When I arrived at the Latreia Estate, I thought I'd managed to sneak in unnoticed. It was getting late, and I didn't want to have to explain my tardiness to my grandmother again. Yet, the moment I stepped into my room, I noticed the candles were lit. My aunt was waiting for me on the bed, sitting with her arms crossed.
My reaction was... nothing. Absolutely nothing. I didn't know what to say to her. She knew I was late, of course. She's my aunt, but she possesses that same maternal instinct my mother had.
And seeing that angry look on her face inevitably reminded me of Zenith.
"Aunt Therese..."
"Sit down, Daiki." Her voice didn't sound angry; it was soft, almost resigned. She motioned to the chair across from her.
I obeyed, sitting with my back straight, even as my mind (and Ayam) calculated the probabilities.
Therese sighed, then looked at me with a tenderness that disarmed me completely.
"You don't have to lie to me. Not to me." She leaned forward. "I know you lied to me on that first day. I know Paul didn't 'kick you out' because of your eyes or your hair. I know that story was just... convenient."
...
"You knew?"
"Daiki, I'm a Knight of Millis. I know how to read people. And I know Paul. He's an idiot, a womanizer, and an impulsive disaster... but he adored Zenith. And he would never, ever kick out one of his own children because of their appearance." She paused. "Besides, I saw how you reacted when I mentioned his name. There was no hatred in your eyes. There was pain. And worry."
"Then... why?" I asked. "Why did you play along? Why did you let me lie to Grandmother?"
Therese caressed my cheek.
"Because I know my mother," she whispered. "If you had arrived telling the truth, saying you were Paul Greyrat's beloved son... Claire never would have accepted you. She would have seen you as an extension of him. As Zenith's 'mistake.' She would have closed the door on you, or treated you with coldness."
She stood up and walked toward the window.
"You needed a sanctuary, Daiki. I saw you... so small, so alone, with those dirty clothes and that sword far too big for you. And I knew I needed to protect you. The only way Claire would let you into her heart was by casting you as a victim. As someone she could 'save' from Paul's influence."
She turned back to me.
"So I went along with it. I let you believe that I bought your lie. Because I love you, Daiki. You are blood of my blood. You are my sister's son. And I wasn't going to let the Latreia pride leave you out on the street."
I was left speechless. I had thought I was the manipulator, the strategist. But Therese... Therese had been playing her own game the entire time. A game to protect me.
"Auntie..."
"He came by a few days ago," she continued. "To the gate. He tried to get in. He was shouting your name, and your brother's. And Zenith's." She sighed. "He looked terrible. But he's here."
"We're looking for them," I admitted, no longer afraid. "Mom. Lilia. Everyone. He's leading a search party. I... I'm funding them. With the money I earn and... well, with what I can get here."
Therese nodded.
"I assumed as much. And that's fine. As long as you find Zenith... I will use my silence as a shield. Claire won't find out that you're seeing your father. She won't find out that you're giving him money."
She walked over and hugged me, just as she used to.
"But promise me something, Daiki."
"Anything."
"Don't fall apart." She looked me in the eyes. "You're carrying the weight of two families. The Greyrats and the Latreias. You're just a child. Lean on me, too, okay? Not just on Paul."
I felt a lump in my throat.
"I promise, Auntie."
"Good." She let go of me and kissed my forehead. "Now, go to sleep. Tomorrow you have to go back to being the perfect grandson. And I have to make sure the gate guards 'forget' to mention the loud vagrant who came by a few days ago."
I smiled.
"Thank you, Aunt Therese."
"You're welcome, nephew. You're welcome."
When she left and closed the door, I let myself fall onto the bed.
(I wasn't alone. I never was.)
[Even I was surprised. I didn't expect this resolution... but, considering she is family, it is acceptable.]
(Yes, Ayam. She isn't just an ally. She's family.)
I closed my eyes, feeling that, for the first time, I didn't have to carry all the lies by myself. Therese was there, holding up the other side of the wall.
A few weeks had passed since the reunion with my father, and thanks to my financial aid and our teamwork, he managed to secure much better support from the Guild. After all, neither the Guild nor the Church usually help adventurers without money. Even so, information remained limited; at least now we could provide more opportunities for the people we rescued.
Norn, as was becoming the norm, had regained a light she'd been missing before. Whenever she saw me, she would ask me to read her a book, unwilling to let go of me for a single second. I could swear I had become a tree branch and she a koala, gripping me with a strength a girl her age shouldn't possess.
I also noticed that Norn adored Emilia, especially because of the way she told stories about dragons and hydras. It seemed my little sister had inherited my father's inclination for adventure, or at least for action. Because one day, she asked me this:
"Big Brother, are you going to teach me swords? I want to go WHOOOSH," she said, making the sound while puffing out her cheeks. I have to admit, it was adorable. "Like Daddy does... and like you do against the monsters."
"Whoosh?" I repeated, suppressing a smile as I wiped a smudge of jam off her cheek. "Are you sure you want to do that? Swords are very heavy, Norn. And they hurt if you drop them on your big toe."
Norn nodded with an almost ceremonial seriousness, the kind only four-year-olds can muster when discussing "important" matters.
"Yes! Daddy says you're very strong. And Emilia says the heroes in the stories always have swords. I want to be a heroine!"
I looked at Emilia, who was sitting at the adjacent table reviewing some documents. She flashed me a guilty smile and shrugged.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I read her The Princess Knight and the Crystal Dragon. I may have exaggerated the combat scenes."
I looked at her with a grin.
"Alright, little heroine." I lifted Norn up and sat her on my knee. "But first, you have to eat your vegetables. Heroes can't lift swords if they don't have strength."
"Boo!" Norn made a face, but accepted the spoonful of stew I offered.
Paul entered the inn's common room at that moment, dusting off the road grime from his clothes.
"Training the new recruit?" he asked, kissing the top of Norn's head.
"She wants to learn how to go 'Whoosh'," I explained.
Paul let out a loud laugh.
"That's my girl. Maybe we'll have another swordswoman in the family." He sat down across from us.
My expression turned serious.
"Any news?"
Paul shook his head, taking a sip of water.
"Nothing concrete on Zenith. But we've confirmed Lilia and Aisha isn't on the slave rosters for the coastal region. That's good. It means she's likely inland, or perhaps in another kingdom."
"It's progress," I said, trying to be optimistic. "And about Rudy... any reply to my letters?"
"Not yet." Paul sighed. "But mail takes months to reach the Demon Continent, and even longer to return. Patience, son. If they're alive, they'll answer."
I let out a sigh.
"Even if I have to wait, I'll do whatever is necessary."
**
That night, Norn asked me to stay with her. She said she wanted to wake up with me by her side, and although I tried to refuse, she grabbed onto my clothes and wouldn't let go. I didn't have the heart (nor the will) to resist.
"Just for tonight," she said with her eyes closed. "I want to wake up and have you be here. I don't want it to be a dream again."
So I stayed. I settled into the chair next to her bed, but she tugged on my hand until I sat on the edge of the mattress, and then she curled up against my side.
(Claire is going to be furious tomorrow. Therese will have to come up with a very good excuse.)
[The consequences are irrelevant. The priority is your sister's emotional well-being.]
(You're right, Ayam. You're absolutely right.)
I stroked her blonde hair, so similar to Mom's. Norn murmured something in her sleep and smiled.
My mind wandered to the past. To those days in Buena Village, before the sky broke. Simple days. Days of training, of laughter, and of a family that, while imperfect, was whole.
Flashback
"Daiki! Rudy! Get down from that tree right now!"
It was Zenith, shouting from a window.
We were perched on the highest branch of the old oak tree Mother had been tending to, with Sylphiette between us. We had climbed up to "secure the perimeter" (my idea) and to "search for rare ingredients" (Rudy's idea).
"But Mom, the view is incredible!" Rudeus shouted, dangling dangerously by one leg. "I can see Sylph's house from here!"
"I don't care what you can see! If you fall, you'll break your necks!" Zenith stood with her hands on her hips; it was that "Level 5 Angry Mother" stance.
I looked at Sylph. She looked a little scared of the height, but also excited.
"Should we go down?" I asked her.
"Yeah... I think so." Sylph nodded.
"Alright. Rudy, stop monkeying around and get down."
"Killjoy!" Rudeus launched himself off with a bit of wind magic and landed softly on the grass.
I helped Sylph down the last stretch.
When we touched the ground, Zenith was already waiting for us with her arms crossed... and a tray of cookies.
"Grounded," she said with feigned seriousness. "Your punishment is to eat these before dinner."
Rudeus and Sylph ran toward the cookies.
I hung back for a second, looking at my mother.
She winked at me.
"Thanks for looking after them up there, Daiki."
"Always, Mom."
That night, we built a bonfire in the garden. Paul grilled meat (burning half of it, as always), Lilia brought blankets, and we all sat together under the stars.
Rudeus was telling an exaggerated story about how he had "battled a water dragon" in the river—which was actually just a large frog—and Norn, who was barely a baby in Zenith's arms, watched him with total attention. Aisha remained calm, as always, in Lilia's arms. We were a complete family.
"And then..." Rudeus made a dramatic gesture, "BAM! I used my Water Cannon and sent it flying!"
"Liar," I said, chewing on a piece of meat. "You slipped and fell into the water. Sylph had to fish you out."
"Details! The essence of the story is the bravery!"
Everyone laughed.
"Never change, kids. Never change," Paul said, with a bit of ash on his shoulder.
I looked at my family: at Rudeus and Sylph arguing about the frog; at Zenith rocking Norn; at Paul laughing alongside Lilia. Even at Aisha, always so quiet, the opposite of Norn.
In that moment, I thought nothing could break that. That we would always be like this, under the stars, safe.
But life had other plans... terrible plans.
End of Flashback
Now, in the present, that memory faded.
Norn was still sleeping, her breathing steady and a faint smile on her face. Paul had told me that before, she struggled to fall asleep, and when she finally did, she never rested comfortably.
"We can't go back to that yet..." I whispered in the darkness. "But we can build something new. Something that can't be destroyed."
The bedroom door opened. Paul peeked his head in.
"Asleep?"
"Soundly."
Paul entered and sat in the chair across from me.
"Thanks for staying, Daiki. She... she needed you."
"I needed her, too."
We sat in silence for a moment, father and son, watching over the sleep of the little girl who united us.
"Rudy will come," Paul said suddenly. "I can feel it in my bones."
"So can I." I looked out the window. "And when he arrives... we'll be ready."
Paul smiled.
"Rest, son. I'll take the watch."
I closed my eyes. For the first time in this entire year, I didn't dream of fire or falling. I dreamed of a bonfire in Buena Village, and of a promise that, someday, we would light it again.