The moment the King shows up in front of her. There is something in her face—a growth on her face that she never had before. Our light, Mama, was finally able to smile without forcing it. Mama turned her gaze at me, seeming a little confused by the situation. And in response to her confused expression, I smiled. Finally, she returns her gaze to the king. “Lu... Lucien?”
That's when you take a step back and walk away, allowing them to have the conversation they didn't have a long time ago. Part of me was scared of what was going to happen after the conversation, but there were no regrets and no more backing out.
I walked without direction, just letting my feet decide where it would take me. Till some cars blocked the road, I was passing by. Emmet’s brother comes out of the car with another envelope in his hand. “You know, I was beginning to suspect you put GPS on me.”
"I've got my eyes everywhere,” he replied. “This isn’t a coincidence. I came here on purpose, so do you have a minute?”
I went with him without hesitation. In the middle of the road, he handed me the envelope. I was about to open it, but I stopped. "Tell me your name." I turned my gaze toward him. "You've kept asking me to do things for you, but I've never known who I'm talking to until today."
"I'm Emmett's brother,"
"Yeah, I know it already. I'm asking about your name, not the person who was involved with you. I had this question in my mind: why would you help the prince when there's nothing between you—he doesn't know you? And how-- did you know the whereabouts of Cynthia, who is not really the prince's mother? I am not supposed to trust you, but I am riding with you here."
“Rocco, that's my name," he said. "And prince-- Augustus father… was my brother,”
I return my gaze to him, confused.
Rocco pulled over the car on the side of the road. He was just staring, taking his time to speak up. "I've known the truth since the beginning. I was able to know the secrets the palace was hiding; I know Cynthia’s not his mother.”
“Wait,” I paused, trying to get every word he said into my mind. “You knew? Yet you didn’t tell me. Don't you see what you've done? You give him hope. Hope that the mother he was looking for was really his mother.”
“I did that so that he would know everything so that he himself would know the evil done by the family he considered,” he said, defending himself. “Do you think I'm stupid enough to knock on the palace door and say, 'Prince Augustus, I'm your father's brother? If you want to know everything, will you come with me? Is that what you want me to say? King Lucien will do everything to hide what the late King Basilius did. And another thing, if I didn't plan, none of their secrets would come out.”
“You can tell the prince personally; talk to him without the guard or the king present. It wasn’t so hard to do.”
“People like you cannot understand such a thing.”
"Perhaps," I said, returning my gaze to the front. “At least now, he’s okay. I don't need to understand people like you anymore.”
--------------
“Hey, Um… I’m outside your house; can you come out for a second?”
I waved my hand in the air as I saw Lincoln come out of his house after a second. “What are you doing out here?”
“Sorry for coming unannounced, there’s somewhere I need to go. Do you mind if you give me a ride?
“Yeah, yeah, sure. Give me a minute. I’ll go get my keys.”
I nodded.
Lincoln held my head gently so I wouldn't hit my head against his car door. We were silent throughout the trip; Lincoln only started the conversation when we were almost there. “How’s it going? About you and the prince.”
I glanced down.
“Is something wrong?”
I forced a smile as I glanced at him. “No, everything started to be fine.”
“Gemma—you know you can tell me anything, right? If Augustus is doing it again, just say the word. I won’t hesitate to beat his ass.
“We are here,” I said to cut him off from finishing the sentence. I took him to the place where the three of them used to race. No one but members can enter, but because of the exclusive passes given to me, I can enter whenever I want, and I can even bring others with me.
“How did you know about this place?” he asked confusedly.
“Deacon brought me here. He’s the one who tells me about how the three of you used to race together,” I replied. “The night Deacon told me about it, I was picturing the three of you competing in a race. You, Deacon, and Prince Augustus together.”
“But it was before, when things were still okay,”
I grabbed his hand. “There’s still time to make up for those days that have been wasted,”
I showed the man who was guarding the gate.
Greeting every person I know as we walk to the main house. On the other side, people on the race track started to recognize Lincoln even with his head down. “Keitaro?” They started to call Lincoln by the unfamiliar name.
I don't know why they call him that, but I go along with them and call him Keitaro too. “Yes, Keitaro is here! Keitaro, the King of the race, was here!” I yelled out.
Lincoln was trying to stop me by covering my mouth with his hand. “Okay, okay, stop.”
I smiled, showing my teeth to him.
He sighed deeply. “Don’t be disappointed if things you want to happen don’t go well,”
I grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the main house, saying, "I won't, because I'm sure you three will be friends again."
Lincoln, take his hand off me. “You go ahead; I’ll follow you after.”
“You’re not going to bail me out, aren’t you?”
“Even if I want to leave here, I’m not going to do it, especially I know how dangerous this race track is,” he said as he looked around the race track.
Bullet was outside with her race team, who were smoking cigarettes. "You had the audacity to come here by yourself. What brings you here, prince’s lover?”
I was silent for a second. “I’m not his lover. By the way, is Deacon here?” She glared at me like she wanted to kill me. “Don’t fret; I’m not going to steal him from you.”
“He’s on the race track, why?”
“I brought some guests, someone close to him that I wanted him to see.”
All of our eyes shifted to the person approaching us; his hands were placed in his pants pocket. Walks like he was the king of this race track, ignoring people’s gossip and murmuring. Bullet's face changed, like her team's. All were stunned by the presence of Lincoln. “Kei- Keitaro?” Bullet completely froze out.
Lincoln who doesn’t smoke took all of the cigarette on their hands. “Didn't I tell you last time to quit smoking? All of you just don’t listen to me. Do you all want to die at such a young age?” Lincoln scolded as if he were a father reprimanding his children.
“You know Bullet?” I asked, looking at him.
“Keitaro... was the former leader of our team,” one of Bullet’s race team replied.
“Leader?” I repeated. So Lincoln was not only a member of this car racing team but also its former leader. But not just any ordinary team—the third-fastest team.
“Are you back in the race?” Bullet asked excitedly. “This is good news!”
“No,” Lincoln said directly. “I told you I’m done racing. Gemma set me up and brought me here.”
“Well, I should thank Gemma for bringing you here." Bullet fixed her gaze on me. “You’re different; anyone will be surprised by you. Bringing Lincoln here is impossible, especially if his number one enemy is here.”
"Wait a minute, suddenly there is a change in the opponent. The legendary Keitaro is here, and he will be the one to compete against Nyx in the race. I can only say one thing, this night will be the night that everyone will not forget. Nyx vs. Keitaro, LET THE RACE BEGIN!"
Both of their faces were shown on the big screen. No, this is not what I want. I didn't bring Lincoln here to compete with Deacon. I'm here to finally stop their quarrel, not to make things worse.