Chapter 118: Playing Dead

Words : 1469 Updated : Sep 17th, 2025

Chapter 118: Playing Dead It was a desperate and tense moment. Luca and Xavier weren’t prepared to encounter a lucid Marshal, and to be perfectly honest, Luca thought of whacking him gently. At least just enough to knock him out for a moment. Like Uncle, like nephew. They didn’t even remain knocked out for too long and had a penchant for randomly waking up despite dire conditions. Xavier could feel Luca hiding behind him, so he had to think of something to hold off the Marshal until they could come up with a plausible explanation. But the little chipmunk beat him to it out of fear of having an unsatisfied and talkative customer. "Marshal, Sir, we’re also not sure. We were just hoping for something to work." Luca said from behind Xavier, his head popping out from the side. It was likely disrespectful, but who could blame him? Marshal Julian actually noticed how Xavier hid this guy when he would’ve customarily held such cowards out for everyone to see. "And you are?" "Hello, Sir. I’m Luca Kyros." Luca debated whether to lie. He regretted not following Xavier’s instructions and figured he shouldn’t be adding more problems for the benefactor. "Kyros?" The Marshal was surprised to hear that Xavier came with Duke Leander’s son of all people. But he somehow remembered seeing a very young toddler with the Duke several years back. While he definitely felt better, he still felt hazy from his earlier state. But if there was anything he could take from this boy, it was the recent news he’d heard about the Duke’s condition improving. They weren’t particularly monitoring him, but such big movements from the duchy that had long been quiet would definitely attract attention. Was this related to the Duke’s improvement? Has Leander found a way? Technically, it was the Duchess who had been busy looking for something, but did they finally succeed after so many years? Luca and Xavier watched as the Marshal formed his own conclusions. And it was understandable because who would assume that the fix was carried around by one little chipmunk who even had the gall to hide behind the wayward nephew? Eventually, he said, "I see, it seems like the duchy finally figured it out." It wasn’t a question, and Luca didn’t know how to respond when he remembered saying something similar when he dealt with marketplace corruption! He was so dead. A likely ass-whooping! But who else could maybe do something like this? In his guilt, Luca tried thinking of ways to compensate and apologize to the people of the duchy. Then he remembered how the Duke had a similar issue. Would the same thing work for his father? It should, right? The little liar who had an entire duchy carry the pot of mankind’s savior figured he could at least cure his father. But little did the repentant son realize that it would eventually cement the Marshal’s conclusion, with the Duke recovering as predicted. However, this was for later, as the extremely filial son was still on the verge of mentally selecting which chicken should be fried for the people of the duchy. It was an advance peace offering; hopefully, he wouldn’t be disowned the moment they heard what he had done. Xavier tried to hold everything in. He had so many complaints, which was surprising for someone who usually couldn’t care less. But he managed to hold it in until the Marshal fell asleep due to fatigue. While he looked like a refilled highlighter, Luca didn’t give him a Stamina recovery pill that could’ve solved the problem after much howling. Worried he might get a bad review from this client, the budding businessman avoided risking it and chose the good old method of letting the Marshal rest like a normal person. Luca could feel Xavier’s stares from even before they left but decided to play dead the moment they entered the mecha. It was his fault. He was a lousy company owner who couldn’t help but micromanage. Now that the customers have seen him, they would likely be able to haggle and hunt him down. Who can he blame for this? Clearly, no one but himself! So Luca played dead while curled against Xavier, who felt like everything was not going according to plan. And the Prince, who had kept a routine since he was young, kept getting shaken by the small animal who was seriously pretending to be dead. But eventually, he really did fall asleep. It was emotionally and physically tiring as the little chipmunk opened a bit of his heart to more people. Xavier wasn’t surprised that Luca would eventually konk out like this. This little boss had been running around nonstop for several space days and surely needed some rest. And yet, he was sure that his fatigue probably came from having that emotional moment. Even Xavier was tired as he weighed his decisions to implicate Luca in all this. But then the little chipmunk had a small smile as he slept soundly. Xavier felt relieved, at least for now. He just wasn’t so sure about tomorrow. Right, because the next day, everyone was surprised to find Luca creating a feast fit for the gods—or a chicken-eating contest. Jax, in particular, camped outside of Luca’s cabin because he couldn’t resist the smell wafting from the place. But Ollie was much more brazen and decided to run inside to look for his good brother who went missing yesterday! "Luca, we couldn’t find you yesterday. Did you not go home?" Ollie asked, wanting to quell his worries from when he tried but failed to contact Luca yesterday. "Oh, we did. It was just a little too late to go in, and I was really too tired." Luca couldn’t admit that he just passed out after pretending and technically missed out on more training time. He was a bad student who forced his brother to study hard when he just went out and had fun earning a lot of money. The guilty little brother could only answer vaguely to avoid earning another scolding. "Too late? Were you busy with something?" Ollie was obviously worried and wanted specifics from this tight-lipped brother of his. Luca realized that Ollie was determined to know and would not let go until he explained it in a way that made sense. "I... I actually passed out because I was too tired, but I was with Xavier, so I’m okay now." His only gripe was that shift stick hitting his lower back. Now, Luca, who was definitely young at heart and in body, felt like an old man with a back problem. And he winced even as he rubbed his back. "..." But to everyone, especially to the eyes and ears of the two people and three skeletons who had just arrived, it looked like a totally different scenario. And everyone looked at the unsuspecting white wolf like he was the bully who wouldn’t let up. Ollie’s world was shaken as he looked at Luca up and down. Had his good brother been devoured so badly that he passed out from being bullied? The mop tried his best to reign his imagination in. It would be impossible because his brother was likely too innocent for such a thing, right? RIGHT?! "Luca, I heard you were with the Captain the whole night. I hope you didn’t get too tired doing it." Jax asked as he waited on Luca’s finished products. Everyone else: "???" "Oh, that? It’s alright, I enjoyed it! If anything, I was just thankful that Xavier endured for me!" The chipmunk rubbed the back of his neck as he responded to Jax’s question. Luca earned so much from that night that he was even more determined to pass the Mercenary Exams. There was just no going back after seeing all the possibilities. Luca smiled shyly as he realized he was being too selfish, but to everyone, it looked like he was embarrassed. Humans and bones alike: "!!!" Xavier felt everyone’s gazes. He had so many complaints in his heart and wondered how many people would start expecting kids at this rate. Ollie couldn’t believe it. The overwhelmed mop had to sit on the floor as he tried to determine where everything went wrong. But what right did he have to comment when they were married and relatively harmonious? Ollie figured he had no more time to look for a suitable gift. Everything was moving too fast, and his brother was likely to have kids soon. Did he also need to do the same? What if their kids don’t end up close because their age gap is too big? Worse, what if they can’t be classmates because of it?! Ollie shuddered and figured he needed to add this problem to his ever-growing list!

Chapter 118: Playing Dead

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