Chapter 123: Death(5)

Luke and Joe are still standing at his grave after a week has gone. Luke grimaced and turned to see Snow and Nash, who was tending to his gravestone with flowers. They had been visiting Luke's cemetery every day and had stayed around to the point that they were about to spend the night here if only Selena and Yulia hadn't picked them up.

Nash spoke softly as he placed the freshly selected flowers in the vase near Luke's tombstone.

"...I'm hungry, so let's go eat for a while before we return."

Snow nodded slowly and took Nash in her arms. They began to walk away, and Luke just stood there staring at them. When he turned to look into the distance, he noticed a few rare guesses to his tomb. Bell, Julius, Marina, and Trent, as well as Erdene, Mira, and Ava.

They all came to a halt and gazed at Luke's grave. They then began to arrange their bouquets, and there was a little moment of silence. Marina then began to speak gently.

"I still can't believe he's gone."

Trent simply patted her on the shoulder.

"Neither do I, but there's nothing we can do about it... He's already gone."

Julius then spoke in a sorrowful tone.

"Even the giants want to pay a visit here, but they can't since they don't want to cause any trouble."

Ava takes a few steps forward and gently strokes Luke's marble tombstone.

"That is why I have come to pay him a visit on behalf of all the giants."

Bell then let out a sigh.

"I suppose now that he's gone, things concerning the empire need to be changed."

They all fell silent after that. They all began to walk away after a period of silence. Only Erdene and Mira remained silent, which Luke found strange but decided to overlook. He then turned to face the next visitor, seeing Selena, Lina, and Yulia approaching his grave. He frowned once more when he noticed what the girls were carrying: a picnic mat and a deck of cards. What are they going to do here? Play cards?

That's precisely what they did.

"Ha! I've won yet again! Seriously, Luke, you're terrible at this."

Selena gave him a bitter smile and a faint punch to his gravestone. Yulia and Lina simply laughed with tears in their eyes. Luke merely stared at it, speechless.

They're playing a four-player game of cards. Selena, Yulia, Lina, and Luke are the players. They're playing with a dead guy.

Luke had no idea how many rounds they had already played, but every time one of them won, they began to criticize Luke's lack of skill at the game while fighting back tears. Joe only sighed as he stared at it.

"Well, this is a sad sight to behold."

Luke simply sighed.

"Leave them alone; that must be their way of dealing with my loss."

Luke and Joe merely stared at it till they all finally decided to gather their things and depart. Luke just sighed as he watched them walk away.

"I had no idea visiting graves could be so depressing."

"Have you ever visited a grave before?"

Luke came to a halt. He then responded slowly.

"I've been to a graveyard, but... I wasn't as sad as others were."

"Or you simply didn't exhibit your feelings."

"Haa, maybe?"

"You have another visitor."

"Who is it this time?"

When Luke turned to see who was approaching, he noticed Liam, who was carrying flowers and walking towards his grave with lifeless eyes. Luke scowled and simply stared at Liam, who was kneeling in front of his grave and placing flowers. Liam then began to speak gently.

"I apologize for failing to protect you... I'm completely useless."

Liam blinked his tears away as he stared down at the ground. He then raised his eyes to Luke's gravestone.

"Please accept my heartfelt apologies... I apologize... I'm a failure... I'm sorry..."

Liam then began to wail and sob in front of Luke's grave. Joe and Luke just stood there and watched him cry for several minutes. Luke only stared at it with dark eyes, as if he couldn't stand it any longer. He's already seen a lot of people cry already. This irritates him.

'Perhaps I should have warned them I was coming back...'

"So you're finally dead."

When Luke heard Liam's tone change, he came to a halt. Luke was astonished and perplexed when he raised his head and found Liam smirking menacingly at his gravestone.

Liam sat arrogantly on the ground, he pushed his black hair back, and his gaze fixed on Luke's grave.

"I knew you'd die at some point. But I didn't realize it would be that early, hahaha! You're a fucking weakling!"

Luke locked his gaze on Liam, who had abruptly swapped personalities. Liam then draws his sword and uses it to poke Luke's tombstone.

"Hero, eh... Heroes are always the first to die, and they always abandon their friends behind. They are the world's pathetic scums. I should've guessed you wouldn't stay long. But it appears that this kid is so naive that he believes that everything will turn out ok and that you will not abandon him as long as he protects you well... Bullshit."

Liam smirked and drew his sword away from Luke's tomb. He then got to his feet.

"Haa, miserable useless son of a bitch. You left some hopes and dreams for your friends, but then you disappeared, leaving them in the dust. History seems to be repeating itself again and over. Although I hadn't anticipated it to happen to me twice, who cares? I don't give a damn if you die or not since this kid is the most broken, not me. Just rot."

Luke was speechless and he looked at Liam, who was nonchalantly swinging his sword as he walked away. What the hell was that? What the hell happened to Liam? Why did he suddenly become like that?

"Joe..."

"Don't bother asking me. I'm not the right person to ask about this."

Luke slowly turned to face Joe, who was staring blankly at Liam's back, which was slowly disappearing.

"Do you know anything about this?"

"I do, but I cannot tell."

Joe didn't even flinch as Luke glared at him. Joe then began to speak slowly.

"You have another visitor. Don't worry about Liam; you can ask him about it later."

Luke did nothing except sigh and shake his head. When he returns, he will have a lot on his plate.

After Lance was done placing the arrangement of flowers on the tombstone, Luke locked his gaze on Lance, who sat alongside it. Lance then groaned, looking fatigued and as if he hadn't gotten any sleep. Lance ruffled his hair after that.

"Why do individuals who matter to me always abandon me... Seriously, am I cursed?"

Luke frowned and examined Lance's condition. His hair is unkempt and his eye bags are black. He didn't appear to have slept in weeks. He appears to be exhausted.

"You and mother... Both of you are significant to me, yet you all left just as I began to get attached to you. Everyone just abandons me, and I hate it."

Lance then lowered his gaze to the ground.

"Oh, yeah, my father said he'll hand over the throne to me now. I'm not shocked because my power and influence have grown even further, to the point where my brothers can no longer compete with me. The queen was furious, but she couldn't do anything about it... But you know what I did? I turned it down."

"Excuse me, what-"

Luke was taken aback and glanced at Lance in astonishment. He suddenly feels compelled to seize Lance's collar and shake him violently. What exactly is he saying? How can he reject that?!

Lance groaned and chuckled.

"I mean, I can't just accept the throne and be happy on my own when the entire kingdom is in mourning and the one I care about has just died. Just thinking about your death while being coronated in front of a mournful crowd makes me sick and unhappy. I don't like that ."

"Oh my lord..."

Luke brushed his palm across his face. He's not sure whether he should be honored, disappointed, angry, or what. He has conflicting emotions. Luke focused when Lance began to speak again.

"That's why, once all of this nonsense is finished, I pledged to be king. Only after I've gotten rid of Dark Eye and all of the nonsense along the way will I genuinely embrace the throne as king. But now I can't at the moment; I have to fully get rid of them. That is the only way I'll be content."

Luke let out a sigh and sat down on the floor. He's already drained to the point of exhaustion. All of the dudes who just paid a visit to his grave left nothing but flowers and problems for him to solve when he returns. He wants to give up just by thinking about all the things he needs to do in the future.

On Luke's grave, there was a brief period of silence. Luke and Lance were both tired, so it's understandable that they couldn't say much. But Luke's assumption was proven incorrect when he heard Lance singing near him. Luke flinched and glanced at Lance as if he was about to have a heart attack because it came out of the blue.

"There was once a boy born in this world.

His eyes are purple; his looks are fierce yet bold.

His silver locks shone under the sun...

His cheeks are rosy, his smiles are fun..."

Luke was taken aback and glanced at Lance in astonishment. He can't believe Lance is currently singing a song on his grave. Lance continued singing after resting his head on the tombstone.

"I have never seen such a cunning yet fair boy before....

My heart skips a beat; my knees are on the floor

As I stare at him in the distance, he looks at me

He says "Brother, You are as silly as you can be."

Lance gave a bitter smile, as Luke sat silently and listened. He really can't do anything right now and needs to distract himself from stressing out, so he chose to just quietly listen to Lance's silly song.

"But all of those are just the vision of a prince...

A prince suffering, while thinking of the future heading near...

His eyes tremble as he looks at your bloodied face.

His breath hitched when he saw your dying gaze..."

Lance took a deep breath and continued to sing.

"He knows that your time is near...

For one last time, he landed a smile to make it clear...

That you are his brother, his dearest dear...

Our last moments were peaceful, instead of the typical fear..."

Lance swallowed his croaking voice as he looked down. He then took out a recording device and began to play it. Luke then heard the calm and quiet voice of a woman. He then realized that he's listening to the true version of the song that Lance had sung.

The lullaby of his deceased mother. Lance's first and last recollection of her.

'There was once a boy born in gold

His eyes are emeralds, his looks are fierce yet bold

His golden locks shone under the sun

His cheeks are rosy, his smiles are fun

I have never seen such a beautiful boy before

My heart skips a beat, my knees are on the floor

As I stare at him in the distance, he looks at me

He says "Mom, you are as beautiful as you can be."

But all of those are just the vision of a mother

A mother suffering, while thinking of the future heading near

Her eyes tremble as she looks at your innocent face

Her breath hitched when she saw your young gaze

She knows, that her time is near

One last time, she landed a kiss to make it clear

That you are her treasure, her dearest dear

Her last moments were happy, instead of the typical fear'

Luke is deafeningly quiet as he examines the recording device that is placed on his grave. Lance then began to chuckle.

"How's that? Isn't my mother's voice soothing and angelic? Also, be proud of the fact that I went to the trouble of writing and singing you your version of her lullaby. Do you realize how significant you are to me now? You fool. You moron."

Luke scratched his head and sighed. Lance then shifted his position and kneeled in front of Luke's grave, touching it.

"The northwest kingdom, Prilan Kingdom, has revealed itself to be on the side of the Regle alliance and is now attacking the northeast territory. Those wretched scumbags. They claimed they would remain neutral, but look at what they are doing..."

Luke then comes to a halt and thinks for a moment. So that's why they buried him so quickly; it turns out that another war is coming.

Crack!

Luke and Joe flinched and turned to face Lance, who was holding a piece of the tombstone. It's cracked, his tombstone was cracked...

Lance flinched and examined the marble fragment from Luke's tomb that he held in his hand. Then Lance frowned.

"It appears that your tombstone is not strong enough. Don't worry, I'll take care of it later. Anyway, just relax and wait for us to bring those scumbags' heads to you. I'm going to kill them."

Lance then got up and walked away. Joe is nervously glancing at the cracked part of the tombstone, while Luke is staring at Lance's back in bewilderment. Luke then rose up and frowned at his tombstone, which had been simply broken by someone's bare hands. Joe then asked him a question.

"Hey... What is the material your tombstone is made out of again?"

"Uh... I believe it is made of the finest marbles and the foundation is constructed of unbreakable metal. My tombstone was said to be so sturdy that it wouldn't even be scratched if there was an earthquake..."

Luke and Joe were concerned as they stared at the damaged gravestone. They noticed a shattered piece of metal within. It must be the so-called 'unbreakable metal'. They both took a deep breath and then gulped. Joe then spoke nervously.

"Congratulations... You've found someone with a grip stronger than an earthquake..."

Luke took a deep breath and began to sweat anxiously.

"Don't scare me like that; if you keep doing that, I might not want to come back."

"I'm just telling the truth. Well, uh... Wishing you the best of luck after you've been resurrected... I'm very sure your friends won't let you go once you get back... Watch out for Lance and Liam though..."

Luke sighed and pressed his palms to his face. He felt a headache forming in his brain and he doesn't like it. He then started to wonder if it's a good thing to be able to come back from the dead.