Chapter 480: A Painful Seperation [Part 1]
Shin wordlessly stared at Northern who stood in the same fashion before him. But he was poised with outspoken confidence.
An air of coldness swiveled around him, not visibly but it made Shin and anyone that was around Northern feel like they were not supposed to go beyond a certain distance.
As if their death was hanging on a string of thread and should they move, it would snap.
But Shin had to distract himself from the heavy thoughts of Northern's imposing presence. It was pretty easy, because his son had finally seemed ready to talk.
The past one week he had been going and coming, hoping to find the best opportunity to speak to him.
But every time Shin had tried speaking, he always felt like his mouth was suddenly sewn together, other times the words just felt so heavy that his tongue would give in before the words got to make it.
But today seemed like it would be a different story. Shin tried to let out a smile, subduing all other emotions.
"Yeah, yeah, we have a lot to catch up on..." he paused and observed his son with a pained and tender look in his eyes, "You've grown," he added.
Northern smiled widely, then shrugged, "Well, with the kind of hell one is forced to live in in the dark continent, change is inevitable."
Northern exhaled loudly, "As much as I'd love to discuss all the painful, dreadful, distasteful, unpleasant, harrowing, agonizing, tormenting and torturous I experienced, I am more concerned about something else so I'll just ask."
Shin's breath became slightly unsteady and no matter how subtle it was, with the kind of eyes Northern now had, he could just see it!
It was like a pattern in the air, if he was to put it to perfect explanation, it was like he could see the sound of Shin's breathing.
Before now, they all had a regular pattern, however the moment it changed, Northern saw something that automatically translated into nervousness to him.
Going forward, it was obviously going to be hard for people to hide their emotions before him. It would also be very difficult for them to tell a lie.
Because like Terence relied on essence detection to tell things like this, he relied on the image of sound which was not visible to anyone before him and before now.
Shin gathered the tongue muscle to speak not too long after the question was asked, he opened his mouth, attracting Northern's attention.
Then his lips trembled as he started.
"I think I should start from the very beginning for you." Shin clenched his fist so hard that a metal would have wrenched within his grip.
He looked like he was drawing the strength to speak from his fist.
Northern stared at him calmly while he said that, took a pause and continued. His voice shook yet again.
"You know, we have always loved you. You are the apple of our eyes. The moment you came into Eisha's and my life was the moment everything just fell into place for us, it was the moment everything ever felt right."
Every word that came out of his mouth shivered from the cold of what lay further beyond his tongue.
Shin wished he didn't have to break this news to his son, having to say this truth made his heart heavy and burdened his shoulders that he felt weakened physically.
He raised his face to meet his son-Northern wasn't so obviously taller than Shin, but he stood in a position where Shin would have to move his iris up a little bit to focus on his.
Shin finally opened his mouth again after a short break. And all the while, Northern couldn't help but worry in fear.
'What exactly could be wrong to have him so shaken'
"You were adopted." The words broke out of his mouth like they forcibly though through a wall of sinew.
'Oh... that'
Northern was so caught by the surprise that he forgot to pretend and act accordingly. He just stared blankly at Shin.
"That seriously was it?" he thought aloud.
Causing Shin to be taken aback as well. Shin stared at him in confusion, replying immediately, with a tone as confused as his eyes.
"No, no, not exactly. But did you know before?"
After realizing that he had messed up, Northern quickly thought of a way to save himself.
Which was pretty easy.
"I found out in the dark continent."
"Huh?"
Northern slumped to his butt on the bed as he answered, "Well. Turns out that my birth mother is sister to the Emperor of Luinngard Empire,"
Shin's eyes widened in shock. The shock was of two components.
One:
'I knew he was always a big deal from the apparel he was draped in but an imperial prince of Luinngard?!'
He didn't even know his son was of Reimgard, knowing that would have rendered him weak in the legs.
He was raising a scion of the Reimgard family. Whose history transcended several others in the Central Plain and the world in general.
They dated so far back into the ages that set their imperial authority aside, their family was a tremendous force to be reckoned with on its own.
A drifter with the name Reimgard, red-haired, who was a Master, is ten times, undiluted and not exaggerated in any form, stronger than a normal Master in the Central Plains.
And the Second, that made way after Shin's initial shock: His eyes contorted with depression and pain as he thought about how Northern must have felt to realize such truth alone.
It made his heart scream with pain before he heard Northern's voice and removed his face from the ground.
"While I do have questions for you and mom about that. I don't think that's a really important matter right now."
Northern gave Shin that intense look of seriousness as his voice grew silent for a moment, then his hoarse tone resumed.
"It's been a week since I came here, since I made it alive from the dark continent" his eyes keenly observed Shin.
They were deep, as deep as the water in a narrow well on a dark night.
"...and somehow, you've not said a single word about Mom, or Silver."
Now, his eyes had a subdued dangerous light, hiding in their depth, dimming. "Father, what exactly is going on?"