Chapter 616: Reconnection
Northern sat down on an exquisite wooden chair and watched as Eisha tenderly folded his clothes into a brown polished box.
Her face was somber, and she had uttered not a single word. He had meant to do it on his own, but she came into his room and took it from him.
Without any word uttered between the two of them, she had been doing it carefully and gently, internally working hard to keep a straight and determined face without breaking into tears.
Sometimes she would sniff, but the stronghold on her face did not break even in those times.
And seeing it happen like this, Northern had no idea what to do or how to react to it.
This caused him to be even more broken.
She finally finished, closed the box, and tapped it with a subtle smack of her lips.
"It's all done. You are all set." Her silvery voice ran out coldly for the first time since she came.
Usually, the enforced fineness in her voice should break him, but it didn't. It was almost getting too hard to understand how she felt, what she wanted from him.
He had no idea what to do in this moment and, for once, wished someone would yell at him.
Eisha finally brought her head up, although slowly. Her quivering golden eyes carefully tore into his.
It looked like she was just managing to look at him wholesomely for the first time since they had returned.
She returned her head back down sorrowfully and held her hands together in front, scratching her nails.
The silence was haunting, so when her voice made it back again, it was like daylight breaking through eons of lightless nights.
"I am sorry." Her voice shook.
Northern could finally feel something, even though subtle. The shaking of her voice carried a hint of pain that pinched the inside of his chest... his heart... if he had any.
He moved his hands and touched her shoulders gently.
"You shouldn't be sorry for anything, mother. You are not Rughsbourgh. What happened to me is by no means you or father's fault. I don't want anyone to blame themselves for how I have turned out. First of all, I don't even hate how I have turned out. This is the best version of me, and there's nothing more I could have wished for..."
His voice went silent as he took a moment to exhale before going on.
"Sure, those experiences were gruesome and could have destroyed the mind of anyone. But do you know that one thing that has kept me going till now was seeing your face, reuniting with my family, and Silver.
"You guys were my motivation and my reason. When everything looked like it was all going to the end, you guys were what gave me the strength of will to pull through. So, I don't think it's right to carry guilt in your heart for anything."
Hearing the words, Eisha's stronghold could not hold on anymore. It broke, gushing rivers of tears breaking through the already cracked walls.
Her tears rolled down with trembling shoulders. Northern held her and brought her into his warmth as she cried profusely.
His words were like a sword of liberation, breaking off the shackles of guilt and pain that she had been wearing since the day he disappeared.
She continued to cry and at some point sob, and although it was tiring and awkward, Northern stayed there and patted her back, which was even more awkward for him.
He felt like he could do better than pat her back, maybe say something? But what would he say? He had said all that needed to be said already.
'Please stop crying?'
The suggestion made Northern pity himself even more. How would he tell her to stop crying?
Getting further distracted by his thoughts, Northern decided to shut it all out and just suffer in the moment.
And after a while, she finally piped down. Northern helped her sit down and stood away from her.
Now, it was very awkward deciding to step out. Should he sit down too?
But he had things he wanted to do. He still had to speak to Thalen and Ryan. But was it okay to just walk away...?
Northern sighed simultaneously, his mother's cracked voice reached his ears.
"There is something I need to tell you. We actually, but on behalf of Shin, I'll just say it."
Northern narrowed his eyes. He-sort of-could already guess what she wanted to say.
But he said nothing and instead sat down on the chair next to her, fixing his ethereal blue eyes on her.
Eisha took a few seconds; her breath was gentle but could be heard clearly in the quiet, warm
room.
Rays of the daylight star filtered through the curtains and allowed the predominant colors in the room-red and gold-to dance around and glitter luxuriously.
"Lael."
Northern felt goosebumps as she called his name. There was a sense of uniqueness he felt whenever she called him Lael.
It was something only she could do, almost like he could feel the attachment of value and importance to the name.
"You are not our legitimate child..." she paused, hesitated, but eventually raised her head to look at Northern's face.
When she saw that there was no change in his expression, her eyes slowly widened.
"What? You knew already?"
Northern chuckled lightly and pointed to his white hair.
"Here..." he also pointed to his blue eyes, "here too."
"I think everyone already figured that one out too. Besides, when you look at Silver, isn't it pretty obvious that father's gene is quite strong? She's half Elf, obviously, but still had black hair and red eyes. Damn Kageyama bloodline."
Her eyes froze for a few seconds, then...
"Oh, oh, right. Will you look at me." She chuckled, wearing it as a facade on her
embarrassment.
"Well... there's more to the story than just you being adopted."
Northern cocked his head slightly. "There's more to the story?"