Reborn As The Minor Villain In A Romance Fantasy Novel

Chapter 267: Home

"This was a nice beach day~" Emilia let out with satisfaction as the sun set slowly over the horizon, painting the sky in brilliant shades of orange and pink.

It was the first time she had actually been on a beach like this, and she was genuinely glad that it was with Lucius... and the rest of the girls as well, she supposed.

"I don’t think it would have been this fun without all of you here~"

She looked up at the sky not because it was particularly beautiful, but because she was physically forced to by her current position.

Both she and Luke had been buried completely under the sand until only their faces remained visible above the surface, and now the compressed sand was incredibly strong and kept them stuck in place.

She could even hear the distant sounds of the girls playing in the water and giggling happily, which made her situation feel even more unfair.

She flailed around desperately for a few more moments, trying to break free, and then she yelped in frustration.

"Dadddyyyy~ Let me out now~" She cried out with a whine in her voice, and immediately the sand around her dissolved into nothing through spatial manipulation.

Lucius was still relaxing under his beach chair umbrella a bit distant from where they were buried.

She blew him an appreciative kiss before rushing excitedly into the water to join the others, and then Lucius teleported directly in front of Luke who was still encased in sand and freed him as well with a wave.

"That felt kind of relaxing actually..." Luke said as he stretched his arms above his head, working out the stiffness.

He didn’t know exactly why, but he felt considerably more comfortable around Lucius now after spending the whole day together. "Being submerged under the sand and feeling the vibrations under the Earth like that—"

"I need your help with something important." Lucius interrupted as he looked down at him seriously, and his phone appeared in his hands through spatial storage. "Give me the location of your parents’ house as well as your mother’s phone number... I want to meet them today."

Luke looked up at him with his mouth hanging open in surprise, but it closed quickly as soon as he saw Lucius’s completely serious expression that meant he wasn’t joking around.

"Today...? Like right now today?"

"We’ll probably spend the night there at their place." Lucius said as he brought his phone closer to Luke expectantly. "What do you think about that?"

"Can I come with you?" Luke asked hopefully, since it had been quite a while since he had actually seen his own parents after he had followed Luna to New Avalon.

"No." Lucius replied flatly without hesitation, and Luke sighed in disappointment, taking the phone from Lucius’s hands and carefully dialing a number into it.

"Whatever... I’m not interested anyway." Luke said as he handed Lucius back the phone with a resigned expression. "Don’t you dare do anything inappropriate with my sister though."

He pointed at him threateningly. "If you do... I’ll hunt you to the ends of the world, I swear it."

Lucius began walking away casually with a dismissive wave over his shoulder. "Even if you did manage to hunt me down... you wouldn’t be able to do anything about it anyway."

’Whatever.’ Luke thought as he smiled slightly to himself in satisfaction.

He had successfully managed to plant a tracker that had a voice recording feature on the inside of Lucius’s phone while he was putting in that number. ’I’ll just listen in to their conversation remotely... and he’ll never know about it.’

"Oh." Lucius turned around suddenly and flicked something small in his direction through the air.

The tiny chip landed in the sand right in front of Luke’s feet with a soft plop.

"Did you actually put that in there...?" Lucius asked with amusement.

And then the call that he had just placed went through successfully, and a woman’s voice came from the other side of the phone.

"Hello?"

"Mother-in-law..." Lucius said smoothly into the phone. "It is I, your son-in-law calling."

...

The sun had completely set by now and it was early evening, with the sky darkening to deep blue and they were wearing their regular clothes again.

People had began leaving the beach in groups or returning to the large beach resort that was visible in the distance, its lights beginning to glow.

As much as Lucius wanted to test out the luxury accommodations of that particular place, they would have to save it for another time.

Everyone was gathered in front of the limousine, including Luke who had been given back his mechanical suit equipment and was suiting up.

"Luna and I will be going somewhere together." Lucius announced to the assembled group, and all the girls immediately looked at him with various expressions of curiosity and concern.

"Huh? Just the two of you alone?" Rita asked with obvious distress as her legs trembled slightly. He was supposed to give her warmth again tonight like he had promised...

"Yes, it’s something very important that can’t wait." Lucius explained while taking Luna’s hand in his. "I’ve already booked train tickets to Tideholm City for both of us."

Luna looked at him with wide, understanding eyes. "Is it what I think it is...?"

The other girls were surprised by the sudden announcement as well, exchanging glances.

"I’m going to meet her parents tonight." Lucius announced directly, and immediately the girls understood the significance of what was happening.

Though some like Elena, Rita, and even Selene were visibly bubbling with jealousy at being left behind for such an important milestone, they ultimately let it go without complaint.

"Alright, just make sure to come back in time for the next event we have planned." Selene said graciously as she opened the door of the limousine and climbed in elegantly. "Have fun with the family meeting~"

The other girls entered the vehicle one by one, and Lilliane looked at Lucius with noticeably sad eyes, her ears drooping.

"Should I come with you, Master?" She asked hopefully, her tail barely moving.

"No... I’m tasking you with a more important mission than that." Lucius said mysteriously and motioned for her to come closer.

Once she did, he leaned down and whispered something specific in her ear that made her brighten up immediately and dramatically. Her tail began shaking with excitement as well.

"Okay! I will drink it all, Master!" She shouted enthusiastically, making the other girls exchange confused looks and wonder what exactly he had told her.

Then he patted her head affectionately between her fox ears. "Good girl."

She bounced happily back to the limousine with a spring in her step, and the limo drove off smoothly shortly after with the girls waving from the windows.

Luke gave them both a long look as his mechanical suit began materializing over his body once more piece by piece, and without saying any words of farewell, he shot off in the opposite direction with powerful repulsors from his boots.

"When exactly were you planning to remind me about visiting my parents?" Lucius asked once they were alone, and Luna took a deep breath.

"We never actually talked about specific timing... Mom was saying that she wanted to meet you, but we were constantly busy with everything."

Lucius let out a small sigh and then something appeared in his hand through spatial manipulation. It was a simple bean cap.

He placed it carefully on her head and gave her a pair of plain glasses to wear, then put on matching accessories himself while using space manipulation to subtly change his hairstyle to something less recognizable.

Then they both disappeared from the beach and appeared in an alleyway next to the train station building in New Avalon. They had passed by here earlier today so he knew the location.

"Well, we have time now to visit them." He said and took her hand firmly, then they walked to the building together.

They walked through one of the doors leading down into the subway system, and there was a small line of people waiting, but they were soon allowed to pass after showing their digital tickets that passengers were supposed to purchase either at the receptionist counter or online in advance.

Lucius flashed the double ticket from his phone screen and they were permitted through, then advanced down the wide staircase and into the subway station proper.

Luna noticed the way he was subtly looking around at everything with curiosity.

"Is this your first time in a train station...?" She asked while squeezing his hand and doing her best to suppress an amused smile.

"Of course it is. You can’t expect someone as majestic and wealthy as me to have the common experience of being here before, unlike you." Lucius said with an exaggerated shrug, and she chuckled at his tone before turning to him with wide, mock-offended eyes.

"Hey, did you just call me broke?"

They reached the platform floor and there were security officers stationed with certain electronic demarcators set up in front of the trains, and designated spots where passengers could verify their tickets.

Once you placed your ticket barcode on the scanner, it would open the turnstile demarcator and you could step through safely.

The officers were positioned there specifically to prevent people from jumping over and getting into the train without paying.

One person attempted it regardless of the obvious security presence.

He was in the first line of the three entrances leading into the subway cars, however the moment he jumped over the turnstile and bounded toward the open train doors, he was punched cleanly across the face by a waiting officer.

’I wonder why people are so dumb... the train ticket really isn’t that expensive at all.’ Lucius thought while watching the scene unfold.

A guard ran down from upstairs, dragging the stunned guy back upward by his collar... It seemed he had managed to dodge the ticket checker initially.

Lucius verified both their tickets and they entered the train car together.

It was surprisingly a bit futuristic inside with modern seating, and they took adjacent seats. The cushions were actually quite soft and comfortable, and this was just a public train.

"It feels a bit crowded in here." Lucius muttered, looking around at all the other passengers.

He couldn’t find anything called a private train option when booking, and besides, he didn’t want to simply fly into another city using his powers.

He had felt the train would be a bit romantic or something similar, but thinking back on his reasoning now...

He was completely dead wrong about the romantic atmosphere.

The train car was soon filled up completely with passengers, and then the doors closed with a hiss as the train shot off smoothly through the railway system. It jerked slightly during acceleration and Luna’s cheek landed naturally on his shoulder.

"How long is our ride going to be...?" He asked quietly.

"It’s approximately one hour to Tideholm City from here." Luna answered.

"Alright then..." She said, snuggling closer to him despite the eyes of other passengers occasionally glancing at them. "I’ll rest on my favorite pillow until we get there."

...

The streets of Tideholm were noticeably a lot less busy and crowded than those of New Avalon, and there were constant sounds of ships’ horns echoing across the city. It seemed the city had its own major port as well as a distinct smell of salt hanging in the air.

Lucius’s hair was completely rearranged back to normal and Luna had removed her disguise as well as they stood in front of a modest residential house. Lucius’s face twitched slightly as he took in the appearance.

It wasn’t bad at all, objectively speaking.

’My in-laws should be living in a mansion though.’ He thought with some concern. Luna already made a lot of money with her successful business... hadn’t she upgraded her family’s living conditions?

He reached forward and pushed the doorbell button, and it didn’t work at all.

"The doorbell doesn’t work properly... Mother still hasn’t gotten that fixed, huh?" Luna muttered under her breath, though her voice was noticeably low.

She was clearly embarrassed by the state of things.

Instead of waiting, Lucius knocked firmly on the door, and there was the immediate sound of shuffling movement from inside.

Then the door creaked open slowly as a little girl that looked as if she was around twelve years old or so opened it cautiously.

"Big sis Luna... you’re back home, finall—" She stopped mid-sentence and blinked. "Huh...?"

She blinked again while staring at Lucius with her mouth falling open, then her eyes rolled back and she practically began falling over backward toward the ground. What was a famous person like Lucius von Hohenberg doing standing in front of their run-down house?

"Celia!" Luna immediately extended her hand outward reflexively and caught her younger sister before she could hit the floor.

The door creaked open completely to reveal a more mature version of Luna with several strands of white hair mixed into her purple locks, clearly their mother.

"Mommm." Luna said with her cheeks turning noticeably pink from embarrassment, and her mother smiled warmly at both Lucius and Luna.

"Welcome home."