[sup][h1][center][img]https://i.ibb.co/bgXwm4CG/Picsart-25-11-29-11-57-03-374.jpg[/img][/center][b][center]  
[color=#000000] ʟ ᴜ ᴄ ɪ ᴀ ɴ  ᴄ ᴀ ᴍ ɪ ʟ ɪ ᴀ [/color]
[color=#8a1902]ʟ ᴜ ᴄ ɪ ᴀ ɴ  ᴄ ᴀ ᴍ ɪ ʟ ɪ ᴀ [/color][/center]
[/b][/h1][/sup][COLOR=#a2a2a2]
[b][color=Slategray]Time[/color][/b]: Evening
[b][color=Slategray]Location[/color][/b]: Grand Ballroom
[b][color=Slategray]Attire[/color][/b]: [url=https://i.ibb.co/V0ZsThkp/Chat-GPT-Image-Jan-14-2026-09-44-45-PM.png]Lucian's Outfit[/url]
[b][color=Slategray]Interactions[/color][/b]: [@princess] Marina, [@Oso] Ambrose
[b][color=Slategray]Mentions[/color][/b]: None
[center][SUP][sub]___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________[/sub][/SUP][/center]
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[color=slategray]"Marina."[/color] Lucian returned, his smile faltering for a moment as she continued. Was he that obvious? His gaze glanced up from Marina to Ambrose, unable to stop himself. As quickly as he glanced, his gaze shifted back to his sister. Clearly he needed to work on his poker face... He just didn't know how he was going to explain this to Marina without insulting Ambrose. Though, he supposed at this point that Ambrose knew very well where the two of them stood. That thought only made his stomach turn more, only made the anxiety worse.

He turned his head very slightly as she leaned in to whisper. [color=slategray]"You'd look this way too if the man behind you hated your very existence."[/color] He whispered back, his voice as low as he could possibly get it. He pulled away after that, smiling at her. [color=slategray]"My dear sister, I am [i]always[/i] thrilled to see you."[/color] He started before lowering his voice again, [color=slategray]"Even when you pelt me with questions until my head aches."[/color]

Then he had a small debate within himself on how to greet Ambrose and if he even wanted to. It would be uncomfortable if he did and he might save the man the trouble of needing to interact with him, but if he didn't it would look bad for both of them. A second later, Lucian took in a soft breath and smiled as he turned now to acknowledge Ambrose. 

[color=slategray]"Ambrose, thank you for getting her here safely as always."[/color] Lucian spoke, trying his best to keep his tone even. Lucian could deal with a lot of things but he felt that talking to the King, as much as he didn't like him, would be easier than facing [i]her[/i] brother. At least the King wasn't a constant reminder of his own failings and broken promises. There was still a large part of Lucian that was still that frail Lucian that roamed the halls at night, starving and drunk, trying to bury his head in the sand. He was trying to be better. 

He had to.

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