After His Return

Shana froze the moment she saw Lucian’s face.

“…Long time no see, Shasha.”

Jet-black hair, as if cut straight out of the night sky.

His eyes, sharply contrasted against it, shone with a chilling brilliance, like fragments of a clear ocean set into glass.

Depending on the angle, they shifted from deep navy to a crisp sapphire blue, paired with a sharp nose bridge to form a beauty unmistakably his.

But something about him was different from the last time she had seen him.

Undeniable exhaustion lay over his refined features.

Perhaps it was the hollowed cheeks and the deep shadows beneath his eyes.

He looked sharper, more dangerous, as if balanced on the edge of collapse.

Raindrops slid down from his jawline, traced past his prominent Adam’s apple, and fell along the back of his neck.

Following that motion, her gaze landed on his knight’s uniform, soaked through and clinging tightly to his body, revealing a physique far more solid than it had been three years ago.

His unreal beauty remained, but now it carried a depth that spoke of surviving countless brutal battles.

‘Why does he look this worn out?’

There was no need to wonder. He had spent three years on the battlefield.

Even so, Shana couldn’t bring herself to worry about those harsh years. Shock and anger outweighed everything else in this reunion after so long.

‘Why is the hero of the victory ceremony here?’

The entire empire should be waiting for him.

“Shasha? May I come in?”

Lucian’s voice echoed out. It was calm to the point of carelessness, completely at odds with Shana’s confusion.

‘Is this a dream?’

Shana pinched her cheek, waiting to wake up.

But Lucian didn’t disappear. And it hurt.

That meant he was really here.

Her lips parted, and she muttered,

“…You’re alive?”

The moment the words left her mouth, Shana tried to shut the door.

By all accounts, he was an uninvited guest. An old friend she had cut ties with.

But the door refused to close.

Lucian had wedged his boot between the door and the frame, bracing it with one hand.

“Wait, Shasha!”

‘He’s strong, too.’

Lucian didn’t force the door open any further. Instead, he smiled through the narrow gap.

“Shasha. I have something to tell you. Could I come in for just a moment?”

“No.”

Years of silence, and now he shows up out of nowhere. What kind of nerve was that?

Shana shoved the door again, but it didn’t budge. She glared up at him with open displeasure.

“This is really important, Shasha.”

“Important, my ass.”

She scoffed.

At that, Lucian reached into his uniform and pulled something out. A letter sealed with red wax.

‘What is that?’

The crest stamped into the seal looked familiar.

A white eagle entwined with a spear. Shana’s eyes widened.

“…The imperial seal?”

Then that letter was an imperial decree. Lucian hadn’t come for personal reasons. He had come to deliver it.

‘Oh. That actually is important…’

No matter how powerful the imperial family was, they wouldn’t use the duke’s son as a mere courier for trivial matters.

Shana couldn’t refuse under the excuse of personal resentment.

Lucian smiled faintly.

“They asked me to pass it along.”

‘They.’

Too casual a word to refer to the imperial family.

Shana swallowed. A bad feeling crept in.

“…What exactly is this about?”

“I’ll tell you once I’m inside.”

‘It’s not debt collection, is it?’

Her family had more than one creditor. And the most terrifying of them all was the imperial family.

A late-night uninvited guest.

Still, she had no right to refuse an imperial order. Shana released the doorknob. Her hesitation ended there.

“Come in, Lucian.”

“Thank you.”

Lucian stepped lightly into the apothecary, still wearing the smile he had shown her outside.

***

“There’s really no one else here?”

“I came alone.”

Lucian truly had entered the apothecary by himself.

Then again, who would dare threaten a genius swordsman and archmage like him?

Still, she hadn’t expected him to come all the way out here without even an attendant.

Shana remained on edge.

Lucian took a seat and said nothing. He simply tapped his fingers against the desk.

Tap.

Tap.

Looking closer, he wasn’t spacing out.

Every time he shifted his gaze, he traced her carefully.

Her soft pink hair that swayed when she turned her head. Eyes like a clear lake. A small, delicate nose. Lips faintly tinted rose.

He studied her face inch by inch, slowly, as if engraving it into memory.

As if he were seeing her for the first time. His gaze was unsettlingly obsessive.

It made her uncomfortable.

“Lucian?”

“…Sorry. It’s just been so long since I’ve seen your face.”

His response was sluggish, like someone half-awake. He fiddled with the necklace at his throat as he spoke.

“There are things portraits can’t capture.”

What was he even talking about?

Standing right in front of her, and yet saying nonsense.

‘How out of it is he?’

“Shasha, could you get me some tea first?”

“Tell me what the decree says.”

“Well…I don’t think I can open it unless I’ve had something warm for my throat.”

‘What an asshole.’

She had planned to kick him out the moment she knew the contents.

Lucian, oblivious or pretending to be, remained stubbornly seated.

With no choice, Shana headed into the back.

It was closer to a space for making medicine than for cooking. An apothecary, after all.

She found a chipped teacup. Good thing she’d searched the cupboard thoroughly.

She grabbed whatever leaves were at hand and dropped them into the cup.

Then she poured in hot water without ceremony and brought it out.

“Here. Drink it. Quickly.”

Only after setting it down did she realize. They weren’t herbs. They were just leaves.

Lucian laughed easily. Despite being served plain leaf water.

“Yeah. Smells nice.”

Then he sipped it slowly, savoring it as if it were real tea.

‘He used to drink tea worth a hundred times more than this.’

He seemed more relaxed than before. Had the battlefield taught him inner peace or something?

Shana stared at him in disbelief. Lucian chuckled softly.

“I mean it, Shasha.

On the battlefield, the closest thing to tea was well water with fallen leaves. These are much fresher, aren’t they?”

‘Now that I think about it, he keeps calling me Shasha.’

Shana’s brow twitched. She didn’t like it.

“That nickname makes me uncomfortable. Just call me Shana.”

Lucian looked genuinely surprised. His eyes went wide.

“Why? Between us—”

“…Between us what?”

His expression stiffened.

“What do you mean what. Shasha.”

He reached out and placed his hand over the back of hers.

For the first time, his face was completely serious.

“We’re childhood friends.”

Shana let out a hollow laugh.

The nerve of this man.

“Then you shouldn’t have ignored me.”

“Ah.”

At her sharp words, Lucian froze.

He dragged a hand down his face, then roughly swept his wet hair back.

“…You’re right. You’re absolutely right.”

His voice sank low.

He opened his mouth as if to explain, then closed it again.

“Back then, I was out of my mind.

Too many things going on. Nightmares, among other things…”

Lucian rambled incoherently, reasons spilling out without shape. His unfocused eyes trembled.

“It wasn’t because I stopped liking you, Shasha.”

“……”

“I mean it.”

Lucian suddenly dropped to one knee.

‘W-What?’

“Will you forgive me?”

He gently took her hand.

When he looked up at her, Shana shook him off.

“…Why are you saying this like a proposal? It’s gross.”

“Oh. Was it?”

Lucian burst into laughter.

And kept laughing. Far too long.

“Have you lost your mind?”

“Maybe. Just got back from the battlefield. Seeing your face makes me laugh.”

So it really was because of that decree.

Otherwise, Lucian wouldn’t be acting like this.

Shana spoke coldly.

“The only reason I let you in is because of the imperial decree.

I don’t care about the past. And you didn’t come here because you missed me, either.”

“……”

“So explain it. Now.”

“…Alright, Shana.

The imperial family has a request. They want you to manufacture a drug.”

Thank goodness.

A request for medicine, not debt collection. Shana felt a wave of relief.

‘Wait. Manufacture a drug?’

“Why me, specifically?”

She hadn’t achieved anything noteworthy as an apothecary.

She’d been making medicine since graduating from the Academy, but still.

The imperial research institute was full of skilled pharmacists.

They could choose anyone.

“Because you’re the only one who can do it. Read the decree and you’ll understand.”

Lucian placed the decree on the desk. Ignoring his faint smile, Shana reached for it.

“Before that.”

Whoosh.

The decree vanished.

Lucian had snatched it away with magic.

“…What are you doing?”

“We need a confidentiality oath first. Can you swear it?”

‘You—’

“Are you mocking someone without magic right now?”

“Sorry. I forgot we needed the oath first.”

At that, an old memory resurfaced. Lucian had always been like this.

After his overly cautious childhood phase passed, he constantly teased Shana.

The Academy years were no different.

He’d act kind, then suddenly flip the script like this.

‘Shana, the biology summoning assignment is hard, right? I’ll do yours while I’m at it.’

‘Thank you! You really are a great friend!’

She had trusted him completely.

Only for him to summon some bizarre larva and nearly get them both an F.

The ridiculous part was that he’d submitted the same thing for himself.

Thankfully, he later turned in the correct assignment and they both got As.

Still, she never understood why he’d nearly given her a heart attack like that.

‘I was terrified I’d lose my scholarship.’

Had Lucian always seen her as a toy rather than a friend?

Maybe he had.

That might be why he’d cut ties so easily.

And why he could now come back just as easily.

Shana glared at him.

Still infuriating, as ever.