It was getting later into the night.
Under the moonlight, Lux crouched on the ground, watching the last sparkler in her hand slowly burn down to the end.
In her eyes, those shining sparks were bursting brilliantly one after another.
Then suddenly, a faint glow spilled from her fingertips, and Lux's heart lurched in shock.
She didn't have time to think. She immediately covered her hand, inwardly grateful that there were so few people left in the front yard right now and that no one had seen it.
"Lux, what are you doing over there?"
Kahina waved to her from the other side. "Come on, let's go soak in the hot spring together."
Lux stood up and forced a smile onto her face. "I just remembered I still have something to do, so I'm heading out."
As she spoke, she glanced at her hand and confirmed that the glow had temporarily disappeared. But she still didn't dare stay here any longer.
So she ran to her bicycle, hopped on, pushed off with one foot, and sped straight into the darkness without daring to look back.
Kahina watched her hurry off with a puzzled expression.
A few minutes later, Luke came back into the front yard after finishing up something in the backyard and asked strangely, "Where's Lux?"
Kahina replied, "She said she had something to do, and then she rushed out."
"What could she possibly have to do?"
Luke glanced toward the gate, then suddenly thought of something and chuckled. "She definitely forgot to do her homework."
Tonight's hot spring soak had been pushed back because they had been playing with fireworks.
At this point, it was already past ten-thirty.
Normally, the girls would have gone home by now.
But tonight, little blondie had left without even soaking in the hot spring, which really was a little odd.
She was usually the one who loved the hot spring the most. You could say she never missed a single day.
When he got to the backyard and took off his clothes, Luke sank into the hot spring pool.
The warm water carried a medicinal fragrance that made the whole experience especially soothing.
Luke lifted his head and quietly watched the moonlight for a while.
After about ten minutes, something started to feel off, so he rose from the pool. The movement caught Fiora's attention.
"Has it already been half an hour?" her slightly lazy voice drifted over.
"No." Luke answered while taking up a towel and drying himself off. "I'm heading out for a bit. You all keep soaking, but be careful. Stay in too long and it'll make you dizzy."
"Mm."
The sword princess answered casually, sounding like she was thoroughly enjoying the perfect temperature of the spring.
After changing into a fresh set of clothes and grabbing some alcohol from the basement, Luke rode out on horseback.
His destination was the Crownguard estate.
Three or four minutes later, he arrived at the gates and swung down from the horse.
At the moment, House Crownguard hadn't reached curfew yet, so the gate was still open.
He headed inside without anyone stopping him. Before long, he entered the manor and arrived at the living room.
The living room was brightly lit.
Augatha was knitting a sweater, and judging by the style, it was clearly a women's one.
What really made a person look twice, though, was that Pieter—this tall, broad-shouldered middle-aged man—was also knitting a sweater just like Augatha.
When he noticed footsteps outside, he immediately set down what was in his hands and gave a fake-serious cough.
Augatha looked up and asked curiously when Luke came into view, "What brings you here?"
Pieter also wore a solemn expression and looked at Luke as he asked, "Where's Lux?"
"She's still soaking in the hot spring."
Luke wore a completely harmless smile.
The moment he heard that, the corner of Pieter's mouth twitched.
So late at night, and she was still over at someone else's house soaking in a hot spring?
For no clear reason at all, he suddenly felt a strong urge to beat this brat up.
Before he could say anything, he saw Luke set down a rather unusual-looking bottle of liquor. "It suddenly occurred to me that Uncle probably hasn't tried some of the newest brews yet, so I brought a few over."
"That was very thoughtful of you."
A smile flickered in Augatha's eyes.
Lately, Pieter had already been getting a lot of alcohol from Tianna, and he had heard that all of it had been brewed by this boy in front of him.
Now that he saw Luke had specifically brought over some newly brewed bottles for him, it turned out the boy did know how to behave after all.
A smile appeared on his face as he said, "Then I won't stand on ceremony. I'll accept the gift."
"Enjoy it, Uncle."
After saying that, Luke bowed slightly. "Then I'll take my leave."
"Mm. Be careful on the way back."
Augatha didn't try to keep him. After all, the two houses were so close together that it was no more than a ten-minute trip.
With that, Luke turned and left the living room.
A short while after he was gone, Pieter was already impatiently opening one of the bottles and pouring himself a cup of clear white liquor. Augatha smiled and asked, "So, what do you think of that child?"
The moment he heard that, Pieter set down the bottle and said with a deliberate seriousness, "Mm... he's all right, I guess."
"Oh, stop pretending." Augatha rolled her eyes at this old fool who could never quite make his mouth match his heart, then resumed knitting. "As for me, I quite like that child. And also..."
As she spoke, she glanced at Pieter, who was just about to down the freshly poured cup in one go.
"If you dare get into my bed tonight smelling like alcohol, you already know the consequences."
That one sentence instantly froze Pieter's raised hand in midair. He was suddenly trapped between drinking and not drinking.
After exactly one-tenth of a second of inner conflict, he steeled himself.
Worst case, I just won't sleep there!
He immediately tossed back the whole cup. As his face started to flush, a comfortable expression appeared on it.
The liquor that boy brewed really was outstanding.
Crack.
The knitting needle in Augatha's hand snapped cleanly in two as she rose with a cold expression.
Pieter swallowed nervously, only to discover that his wife seemed to have stormed off in anger without saying anything more.
Caught between comforting his wife and continuing to drink, Pieter fell into painful indecision.
Afterward, he genuinely wanted to slap himself.
As a man—
how could he hesitate over something like this?
In a situation like this, obviously the answer was to keep drinking!
With that thought, he poured himself another cup and happily continued.
After leaving the Crownguard estate, Luke climbed back onto his horse and came away with one key piece of information.
Miss Crownguard hadn't gone home.
At this hour, almost eleven o'clock at night, and that girl still hadn't gone home.
There was definitely something wrong.
If she wasn't going home this late at night, then where else could she have gone?
As Luke spurred his horse onward, he thought it over.
A moment later, he lifted his gaze and looked toward a certain direction.
In the dead of night, a bicycle had come to a stop at the entrance to a waterway.
Lux carefully checked her surroundings. Once she was sure no one was there, she abandoned the bicycle and slipped inside.
After descending a few steps, the light around her immediately grew dim and dark. Faintly, she could hear the sound of flowing water.
But Lux wasn't afraid. Instead, she raised a hand, and a glow bloomed from it, instantly illuminating the darkness around her.
Once the path ahead became visible, she slowly walked forward according to the memory she still had from several years ago.
At this moment, that uncontrollable light was actually helping her quite a lot.
This was the capital's underground waterway, part of a water circulation system. Water from the river outside flowed in here, then cycled through the city.
And about this place, there was a secret only Lux knew.
After walking forward for several minutes, she saw a shaft of moonlight shining down through a gap.
"It's still here..."
She quickened her pace.
It was an opening that connected to the outside of the capital. She had come here once under similar circumstances and discovered this gap by accident.
Lux's body could just barely squeeze through it.
Once outside, the light returned. Moonlight spilled down, and the road ahead was bright enough to see clearly.
She took a deep breath, started running, and dashed into the woods ahead.
The forest at night was deathly quiet. There wasn't a single person in sight. From time to time, the distant cries of birds and beasts could be heard, adding an even deeper loneliness to the woods.
Looking at the glow on her hand, which she couldn't suppress no matter how hard she tried, Lux felt the same panic she had six years ago.
She had always known it existed inside her.
But she didn't understand why, after six years, it had suddenly gone out of control again with no warning at all.
What exactly was the cause?
Lux couldn't figure it out, but she didn't want to let it keep running wild like this.
Even though she knew it was part of her, a talent she had been born with.
Still, the moment it lit up from her fingertips, Lux instinctively felt afraid.
Because this was Demacia.
A nation where magic was forbidden, yet she possessed a gift that had no place here.
She didn't dare imagine how people would look at her if they found out she was an abnormality.
Her father, her aunt, Garen, Kahina, Fiora, Sona, Quinn, Vayne, Frey, Poppy... and so many of her friends.
And Luke.
For some reason, every time she thought of him, a wave of fear rose inside her for no reason, as though something were squeezing at her heart.
She was afraid that if Luke learned she was a mage, he would distance himself from her, or even... hate her.
Whenever she thought of that, a sharp pain rose in her chest.
She didn't want to see something like that happen.
So before things could become truly terrible, she wanted to stop it all.
She had decided to use the same method she had six years ago. It was the only method she had left now.
Her steps quickened as she ran through the woods. She had no mind to spare for the scenery passing around her.
After some time—
that towering white figure appeared before her, its body pure white, standing proudly, taller than the surrounding trees. Lux came to a stop.
Just as she remembered, the ancient giant watched over everything with the same solemn vigilance.
This enormous statue had a long history and was regarded by the military as a symbol of war.
Whenever soldiers marched out to battle, the colossus would march with them.
Because it was carved from petricite, it could absorb magic and protect soldiers from the attacks of powerful mages.
Legend said that when it absorbed enough magic, it had even awakened a few times.
Of course, that was only a legend. The people of Demacia hadn't seen the colossus move in a very long time.
But Lux knew something no one else did.
That wasn't a legend.
This colossus was alive.
Steadying her somewhat rapid breathing, Lux recalled one scene after another from six years ago, then gathered her courage and stepped forward.
Compared to Galio, her size was pitifully small.
People said the colossus was nearly a hundred feet tall. One careless step from him would be enough to flatten her.
Lux placed her hand against the statue, and something strange happened. The light shining from her hand seemed to be absorbed, flowing entirely into Galio's body.
A thin, film-like glow began to appear over the surface of Galio's body, flickering faintly.
She had no idea how much he had absorbed, but after about two minutes, Lux noticed that the light in her hand had finally stopped spilling out.
So she stepped back a few paces and raised her head to look at Galio, her heart thumping nervously and more than a little afraid.
Would he wake up?
And if he did, would he still remember her?
This majestic colossus was a hero worshiped by countless people, but also the embodiment of terror for countless mages.
"Wuuuh~!"
Then a long, drawn-out yawn came from above.
Lux's heart immediately tightened. She knew Galio had awakened, and for a moment she hesitated over whether she should say hello first.
"Oh, adorable little golden-headed human."
A delighted voice came from overhead before she could decide. Galio's voice drew nearer, as though he had lowered his head or bent down. "You came to play with me again?"
Seeing that he still recognized her, a trace of joy appeared on Lux's face, but it quickly faded. Lowering her head, she said, "I didn't come to play. I came because I have something I want to ask you."
"Your expression looks exactly the same as the last time I saw you. Did that problem never get solved?"
Galio crouched down so he could get a better look at the little golden human's pretty eyes.
He liked those eyes. They were as beautiful as the finest gemstones he had ever seen.
He also liked her light—beautiful enough to make anyone lose themselves in it. She shone brilliantly, like ten thousand stars across a vast silver galaxy, blazing in splendid radiance.
"It got solved... but not completely."
Lux sighed and said, "The last time was six years ago, and recently... it's started acting up again."
"Six years ago? I thought that was yesterday."
Galio wasn't very sensitive to the passage of time. His naps usually lasted decades, sometimes more than a hundred years.
"Haven't you noticed I've grown a lot?"
As she said that, Lux even lifted her chest a little, for once.
Galio scratched his face. "Have you?"
Those two words were like a sword straight through Lux's tiny heart, and her little face darkened instantly.
Being told she hadn't changed at all from six years ago was practically an insult.
"To me, you humans have always been about this big."
Galio gestured a size with his hand.
That made Lux feel a little better, and then she snapped back to the point. "Now isn't the time for this. I've run into a huge problem."
"That's easy. I'll solve the problem for you."
Galio stood up, shook out his wings, and sent a cloud of dust raining down. Planting his hands on his hips, he said confidently, "I love solving big problems."
Lux coughed a few times from the dust. Knowing exactly what kind of solving Galio meant, she rejected it immediately. "No! The problem I mean is this thing inside me."
"All right, then."
Galio crouched back down and looked at Lux. "What do you want to do?"
"I don't know. It won't listen to me. It just suddenly comes out on its own. I wanted to ask if you knew any way to deal with it. Like... how to control it?"
Lux said this with a miserable look.
Galio shook his head blankly, clearly stumped by the question too.
Lux sighed and sat down on a nearby stone. "You've seen so many mages. I thought you might know something."
Galio sat down beside her and scratched his head. "All the mages I've met usually got smashed flat by me. They don't usually stay around talking to me as long as you do."
Lux hadn't been holding out that much hope anyway. Otherwise, this problem would have been solved last time.
But that meant she really had no solution now.
After all, she couldn't keep doing what she had done tonight—sneaking out in the middle of the night to secretly feed all the magic she couldn't control to the giant beside her.
If she kept doing that, sooner or later someone would notice.
Lost in worry, she kept thinking of a solution and stopped speaking.
Seeing this, Galio's face also took on a very human sort of troubled expression. He propped his face up in one hand and started thinking too.
Ten seconds passed like that before Lux stood up.
Galio asked, "Did you think of something?"
"No. I don't even know why it's going out of control in the first place."
Lux shook her head and sighed again.
Galio thought for a moment, then said, "The real reason it's losing control is because of you."
"Because of me?"
Lux said in confusion, "I didn't do anything to provoke it."
"That's not the issue."
Galio tried hard to think of how to explain it, then finally said in his rough voice, "You and it are one and the same. Whatever it does changes according to your state of mind. Maybe some kind of trigger caused it to become active again. Maybe the appearance of something. But the reason it's active at all... is you."
Lux listened with a completely bewildered expression and tried hard to think of the trigger Galio was talking about.
The magic had gone out of control last night.
What had she been thinking about then?
She had been lying in bed, thinking about...
the fireworks, and... Luke.
The moment she thought of that guy, Lux vaguely felt that the magic inside her seemed to jump again.
Immediately, she looked up. "I think I know what the trigger is."
Galio widened his eyes curiously. "What is it?"
"It's because of a certain jerk!"
Lux said it in a tone that was anything but pleasant. The second she started thinking back, all she could remember was one scene after another of that bastard making her mad.
"Is that guy a bad person?" Galio perked up at once when he saw how unhappy she looked. Eager to prove himself useful, he said, "Want me to go smash him flat for you?"
"No!" Lux refused without even thinking.
Galio asked in confusion, "Why? I thought you didn't like him."
"That guy may always act annoyingly, and he's always making me mad, and always laughing at me, and he's really lazy..."
Lux rattled off one complaint after another before suddenly changing course. "But actually, he has a lot of really good points too. He's a very good person. I don't dislike him."
Galio tilted his head. He truly couldn't figure out what part of the guy Lux was describing sounded good.
But if she said he was good, then he was good.
"So you found the problem?" Galio asked.
"I don't know..." Lux still shook her head in confusion. "Why does it get more active than usual every time I think about him?"
That question completely stumped Galio. He scratched his head and asked, "Why do you keep thinking about him?"
"Because... because..."
Lux had thought that would be an easy question to answer.
But the moment she opened her mouth, no words came out.
Right.
Why did she keep thinking about that guy for no reason?
"I've got the solution!"
Galio slapped one massive hand down, his voice turning excited. He leaned in lower, looking at Lux. "You just have to stop thinking about him!"
"Please think of another one."
"..."
Galio slowly leaned back and fell silent.
It had taken him a lot of effort to come up with that solution, and it had been rejected in less than a second.
Unbelievable...
Human little people really do have way too much nonsense going on.
When Lux saw the sulking look on his face, she gave him a sweet smile and said, "Thanks to you, I figured out the cause."
"Nothing to it."
At her smile, Galio immediately burst into proud laughter. The bright booming sound even startled awake the birds and beasts sleeping nearby.
"Shh, quieter."
Lux jumped and quickly looked around, terrified someone might suddenly come out of nowhere.
"Okay."
Galio obediently lowered his voice at once. Then he said, "Stay and talk with me a little longer."
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