[BL] The Darling Villain

Chapter 33. Staff of Curses

"Let's set that aside and talk about the serious matters." Dimitri slipped his gloves back on. He placed away the boxes of face powder, and tucked them into a heavily-secured drawer. "You should know that I—a Crown Prince—didn't invite you over only to discuss about my... hobbies."

Lucilline listened attentively. He tucked a strand of wavy black hair behind a pearly white ear, and his expression gradually turned serious.

"Recently, the news of S Academy being destroyed by a demon invasion... has spread throughout the streets." Dimitri sighed. "The common and noble folk are all restless now, thinking that they might be invaded by demons at any time. After all, we still haven't figured out how the demons managed to sneak into Lydia Kingdom without notice."

For once, the Crown Prince looked a tad bit tired. His eyes fell, languidly.

"Why exactly are you telling me this, Your Highness?" Lucilline asked. He shifted to the edge of his seat, and his back lifted from the backrest.

Lucilline was just the third son of Duke Rubius. He barely took part in politics or business. After all, he was merely fifteen-years-old, and was attending school until a day ago. He also wasn't the heir to the Grand Duke position. His older brother is the heir—so Lucilline could just set back and relax.

Why would the Crown Prince confide such news to him?

"You may not think this, but you're actually quite involved in this mess." Dimitri sighed. "After all, you have something that I need."

Lucilline: ???

He was exasperated, "But I don't have anything...?" He has money, but he knows the Crown Prince has plenty of that. He also has jewelry, but he's confident that the Crown Prince wouldn't find him just to grab a few pounds of jewelry.

What does he have that the Crown Prince needs?

"Silly." Dimitri's lips curved upwards in amusement. "Why don't you think harder?"

Lucilline, "..." He felt kind of insulted. Taking deep breaths, Lucilline winded his head and memories. However, no matter how he thought, he could not figure it out.

Dimitri recognized his look of loss.

He rested his chin on his palm, tilting his head at an angle while watching the black-haired nobleman. "Did you forget? Since the Royal family has the Sword of Gravity—an artifact—the other Grand Duke Houses would naturally have one as well."

"Oh." Lucilline's lips blurted out an 'o', but he was still baffled.

"But Your Highness, I don't have an artifact. It's my father—Duke Rubius who keeps the artifact." His eyebrows furrowed like a child, whose candy was just stolen from him.

After the Rubius, Delta, and Leinhart Houses were deemed as Grand Dukes, the Royal family handed down an ancient artifact to each of them. These ancient artifacts were especially special and destructive. It could not be handled by normal mortals. There was no way Lucilline could keep such a thing at his dispense.

"That doesn't matter." Dimitri did not care. "You're the only Rubius member who I've communicated to. I've tried contacting Duke Rubius, but he doesn't even respond to my messages."

Lucilline: ...of course he wouldn't respond. My old man's sick in bed and hasn't seen the sun for ages.

"I cannot contact your older sister... she's supposedly training in the military. Your older brother is busy roaming around the borders of Lydia Kingdom and managing business in the commoners' land. Therefore, you're the only Rubius member who I've contacted so far." Dimitri listed out all the reasons.