars greeted her with smiley sparkles and twinkly lights in the night sky. This was the only spot in the forest which provided them 'shelter' from the storm. 

Augustus wiped off the water and glanced over to Estelle to see her enjoying the view in which the other world offered her. But for him ; it was the same dark sky. He never knew what stars looked like nor how they would appear to him. All he could see was red gases of strings enveloping a pitch-black sky.

That was all he could experience with every passing night. Ever since he was a child, his mother would describe how mesmerizing the sky is, and all he would do was simply smile at her. 

"Your Grace the stars are beautiful." Estelle exclaimed with bright warms eyes to her husband only to find him gazing at her instead of the ravishing sky of glitter.

"I can't see the stars Estelle." the Duke glanced away and sat back down beside her.

'I can't see, Estelle.'

Those words rang in her ears , she remembered how Lucius outlined he could only see the flow of mana and their ranges. Not knowing what to feel about the current situation an idea popped up. 

Estelle manifested her mana into a huge area of the plain, this sparked in the eyes of the two spectators, different shades of orange, red, pink and even purple started to swirl around the porcelain Duchess. 

"Dust." Lucius muttered. 

She touched the center of the 'dust' of mana and it exploded into various constellations of a completely different world. Augustus could see thin, blue strings attached to her heart, which later turned to a deep purple, making the dust seems like the so called 'stars' his mother described.

There were disformed patterns of each 'star' with a unique color of it's own. For the first time in his life, he knew what stars looked like. 

And for the first time in Lucius' life, he discovered the joy of looking at mana and rediscovered his memories. Faint points of where he was laughing with a young boy of dark royal blue hair and darker shades of yellow. Lucius glanced back at his own hair and wondered who the young boy was. 

How did feel like to not see anything but the color, flow and range of mana for as long as he can remember? He, himself didn't know the answer. But the one thing he never forgets was those words stuck at the back of his mind,  reminding him the consequences of breaking the rules.

'INGRID! T-the next we meet...'

'When is that?'

'Whenever...'

This was their last wish.

'Be by my side.'

'Forever...Your...'

Just like that he never saw the previous Ingrid again, time froze as he saw her crumble away while all he could was watch and carry on the burden of his actions, the only 'memories' that remain are just portraits drawn by Titania. But Lucius had a feeling she liked a particular plant. Something soft, kind but poisonous and addicting.

<Here's a digital drawing I drew of Lucius with his parting with the previous Ingrid :3

Long hair characters are just 🥴（〃｀ 3′〃）
Anyways, thank you for reading!>