Chapter 131: An Honest Life

Words : 1333 Updated : Sep 17th, 2025

Chapter 131: An Honest Life It felt like a dream for Luca. He was like a bobblehead who listened to the Duke, who fussed around him like a busy bee. But at the same time, it felt warm to have someone who asked whether he had eaten already, if there was anything that hurt, or if he had a good day. And the Duke was doing just that. He kept asking about so many different things, and Luca could only nod at the barrage—until he got to the dreaded topic. Luca was asked about his recovery. The little chipmunk felt suffocated as fear gripped his heart. "..." Duke Leander could see the change in his son’s demeanor. He was only a bit shy earlier but was now trembling in fear. So he didn’t prolong it and asked. "Where did you go, my son?" The Duke patted Luca’s head as he asked. "Did you have a good adventure when you were away?" He added, a pained smile marring his face. "!" Luca suddenly looked up, his eyes almost bugging out in surprise. What did the Duke mean by that? Was he trying to catch me with a lie? This confused him more as he didn’t expect such a question. The Duke could clearly see how he was right in asking, but at the same time, it pained him to see his son like this. His kid was filled with doubts, and there was nothing more painful than doubting yourself. "You went away for a long while, didn’t you? Your body was here, but your consciousness wasn’t." "!!!" Luca panicked, and D-29 tried its best not to blare alarms when critical stress points were hit—and this was hitting many of them. But there was no room to blare more when the Host was already self-destructing enough. It was a gamble and would likely alter how he was going to live his life, but Luca figured he would eventually die of stress if he kept on taking what wasn’t meant for him. He was aware he took a lot and knew that he would eventually have to pay it all back. But he was distraught because he felt like it had been too short. He had a good life, finally, but it was going to end so soon. So soon that it chipped at his heart. The dam broke. And the little chipmunk’s tears came flooding out. He was still silent, trying to buy time before everything collapsed, trying to hold on for just a bit longer. D-29 honestly felt that it would have been better if they had left earlier because the Host’s vitals were turning for the worse. But before the little system could call on the last bastion, the Duke started wiping the corner of his son’s eyes. And Luca could only sob, his lungs finally seizing as he wailed like a child. He knows. Luca thought as he realized that there was no point in lying to the Duke as he already knew, so he could only come clean while hoping for the best. But the Duke said, "What name did you use when you were away?" "Fa—No, Duke..." Luca had to gather enough strength as he tried to speak in between sobs. "I... I am not Luca." He said in between hiccups. "I—I’m not your son." He decided to come clean even when he sincerely wished he could just stay as the Duke’s son. Luca thought he knew sadness from everything he had gone through in his past life. But apparently, you couldn’t experience this kind of grief when you didn’t really know what happiness was. How could you differentiate the feeling when it was all that you have ever known? But now that he’s tasted a bit of it, he could tell. Luca was devastated. "Oh? And what makes you think that?" The Duke asked as he used his spiritual abilities to drag over a chair. They were now sitting face to face, with Luca, well Lucas, doing his best to avoid looking at the Duke’s eyes. He didn’t want to see disappointment where there was tenderness earlier. It was selfish, but he wanted to remember a part of it as a reference for what it was like to have a family. Lucas was trying to figure out a way to explain how he ended up in Luca’s body. How he didn’t plan to steal anyone’s life, and how he didn’t plan to take what was meant for the Duke’s son. But the Duke asked, "Did you wake up in the infirmary thinking that you’ve taken over someone’s body?" Duke Leander planned on taking it slow but never thought it would be like this. How did such a good and honest boy survive when he readily admitted to a crime that he didn’t even commit? The answer was he didn’t. Lucas didn’t survive that life, but maybe the Duke, learning about this, would have sent the doting father to a much earlier grave. All this time, Lucas was sure he was hearing the Duke’s words clearly, but how come it sounded like his thoughts when he dreamt of other ways to delude himself? "You did, didn’t you?" It was that head pat again, coupled with his hair being ruffled by the Duke, who spoke despite not receiving an answer from Lucas. "What name did you use before then?" "Lu—Lucas, Yo—Your Grace..." Lucas stammered as he finally revealed himself to the Duke. *Clap!* "Why, what a good boy! You even remembered your name?!" The Duke smiled, even though the boy before him couldn’t see his face from drooping too much. "Although you could never say it without that ’S’ back then! So, I’m not surprised you’d use that instead." "?!" The little chipmunk felt like he was hit by lightning, his body shaking from those words. "You left us at such an early age, and we’ve always wondered if you managed to remember anything or if you’d be doing well." "What if you got sick, and no one was with you?" "So, many questions and all that we could hope for was that your mother was right." "She said that you’ve always been a good boy and you’d be loved anywhere you went." "But your papa is a bit bad, you see? I personally hoped that the people you encountered wouldn’t love you too much because what if they decided not to let you return to us?" The Duke whispered like it was their little secret. Lucas heard all of it and absorbed it all, but wasn’t this just a fantasy that his mind was now conjuring because of his desperate pleas? "Son, you probably think we can’t tell. That you’ve done a good job pretending to be ’Luca,’ but my boy, you weren’t the only one who attempted it." "What?!" Lucas couldn’t help but react to this. "What exactly did he mean by not the only one?" "Do you know what happens when another consciousness enters a foreign body?" "It doesn’t go perfectly right. Like a lock and key, one or both would go missing. And there would be some sort of defect, as the body or the consciousness won’t be able to keep up." "!!!" Shocked and stunned would be an understatement. Because Lucas nearly fell off his seat after hearing this. "Did you experience such a thing?" The Duke asked. Finally, Lucas nodded. "Aaaaaah! I knew it! I was hoping you wouldn’t have had such a hard time, but I could just imagine, my son!" The Duke smooshed the chipmunk’s face yet again, but this time, Lucas was too busy trying to remember his life back then. Was this really possible? Could he really be the owner of this body? "I didn’t want to show you this, but I feel like this would be the only way to reassure you." The Duke took a deep breath because who wanted to relive that moment when his son got possessed by some goat?

Chapter 131: An Honest Life

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