Gunmage-Chapter 220: Who are you?

Lugh didn’t know why, but seeing Lyra again brought a strange sense of relief—and something dangerously close to nostalgia.

His mood lifted, and for the first time in what felt like forever, he decided to indulge in a rare impulse: a prank.

He walked toward her, holding the longsword with an exaggerated show of confidence. The gaze of everyone in the room lingered on him, confused and curious.

Once he was close enough, he suddenly dropped to one knee, adopting the formal posture of a knight. With both hands, he raised the sword high toward her.

"For you, my fair lady."

There was a moment of stunned silence.

"Wha—?"

The room erupted into confusion. Selaphiel’s eyes flickered in disbelief, her frown deepening.

Some of the girls blushed—either embarrassed for him or charmed, it was hard to tell. A few cringed outright, but more than one glared at him.

As for the boys?

Their eyes were murderous.

He got the jump on us!

Curse you, Lugh!

The air was thick with resentment, but no one dared speak out loud. After all, none of them wanted to ruin their chances with Lyra, who stood at the center of it all, her eyes shifting from Lugh to the growing circle of onlookers.

They all watched, anticipating what might come next.

They prayed that Lyra would shoot him down hard, but that came with complications. If Lugh was rejected so brutally, what chance did the rest of them have? The thought was like poison in their minds.

Some of the boys slumped inwardly, their spirits crushed. After all, Lugh seemed to have everything: his looks, his fame, his feats. And the added weight of his bloodline, his claim as heir to the Von Heim family.

F*ck! Why is the world so unfair?

One of them thought bitterly. The others echoed the same sentiment silently.

Die, Lugh! Die!!

A storm of conflicting emotions churned in their hearts, but as always, none dared speak the words out loud.

Lyra, meanwhile, flinched back slightly, a polite but awkward smile gracing her lips.

The boy was certainly attractive—but she had seen attractive before. More than that, he was more than a little bit too young for her, if she was being honest.

"Oh, uh..."

She stumbled over her words, trying to figure out how to politely reject him. But, the first thing that came out of her mouth was blunt.

"Excuse me, who are you?"

Lugh blinked, his expression unreadable. Rising with effortless grace from his kneel, he stared her dead in the eye, almost unblinking.

"You don’t know who I am?"

His voice was steady, not a hint of embarrassment. Lyra’s eyes widened, meeting his gaze with a mix of confusion and surprise.

She tilted her head slightly, before turning away with a calm shrug.

"No. I don’t."

The room, for a split second, seemed to freeze.

Someone snickered. Not because it was funny—but because it was glorious.

Lugh’s arrogance had finally been punctured. They didn’t even need to hear him get rejected; this was enough.

The cool, untouchable Lugh—dismissing them all with his brilliance—had just been knocked down a peg.

Yes! Yes!

They thought bitterly, relieved.

That’s right, you’re not special.

Surely, this would ruin his air of superiority. Her dismissal would cut him down to size. He wasn’t as invincible as they all thought.

But then, Lyra spoke again.

Taking a step back, creating space between them, she shook her head with a slight smile.

"You didn’t introduce yourself. How was I supposed to know who you are? And who gives a lady a sword as a gift?"

A lady?! Lugh mentally recoiled. That word did not fit the troublemaker who’d once caused him endless frustration.

The term was so out of place that for a moment, he forgot what to do next.

Meanwhile, his cousins were enjoying every moment of it.

The girls and boys alike looked on in varying degrees of satisfaction—some in pity, others with cruel amusement. Mirelle shook her head.

"I never knew Lugh was like this. He always seemed so... so... What did he seem like again?"

"Shut up"

Sela her older sister cut in. Observing.

Lugh’s little stunt had backfired spectacularly.

None of them hadn’t suffered from Lugh in some way or another—it was only natural that they were enjoying the sight of him getting his comeuppance. They were practically savoring it.

And now, they waited eagerly to see how Lugh would recover.

Would he retreat, humiliated? Or would he dig in deeper, making an even bigger fool of himself?

Lirienne, who had been standing off to the side, mumbled under her breath.

"Lugh..."

But Lugh didn’t disappoint.

"Who gifts a lady a sword? A knight, of course!"

Aveline facepalmed, as the words tumbled out. It was almost too much to bear.

But Lugh continued, his voice steady and undeterred by the stares.

"Specifically, a tall knight. One in rusted armor."

The crowd blinked. Lyra froze, her face shifting from confusion to recognition. Images from the past swarmed her memory—memories that had remained buried for so long.

The terror. The long sword that had impaled her. That nightmarish, bloodstained trial.

"Weakness shall not go unpunished."

The words echoed in her mind.

Her pulse quickened as the details flooded back.

True to it’s words, Emil, the broad-shouldered youth who had broken down during the fight, had not survived the maze’s twisted labyrinth.

He had either starved to death or been torn apart by the monsters lurking in its depths.

Lyra, who had managed to hold on long enough, had claimed the enchanted sword that had once pinned her to the ground.

Dain and Lugh had done the same. They had walked away with a dagger each.

Aldrin, quiet and observant, had done little but calculated a path through the maze, finding the rusted armor set of the fallen knight.

No one ever saw Emil again.

Now, standing before Lugh, memories flooded back.

Her voice broke the silence, tentative and unsure.

"Lugh? Is that... you?"

Lugh scoffed lightly, his expression unreadable.

"Hmm."

The recognition seemed to hit her all at once.

She sprang forward, but Lugh was quicker, leaping back with practiced ease. She caught nothing but air.

"Hey! Are you trying to embarrass me?"

His mind flashed the image of her face stuffed like a squirrel. He spoke.

"I don’t think you have to worry about being embarrassed anymore."

Without another word, Lyra yanked him forward, her force control latching onto his clothes and pulling him into a warm embrace.

Lugh didn’t resist this time.

The crowd watched in shock as she wrapped her arms around him.

Someone from the back of the room wiped a bitter tear from their eye.

Ignoring the strange looks from the others, Lyra whispered softly in his ear, her voice trembling slightly.

"When I woke up and didn’t hear any news about your survival, I thought you were killed by that prick Emrys."

She pulled back slightly, her smile returning, light and easy.

"But then Xhi came along and told me you were fine."

Lugh froze completely, his eyes wide with confusion.

"Xhi?"

’Xhi is here!?’

This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶