Lucius pursed his lips as Telmo stared him up and down, frown deepening the longer she looked.

"Alright, that's enough of that," he finally said, and Telmo turned her attention to his face again, though it was clear she was still studying him.

"Sure that's gonna work?"

"Why, don't I look the part?" Lucius gestured over his dress. "We look pretty similar I dare say."

"I mean... I haven't really seen her up close, and you look... Fancy enough." Telmo tilted her head from one side to the other and squinted. "But do you think no one will recognize you? Not even those she works with?"

"It has to work. The real Lucia would be in danger if she's around when everything happens, and I need to be able to move around freely." Lucius found the conversation ridiculous. He couldn't look more like Lucia than he already did. "This is the best option."

Telmo snorted, and Lucius looked at her with disapproval.

"What?"

"Not gonna lie, I'm curious how people would react if they saw the current you and your cousin running around at the same time."

"It wouldn't be funny at all. Only dangerous." Lucius shook his head in offended disappointment. "And I've told her to stay far away. This disguise can't go wrong."

Telmo only shrugged.

"Guess that would be a you problem anyway."

"Aw, were you almost worrying about me?"

"Well you haven't paid us yet."

"I'm moved to tears, I swear." Lucius wiped a fake tear off his cheek, careful not to actually touch his skin and risk wiping makeup away, as some of his moles were inconveniently close to his eyes. "But don't worry. You'll have your money, and no one's gonna find out about me."

"Better hope that's true." Telmo looked past Lucius before casually turning to walk away. "Because your boyfriend's here."

Disturbingly enough, Lucius would have hoped it was a cruel joke from Telmo and Damien was on his way over, but he was even more terrified to suddenly stand face to face with Anthony.

"What are you doing here by the stables, and... Isn't that one of your Reapers?" Anthony nodded in Telmo's direction, but fortunately Lucius was prepared.

"She's been helping her mother, the cook, out these past days. Which is fortunate because her mother suddenly fell ill last night."

Anthony hummed.

"Thought you weren't on very good terms."

"Well, she doesn't know it's me. We were discussing the new wine barrels."

"Ah." Anthony's gloomy expression eased up slightly. "Yes, I heard there were many."

"Just how Lady Marberry would want it." Lucius beamed innocently, once again able to pull off a ridiculous lie thanks to Catherine's eccentricity. "Maybe it'll even be enough for me to not remember this horrid day."

Anthony's mood sank again, as did his eyebrows.

"Are we finally going to talk about it, then?"

Lucius blinked with the same innocent face.

"Hm?"

"You've been avoiding me for over a week, and Damien says you've 'most likely left town', so I'm assuming something happened... Again."

As much as Lucius would love the attention and pity party, he couldn't tell Anthony about the injuries, or Damien's threats. Not now. It would have to come after the explosion, avoiding the risk of Anthony making a scene and messing with the plan.

"Well... Yes, he's been throwing some threats in my direction about staying away from you, but... Nothing new. I've just been too busy to deal with that and the party right now. Thought it would be easier to get this done without immediate danger lurking over my shoulder."

Anthony was not convinced.

"Why would he say you've left if it wasn't that serious?"

"Your father's mind is a disturbing place, so how should I know?" Lucius made a face, feigning ignorance to end the topic before lies could be shattered. "Let's just get this party over with so my suffering can go away."

"Until the wedding?"

Lucius clenched his jaw.

"I will think of something. For now, I'll focus on getting through this day."

"Right..." Anthony gave him an apologetic look. "... Well, let's go then."

"Um—" Lucius threw a glance in Telmo's direction. He would have liked her attention a little longer, preferring to combine a ton of explosives with thorough communication. "I just need a moment. I want to send my regards to her mother."

"Oh?" Anthony's eyebrows rose again. "You know her mother that well?"

"We've bullied young Lord Clausson together." Lucius was already backing away. "It meant a lot to me."

"I'll come with—"

"No." Lucius held out his good hand to place it on Anthony's chest. "She's not fond of you after everything that happened before."

Anthony looked aghast.

"That was the Gashcrow brat's fault!"

"Well..." Lucius grimaced. "... You kind of got in my way too, if you ask them."

To his relief, Anthony gave up, and he gave Lucius a forced smile before heading back towards the mansion again.

"Sorry," Lucius mouthed before turning the other direction, only to jump as he spotted the shape of a certain Blight cat in the corner of his eye.

"What do you want now?" He glared, facing the creature head on as it sat silent at the edge of a small grove behind the stables. His gaze didn't linger though, as his attention was drawn to another appearance soon after.

"Who are you talking to?" Ethan tilted his head, walking into view just a couple of feet away, and Lucius groaned inwards. He'd kept holding out hope that other people could see it as well, just that they'd always missed it, but apparently that was not the case.

"Unholy cat," Lucius whispered, still glaring at the thing while Ethan followed his gaze.

"So, like... An anti-grim."

"Well, grims don't need to be cats, and even if they were, wouldn't an anti-grim be an unholy dog—" Lucius interrupted himself as he forced his mind back to reality, letting his focus shift to the vampire. "No, wait, I don't— I don't have time. I'm— I'm a little busy right now, but—" He sucked in a breath, suddenly remembering. "Uh, how— How are you doing? After... What happened?"

"Better than you." Ethan's look turned grave. "I walked away with my body intact and without symbols of hatred searing my skin."

Lucius furrowed his brow.

"Did... Derek tell you?"

"I was awake." Ethan turned his gaze away in remorse but hurriedly continued before Lucius could express his dismay. "I couldn't move. They'd tied a harmonia around my neck and it kept me from healing properly, but I was still conscious."

The humiliation Lucius had tried to shake for days snuck up on him at the idea of Ethan having heard everything he'd said and screamed that time, and he held a painful grip around his arm.

"About the proposal I made before... How I'd realised that none of this will stop if I just try to face them head on. I understand you have your reservations, but please don't try to stop me. It's... Just better if they go away, no matter how you feel."

Ethan's lips formed a bittersweet smile.

"I know." He released a soft, trembling breath. "And I agree."

Lucius blinked, certain he'd misheard the man.

"Beg your pardon?"

"I have... Always been foolish enough to think there was hope." Ethan laughed wryly, eyebrows painfully wrinkled. "That he could go back to his old self, but... Then I heard you talking about all those— Those things he's done to Anthony, and..." He paused, with a harrowing look in his eyes. "I had to accept that it was just... A pointless, childish wish from a son who can't move on."

It went against everything he stood for at the moment, but Lucius felt bad. Ethan had clung to the belief that there was still some good in his father, and now after centuries had passed, he'd suddenly lost it.

But there was no turning back. Damien's death would be good for all of them.

"I have... Been hurt by people I've trusted before as well," Lucius tried, as futile of an attempt as it was. "And I didn't want to believe it. I didn't want to realise that... It wouldn't change no matter how hard I tried to make it so, because the pain wasn't my fault. I don't think we should be blamed for hoping, or be called naive for that."

You should.

Lucius dismissed the Scourge with a twitch of his lips. Whether Damien was dying for Lucius' vengeance's sake or to end Anthony and Ethan's suffering, the result would be the same and from what Lucius could guess, Ethan was more likely to stay out of the way if he was shown sympathy rather than listening to Lucius' fury rant about human monsters.

Which was a pity, because he loved fury rants.

"No matter what anyone says," he concluded, with Ethan nodding slowly in agreement and possibly hesitation.

"I... Know what you're planning, you know."

Lucius' expression didn't change, but concern chilled his spine. Much like his assumption that Ethan responded better to sympathy, it seemed likely that he also didn't care much for mass murder shenanigans.

"... Oh?"

"There are flaws though," Ethan continued, gravely. "No matter how discreet you try to be, you can't get upstairs to the gallery without being spotted. If no one else does somehow, Derek will notice, and you don't want him on your tail."

"Well..." Lucius grimaced. Nothing in his plan was risk free, but he had also been through worse. "... It will be very quick. I just need to get in and hand Anthony's painting over to the Reapers from the balcony, then I'll go back to mingle before giving the signal."

"The handoff is also a risk of being found out. There are a lot of windows on the back wall." Ethan looked towards the mansion. "Also, the gallery is locked."

Lucius frowned.

"It wasn't before."

"I guess people were snooping around." Ethan shrugged. If he noticed Lucius' guilty look he paid no attention to it. "Regardless, getting in will be difficult."

"I mean..." Lucius followed Ethan's gaze. "... I could pick the lock, but it might take time, depending on the design."

"So I'll help." Ethan's voice was barely audible. "I'll get in there, and get the painting out myself."

"You—" Lucius had to gawk. "You would?"

Ethan turned his head away before nodding.

"I can't... Destroy the other paintings, or something like that, but I can help you stay away from danger. I'll shroud-walk my way in there and grab the painting without anyone noticing, and then I'll hand it over to your Reapers. Then you can give the signal when you're ready."

Lucius had to once again envy vampires, and he laughed softly.

"That... Would be so helpful, you have no idea."

"I do." Ethan's smile came with a scrunched up face. "That's why I'm doing it."

"Alright, well... Let's go tell the others." Lucius waved for him to come with, and Ethan looked down at something on the ground."

"Think I'm gonna wait."

Lucius followed his eyes again and finally remembered one of the reasons to not be envious of vampires.

"... Right," he mumbled as he too looked at the split between sunlight and the shadow of the grove, with Ethan standing safely in the latter. "Won't that be a problem?"

"The mansion blocks the sun pretty well." Ethan pointed at the massive estate. "If I'd be in any danger of burning, it would be late in the evening."

"That's good then." Lucius breathed out in relief. Despite telling himself that his main concern was the plan, a nagging voice in his head reminded him that Ethan had been shot in the head by Derek because of him, and now he was risking his safety again. "I'll go talk to them then, and when possible, you head over and do so as well. They can seem a bit... Hostile, but they're not so bad."

"I've been around hostile people before." Ethan waggled his eyebrows. "Run along now."

Fortunately, Telmo was already on her way over again and Lucius quickly gathered his thoughts to explain the changes.

"Him?" Telmo's voice was charged with scepticism as the new plan was explained to her, and she nodded towards Ethan, who firmly remained in the shadows. "He's gonna do all of that alone? He looks like someone who'd play a main role in a Driftwood Isle performance."

"He's a dancer, actually," Lucius admitted, with eyebrows raised. "Though I think the biggest revelation here is you knowing about Driftwood Isle."

"I can appreciate plays if I want," Telmo huffed with an eye roll. "Shut up."

"I need to hurry back anyway." Lucius let a look of exasperation show before giving Telmo a shoulder pat, at which the latter narrowed her eyes. "Ethan will join you later. Good luck."

"Think you need it more than we do."

"Yeah..." Lucius sighed quietly. "... Most likely."

Anthony was waiting for him when he got back to the mansion, clearly trying to appear calm but his restless hand drumming on a staircase post made his frustration a secret to no one.

"At least pretend to be alright with this," Lucius urged him with a whisper, smiling as if he was just greeting him. "I, if anyone, know the struggle, but you've taught me to play nice around these people so why shouldn't you have to?"

"Even with Lucia, I don't think I'd approve." Anthony's look was strained. "I don't know much about our supposed friendship, but her marrying Damien for business— and downright blackmail purposes— shouldn't sit well with any friend."

"Maybe you coming off as jealous would be a good thing," Lucius suggested. "People could be more inclined to question the fact that it's Damien and not you marrying me."

"Most people in here know I like men."

Lucius groaned, quietly.

"Well couldn't you like women too for all they know? And Damien's not keeping secret that the marriage is not about love, so does it even matter?"

"Maybe not," Anthony muttered with knitted eyebrows and his eyes fixed on the floor. All Lucius missed in the image was a pout.

"Just look jealous for now," Lucius handed out the second shoulder pat of the day before walking off to greet other people. "It will be fine."

Amidst the growing lump in his stomach and painful, yet convincing acting, Lucius took great pleasure in scouring rooms the following hour. So many anglers, such as his less amiable council members, Bezek and Nox, as well as that cursed Whitbrow, and several people who'd stood in the front and sneered at that attempted execution.

And they were all going to die.

Lucius dutifully held back a grin as he spotted Damien and Derek further away in the room. It seemed most were beginning to move towards the great hall and as Lucius' unusual luck would have it, the light faded slightly in the room as a big cloud covered the sun.

He strolled away from a last, unpleasant conversation and urged anyone who was lingering to get going before casually moving towards the window.

As expected, Ethan had moved to another hiding place close to the gallery, and in spite of poorly hidden remorse, he gave Lucius a nod.

There were no hints of regrets in Lucius' expression though. He was holding back emotions as well, but they were far from negative. In the end, he couldn't stop a smile from slipping forward as he nodded back ever so vaguely.

He'd barely blinked before Ethan was gone, and as Lucius' gaze lingered at the trails of smoke remaining, a barely audible laugh escaped him.

He would finally be rid of them, forever.