That Hurts
He said to him, and Luthiel looked at him with puzzled eyes.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"Well, the only thing I can think of is this. You have to frame someone or give yourself in." Damian shrugged.
"But—" Unsure if he could do such a thing, Luthiel pinched his brows. "—Isn't there any other way? I honestly don't want to pin this onto someone else. It's against my principles. I can't let someone else suffer for what I did." He shook his head.
"Then, take responsibility for your actions! You see, this is why you should always have second thoughts before you act." Damian let out a disappointed breath before he began to pace back and forth yet again.
A deep sigh fled Luthiel's nose, and his face palmed itself.
"I was just mad..." He suddenly spoke, and Damian quickly halted.
He turned around to look at him and walked up to him.
"Why exactly were you angry?" He inquired.
Luthiel lifted his head and slightly parted his lips to speak, a bit unsure if he should talk or not.
"I honestly...don't know. I was just mad that someone dared to hurt her. And I was even more furious to realize that the person who hurt her was pretending, waiting to watch her die. I don't know, it just...drove me crazy."
He spoke with confusion in his tone.
A warm smile appeared on Damian's face, and he cackled softly.
"Luthiel. No matter how much you want to deny it, it's obvious that you have fallen for her. Haha." He chuckled in amusement.
A deep frown immediately emerged on Luthiel's face, and he glared at him.
"No, I have a not. I cant!" He shook his head.
"Why not?"Damian questioned. "Listen, Luthiel. You may have control over everything in your life, but this heart... is one thing that we can never have control over, even as the non-humans that we are. I guess that's one thing we have in common with humans. The heart! The only thing we have no control over in our lives."
"Your mind may believe in something else, but your heart will never bow to your mind, your thoughts, or whatsoever. You have unknowingly fallen for her, and even though you know it, you just don't want to believe it. Such things are impossible for you, that I know."
He patted him on the shoulder as he explained, and a deep breath exited Luthiel's nose.
"I don't understand how I feel." He spoke, and Damian half smiled at him.
"I understand. But to figure it out, you must take your time to process what you feel." He said so to him and folded his arms.
"I think I have figured out a way in which you can escape from this." He suddenly announced.
Luthiel quickly lifted his head and stared at him intently. "What way?" He pried.
"Well, how about you let the emperor know what happened? Explain to him that the spell he used backfired, therefore resulting in such a horrible death." He suggested.
Luthiel blinked his eyes and narrowed them. "That's actually a good idea narrowed them..." He responded.
"Well then, you have yourself saved." Damian chuckled.
"Thank you. You really have a lot there in your head." Luthiel gave him a shoulder pat and walked out of the chamber.
He strolled downstairs and proceeded towards the royal hall to meet the emperor, who was having a meeting with his ministers.
The royal announcer announced his presence, and he stepped inside, only for all eyes to fall on him.
He ignored every one of the ministers and moved towards the stairs that led up to the throne.
He bowed in respect to the emperor and straightened up once the emperor acknowledged his presence.
"Found the culprit yet?" The emperor asked.
"No," Luthiel answered. "This is because there is no culprit." He explained.
"What do you mean?" The emperor questioned
"Well, there was no culprit because no one would want to hurt Celvit. He has been the royal physician and has saved lots of lives, so killing him will benefit no one. Therefore, there is no culprit." Luthiel elucidated.
"How do you know that?"
"Because I found what actually killed him. It turned out he has a deep grudge against Yennefer Bellegard for killing his grandson; therefore, he chose to kill her with a spell."
"A spell that will not implicate him; however, he was unaware that it would backfire if the spell failed. So... that's what happened. Yennefer Bellegard survived, and... it backfired." He clarified, and the emperor immediately furrowed his brows at him.
"Why... didn't you report this to me earlier?" He questioned.
"Uh... I wanted to figure out what's wrong to avoid making the wrong report." Luthiel calmly explained, and the emperor vehemently narrowed his eyes at him.
"I see…" He let out a soft sigh, a bit devastated by Celvit's death. "Well, he deserves it for practicing magic and trying to kill my weapon. He shall not be given a proper burial! That's his punishment. Feed his corpse to the dogs!"
He gave his order and waved his hand, dismissing Luthiel.
Luthiel slightly bowed and turned around.
He walked out of the royal hall to make his way back to his chamber, but he accidentally ran into Daphne, who was holding a flower pot.
It slipped from her hands and crashed to the floor, breaking into smithereens.
"Oh my god, I am so sorry." She quickly apologized.
"Um…it's fine. Are you hurt?" Luthiel asked, and quite surprised, having never heard him speak to her with such a gentle tone, Daphne flickered her eyes.
"Y-yes." She replied with a soft smile forming on her lips. "Thank yo-"
Luthiel walked past her before she uttered another one, having confirmed she was alright.
Quite appalled, Daphne stood still in confusion, unable to understand what just happened.
"That hurts."