Whether it was because the little female had actually caught his words or simply because he had completely run out of strength, he submitted with absolute docility, leaning against Rhein. His frame was terribly fragile, clinging to Rhein like a dying vine.
When Lucivita looked back on this night years later, he couldn’t quite recall what was running through his mind at the time. Was it a desperate gamble, a genuine trust in Rhein, or simply an utter exhaustion of physical strength?
The only thing he truly remembered was the voice. It brushed past his ear like warm cotton, carrying a soft texture imbued with a comforting reassurance. With his vision completely blurred and bloodshot, Lucivita had been instinctively drawn to that gentle, low-pitched voice, gradually losing consciousness within Rhein’s embrace.
As for Rhein, he was currently facing a dilemma. He wasn’t weak by any stretch, but the female guards at the underground fighting ring weren’t pushovers either. If he wanted to single-handedly blast his way out with a dying little female in tow, he needed the protagonist buff activated.
The problem is, I’m not the protagonist… I’m the villain, right?
On the surface, Rhein maintained an air of complete composure, while his inner resignation felt identical to defeating the final boss of a video game on its ultimate difficulty, only to discover the boss possessed a second phase with full health and mana bars.
Whatever. Generally speaking, a villain’s combat power doubles once they undergo a dark awakening, and drops by a third if they get a redemption arc. If they’re a total psychopath, they’re practically invincible.
After a moment of thought, Rhein hoisted the small female up, walked over to the manager, cleared his throat, and strained to inject a rough, fanatical edge into his voice. Displaying Lucivita, who was on the verge of breathing his last to the manager, he narrowed his eyes and offered a wicked, sinister chuckle.
“He’s still got a breath left in him. Let me take him home to play with…”
“I guarantee I’ll take good care of him.”
The manager scanned him up and down, thinking to himself that he couldn’t tell the guy was a genuine psychopath. Figuring that since the female was already in such a state, handing him over wouldn’t cause any issues with wrapping up the paperwork, he still wanted to squeeze out some extra profit. He stretched out his hand toward Rhein and named a figure.
Damn it… what kind of profiteer is this? The prize money he had just earned wouldn’t even cover the cost. Rhein took a deep breath, ruthlessly suppressing the urge to throw a punch straight across the manager’s face, and forced a friendly, harmonious smile instead.
“That’s not enough money.”
Rhein spread his hands with an innocent shrug. “Seriously, it’s not enough. Why don’t you just take him back?”
At that point, the manager started feeling like he was the one getting shortchanged. After a brief pause, he quickly backpedaled. “How about this, you come back to fight in more matches going forward, and we’ll deduct the balance from your prize winnings. Look, your performance tonight was solid. Let’s make a deal and be friends, how’s that?”
Looks like I can barely scrape by to cover future living expenses… Rhein considered the proposal, gave a nod, and bent down to scoop up the umbrella he had brought along.
“Transfer today’s cut to me first, Manager. I’m running low on cash.”
With that, he walked away carrying the small female in his arms. The cold wind blowing in from outside whipped up his golden strands, exposing a pair of eyes as blue as an icy sea. With one hand, Rhein propped his glasses up the bridge of his nose, masking his overwhelmingly striking facial proportions as he left nothing behind except a retreating silhouette.
Watching him go for a moment, the manager abruptly turned to his subordinate.
“Do you think… that female looked a bit familiar?”
A second later, he tried to recall where he might have seen him, but drew a blank. It seemed not the sort of existence one would casually run into out in the world.
Perhaps it was just his imagination.
While Rhein was haggling with the manager, Lucivita had dragged himself back to consciousness. Having overheard Rhein’s words, his microscopic flicker of trust instantly evaporated as he realized he had merely leaped from one fire straight into another.
He opened his mouth and sank his teeth straight into Rhein’s shoulder, pouring every ounce of his accumulated hatred and despair into the bite.
Why… Lucivita thought, why must I be labeled as an ill omen and a waste the moment I am born? Why must I bow and scrape before males? Why can those in power reduce me to this state with just a single word?
He had assumed his blood had run completely dry, yet tears still managed to spill.
Alas, he truly lacked the strength. Like a dying little beast, he could only grind away with the tips of his teeth. Feeling the damp patch of warmth spreading across his shoulder, Rhein let out a hiss of pain, pulled the kid away, and settled him securely into the crook of his arm.
“What kind of kid bites like you?” he muttered in complaint, before adding, “Save your energy. If you’re still breathing by the time we get home…”
He paused for a beat, then continued, “Then I’ll play the good… no, I’ll be a good Zerg to the very end.”
Outside, the snow was falling heavier by the minute, yet the warmth radiating from Rhein’s embrace was absolute. Lucivita’s instinctive reaction was to snuggle closer to the heat source, clutching tightly at the collar of Rhein’s jacket as his eyelids drifted shut of their own accord.
“Don’t sleep.” Using his fingertips like a cat-teaser, Rhein forced the kid’s eyelids back open. Though it looked like a whimsical piece of teasing cruelty, the expression in his eyes remained earnest and solemn.
He walked with steady strides, his footprints winding a long trail through the snow. In the midst of a blizzard fierce enough to bury an entire planet, he had picked up a small female and brought him home.
Rhein tossed the small female he had picked up onto the floor, figuring he would kick him out the moment his injuries healed. He wouldn’t even need to mention it to 058 while the system was in hibernation, sparing himself another round of nagging.
Tugging slightly at the kid’s long hair, Rhein crouched down to meet him at eye level and asked, “Name?”
No response.
“How old are you? How much longer until your secondary transformation?”
Still no response.
Judging by his appearance, Rhein figured he was on the cusp of adulthood and wouldn’t need to be cared for too long. Noticing that the small female’s eyes caked with dried, filthy blood were still struggling to force themselves open, Rhein thought, Don’t tell me he’s half-blind and mute to boot?
Though he had no idea that the poor, struggling Lucivita was actually glaring at him, it didn’t stop him from tossing the kid into the bathtub for a thorough scrub-down, cheerfully bestowing a cat-like nickname upon him.
“If you’re not going to speak, I’m calling you Little White. Little White?”
Still nothing? Was he actually mute?
Shaking his head while muttering that spending a fortune to buy him was a total loss, Rhein unceremoniously stripped Lucivita’s clothes off, aimed the showerhead right at him, and gave him a thorough blast of water.
Lucivita squeezed his eyes shut in humiliation. This female is so twisted, he thought; he’s definitely not going to let me off easily.
Rhein remained entirely oblivious to the mental image Lucivita held of him. Bathing a small animal was actually quite fun, especially when the animal put up zero struggle.
Humming a tune, Rhein scrubbed Lucivita from head to toe, paying special attention to the silver-white locks. He smoothed two layers of conditioner through the hair and took the extra time to comb it out. Now, Lucivita finally looked clean. Though the open, terrifying scars covering his body remained stark, his delicate, fair features were at last clearly visible.
Before transferring to the villain department, Rhein had owned a favorite ring inlaid with a one-of-a-kind Derang starlight ruby, whose six intersecting ray lines refracted the gemstone’s crystal-clear transparency with breathtaking beauty. Rubies had long enjoyed the reputation of kings among gemstones; looking now into Lucivita’s crimson pupils, Rhein thought the title was well-deserved.
The female’s eyes were probably damaged, lacking much luster, yet that couldn’t mask such magnificent coloration.
Resting his chin in his hand, Rhein studied Lucivita closely for a moment, deciding the kid was striking enough to give him the distinct thrill of playing a raising-simulation game. He finally felt like the purchase wasn’t a total wash.
He was severely injured, though, and as thin as a skeleton.
Recalling that females possessed formidable regenerative capabilities, Rhein wrapped Lucivita in a towel, sat him down on the sofa, and used his newly credited prize money to settle the household’s heating bill.
He turned on the central heating system. As warm air slowly drifted into the room, Lucivita clutched the towel tightly around himself, sitting stiffly in place. With his vision still impaired, the youngster braced himself against the terror of impending torment, refusing to let his gaze wander outward yet in the end, nothing happened.
He only heard the sound of shuffling footsteps dragging toward the doorway. Grumbling complaints about why he had to go out again, Rhein changed his shoes and called out toward the interior of the room.
“The hair dryer is in the cabinet.”
Rhein jogged down to the nearest pharmacy to pick up some basic wound-cleaning supplies and anti-inflammatory medication. Upon returning, he found Lucivita still sitting there like a dummy, completely frozen in place. His hair, draped wetly down past his waist, dripped water straight onto the upholstery, threatening to soak the sofa.
“Little White, are you actually an idiot?”
With a helpless sigh, Rhein walked over, opened the cabinet to retrieve the hair dryer, slipped his fingers into the roots of Lucivita’s hair, and began drying it.
“Bet you’re going to spike a fever tonight… so clumsy.”
Amidst Rhein’s endless chattering, Lucivita’s rigid spine slowly began to unbend. Having suffered severe injuries, he had been running entirely on sheer willpower. Just as exhaustion threatened to drag him under once more, Rhein would nudge his head back up to keep him awake.
“Finish applying the medicine before you sleep,” Rhein told him.
This creep doesn’t even bother pretending to be normal compared to my biological father, Lucivita thought, finding it genuinely absurd.
He harbored deep, ingrained vigilance toward everything in the outside world—and rightfully so, given the unspeakable torments he had endured. Sitting there in silence, Lucivita had no clue what he needed to do in order to survive.
Rhein’s application of the ointment lacked professional polish, but his movements remained as gentle as possible. Lowering his gaze as he smoothed the salve over the wounds, he couldn’t help letting out a soft sigh.
So much suffering, and he’s still this young.
Unable to stop himself, he ruffled Lucivita’s hair and murmured, “It’s been hard on you, Little White.”
“Little White” was merely a random moniker Rhein had tossed out, and Lucivita had no intention of claiming it. Yet upon hearing those words, the small female could finally no longer hold back the crushing tide of grievance inside him. A faint, muffled whimper slipped out, followed by quiet sobbing.
Lucivita cried with utter silence, too terrified to let out a sound of agony lest the tormentors derive pleasure from his pain. He had assumed the Zerg who brought him home would play with him and torture him for amusement, exactly as threatened yet all the other asked was, Has it been hard on you?
From that exact second onward, Lucivita felt as though he might truly have stumbled into a safe haven. The promise I’m taking you with me was real; the pledge spoken in a teasing tone—I’ll take good care of him—turned out to be real as well.
Watching him, Rhein realized the kid wasn’t mute after all, though a mild wave of awkwardness washed over him since he had zero experience raising children. Noticing that Lucivita was merely biting his lip in trembling silence without shedding a loud tear, a sudden surge of pity welled up within him.
Reaching out, he firmly took the small female’s chin, forced his face straight, wiped away the tear tracks with his thumb, and spoke in a tone as rare and serious as a formal decree.
“From now on, when you’re with me, you’re allowed to cry whenever you want.”
“Did you hear me?”