Count’s Youngest Son is a Warlock-Chapter 273: I've Been Waiting For You (2)

Count’s Youngest Son is a Warlock-Chapter 273: I've Been Waiting For You (2)

Lucion was at a loss for words.
Was this real?
Was it not just a dream?
“Lucion, you—!”
Russell, his eyes trembling with emotion, abruptly stood up and grabbed Lucion by the shoulders.
“Ugh!”
Lucion groaned, and Russell, startled, quickly let go.
“S-Sorry. It’s hard to control my strength now that I’m no longer a ghost.”
Russell looked down at his hands with an apologetic expression before frowning.
He had tried to hold back, but seeing Lucion in such a battered state was too much to ignore.
“Where did you get yourself hurt this time? I don’t know how long I’ve been gone, but how could no one around you stop this?”
“…?”
Lucion blinked in confusion.
He was so taken aback that even the tears welling in his eyes seemed to vanish.
“Why are you worried about me?” he asked incredulously.
Shouldn’t Russell be more concerned about himself?
“I spent so much time wondering what I’d say if I ever saw you again like this… I worried that I’d break down and cry like a fool. But seeing you like this…” Russell clenched his fists. “It just makes me want to scream in anger.”
Russell bit his lip.
His chest burned with frustration. He was overjoyed—truly, indescribably happy to see Lucion again.
But Lucion was injured.
The last time Russell had seen him, he had only been hurt up to his shoulder.
Now, there were even more wounds.
Why hadn’t anyone stopped him?
“It’s because of you, Teacher!”
Lucion’s voice cracked with emotion.
Russell flinched but remained silent, watching him intently.
“These injuries mean nothing to me. But you disappeared right in front of me! You promised me you wouldn’t vanish, and yet you did!”
At last, the grief Lucion had been suppressing poured out.
“…I’m sorry, Lucion. I—”
“I know. You were afraid, weren’t you? Afraid that you might fail.”
Lucion’s face twisted in anguish.
“But still, you should have told me! You should have at least told me…!”
His fingers dug into the hem of his clothes, trembling.
“Wait a moment.”
Russell started to speak but suddenly stopped, his gaze locking onto Lucion’s earring.
The color… hadn’t it darkened?
“Lucion… you…”
“Yes. When you disappeared, I surrendered myself to anger and hatred. I couldn’t forgive Veronia. That bastard…”
“What?”
Russell was so stunned that he couldn’t find the words to continue.
“The clock hands moved and pointed to twelve. What do you think I became?”
A fallen warlock.
Russell felt as if his heart had dropped.
Without hesitation, he used darkness to examine Lucion.
There were no signs of corruption.
But Lucion wasn’t lying.
“I told you again and again not to give in to hatred and anger…”
“Asha is dead. Asha died because of me.”
Lucion’s mournful words shook Russell to his core.
Letting out a heavy sigh, Russell nodded.
“…I know. I was aware of that. But, Teacher, I couldn’t help it. I just… couldn’t.”
Lucion bit his lip, his throat tightening.
Did Russell not understand how much he meant to him?
“What kind of price did you have to pay because of me? So how could I possibly be okay?”
“Lucion. Like I’ve told you before, it wasn’t your fault. I made that choice for myself.”
Lies.
Lucion saw through Russell’s lie.
“I…”
Lucion’s eyes burned red with emotion.
“I hated this world so much. I hated everything. No matter what I did—whether I ran away or fought back—pain was forced upon me as if it were the most natural thing.”
Russell remained silent, unable to find words in response to Lucion’s desperate confession.
“I endured. I tried to endure. But happiness never came to me. I wanted to gouge out my own eyes so I wouldn’t see the ghosts anymore, but I didn’t have the courage.”
Because he feared the blood.
Because he feared the sword.
Every time he tried to draw his blade, nausea overtook him, and he collapsed.
“But still, I wanted to live. I wanted to endure. Yet, the more I resisted, the more isolated I became. My family drifted further away… And then you appeared, Teacher. You know that, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
How could he forget?
Russell understood every word Lucion spoke, feeling his pain as if it were his own.
“You made it so the ghosts were no longer visible to me. That moment… it was like being born again.”
Lucion forced a smile, though his eyes shimmered with unshed tears.
But they did not fall.
“When I told you my name was Lucion Cronia… you don’t know how happy I was. No one else even asked for my name anymore, but you… you did.”
“I remember. Your introduction was so awkward. It made me laugh.”
A faint smile tugged at Russell’s lips.
“I… I am Lucion Cronia!”
Lucion had spoken his name like a hedgehog bristling its spines—cautious yet determined.
Russell took in the sight of Lucion now, so different from the boy he had once known.
“So don’t scold me. You’re the one who hit me on the back of the head first, Teacher.”
Lucion swallowed his emotions, anger gradually seeping into his voice.
“…I’m sorry.”
Lucion thought over Russell’s apology for a long time before finally speaking.
He didn’t want Russell to suffer.
But he couldn’t suppress the anger rising in his voice.
“You’re a liar. You’re a liar, Teacher. You’re the most ruthless liar among all the liars I’ve ever known.”
Russell didn’t refute him. Instead, he sighed.
“No matter how many times I say it, I was wrong. I won’t make excuses, but I hesitated. I was worried about how things would turn out, and that fear kept me from speaking up.”
Then, he pointed at Lucion.
“But seeing you now makes me feel relieved that I didn’t say anything.”
“Teacher!”
“In this repeating world, today is the first time I’ve regained my original body. If something had gone wrong, the outcome would have been even more miserable.”
Russell had always admired Lucion’s mental strength.
But he never expected Lucion to crumble so easily because of him.
Looking back now, he was touched.
He had never imagined Lucion would think of him this way.
“Lucion.”
“…Yes.”
Lucion’s reply was somewhat curt.
“Thank you. Maybe… I was waiting all along for you to free me.”
“Does that make sense? Using both light and darkness as a restraint?”
“Well, there was a very low probability that it could work, right? But honestly, at that time, I didn’t see any other way. I had to save you. I had to rescue you from dying over and over again.”
“That was reckless. You did exactly what you told me not to do.”
At Lucion’s slightly raised voice, Russell’s smile faded.
“You died. Again and again. The memories kept piling up until they turned into despair… I didn’t want to be an incompetent teacher who couldn’t even protect his own disciple.”
Russell looked at Lucion, his eyes filled with exhaustion and despair.
“Honestly, I don’t even remember which world I first realized the truth in. I only know that in one of them, you died in my place—you ate the poison meant for me.”
“I was glad it was me…”
Russell closed his eyes tightly as the painful memory resurfaced.
“That was when I realized the world was repeating itself.”
“How… did you know?”
“Every time the world resets, I use black magic. And the words started forming—‘The world repeats. The world is killing Lucion.’ The moment I read those words, the memories came flooding back.”
“Is that even possible?”
“I’m a genius.”
Russell stated it without hesitation.
Lucion faltered at his confident response.
“In any case, I had to find out why you kept dying. Before the cycle even began—at least, in the time I can remember—you died, and the darkness called you a ‘vessel.’ That’s when I made contact with it and shared my memories through black magic.”
“Was that when you took on the price?”
“That’s right. In exchange for sharing my memories, a curse was etched onto my body. But I didn’t care. In fact, I was happy. Rather than watching you die helplessly, I had finally gained hope—the hope that I could free you from this fate.”
Russell let out a faint smile.
“From then on, I created black magic. A black magic that could protect you.”
His shining eyes gradually filled with hope.
“The power to see previous worlds. I don’t know what form it took in the end, but I designed it to take a shape you’d recognize best.”
“It was perfect. Absolutely perfect. I’m still alive, aren’t I? Thanks to the power you gave me, I’ve survived until now.”
Lucion smiled, suppressing the emotions surging within him.
“Yeah. You’re alive.”
Russell’s lips curled into a smile as well.
No matter what anyone said, Lucion was alive.
“But after I completed the magic to protect you and the spell to retain my memories even as the world reset, Veronia found out. It would have been ridiculous if he hadn’t noticed a black magic powerful enough to destroy his own world, wouldn’t it?”
Lucion swallowed hard.
Had he died at Veronia’s hands?
“It was dangerous. To avoid raising his suspicions, I had no choice but to design the black magic so that the memories would only activate in the world after the next reset.”
‘So that’s why in the previous world, Teacher and I could do nothing.’
Lucion suddenly remembered his past self from the previous world, who had shed tears, blaming himself for being incompetent.
But if he hadn’t possessed the power to see the past worlds back then… wasn’t that inevitable?
“Wait a moment.”
Lucion’s eyes widened as a thought struck him.
“Did you cast the memory-triggering black magic again?”
“No.”
“Then the Teacher I saw was…”
“Right. It was from this world.”
Russell smirked.
“The strongest curse you just broke—that was the price I had to pay. In order to give you the ability to see previous worlds, the power I and the darkness created had to avoid Veronia’s reach.”
“…That means you could have run away by yourself, Teacher.”
“That’s right. I could have escaped.”
Russell nodded lightly.
But he hadn’t.
Even though he had been the only one in this world capable of freeing himself from Veronia’s grasp, he hadn’t.
“And then I saw you. Before you were even born as Lucion.”
“I… remember.”
The sound of rain.
The image of Russell holding an umbrella over him.
Every detail was still clear in his mind.
“I remember it too. My heart…it hurt so much. Weren’t you cold?”
“No. I wasn’t cold. You… you held the umbrella over me.”
“I’m glad. I was worried you might be cold.”
Russell sighed in relief, while Lucion slowly calmed down.
“Wasn’t it hard for you?”
“Not at all. Knowing that you were alive made me happy. It gave me hope.”
Was it really true?
“Did you… not have any regrets?”
Lucion hesitated, stumbling over his words before finally asking.
Russell was human too—how could he not have regrets?
Walking a path filled with despair, how could it not have been difficult?
“There is. Just one.”
In an instant, Lucion’s heart trembled violently.
It felt as if the ground beneath him was crumbling.
“Honestly, I wanted to go back to before the kidnapping and prevent your first misfortune.”
Russell lowered his gaze slightly.
“No matter how many times the world repeated, that misfortune always came for you. But I couldn’t do anything about the time discrepancy when crossing dimensions. So…”
“…”
Lucion couldn’t find the words.
Russell let out a soft chuckle at the silent tears streaming down Lucion’s face.
Why would he ever regret all the effort he had poured into saving him?
His only true regret was that one unchangeable fact.
“So, I gave you strength, restored Darkness’s memories, left hints for myself with Broson before returning to my hideout, and even wrote notes in my notebook.”
Russell’s gaze drifted toward the chair.
“My soul and body were separated by the curse that had taken root there. With no memories, I wandered aimlessly, searching for you.”
That was the first time he encountered the Lucion of this world.
Back then, Lucion had been as fragile as a withered leaf, ready to fall at any moment.
Approaching him, Russell had spoken.
[“Oh dear, you look like you’re in trouble.”]
Those were the words he had said.
Lucion bit his lip, struggling to hold back his tears.
“You remember, right?”
“…I remember.”
“You were impressed, weren’t you? Thinking I was truly a genius.”
“Yes.”
“Don’t worry, Lucion. I can keep up with Hume now, you know? Do you really think a genius like me would step into this room unprepared? I was ready.”
Russell gestured toward the neatly stacked magical items behind the chair, explaining what each one was and how it was used.
“…So the trigger to activate this magic item was black magic. That’s why it was cast in this room.”
“And the password was a cat’s face, right?”
Lucion wiped his tears and let out a small laugh.
“Perfect, isn’t it? Who would even think of setting a password like that?”
Russell grinned.
“Lucion.”
“Yes.”
“Thank you… for enduring it all. I am proud of you. I respect you.”
There was a quiet sincerity in Russell’s voice that made Lucion’s eyes tremble.
“I gave it my all, but in the end, I couldn’t give you much in return. It’s embarrassing to have ever called myself a genius.”
Of the countless black magic spells he and Darkness had sacrificed so much to create, only a few had worked as intended.
How many times had he felt the limitations of being human?
“When I first started, my ambitions were grand. I wanted to change the time of your birth. Maybe even alter your future in this world. But reality… was different.”
Russell scoffed at himself.
When he saw Lucion in another world, he wanted to take him away immediately.
But the time that world had allowed him was far too short.
There was so much he hadn’t been able to convey.
Even if he could have, Lucion—reborn in another body—wouldn’t have remembered it all.
“In the end, all I could do was pass this power on to you. In exchange, I lost my memories and became nothing more than a ghost—bound by countless restrictions, a fool. Nothing more, nothing less.”
“Teacher, please don’t say that. I already told you—I came back to life because of the power you gave me. The reason I’ve survived until now is because of you…”
“I know, Lucion. I’m not blaming myself, just stating the truth.”
At Lucion’s trembling voice, Russell reassured him with a smile.
“All I did was show you the path. But you were the one who kept moving forward. You were the one who sacrificed yourself, who saved me, and who protected your own life.”
That was why Russell was proud of him.
“It’s good to see you, Lucion.”
It was late—far too late—but these were the words he had wanted to say from the moment he first met him.
“I have been waiting for you.”
It had been such a long wait.
Someday, he had thought, the time would come when he could finally say all of this.
And that time was today.
“…Yes.”
At Russell’s sudden and heartfelt words, Lucion found himself unable to hold back his tears any longer.
How long had that wait been?
He tried to smile—tried to suppress the emotions threatening to overwhelm him.
With a shaky voice, he finally spoke.
“I have been waiting for you too, Teacher.”
Every version of Lucion had been waiting.

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Chapter 273: I've Been Waiting For You (2)