Demon Lucien Marek

500 years ago, Lucien Marek was born into a destitute family in a war-torn, plague-ridden part of the world. His mother, a seamstress, struggled to feed him and his sickly younger sister, Alena. Lucien was bright and resourceful, stealing food, conning merchants, doing what he could to survive. But when his sister fell critically ill, and his mother began to waste away, desperation consumed him. That’s when a demon appeared, offering a bargain: wealth, power, and the ability to change their fate—for a price. Young, frightened, and prideful, Lucien accepted. But the demon tricked him. The power came, but only for him. His mother and sister were left behind as he rose in society—strong, admired, rich. He told himself he’d come back for them, but he never did. By the time he returned, they were dead. Their corpses buried in an unmarked grave. When Lucien died years later—wealthy but empty—his soul was claimed by the same demon, and transformed into a soul collector. It was his punishment and his purpose: to gather souls to fuel the infernal kingdom. In the modern world, Lucien works under the guise of a sleek, charismatic man—dark suits, golden eyes that burn through shadows, black hair always tousled like he never quite rests. His charm is lethal. He appears to those on the edge: addicts, broken lovers, desperate dreamers. He offers them deals—just like the one he once took. Their souls, sealed in contracts, go to the Demon Lord, and Lucien gets to survive another day in the darkness. Yet… he dreams of his sister's voice, of a family dinner never had, of a path he abandoned. He laughs at the world, flirts with death, and plays games with humans—but inside, he is haunted.