"Your body?" Adrian said in a snarky manner. "You really haven't realized it, have you?"

"What are you talking about?" Lucius snapped back.

"If anyone here is an imposter, it's obvious it's you." Adrian finally turned to stare him dead in the eye; his own eyes flashed with a chilling light. "You're the one who first stole my body... deceiving my mother all that while, even Amy and the doctor as well." He chuckled coldly, yet one could feel his own rage. "You single-handedly deceived everyone in the village into thinking you were actually me!" At the end of his sentence, Adrian couldn't hold back anymore and raised his voice, attracting the gazes of the passersby, but he took a deep breath to calm himself right after.

From what he just said, it seemed he was revealing that he wasn't some doppelganger but the original owner of the body—the one who had died after braving a harsh, chilling blizzard for his dear mother.

"That's enough with your BS," Lucius glared coldly at him. "You expect me to believe that the man who died from the cold came back to life and forced me out of my own body?" He grabbed Adrian's collar, pulling him closer, his trembling eyes glaring daggers at him.

"It seems you need some incentive before you start talking. Either you tell me just who the hell you are, or I give you a goddamned reason to." The amulet on Adrian's neck began to tremble lightly as black energy began permeating from it. Of course, this was something the passersby were unable to see. But it appeared Adrian could, for his eyes shifted down onto it.

"Hahaha." Lucius frowned when Adrian began to laugh at him.

"What's so funny?" Rather than becoming even more enraged, he did the opposite, calming down visibly while still observing him.

"To think you'd actually go that far just to get to me. For a human, you sure as hell don't seem to value your own life."

"Well, since it's obvious you're not going to let this go, I guess I can go ahead and tell you. But first—" Adrian suddenly grabbed hold of Lucius's wrist.

"Nngh..." Lucius groaned as Adrian forcefully pried his grip ever so slowly.

"I'm afraid I don't appreciate being manhandled," Adrian said with a calm look. Once he'd gotten Lucius's hands off of himself, he dusted his collar.

"I guess it's alright to admit that you're right," he said with a smile. "I'm not the true owner of this body. Nevertheless, that doesn't matter. After all, I do have all his memories, just like yourself."

"Then what exactly are you?" Lucius bore the pain from his stinging wrist and asked in an unfriendly tone.

"What am I?" The imposter took a moment to ponder before grinning broadly. "If I had to say, I'd say I'm your biggest benefactor."

"Benefactor? What on earth are you talking about? What benefactor?"

"Oh please, you can't possibly tell me you never wondered how you got to this world in the first place? Or why you can't seem to die even though you so desperately try to every single time?"

"Well, I'm the one you should be thanking." He laughed mockingly, causing Lucius to gnash his teeth.

"That's even more BS than the last one."

"Oh, but I assure you it is the truth," he said with a smile.

"If you're who you claim to be, then why me? Why did you bring me here? What could you possibly need from me if you're so powerful yourself?"

"I'm afraid it's not the time to reveal my intentions to you yet. All I can say is that you..." His voice trailed off as he placed an arm on Lucius's shoulder. "...have a part to play regarding this world's fate."

"Forget that crap. How am I supposed to trust you with them?"

"Oh? So that's your only reason for being angry?"

"I can assure you I have no intentions of harming them. But if it'd make you feel any better, you could try stealing them away from me. Of course, that's if you're capable."

'Damn this rotten bastard, he's just toying with me, isn't he?'

"We both know there's no way that's possible... unless you die, that is," Lucius squinted his eyes.

Well, he was right. There was no way he could get Melissa as his mother since he literally had a new identity. The girls, maybe—but his mother was a different story, since he was sure she would never abandon her son for anyone, no matter the situation.

'If I can't have mother, there's no point in getting back my former life...'

'But I can't just leave her with this bastard either.' Lucius didn't know what to do, yet he felt frustrated with the fact that there really wasn't anything he could do.

"Sigh... How about this?" said the imposter, who materialized a piece of parchment out of thin air before grabbing it and signing something on it with his finger, then handing it to Lucius.

"What's this?" Lucius questioned, holding the paper.

"It's a binding contract. It means I won't try to lay a hand on your former mother, nor will I try to harm your darling spouses... or should I say, ex-spouses." He chuckled at the end of his sentence.

"And how do you expect me to trust you?" Lucius said outright.

"That's the thing—I don't. You can think what you want; it's not like you can do anything about it." The imposter laughed even more. This time, Lucius felt so enraged that his eyes turned partially bloodshot, but he managed to calm down after taking rhythmic breaths.

"Fine then, I'll take your word for it."

"Good," said the imposter. "Well, we better be heading back. Something tells me we won't see the girls if we hurry quick enough."

Lucius didn't reply but followed after him, the both of them heading back in the direction they came.

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