Lunara stood outside the towering front doors of the mansion.
Kael still slumped against her back like a sack of potatoes.
She shifted his weight and sighed.
"Man, you're heavier than you look."
One hand free, she knocked. Once. Twice.
Three times.
She waited. Silence.
Her lips pursed.
"Guess nobody's home. Great. Just carried your lazy butt all the way here for nothing."
She was about to turn around when—
Click.
The door creaked open, revealing a tall woman with sleek dark brown hair, striking green eyes, and a faint tiredness in her expression that no amount of wealth could cover.
Her gaze immediately dropped to Lunara, then lower—to Kael drooling slightly against her shoulder.
Her face froze.
It was like her brain short-circuited at the sight. Her son. On some random girl's back. Asleep.
Completely out cold.
Seris Xeef—Kael's mother, stood in the doorway stunned, as if she'd just walked into the wrong play mid-scene.
Lunara, unfazed, grinned.
"Hi there, mistress. I got a load on my back. Mind if I drop him off here?"
For a beat, Seris said nothing. Just blinked.
Then, slowly, a smile tugged at her lips, warm but laced with disbelief.
"…C-Come on in."
Lunara stepped through, adjusting Kael one last time before nearly toppling under his dead weight.
And then she froze.
The inside of the house was—no, "house" didn't even cut it.
This was a palace.
Sparkling lights ran along the high walls.
A chandelier the size of her entire shack dangled in the center, glittering like frozen starlight.
The floor was polished so perfectly she could probably eat off it and not get sick. Every surface gleamed. Every corner radiated wealth.
Her jaw practically hit the ground.
"This place is… are you kidding me?!"
She stumbled toward the living room and dumped Kael onto a couch so plush she almost dove in after him.
"This couch… this couch is comfier than my bed! No, scratch that—it's comfier than every bed I've ever owned combined!"
Her voice echoed off the grand walls, giddy, awestruck.
She spun slowly in place, taking it all in, then muttered,
"And Kael always said he didn't like home very much."
Her grin widened.
"Guess that's just spoiled kid talk."
But her words had barely left her mouth before she noticed Seris, who had paused mid-step on her way back to the kitchen. Her brows furrowed, eyes narrowing—not in anger, but in confusion.
"…He said that?"
The tone caught Lunara off guard. She tilted her head, still half buried in a nearby cushion. "Uh, yeah. Why?"
Seris's lips parted, then closed again. "That's… strange. He's always looked comfortable here."
She rubbed her chin, as if trying to make sense of a puzzle piece that didn't fit.
Lunara, face-first in the cushion, mumbled, "Kael's a lonely kid."
Seris blinked. "…Kid?"
Lunara sat up quickly, flustered.
"Ah, don't worry about tmy wording, I'm a little uneducated. Point is…"
She leaned back against the sofa, turning in kaels direction, voice shifting, the humor bleeding out of it.
"There's a lot you don't know about him."
That drew Seris's full attention. She stopped what she was doing, her eyes sharp now, listening.
Lunara turned on the cushion, staring at the chandelier above.
"I'm not saying you're a bad parent. I mean, this house alone proves you've done well for yourself. Maybe you're some high-ranking adventurer, maybe you've got a crazy good job—either way, you're killing it. But…"
She trailed off, words hanging heavy.
Seris waited.
Lunara exhaled slowly.
"If you can find time in your schedule… spend it with him. He needs it."
Her tone wasn't accusatory. Just steady. Heavy.
She sat up straighter, her voice firm.
"Deep down, Kael craves it. Actually, no—not even deep down. He shows it. He shows it all the time, even if you don't notice."
The room quieted. The chandelier's faint crystal hum seemed louder now.
Seris's hands trembled slightly, though her face stayed composed.
Lunara continued, softer.
"My parents died a while back. I've been making ends meet ever since, scraping through with whatever quick job I could get my hands on."
She gave a small, wry laugh, but it didn't reach her eyes.
"So trust me when I say—I see things. People like me… we learn to pick up on stuff. Fast."
Her gaze flicked to Kael, still sleeping peacefully, his hair messy, face relaxed.
"And Kael? He's got trauma. That much is obvious. I don't know what it is, he never talks about it. He puts on this tough act, but I can tell. He's breaking, bit by bit. Every day."
Her voice cracked just faintly, though she forced it steady again.
"He's struggling. Real bad. And At the end of the day, he's just a boy, trying to put on the act of a man."
She stood, brushing herself off.
The silence stretched.
At the door, hand on the knob, she spoke one last time, her voice quiet but resolute.
"Please. Be there for your son. He needs you more than you think."
The lock clicked softly as she pulled it open, the warm air spilling in. She didn't look back. Just slipped out, closing the door gently behind her.
Her point had been made.
—
The house fell into silence.
Seris stood motionless, her hands pressed against the counter, staring blankly at the space Lunara had left.
Her chest ached.
She turned slowly, eyes drifting to the couch.
There he was. Her boy. Her only son.
Sleeping like nothing in the world could touch him, his face so calm, so innocent, despite the bandages around his arms and the exhaustion clear even in rest.
Tears welled up before she realized. Her throat tightened, her vision blurred. She tried to wipe them away, but more came, slipping down her cheeks silently.
"You poor thing,"
She whispered, voice trembling.
"It's been really rough, hasn't it? Keeping up that act of yours."
Her hands curled into fists, nails digging into her palms. The kitchen lights gleamed bright white, reflecting off her tears.
She didn't move. She couldn't.
The only sound was Kael's soft, steady breathing. Peaceful.
Unaware.
And in the kitchen, Seris wept quietly.
Alone.