Chapter 22: Strange Town's Secret (3)
Lucian was known for his peculiarities, and his reasons for doing things were not comprehended by others most of the time. But he never bothered himself with others' opinions. If he wanted to do something, he would do it despite many oppositions.
This was also what made him extremely infamous in hell. Lucian was feared and even hated, but most especially, he was admired. Devils were chaotic beings in the first place, and they only loved and admired the strong.
Looking at Aerine. Lucian repeated his question.
"Do you want to know the secrets of this town?"
Aerine, who had become rather comfortable talking with Lucian, thought for a moment before repeating what she asked earlier as well. Perhaps their connection through the contract also helped by easing the atmosphere between them.
"How about you?"
If it were earlier, Aerine would think of her speech or if it was appropriate to ask Lucian, but after knowing he was approachable, she was starting to also act more casually.
Lucian's brow rose, and then he pondered. Slowly, a smile crept up his lips.
"Now, I'm beginning to get curious."
And so, Lucian and Aerine began their first adventure together in this strange town.
After a while, Lucian was already standing beside Aerine, and they were both watching Sheena, who was playing with her phone. In fact, Aerine had seen it for a few days, and he had already memorized what she would be doing after that.
Aerine had also gone numb about it.
Even if they were standing just in front of her, Sheena didn't have any reactions, and unless Aerine deliberately interacted with her, she wouldn't sense her presence.
"Hmm... strange indeed." Lucian rubbed his chin, and then, to Aerine's surprise, he suddenly leaned forward until he was inches apart from the unknowing Sheena.
To her surprise, Aerine instinctively caught Lucian's arms, which made the latter look at her with a slight confusion on his face.
"Why?" He asked rather innocently.
Aerine, who was still holding his arms and Lucian didn't point it out, cleared her throat and slowly let go of him.
"Wh-What are you doing?" Aerine inquired, her face slightly flushed.
Lucian stood straight again and crossed his arms, shifting his gaze again to Sheena.
"I wanted to know if she could notice me after being close to her without me talking with her," he replied. The curiosity within him was growing with each passing minute in this town.
"Oh..." Aerine's reaction was a bit lacking, but she sighed in relief. And then she continued, "I already did that."
Aerine had done a lot of things in the past few days. When Sheena was first assimilated and began to show signs of anomaly, the three of them also tried various things to wake her up from whatever she was influenced by.
And then, as the days passed, it was only Aerine who was left. All that she did was futile; the three seemed to not even hear her if she told them what was going on or what the reason was they were here for.
After a simple conversation, Aerine began to stop talking with them, and the three immediately forgot about her existence.
Aerine watched her contractor as he began to observe Sheena, and then they also looked at the other two that Aerine was with. Once they were done, the two of them stood in the middle of the streets.
If Aerine was alone, she wouldn't even dare linger on the streets of this strange and creepy town at night, but since Lucian was with her, she suddenly felt like she had some huge backer and would be safe when he was around.
Roaming around as they walked shoulder to shoulder, Aerine finally saw the town when it was night. And she couldn't help but scoot closer to Lucian because of the horror that she was feeling.
The town had basically become a ghost town. There wasn't anyone on the streets aside from them. And the houses while some of them were lit, when seen outside, they were only glowing and hazy at best. It was as though the whole town had become a huge, hollow canvas.
The silence shrouded the whole town.
"Are you scared?" Lucian's playful tone was what shattered this silence and woke Aerine.
She looked up and was greeted by his contractor's sinister smile.
Aerine nodded. She has always been honest when it comes to these things.
"I am..." Aerine pursed her lips and rubbed her arms; she was having goosebumps. "I'm scared."
Even for her, something like this was a first for her. Of course, just because she was part of the supernatural world, that didn't mean she was immune to the horrors of the world.
It was understandable since Aerine only lived peacefully for over twenty years of her life on a secluded island. She could never have imagined encountering something terrifying like this.
"Why?" Lucian patted Aerine's head and gave out a small smile. "I'm here; there's nothing to be scared of." His voice was oozing with confidence, as though this kind of peculiarity couldn't even deserve his attention.
As usual, while Lucian's words were all simple and casual for him, they were all bigger and more reliable when they reached Aerine's ears. Aerine's heart eased up, and she could finally breathe more easily.
"Lu..." Aerine trailed off, but she steeled herself and continued. "Lucian..." she called, sounding hesitant and unnatural but with a touch of expectation.
Lucian then hummed, and they began walking again. Aerine didn't know where they would be going, but since the start, she was only following him, and she completely trusted him.
Aerine couldn't help but smile after seeing that her contractor didn't mind her calling him by his real name. Her bright smile was one that came from the bottom of her heart.
"I... I'll be relying on you," Aerine spoke, her voice so low that it was only Lucian who could possibly hear it.
Lucian subconsciously stopped and turned to her; his expression was unreadable, but his eyes were as bright as Aerine's. They weren't the red ones, but the deep black pupils.
A laugh then came off his lips, and he shook his head. This situation really impressed him.
"W-Why are you laughing?" Aerine cocked her head, confused. Was there something funny about what she said?
Lucian shrugged and exhaled. His eyes roamed about before they landed on one location. He didn't go there immediately, but he looked at her innocent and pure contractee.
She wasn't really as normal as she appeared. To say she would be relying on the devil? The whole hell would be laughing at her face.
However... Lucian proudly smiled inwardly.
As expected, a contractee of someone like me can only be extraordinary.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
ladyaize
ladyaize Lol. I'm actually enjoying writing these two since ahem Lucian as an ML is never the cold blabla since he is rather goofy if you know what I mean? Well, I wanted an ML with a rather contrasting personality with both how he sees himself and how the others see him.
And then Aerine the super trusting pure FL that everyone sees as 'naive', but she handles the ML really well.
LOL. Hopefully, you can support these two in their journey!
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone