"Are you saying... you are a loner in this world too?"
Lucian’s mouth twitched again.
And as Evelyn watched the two of them interact, she could see where parts of Lucian’s personality came from.
It made her chuckle and also made her a little jealous of what these two had.
Lucian, on the other hand, was already planning on punching the girl in front of him.
Yes, he believed in true equality.
For now, however, he stopped joking around and, with a serious look on his face—
"Be very careful of what you wish for, Naomi."
He spoke with a solemn look on his face.
"Right now, you are only at risk of being attacked, and that risk is low. But once you get involved with the supernatural world, that risk increases."
Lucian then took a short pause and—
"And it won’t just be you under that risk."
He spoke in a careful tone and Naomi’s expression changed.
Unlike Lucian, Naomi still had connections with ’normal people’.
Her parents.
She couldn’t possibly get them involved in this.
And Lucian knew that.
Therefore—
"Stay away."
He warned.
"As exciting as it may sound, this world is dangerous, far more than you realise."
Naomi stayed silent at those words.
She considered Lucian’s suggestion of staying away, then she stared at Evelyn and remembered her words again.
How Lucian would push her away, how he did the same with her, but she held on.
Of course, Naomi understood their positions were different. Evelyn was a world-famous star, the Enclave was willing to offer her protection, she obviously would not get the same treatment.
However...
Naomi didn’t let her mind use that as an excuse.
She started thinking of her own situation, she started finding her own ’advantage’.
And soon, she had the answer.
So she looked at Lucian and, with a serious look on her face—
"From now on, you will tell me every time you return to the Enclave. You can’t message me? Fine.
Leave clues.
Tilt the mat in front of your house, position one of the plants one way or the other, or tell me when you meet me."
Lucian’s expression changed, but Naomi wasn’t done.
"And you are going to keep meeting me.
I will kill you if you even think of distancing yourself from me. I do not want more attention on me because you suddenly stopped talking to me.
You will meet me at University, you will sit together with me and you will tell me everything that is going on in your life."
She looked at Evelyn for a short moment and—
"Everything."
She repeated.
Evelyn raised an eyebrow at that, though inwardly, she was smiling.
She liked this one.
As for Naomi, she stared at Lucian, her mind thought about everything Evelyn said about not letting him make the decision for her and she—
"Don’t you dare think you are going to get away from me, not after what you’ve done to me.
I’ll have you take full responsibility."
She spoke as her eyes shone dangerously.
Lucian only stared at her with a dumbfounded look on his face. Evelyn, on the other hand, was grinning from ear to ear. She couldn’t be more satisfied, the girl was far better than what she had expected.
"I am your childhood friend, and we will keep it that way.
We can have parties like these regularly, I will help you ’clean up’ once all of it is over and that will be the time we spend together, alone."
Naomi spoke with a meaningful look on her face.
Lucian only blinked, especially when he understood the meaning of ’spending time together.’
Or was it the literal meaning and it was his mind that was a mess?
"By spending time together, do you mean sex?"
He decided to ask.
For a moment, the entire room turned silent. Evelyn facepalmed. For a man who was this charming and knew how to control the room, Lucian could be... very brazen at times.
"You want me to say it out loud!?"
Naomi’s mouth twitched.
"I can’t believe someone like you gets to have a harem!"
She snorted, letting her frustration out.
"How is it that you are a main character!? Wasn’t it supposed to be me!?"
"I mean, if you think about it, I do check all the boxes."
Lucian pointed out and Naomi’s mouth twitched even more.
"Point out all the boxes my ass! What boxes do you check!?"
"Trust me, it’s more than you can think."
"If you truly are a main character, then the story is doomed to fail.
The author needs to do better."
Naomi snorted.
Lucian laughed at those words.
For a moment, everything felt light again. The weight Lucian had been feeling all this while was suddenly lifted.
It was... calming.
At the same time, Lucian could also see how this was better than before. At the very least, Naomi wouldn’t be in the dark. She would still worry about him, but at least now the worry wouldn’t be about the unknown or the different scenarios she formed in her mind.
"...I still won’t forgive you for hiding everything from me."
Naomi spoke in a low tone. Lucian looked at her.
She was still angry.
But now, together with anger, there was understanding.
Her frustration and the... hatred that Lucian had sensed but did not comment on, were no longer there either.
"But I am glad you are alive."
Naomi spoke again.
Lucian let out a soft, genuine smile at that.
"I am glad as well."
The two stared at each other for a moment, then Lucian’s eyes fell on the wall clock behind him.
Ten minutes left.
"You should leave now."
He spoke carefully.
"Are you going back to the Enclave?"
"Yes."
Lucian nodded.
Naomi then looked at the mess around the house.
"What about all this...?"
She asked and Lucian only shrugged.
His energy moved. Everything around him trembled at the same time, then it moved through the air. The trash gathered inside the giant polythene bag hovering in the air, the rest returned to their original places and within a few seconds—
The place was clean.
And Naomi—
"So fucking cool."
She had stars in her eyes.