The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL] Chapter 1203: Xavier’s Regrets

Throughout the entire discussion, the Imperial Crown Prince remained what he’d been from the very beginning.

An overly anxious husband.

Even though every instinct urged him to simply pull his little wife into his arms and comfort him, Xavier stayed quiet and listened, carefully following every explanation Luca gave.

But in true observant fashion, he didn’t miss the subtle moments when Luca unconsciously shrank into himself whenever the topic became heavier, nor the way his hands repeatedly opened and closed whenever he disliked the conclusion he was about to share.

Even so, Xavier didn’t interrupt him or rush to shield him from it.

Because beneath all the concern was something else.

Pride.

He was rather proud that Luca had managed to arrive at those conclusions on his own.

He was proud that, despite witnessing fragments of other people’s deepest desires and regrets, he’d somehow managed to understand them without carrying every bit of that pain as though it belonged to him.

That alone was a world apart from how he’d been shortly after returning from Tesseris, when he’d nearly drowned beneath emotions that had never been his to bear.

Sure enough...

His beloved was growing into someone even more admirable than he already was.

Of course, that didn’t mean Xavier intended to let him shoulder everything alone simply because he now could.

Once Luca had finished explaining everything, the Prince turned toward the Elders, seeking one final reassurance before allowing himself to relax.

"Will Luca be alright after handling something like that?" he asked. "And is there anything we should monitor to make sure he stays okay?"

Elder Shen gently stroked his beard before offering the much bigger cadet a reassuring smile.

"He’ll most likely be fine. At worst, we can expect some exhaustion after handling all of that in a single session," the Elder replied calmly. "He may remain somewhat shaken for a while, which is only natural, but we don’t believe that’s the result of any complications."

Xavier gave a small nod before another question came to mind.

"Then what about those visions?"

As he spoke, his hand quietly sought out Luca’s, naturally intertwining their fingers together. The golden-eyed cadet immediately curled his own fingers around Xavier’s without the slightest hesitation.

"Are they expected to escalate into something more dangerous?"

"Ideally, no," Elder Shen answered. "Though it’s difficult to say with certainty when this is simply the result of Luca possessing a much stronger spiritual ability than the original owner. As you’ve already seen, he’s pushed far beyond the known limits of that bloodline ability. So who can really predict how it might develop from here?"

That wasn’t exactly the most reassuring thing to hear, despite arguably being a compliment to the dungeon owner.

The Elder paused before adding, "Fortunately, if he’s careful not to let his spiritual energy leak through, he’ll effectively cut off the ability’s source of power and keep it dormant."

Hearing that, Xavier finally felt the tightness in his chest ease.

He turned toward the person beside him.

"So was that why you didn’t want any eye contact earlier?"

Luca looked momentarily surprised by the question before giving a small defeated nod.

"Yeah," he answered softly. "I didn’t really want to accidentally peek into your mind when you haven’t chosen to tell me those things yourself."

Almost unconsciously, he leaned a little closer to Xavier.

"I don’t think that’d be polite."

A small pause.

"Or fair."

The Elders exchanged knowing glances.

Seeing that the youngsters clearly had things they wished to discuss privately, and insisting that Luca’s only prescription at this point was proper rest, they quickly shooed the pair away while confiscating the suspicious incense burner for themselves.

According to the Elders, the incense appeared to be a legitimate problem and deserved their immediate attention.

Before the two could be unceremoniously ushered out, Elder Shen offered one final reminder.

"Just as before, if you ever wish to stop emulating that bloodline ability, simply copy someone else’s. The new one should immediately override the current one."

The cabin door closed behind them.

Standing outside Elder Pao Xi’s residence, the two blinked almost in unison as they silently processed the fact that they’d just been kicked out.

Once they resumed their stroll, Xavier insisted on picking up where they’d left off.

Not only would he finally get the chance to carry his wife again, but it’d also be the perfect opportunity to talk.

Besides, while his beloved might’ve looked perfectly composed on the surface, the tiny chipmunk nervously tracing circles against the Prince’s back wasn’t really fooling him for even a second.

__

The wolfish Prince walked at a measured pace, carrying his precious treasure securely in his arms.

"You know," Xavier began, his voice low and steady against the quiet night air, "if you’re curious... or honestly, even if you’re simply interested, I’d tell you that my regrets probably changed depending on what stage of my life I was in."

Just as the living means of transportation expected, Luca sucked in a small breath before wiggling in place. He didn’t say a word, yet the faint twitch of his ears made it painfully obvious he was listening with everything he’d got.

Seeing that not-so-subtle reaction, Xavier couldn’t help chuckling before continuing.

"When I was younger and angry at the world, I probably regretted being born into responsibilities I never really asked for."

Luca tensed ever so slightly at the wistfulness in his voice.

"It wasn’t exactly something I could say out loud when so many people claimed they’d kill to be in my shoes.

"Of course, they weren’t exactly talking about life, far from it—but just the version they’d imagined, and because of that I had heard all sorts of things over the years... But eventually, I realized they only thought that way because they didn’t know any better.

"Then, after managing to survive only to come so close to dying, I regretted not spending more time with the family I’d briefly resented while I was so busy trying to stay alive, taking on more and more duties as though that was all I’d ever do."

"Not exactly the version of myself I’d want to present to someone I hoped to impress, don’t you think? But there wasn’t much point in lying when you caught me red-handed against that ancient arachnid." Xavier let out a self-deprecating chuckle, shaking his head where Luca couldn’t see it, while the latter did his best to keep his startled little gasps to himself.

"You found me at exactly that point in my life. And while I don’t regret any of it anymore because my life turned out better than I ever could’ve imagined, back then... I really was trying to silence those regrets by throwing my life away in one last act of self-sacrifice."

The usually composed Imperial Prince drew in a slow breath before his voice softened.

"But I think all of that’s changed over these past months."

A smile tugged at his lips.

"And I’m fairly certain what you’d see now would be a little strange."

Luca immediately wriggled in Xavier’s arms, instinctively trying to turn toward him before remembering he couldn’t actually see anything through the sleeping mask.

"Strange?" he asked. "How come?"

"Well..."

Xavier smiled to himself.

"Because I think you’d actually see yourself."