With his eyes growing wet, Kael could no longer hold back the tears that had been trembling on his lashes. Slowly, they fell—clear yet heavy, as though each drop carried the weight of longing that had long festered in his chest.
His gaze remained fixed on Lhuna, drinking in her figure whole, along with the wound he could no longer hide.
"Mother… thank you…" he whispered, so softly it was almost inaudible, yet brimming with meaning.
Such simple words, and yet behind them lay a warmth he had yearned for over so many years—a warmth he had never found again, until this impossible twist of fate allowed them to meet once more.
And he knew—no matter how warm this moment felt, in the end it would only become a final gift he would never be able to hold onto again.
His eyes slowly fell to the floor, no longer able to look up. Shame, bitterness, and heartbreak intertwined, swelling beyond his control. How fortunate he was to meet his mother once more—and how cruel the truth that kept whispering to him that all of this was only temporary, merely a brief stop that would soon fade away.
He understood—once this ended, he would return to being alone. No friends. No siblings. Even his family… all of them were gone, erased by a dark past.
His tears poured more heavily now, falling drop by drop onto the warm teak floor, as if the wood itself were absorbing his sorrow.
"I… don't know who I'll be able to talk to anymore, if not to you, Mother…" he murmured hoarsely, his words breaking with his breath. "I thought… today would be the last day of my life as someone hated by everyone."
He paused, gritted his teeth, then continued in a voice on the verge of shattering.
"I've always missed you all… always. And when I was alone… only Aunt Jean could calm me. And now… she's gone too. Just like you…"
His voice collapsed along with him. And Lhuna, who had only been listening to her child's pain, finally began to step closer.
"My existence…" Kael's voice trembled. "…is like a sheet of paper with no ink."
As she drew nearer, Lhuna slowed her steps. Her tone softened, like an unseen caress.
"A true man… will always be strong. But his heart, Kael… can still cry. For the heart of a true man is easily ignited—just as fragile as tissue touched by the fire of longing."
Kael did not answer. His head remained bowed, as though unwilling to reveal the tear-soaked face he hid.
Until Lhuna stopped right in front of him. Slowly, she raised her right hand, gently touched his chin, and lifted his face so their eyes met once more. A warm smile bloomed on her lips, her calm gaze overflowing with a love that had never faded, even after her passing.
"Kael…" she called softly. "You are not a heartless demon. You are human. My only child, born from my own womb."
Her voice flowed gently, every word weighted with meaning.
"A nameless heart is nothing more than a demon pretending to be strong before the bitterness of reality. But a human heart… always has a name. That name is love, affection, longing, and the desire to protect. And all of that… lives within you, Kael Vieron."
Kael quickly wiped away the tears still clinging to his lashes with his left palm. His lips curved upward, trying to lighten the moment with a faint joke that sounded both bitter and warm.
"Honestly… you really do know how to make me cry happy tears every time, Mom. I'm sure Dad would be jealous that he could never do that."
Lhuna let out a soft laugh, her gentle smile following her breath. The joke rang true, for Ezra—a strict and unyielding father—had never been good at expressing tenderness toward his child.
"Ahahaha… you're right. Actually, your father wasn't only the stern man you thought he was, Kael. There was another side you never had the chance to see. And you… you miss him too, don't you?"
The question pierced his heart. Kael nodded slowly, admitting it in a low voice. "Of course."
Then he slowly lifted his face, looking at Lhuna with a faint smile filled with gratitude.
"If Father could see me now—how different I've become, everything he once hoped for from his successor as an Assassin… I believe that maybe, just maybe, he could forgive me."
Lhuna looked at him tenderly, a deeper smile forming on her face.
"Yes, I'm sure of it. Later, Mother will tell your father." Her words sounded as though she truly could deliver that message to Ezra, on the other side of a place Kael could no longer reach.
"Thank you…" Kael murmured softly.
The burden of wounds that had long wrapped around his chest slowly began to feel lighter, as if every word from his mother mended the cracks he had carried for so long. The bitterness of the past still lay deeply etched, sealed within distant memories—but at least now, he could breathe a little easier.
Lhuna spoke again, her tone calm yet firm.
"Mother hopes… that these will be your last tears. From now on, stand tall. Be strong, even when the world tries to bring you down. Even when everyone hates you. Mother believes you can overcome it."
She continued, her words flowing like a prayer that sank deep into Kael's heart.
"All the wounds you feel today will grow into something far greater—something you must face in the future. The new universe awaiting you is not merely a place to be understood, but a field to be chosen, felt, lived, and perfected. The path of truth… does not always shine. At times, it remains veiled behind the chill of the night wind."
Kael listened without wavering. A warm smile still graced his face, as though his resolve had now been carved more deeply within him. He answered softly yet firmly, his eyes shining despite the tears that still clung to them.
"Yes. I promise. And I will not break it. Every word you've entrusted to me… I will keep, I will protect with all I have. As your son—the child you always believed in, even as this universe continues to turn with its cruel injustice."
Lhuna lowered her head slightly, then tilted it with a gentle motion, as if wanting to be certain that she was truly seeing the child who now stood upright before her.
A faint smile appeared on her lips, simple yet filled with conviction. Her eyes closed softly, as though erasing the last remnants of doubt that had ever lingered.
"That's good. Mother is glad to hear it."
For a moment, silence hung between them. Kael drew a long, deep breath, like someone struggling to hold back something on the verge of bursting from his chest. Within that breath, one question kept pressing forward—something he should never have been able to voice, yet now demanded to be spoken.
"Mother…" His soft voice cracked, nearly slipping out of control. "I don't know why this is happening. But… may I ask you one thing?"
"You may," Lhuna answered quietly, her eyes opening once more, meeting his gaze with an unshakable calm. "What is it…?"
Kael bit his lip, then finally asked, "Why can we talk like this, when we stand in two different streams of time? I come from the future, you from the past… this shouldn't be possible, right? Isn't this taboo—something that could change history if it truly happened?"
But Lhuna did not answer right away. Her gaze dimmed, serene yet profound, as if she were looking far beyond an unseen veil—past the walls of space and time themselves. Only after she exhaled slowly did her lips part, giving voice to something heavy, yet full of meaning.
"Kael… time may be a straight line, but it is not a chain. It can be folded, it can converge—so long as there is space in the heart that calls for it."
She looked at him more deeply. "You think this is history changing, but it isn't. You are only opening a door that has always existed within you. Without ever realizing it."
Kael fell silent, lightly shaken. His brows knit together, yet he chose to keep listening.
"I did not come from the past to be revived," Lhuna continued, her tone deeper now. "I came because my traces have always been etched inside you. Wounds, love, even the remnants of your family's ancestral history… all of it became a bridge. You were the one who called—and I am the one who answered."
Slowly, Lhuna raised her hand. She extended her palm and touched Kael's cheek. The touch was gentle yet firm, like a mother's loving reprimand—never meant to wound.
"Do not fear changing history. You are not breaking it. You are only looking back at yourself… through the form of a mother who has always been there for you, even when you never truly realized it."
A faint smile returned to her lips. But before Kael could reply, the light that formed Lhuna's figure began to tremble. Like fragile black paper gnawed by fire, her body slowly split apart, fragment by fragment unraveling into white shards that then turned into deep-blue, glowing ash drifting into the air.
"M-Mother… why is your body—?" Kael gasped, eyes wide, half-panicked.
Lhuna did not waver. She showed no fear at all. She knew… the time had come.
"So this is it…" she said softly, closing her eyes, cutting through the loss that was about to swallow her. "It seems there's no time left to stay here any longer."
"Mother? Don't tell me—" Kael's voice broke, trembling, unable to finish.
Still, Lhuna remained calm. She gathered herself to complete her final words, with the unwavering resolve of a mother entrusting everything to her child.
"I told you already… you are not alone anymore. Remember, I will always be here. Even those in the new world are waiting for you. So don't worry… because truly, my time has run out."
The space around them burned along with Lhuna's body. Deep-blue flames crawled across the walls, devouring everything, like an illusion collapsing in on itself.
The world that had felt so real moments ago slowly dissolved into fragments of shadow.
"And that is why," Lhuna's voice grew fainter, "stop thinking about taboos and impossibilities. The bond between a mother and her child… does not submit to time. That is why you can hear my voice."
Kael stood frozen. He did not reply—only stared ahead, his gaze empty yet storming within. Lhuna then gathered her courage and embraced him, wrapping her arms around Kael's body despite knowing she was nothing more than a spirit on the verge of fading. The warmth was real—undeniably so—as if the boundary between dream and reality had vanished.
"I know you are facing a great trial right now…" she whispered gently by his ear. "A trial where you must defeat yourself. A hope—one you can overcome."
"All you need to do is keep walking. I have already shattered all the false memories born from the chaos they created just to make you submit to it."
Slowly, the wounds carved into his heart began to heal. The warmth seeped in, mending him, as though all the pain he had carried until now dissolved along with his tears.
"And also," Lhuna continued, her tone firm, "there is still one more person you must meet. They are waiting for you… waiting for all those truths to be heard."
Kael lowered his head, silent. His heart trembled, but he kept those words locked within.
Lhuna closed her eyes once more, then spoke her final vow—the words that became their family's legacy.
"Remember… we are Assassins. In silence, we endure. In shadows, we conquer. In oath… we transcend everything."
Kael lifted his hand, wanting to return the embrace, even as doubt filled his heart that he might touch nothing at all. But before his fingers could move, Lhuna vanished.
In an instant, all the light that had once illuminated the space went out. The last blue flame flared—then disappeared, leaving Kael in emptiness. The warmth faded as well, replaced by a suffocating darkness that seemed to swallow his very breath.
He remained standing there, his shoulders slowly sinking, his gaze lowered, as though his mother were still holding him. His hand hung stiffly in the air—cold, empty.
Now… only Kael remained. The wounds in his memories had calmed, yet a far deeper wound within his soul still echoed faintly. Slowly, he drew a breath, trying to restrain the turmoil. And when he lifted his gaze—
—before him, a door appeared from nothingness.
The door was simple, made of ordinary wood, yet stained a dark red, like blood long since dried. From its surface seeped a burning aura, blazing crimson, as if rage and hatred had fused into one.
Blackened tree trunks coiled around the doorframe, their cracked roots like dried veins trying to ensnare it. From the gaps in the wood, faint red hands writhed and clawed, as if desperate to break free. Charred black leaves swirled through the air, each one flaring briefly before dissolving into ash.
Kael stood still, staring at the door without blinking. There was no illusion of warmth left. No place left to run. Only the final path remained—the third door.
A road that resembled hell itself—filled with red embers, bound hands, and whispers of chaos clawing to be unleashed. Yet Kael knew… beyond all of it lay a truth he had to hear, even if his entire being had to be destroyed just to step inside.
***