Chapter 174: Like Aunt, Like Niece

The lanterns made from glowing flowers cast a soft, warm light throughout Luca’s treehouse, their gentle illumination spilling through the windows and mixing with the natural moonlight filtering through the leaves.

Like all the other treehouses in the village, his new home glowed with that ethereal, floral radiance that made the forest look like something from a dream.

Inside, Luca sat in a comfortable recliner positioned in what the elves had designed as a study—a small but cozy room lined with shelves, furnished with a sturdy desk, and decorated with hanging plants that seemed to thrive even indoors.

In his hands, he held a book—one of many stacked on the small table beside him.

But these weren’t novels or bedtime stories.

They were Nyx’s personal journals.

Page after page, volume after volume, all of them recording Julius’s actions, habits, movements, and behavior as carefully as she could manage.

Luca had already gone through them all once.

And then twice.

And now he was going through them again.

Unfortunately, the result was the same.

Julius was meticulous.

Painfully meticulous.

No matter how many times Luca re-read the notes, he could not find any obvious clue that explained how Julius had managed to keep Leona so tightly under his control.

There were no clear slips, no incriminating entries, no reckless patterns. Julius had moved carefully for years, leaving no obvious evidence behind.

All Luca knew for certain was that after Luna and Lulu were born, Julius had gradually taken control of the entire village.

Even if Leona wanted to do something herself, the moment Julius objected, she would resist only a little—question him, argue for a short while, maybe even push back once or twice—but in the end, she would always give in.

And even though Julius had never formally taken the role of leader, everyone in the village knew the truth.

He was the one giving the orders.

That was what troubled Luca most.

How?

That was the question that kept circling in his mind.

If mana still filled the world like it once had, Luca could think of countless methods Julius might have used.

Spells, curses, ritual bindings, catastrophic threats, magical coercion—there were far too many possibilities.

In a world full of mana, frightening someone into submission or controlling them through magical means was entirely plausible.

But now?

Mana was thin.

Weak.

Barely present in the air.

There was no way Julius could casually maintain some large-scale spell powerful enough to threaten the whole village.

Not in the current era.

So what exactly did he have over Leona?

What could possibly make her so afraid, so restrained, even now?

That was what Luca could not understand.

He was still thinking about it when he suddenly felt a small wiggle in his lap.

His thoughts paused and a smile slowly appeared on his face as he looked at the person in front it.

Or rather, looked at the girl sitting directly on top of him.

Luna was on his lap right now, leaning comfortably against his chest as though she had decided he was the most natural chair in the world.

She looked completely at ease there, one leg folded slightly to the side, the journal resting partly in her hands and partly against his arm.

He could feel the soft weight of her on his lap, and the faint fragrance around her that smelled just like the forest itself—fresh, green, and unmistakably elven.

And she was completely absorbed in one of Nyx’s journals, her brow furrowed in concentration, her lips pressed into a serious line as she scanned the pages.

Luca’s smile widened.

Earlier, he had told Luna the truth—or at least the part of it he was sure of.

He had told her that her father was manipulating her mother somehow, and that Leona’s coldness over the years most likely had not come from her own heart.

Luna had been shocked when she heard it.

But at the same time, it had made sense to her.

Deep down, she had already had those doubts herself.

So when Luca confirmed them, she had first felt relief.

Real, visible relief.

Because it meant that her mother had not spent all those years being cold because she simply didn’t care.

It meant that Leona had not been rejecting her and Lulu out of cruelty or indifference, but because of some force, some burden, some chain they still did not fully understand.

That had eased something in her.

But only for a little while.

Because after that relief came fury.

Fury at Julius. At the man who called himself her father. At the person who had stolen years of love and warmth from her and her mother.

She wanted answers. Wanted to understand. Wanted to do something.

That was why the two of them were here now, reading through the journals together, trying to find any clue at all.

Still, one thing about the arrangement had been bothering Luca.

After watching her for another moment, he finally asked,

“Not that I’m complaining, but…why exactly are you sitting on my lap?”

He gestured at the empty chair.

“There’s a perfectly good seat right there.”

Luna’s head snapped around, her eyes narrowing with an offended glare that was pure Leona.

“What, Luca? Do you have a problem with me sitting here?”

She leaned closer, her face inches from his.

“At dinner, you let Lulu sit on your lap. You didn’t say anything to her. She bounced around, wiggled, did whatever she wanted, and you just let her. So why can’t I?”

“Whoa, whoa, hold on.” Luca held up his hands in immediate surrender. “I have absolutely no problem with you sitting on my lap.”

To emphasize his point, he wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her slightly closer. The contact made her cheeks flush faintly.

“Especially on a cold night like this, having a warm body pressed against me is pretty amazing.”

Luna’s blush deepened, but she said nothing.

“It’s just…” Luca continued thoughtfully. “When Lulu does something like that, it makes sense. She’s goofy. Affectionate. A little childish, honestly. So her wanting to sit on someone’s lap feels natural.”

He tilted his head, studying Luna.

“But you? You’re always try to act composed. So eager to be treated like an adult. You want responsibility, respect, to prove your worth to everyone.”

“So it’s surprising that you’d want to just…sit on someone’s lap and cuddle.”

Luna’s expression flickered. For a moment, she looked caught off guard, embarrassed to have her motivations laid bare.

Then, hesitantly, she spoke.

“It’s true that I want to be treated as an adult. I want responsibility. I want to help lead the village, to carry the burden like a matriarch’s daughter should.”

She looked down at her hands, her voice softening.

“But…that doesn’t mean I don’t also want to be spoiled sometimes.”

She glanced up at him through her lashes, shy and vulnerable in a way he had never seen.

“Is that wrong? To want both?”

“To want to be taken seriously, but also to have moments where I can just…be held?”

Luca’s heart melted.

She looked so small suddenly. So desperately in need of reassurance that her desires were normal, that wanting comfort didn’t make her weak.

He wrapped his other arm around her, pulling her fully against his chest.

“There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, Luna.” His voice was warm, gentle. “You can be strong and want comfort. You can be a leader and want to be held. Those things aren’t opposites.”

He rested his chin on top of her head.

“So, whenever you want to sit on my lap—whether to read, or think, or just exist—this spot is always available. Consider it reserved just for you.”

Luna’s face lit up with a smile so bright, so beautiful, that Luca felt his own heart skip.

He then looked down at the journal in Luna’s hands and asked quietly,

“Did you find anything? Anything at all about your father that seems suspicious?”

Luna’s expression fell into a disappointed pout. She shook her head slowly.

“No. Nothing at all.” She sighed, the sound heavy with frustration. “No matter how many times I read through these entries, I can’t find a single thing that explains what he’s doing to my mother.”

“It’s like he’s been on his best behavior for decades, always acting the perfect gentleman.”

Luca nodded grimly. He had reached the same conclusion hours ago.

Julius was careful. He never left evidence.

But Luna wasn’t finished.

“There is something strange, though.”

She tilted her head, a puzzled expression crossing her features.

“But it’s not about my father at all. It’s about Auntie Nyx.”

Luca raised an eyebrow. “Nyx?”

Luna nodded, flipping through a few pages.

“Yes, in every single journal entry, half of it is about monitoring my father. His movements, his conversations, his interactions. But the other half?”

She looked up at him with an awkward expression.

“The other half is about how much Aunt Nyx hates him and…wants to kill him.”

She cleared her throat and began reading aloud.

“Julius went to Bortle’s house at sunrise. He came out two hours later with that insufferable smug look on his face.”

“Every time I see that expression, I want to take my knife and slash it off. Cut out his lips so he can never smile again.”

Luca winced.

Luna flipped to another entry.

“Julius is sleeping on top of the elder tree right now, looking so peaceful. I wonder if I should just climb up there and drop a rock on his head.”

“Would that be murder, or just pest control?’”

She turned another page.

“Julius was practicing archery today. I found myself wishing his arrow would multiply into a thousand and pierce every single part of his body until there’s not an inch of him left unpunctured.”

She slowly lowered the journal and looked back at Luca with a sheepish smile.

“I always thought Auntie Nyx and my father had some kind of close relationship because of how she acted around him.”

“She’d always get near him, act playful, call him things in that tone…so I thought maybe they were at least somewhat close.”

She shook her head in realisation.

“But who would’ve thought it was all an act? Auntie Nyx really hates him. Like…really, really hates him.”

Then Luna let out a small sigh and leaned back against his chest.

“To be honest, I always thought I hated my father the most.” She admitted. “But after reading all this…it really feels like Auntie Nyx has taken first place.”

Luca opened his mouth to respond—to share some of the other violent passages he’d read, to comment on Nyx’s truly impressive depth of loathing—but Luna wasn’t finished.

Her expression shifted.

Something clicked behind her eyes as if she has realised the solution to all the problems they were facing from reading Nyx’s entries.

“Actually…” She looked at him with sudden intensity. “Actually, I think Auntie Nyx is right.”

Luca frowned slightly. “About what?”

Luna answered so casually that for a second he thought he had misheard her.

“Why don’t we just kill my father?”

That made Luca go completely still.

He stared at her.

She, on the other hand, kept going as if she were explaining the most obvious thing in the world.

“Think about it, Luca! My father is the source of all the problems. He’s the one controlling my mother.”

“He’s the reason she’s been cold to us for years.”

“He’s the reason the village is under his thumb.”

“If we just kill him, it all ends!”

She gestured to emphasize how obvious the answer was.

“Everything! My mother is free, the village is free, no more manipulation, no more fear!”

Luca tried to interject, but Luna was on a roll.

“You can’t do it yourself because of the rules or restrictions or whatever. I get that. But what about me?”

She pointed at herself, her eyes gleaming with a fervor that was honestly a little concerning.

“I’m his daughter. I have access to him. I could walk right into his tent tonight, no questions asked.”

She leaned forward, pressing against him in her enthusiasm.

“Just give me a gun, Luca. Any gun. Even a pistol would work. I’ll go to wherever he’s staying, walk into his tent, and put two rounds right through his heart.”

She made a shooting gesture with her fingers.

“Bang, bang! Problem solved. Forever.”

Her expression was so serious that it became frightening as she added,

“I’ve been waiting for us to find some clue, but honestly, maybe we don’t even need one. Maybe this is the answer all along. Just let me do it.”

As she said that, she actually patted at his side and his pockets, as if fully expecting the gun to be hidden somewhere on him.

“Come on, just give it to me.” She insisted. “I’ll finish my father tonight. Just help me dispose hus body. I don’t want anything to do with that.”

Hearing this, Luca looked at her in utter disbelief and for a moment, he could have sworn he was seeing Nyx.

The same intensity. The same casual embrace of violence.

The same glint in the eyes that suggested she would enjoy every second of it.

But somehow, this was worse.

Because Luna was talking about killing her own father.

Her own flesh and blood. The man who gave birth to her, even if he was a monster.

And she was practically begging for the opportunity of patricide.

Luca realized, in that moment, that even though Luna was Leona’s daughter, she was also Nyx’s niece.

And some of that darkness, that casual acceptance of murder as a solution, had clearly rubbed off on her.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep