The Exalted Prince Lives Again-Chapter 58: Florin Willow

Urgh!

In a bright white room full of greenish-blue curtains and blue hospital beds, Lucien was lying on top of one such bed.

IV drips were connected to his arm, and bandages were wrapped all around his body.

His eyelids were flickering as he slowly regained his consciousness.

He opened his eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling, completely white, void of any texture or color.

’I feel like shit.’

Those were the first words he uttered after waking up from his slumber.

"I thought I sensed something."

He heard an extremely serene and calming voice speaking in a low tone right next to him.

Urgh!

He wanted to turn his head around to see who it was, but the extreme soreness he felt stopped him from doing so.

"Don’t move." The calming voice panicked.

A concerned face appeared right above his eyes, and gentle hands adjusted his head once again.

The guy had silky, charcoal black hair, waving down his face, and his eyes were the same color.

He wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses and had tons of other gold accessories all around.

Ear piercings, rings, chains, and necklaces.

But what truly stood out about him was his face.

Handsome, charming, but most of all, scholarly and pleasant to look at.

One instantly felt relaxed just seeing his face and his expressions, which showed genuine concern for them.

"You are still healing, Your Highness." The guy suggested, backing down slightly.

"Who are you?" Lucien asked, his voice hoarse like a grater.

"My name is Florin Willow. I am a support class student, a healer, in the third year." He introduced himself politely.

"So, I am in the infirmary?" He asked, his mind slowly clearing up.

"That’s right, Your Highness."

"Please drop the honorifics on the Academy grounds," Lucien repeated the sentence once again.

"Understood." Florin obeyed.

"What happened?" Lucien asked, his mind replaying the events of the night back to back.

"Last night, you and Miss Selene were rushed to the infirmary by His Highness, Prince Edric."

Florin was narrating the story, but Lucien frowned, "Edric did?"

"That’s right, Lucien. After you and Miss Selene lost to the failed Marionette, Prince Edric saved you both and slayed the Marionette."

Florin dictated the story he heard word by word, and continued.

"You both were severely injured, so Prince Edric fed you both healing potions and carried you both here immediately."

Tsk!

Lucien clicked his tongue, pissed off about whole bullshit.

It was clear what had transpired after he turned unconscious.

’At least Cyrus used to give me proper credits.’

"Prince Edric is such a kind soul, too. He didn’t care for the publicity and only did his work. We only knew about his deeds from the witnesses around."

’So that’s the story we are going with, huh?’

Lucien was pissed off.

Not because they didn’t give him the credit.

That was part of the problem, but the bigger one was that Edric took all the credit.

"Prince Edric is also..."

Lucien turned his head again, irritated that he was going to say.

"...slightly stupid if he thinks that no one would catch his lies."

Lucien’s head immediately flung to the right, wondering if his ears were hearing right.

The tone and the words didn’t match at all.

His eyes squinted at him, but Florin had the same calming smile still plastered over his face.

He slowly looked down at Lucien and continued, "I can tell how 80% of the battle had transpired looking at the wounds alone."

There wasn’t a sliver of hostility in his tone, but something told him that he didn’t like Edric that much.

"Those burns you incurred," He chuckled politely, "It’s clear who had killed the Marionette."

"Aren’t you afraid that I, his brother, would punish you for speaking like this against a royal blood?"

Lucien warned, his tone threatening.

"..."

Florin looked at him calmly for a few seconds and replied, "Would you?"

"..."

This time, Lucien was silent.

The answer was pretty clear.

"As for being scared, yes," He admitted, "I am scared indeed. Scared of your brother."

His voice held some form of grudge and intimidation: "Otherwise, I would have told others about my findings here, instead of suppressing it."

Lucien nodded and said, "Fair enough."

"We cannot do anything about it at all." Lucien sounded bitter, "He has more power and influence in the Academy than any other cadet, and also a lot of ’witnesses’ to do his bidding."

There was another fact that nobody would believe that two first-years killed a quasi-Ascendant.

The odds were stacked against them.

"What happened to Selene?" Lucien asked, worried since she also helped a lot last night.

"She woke up hours before you, and left after seeing that you were also doing fine," Florin informed him as asked.

Lucien could only imagine the bitterness she felt.

"What time is it?" Lucien wondered, since he could still see the sunlight pouring through the window.

"13:43. You were unconscious for around 18 hours." Florin calculated in his head.

"Am I free to leave?"

He was feeling lethargic and tired in this bed, and wanted to go and stretch his body.

Everything had been healed already, and just the soreness remained.

"No-"

"Not yet."

Florin was about to speak, but was interrupted by a third voice coming from behind.

It was husky, hoarse, and half-dead.

They both knew instantly who it was.

Arthur Albrecht.

The silver-haired ghost appeared from behind and continued, "Florin, you can leave. I have something to discuss with Lucien privately."

"Understood." Florin bowed and left quietly.

"Lucien," Arthur started, "You have Selene and Florin as witnesses. Do you want to challenge the story about this entire incident?"

Lucien fell into a deep thought, weighing the pros and cons of the situation.

And after a few seconds of pondering, he shook his head.

"Now’s not the right time, Arthur."

They were practically business partners, and Arthur knew about his situation, which was why he didn’t hesitate to address him that way.

"It would just turn into a messy swamp."

He didn’t like being in the limelight, and he wasn’t that hungry for credit either.

But it didn’t mean that he wouldn’t take his revenge.

He would, but not like this.

Not today.

"On that note, Arthur, what is Lux Mortis?"