Click. Clack. Click.
The sound of glasses and plates clattering, resonated in the room.  
L

ucas watched the preparation for the banquet. 
In his twenty-seventh life, on the empress' thirty-eight birthday, the biggest banquet yet in Obelia's history would be held. 
To not only celebrate the empress' founding day celebration for the lower nobles. 
And the Princess' first official appearance, asides from her debut. 
The Princess rarely appeared in the social world. Her behaviour was similiar to the empress who made it clear to everyone, she wouldn't even wear a party gown if not for being empress. 
It was expected of her who was a commoner that didn't even know her last name. 
Anyways back to why Lucas would be watching the preperations. Today these two events happened in all his lives. There would be a magic accident in the magic tower. 
At the same time a countess with a mental health disorder would act up once seeing the empress who is showered with love by the emperor.  She would have a dagger in her headdress and would attack the defensless nobles around her. 
Even though Anthanasia isn't going to be hurt, I shouldn't stand by when I can clearly save innocent lives. 
In all my other lives I only ever thought of protecting her, but not caring for the others around me.
Lucas clenched his fists and gritted his teeth in agony. 
Even if I can't be a part of your happiness. I must make you happy. Atleast to repay you for giving me hope. 
Not only once but forty-nine times; That I could one day, be freed from … the curse.
                    __________________

What had happened to Lucas during this past month of avoiding the princess? Well, his month was filled with realization, just as Anthanasia was having her dreams if events that never happened in her life. He too had dreams. Dreams that were to realistic to be considered as JUST a dream.
Asides from everything, Lucas is still a talented wizard capable of detecting magic signals, even in his sleep.
During all his reincarnations he had acquired more skill and gained more knowledge more than anyone in the magic tower. He seemed to evolve each time in magic.
And now he didn't tutor the princess anymore which meant he had lots of time to himself.
But he only spent his days doing nothing, except laziness. Dwelling on the events that happened before coming to the magic tower, he came to realize something. He didn't remember.
All he knew was; he was brought to the magic tower being an orphan, he had an evil heart before, however he didn't have memories of being brought. He couldn't recall any  events.
And when he tried hard to remember he felt a magic barrier.
The magic barrier was blocking his memories and some of his power. But he could sense who's magic was blocking him.
I blocked my powers and memories?
He himself was blocking his memories and powers.
From the strength of the magic used for the barrier it seemed that it was his first self considering how weak it was compared to him currently.
So getting rid of the barrier and remembering was a breeze.
Damn it! Why did I have to make myself remember.
Upon remembering his memories came back in the form of a dream.
"Lucas"
"Tch, I told you not to call my name!" The little child with black hair and red eyes said glaring at the man in front of him.
"Even without calling your name, what's said is said" The man with long white hair, blood red eyes, pale skin and a calm expression replies.
"Cassius, you bastard!" The little Lucas said stamping his feet angrily.
"Isn't that language to harsh for your age. My parents live together in a peaceful marriage just like my other descendants" Cassius answered nonchalantly.
"Curse your descendants!"
Cassius looked up from his documents and stood from his chair, his white priest robe and golden chains swaying with his movements.
He didn't spare a glance at the angry child but just passed him leaving the room and called his assistant.
"Ryle" 
From outside a young man with pink eyes and brown hair came in. 
He had an average build and very long legs which could be noticed even though he wore a robe. The robe he wore was different from Cassius'. Unlike Cassius'  it didn't have gold tassles. It had a silver silk cloth at the chest and arm region. 
He bowed with one arm on his chest. 
"It is time for our departure. His holiness is in the carriage" Ryle said plainly 
"That scum isn't close to holiness!" Lucas said clearly resisting.
Then a pair of shackles appeared on Lucas' wrists.
"I'm not going anywhere!"
"You should have accepted his holiness' benelevonce" Ryle said blankly.
He walked over to the child and dragged him like a little bag. 
Lucas' strength could obviously not win against Ryle and the matter of his magic being bound with the shackles didn't help either.
He was thrown into a carriage that had no windows and two other occupants. 
Inside was Cassius in his priestly attire and a fat man who resembled a duck and wore the expression of a hungry business tycoon.
"This is the boy" Cassius said to the fat man.
The strange man brought his face closer to Lucas and looked deeply into his eyes.
"Ooh, he's a dangerous one! Look at those red eyes. The colour of blood. That your assistant doesn't have these kind of eyes." The man said stroking his tiny mustache before turning to Lucas. "How old are you?"
Of course Lucas only replied with a snarl while trying to break the shackles.
"He's five" Cassius answered not sparing a glance at Lucas. "And I already told you that, Baron"
"Aren't you a fiesty one?!" The baron said not making it clear who he was talking about.
Lucas, who wasn't interested in anything else except escape started to feel dizzy and eventually lost consciousness.
                      ___________________
Ugh, where am I?
The little Lucas slowly opened his eyes trying to think of his current situation, but his brain couldn't comprehend what was happening. 
All he knew was he was in a pit. And outside of the pit all the Canstonians were gathered.
The Canstonians are a different race from normal humans. They can be distinguished by there red or pink eyes which are very rare for a normal human to have.
They have inhumane strength and stronger magical powers. And they tend to have longer life spans than humans.
The redder your eyes are, proves how powerful you are. 
The most powerful among the pack is their leader. The existence of Canstonians and their powers are unknown to the world. Even to the imperial family.
They did not hide their identities for fear. The only reason why their identities were hidden is because if they were revealed to the world, they couldn't do what they usually did.
The evil things they did. Not that they could be arrested. They were too powerful to be defeated by any army. If what they did was said to the world it would lose its value, literally.
Just as some names contained power, some events also contained equivalent power.
"Grrrr"
"Grrrr"
Lucas turned his head to a strange growling sound and immediately felt fear crawl down his spine.
The big cats also known as the king of the jungle pounced on Lucas swiftly and clawed at his shackles which were still on him. It didn't intend to help him, its intention like every other wild animal was to skin him. 
Unfortunately for the lions they had brought back his powers. 
Killing them was a very easy task, and so was leaving the pit.
"What th-
"Scraaaa"
The sky had turned red and black and their was a downpour. A strange scent and colour came with the rain drops. And creatures descended from the sky.
They looked like a red and black crocodile with wings. Razor sharp teeth and a horrid smell. 
These monsters were known as the nevermore.
Amidst all this all the Canstonians looked calm as if watching a movie. In fact, they were all standing together in a crowd that excluded Lucas. 
Two children were dragged out from the crowd. One, a girl with green eyes and blonde hair who was about five years old. Her name was Ivy. The other was a boy with brown hair and blue eyes. Chris was his name. Ivy and Chris had a tattered appearance. Bare footed and clothes in worst shape than rags. They were the only people Lucas ever thought of as friends.
Without giving Lucas time to know what was going on, a nevermore swiped at Chris and gobbling him whole leaving some traces of blood. 
Then the nevermore swiped at the little girl who was to scared to move out of place. 
"Scraaaaaaa" Lucas stabbed the monster before it screamed in agony and fell lifeless to the ground and into ashes.
Lucas held the crying Ivy's hand trying his best to comfort her quickly. Usually a child his age was supposed to cry or faint at the sight of his best being eaten but there was no time for tears.
"Scraaaaa" 
Lucas sprang into action destroying the nevermore's mercilessly.
After he had single-handedly destroyed the nevermore's the Canstonians broke into an applauds.
"Woo-hoo"
"He is an excellent one" A man whose voice felt familiar.
Cassius and the baron came out of the crowd. The baron wore his same clothes but Cassius had a change of attire.
Unlike his 'holy' appearance of before he was bare-chested revealing a well-built body with lots of scars on it. 
He wore torn jeans and had belt over his shoulders.
"But first of all we need to see how excellent he is" Cassius said in a very evil tone. He unsheated his sword and gave the baron a nice clean cut.
"S, sir Ca-
Before completing his words, the baron left to meet with his ancestors.
The baron's blood splattered all over Lucas and on the ground.
"Brothers! Today a new Alpha has been born!" Cassius declared in a loud voice. 
Lucas' face scrunched up. A new alpha has been born? He felt his brain turn. A serious urge went down his spine. 
He wanted to see blood. Human blood. The blood of a human who finds dear.
His eyes flashed as he turned to Ivy.
"L, Lucas? Wha-
His small hands squeezed her throat with force. His veins popped out, his eyes glowed, his fingers grew claws a weird adrenaline ran through every part of his body.
Kill. Kill. Destroy. Destroy.
Those were the words that echoed continuously in his head.
On the ground laid his best friend who he had killed with his hands, but he didn't feel regret. He ached for more human blood. However, contrary to the voice telling him to commit evil, he heard another voice stopping him. 
A girl with jeweled blue eyes and brown hair.
"Don't be evil. I need you to save my sister" The girl said pointing to the sun. 
"Hmm, but this curse of yours could destroy my sisters light. Anyhow just don't kill anymore" 
That day, ritual of the Canstonians making a new alpha ended with a mascre. They were all erased from the earth. And all the traces of them vanished from the world. It was the works of the young Lucas.
"You think killing us will get rid of your curse" Cassius managed to say in his haggard state. "Just try getting close to a human and see if you won't run mad" Those were the words of the last alpha of the Canstonians, Alpha Cassius.
This curse that the girl and Cassius spoke of was true. 
What was the curse? It was a curse that if
Splash.
Lucas snapped out of his thoughts and saw the person who he was watching fall into the lake.
He was about to run to help Anthanasia out but, that was when he smelt blood. Human blood. If he went to help her it would not end well. 
He used his magic to pull her out of the lake without getting close to her. At that moment he noticed a passing figure.
He would rather meet with this person and take his chances of controlling the curse there, than going to meet with the Princess.
The Princess. 
"Sir Alpheus, her Highness would like to speak with you in the rose garden"
Being the fool that he was for Anthanasia, Ijekiel followed once seeing her insignia. 
After making sure Anthanasia was safe Lucas checked on the banquet.
                   ___________________________
For the first time, contradictory to what happened in his other lives. There was no magic accident and no mad lady. 
What had changed? Nothing.
But there was still an event. An attack on the imperial palace. 
The smell of blood was in the air. He wanted more blood. The blood of someone dear to him.
He craved the blood of Anthanasia. 
At that moment he was about to end her. But someone else was about to but failed.
He beheaded the attacker and was about to come to her next.
"Lucas"
All the veins that popped out went back in place. The hairs that stood fell back and his shaking eyes settled.
He always thought that once the curse was active it could never be stopped.
So who knew that the mere words of a girl could stop the curse from acting up.
Since the people around them didn't know of their little world they were currently in, they were rudely interrupted with the sounds of noble ladies screaming and the doctors coming in.
After the fight was over everyone was evacuated from the palace. As a result of the chaos Anthanasia and Lucas could only make eye contact once.
          ________________________________
Bang.
"Sigh"
Lucas took in deep breaths and massaged his forehead. It was still nighttime, but outside was bustling due to the incident that happened twenty-minutes ago. Of course he was supposed to be outside helping, he didn't have the energy for it.
"You should help" A girls voice said.
"Ugh, I'm not in the mood"
"Oh, sorry" She said pouting her lips.
Lucas looked at the girl with brown hair and jeweled blue eyes that only the imperial family members could have.
She was something like a ghost that usually followed him around.
She didn't exist in other lives but only appeared in this life.
"Ah, I have a surprise for you." The girl said clapping her hands excitedly. "Very soon you'll know my name. And about in the two or three weeks you'll officially know me!" 
"How?" Lucas asked indifferently.
"I'll be introduced to you"
"By who?"
"My sister, er cousin."
"What?"
"Don't you know what a cousin is?"
"Of course I do!"
"So what are you asking?"
"So you're inviting your ghost cousin to meet me. Just great"
"Ghost? No. Wait, have you been thinking I'm a ghost?!"
"Yes"
"I'm a perfectly normal human!" She said stamping her foot angrily.
"So why can't others see you?"
"Because it isn't yet time for me to be seen!"
"Time?"
"Sigh. You wouldn't understand. Anyways for the next month I have a task for you" She said changing her tone and facial expression to a serious one. 
There was a reason why Lucas didn't try to get rid of her. She had been giving him understanding and explanations.
Things that he wanted to understand was explained to him.
She told him everything she knew. Except who she was, but he didn't mind it. 
"I need you to be the ambassador for new students in the magic tower"
"What?!"
"You cab be the ambassador for a day and quit. But you MUST be the ambassador on the first day. You can decide to continue if you want to"
"Why being the student ambassador?"
"You know I can't tell you"
"Fine"