Lucien blinked, thinking back to what just happened.
He was in another trial given by Arenox, which sent him back to his childhood when he still hadn't been adopted by the emperor for his talent.
There was a reason why he alone had black hair, when everyone there had blond hair like the Emperor and Cyrus.
He was sent back with no memories of his life before the tragedy.
But he still got out.
The reason why his mother started acting weird and saying those words was probably because his mental defense kicked in.
But Arenox didn't take too long to take the controls back.
But that was more than enough for him.
More than enough for him to regain his memories and focus.
What a cruel mirror.
As he was pondering over everything, a few objects appeared in front of him in the middle of the darkness.
Three shattered mirrors, and one last intact mirror.
It was finally time for the last trial.
Thinking back to the challenges he was given by Arenox, all of them were nothing but extremely cruel and mentally challenging.
Challenges that were born from his own deepest insecurities and fears.
There was just one more mirror standing in front of him now, but it made him nervous.
The strongest Exalt of the era of dusk was fearful of a spirit that he had already slain once in his past life.
Suddenly, the mirror shone brightly, engulfing all he darkness around him.
Following that, two sentences appeared on the mirror.
He focused and read them carefully.
[You only get one chance.]
[Say out loud, what is your biggest fear?]
Lucien looked at the question.
At first glance, it seemed simple enough to him, as he was about to say, cramped spaces.
But then he paused.
He only had one shot at this.
And he couldn't speak.
The words on the mirror pulsed softly, waiting patiently for his answer.
There was no time limit on this trial.
'What is my biggest fear?'
Spirits? Dying? Losing?
No. He had faced those hundreds of times and beaten them.
Matter of fact, he had died once.
It wasn't about pain. It wasn't about surviving.
It was something else.
He raised his head and closed his eyes.
Was it guilt? Was it regret? Was it his claustrophobia?
Many things came to his mind, but there was one thing common to them.
He had survived those.
'Is it the inability to take my revenge?' He thought.
But that wasn't it either.
It's not like they would come back alive if he failed.
Failing at his revenge was more of an anger thing than fear.
What was something he couldn't stand?
The nightmares that he couldn't escape, the feeling that never escaped, no matter what he did?
One chance.
He had one chance, and if he guessed incorrectly, he would die.
Sweat formed over his forehead, and his heartbeat quickened.
His throat went dry, forcing him to gulp.
His thoughts drifted back in time, thinking about everything he had done.
What had changed over time?
Why did he keep pushing himself?
What was he so afraid of?
He clenched his jaw as his mind stopped at something.
It was not like he wasn't afraid of death.
But there was something that scared him anymore.
Finally, he opened his eyes, committed, and confident.
He had his answer.
"My biggest fear is…" He began, his voice hoarse.
"...is that everything I've done meant nothing to anybody."
Silence followed, his heart beating against his chest, as the words on the mirror vanished.
He had done it.
The mirror now only reflected his body.
Blond hair, a handsome and innocent-looking face, and gray eyes.
Suddenly, the image in the mirror moved, even though he didn't.
It smiled.
Lucien felt like it was smiling at him.
"You did better than I expected, Remiel." He froze as Lucien in the mirror spoke. "I would meet you again."
His eyes widened at the realization.
It was the original Lucien, the owner of the body he currently possessed.
Someone he thought to be dead.
As he was thinking about what had happened just now, the mirror cracked.
It shattered into millions of pieces and fell on the ground, just like the other three mirrors.
All the fragments of the mirrors on the ground started glowing and slowly rose in the air.
They all started melting and then condensed into a single ball of pure light.
Lucien knew what it was.
He stepped forward and swallowed the ball whole.
Keuk!
Pain assaulted his body, which soon started levitating in the air, and light poured out of every orifice of his body.
It was finally time.
He was awakening.
…
Inside one of the royal quarters, a beautiful brunette was lying down with a handsome blond man.
"Edric, you wanna visit the infirmary with me?" Grace spoke, getting up from the bed.
"Tch!" Edric clicked his tongue, but seeing Grace glare at him, he smiled at her and raised his hands in surrender.
"Alright, anything for my lovely fiancée." He stood up too, and started changing into some formal clothes for the visit.
"Poor Lucien," Grace said, genuine sadness in her voice. "I hope he wakes up soon, the second queen has been worried sick for him."
Edric chuckled, shaking his head in disappointment, "I think I overestimated Lucien. To think he would pull such a stupid stunt."
Grace couldn't refute him, since she had similar feelings.
Unlike Edric, who didn't like Lucien because of throne politics, Grace liked everyone in the family, including Lucien.
But even she liked Edric more than anyone, so she took his side in public,
"Well, I hope he wakes up too," Edric said, taking Grace by surprise.
"I thought you didn't like him, though." She inquired.
"I don't." He replied, "But don't you think it would be boring without a proper competition? I don't like things that are just handed out to me, you know."
Grace nodded in understanding, "Makes sense."
"Heh!" Edric chuckled, his smile making Grace blush. "Well, if he does manage to wake up through some miracle, this would get a whole lot more interesting."
Knock! Knock!
Suddenly, there was a loud knock on his door.
"Come in," Edric said, not caring about their current appearance.
A worker entered hurriedly, visual sweat over his forehead, "Your Highness, His Highness, Prince Lucien has woken up."