Eric was reeling in shock due to the sheer shamelessness displayed by Ash in front of Saskia, and the sudden turn of events left him so flustered that his mind momentarily stopped functioning properly.
He did not even realize that he was currently reacting exactly like those teenagers whose darkest secrets get exposed by their family members in front of their crush or girlfriend.
"You have another sister, Eric, other than Snow? I never saw her all this while."
Saskia asked with a curious expression as her gaze moved back and forth between the two of them, clearly trying to understand the rather strange family dynamics unfolding before her eyes.
The moment those words left her mouth, both Eric and Ash looked at each other.
Ash maintained his sorrowful expression as though he had truly been abandoned by his beloved younger brother, while frustration, embarrassment, and helplessness were all clearly etched onto Eric’s face.
{Why are you behaving like this?}
Eric asked Ash mentally, his voice filled with disbelief and a hint of helplessness.
{Just cause it’s fun.}
Ash replied instantly without even attempting to hide his amusement.
Eric’s expression twitched.
As expected.
There was no grand reason behind it.
Ash was simply enjoying himself.
{You.... sigh.... where is my sister? Why can’t I contact her?}
This time, the embarrassment in Eric’s voice gradually faded and was replaced by genuine concern.
{She is safe and doing well. I allowed her access to the Knowledge of Runes, and she is currently undergoing an Evolution.}
The moment those words entered Eric’s mind, he almost spoke aloud.
{You did what? Runes? Really? You allowed her??}
Eric became even more shocked, because the Ash he knew would never do something like this lightly.
The Knowledge of Runes was simply too important.
It was one of Ash’s greatest secrets and also the foundation of his future path.
Yet now he had willingly shared it.
{I can hear your thoughts, brat. Also, you are losing too much control over your emotions. I thought you learned enough from me to keep your emotions in control. Why are you behaving like this? Don’t tell me you got infected with the disease called Love Sickness that is causing your emotions to swell up.}
Ash said the last part while snickering in his mind.
Eric’s face immediately stiffened.
{....}
Eric remained silent as he was too embarrassed to even retort Ash at this point.
{By the way, you could have asked me through our mental link about Eva’s condition. Why did you not do it?}
Ash asked curiously.
The connection between them existed at all times, making communication effortless.
Yet Eric had never once used it.
{Simply because through the connection to you that we all share, I knew both of you were fine. I thought you both were dealing with some pressing matter, which is why I decided not to disturb your focus, because who knows, my intrusion might have caused something unimaginable.}
Ash’s expression softened ever so slightly upon hearing that.
Although nothing like that would have happened, Ash still welcomed this cautious attitude of Eric, because being careful in such situations was never a bad thing and was instead a good sign of his growth and maturity.
Ash then coughed lightly as his expression softened in real time before he looked toward Saskia and replied with an elegant smile on his face, "You see, our family dynamics is quite strange. I am not Eric’s biological brother, but I have looked after him since he was very little, and back then he was intelligent enough to start calling me brother. The same goes for Snow. I adopted her just after she was born, thus she thinks of me as her father."
His smile became gentler as he continued.
"Meanwhile, Eric here was asking about Eva, his biological sister, who is currently attending to some important work, which is why she cannot contact anyone right now. Don’t worry, you will get to meet her someday."
Ash explained the rather unusual family dynamics to Saskia,
"I see."
Saskia nodded lightly as her onyx-like eyes shone with understanding while she quietly sorted through the relationships in her mind.
"That means Eric is Snow’s uncle, while his sister is her aunt."
Ash looked at Saskia as she muttered those words while glancing toward Eric, and to be honest, this situation was partly his fault.
When Snow had asked him who Eva and Eric were, he had simply introduced them as Brother and Sister.
Sigh.... must be because I thought that when Snow grows up, she will understand that I am not her father and start calling me brother too...
"But it does not matter what we call each other, because at the end of the day we are all family, aren’t we?"
Ash spoke, his voice filled with a warmth rarely seen from him, and for a brief moment even the teasing in his tone disappeared completely.
"Also, the part about him abandoning me, I was just teasing him. He is a good boy, so I hope you take care of him."
The moment those words left Ash’s mouth, both Eric and Saskia froze.
"Wait wait wait w-w-w-what are you s-saying...?!"
Eric immediately became flustered and hurriedly pushed Ash back toward the room, his face turning red at a speed visible to the naked eye as though his greatest secret had just been exposed before the person he least wanted to hear it.
Meanwhile, Saskia’s face had already turned red like a ripe tomato as she lowered her head toward the floor, her fingers fidgeting nervously while she struggled to maintain her composure.
Looking at both of them, Ash smiled wholeheartedly.
Both of their reactions are cute. I just hope they continue to remain like this....
After all, in a world filled with danger, conspiracies, and endless battles, moments like these were rarer than any treasure.
-BAAM!!!!
The door shut tightly behind them, leaving only Eric and Ash inside the room.
As soon as the door closed, Eric turned to look at Ash with an expression filled with embarrassment and irritation, because even now the shameless words spoken in front of Saskia continued replaying in his mind.
"Fine Fine, I won’t do it again."
Ash raised his hands lightly in surrender, though the smile hidden in his eyes made it difficult to tell whether he truly regretted his actions or not.
Eric’s lips twitched slightly.
Within a minute, he gradually calmed himself down and sat on a nearby chair, and this time his expression had also turned serious as the earlier flustered emotions seemed to vanish completely.
After all, there were certain questions he had wanted to ask from the very beginning.
"I thought you became a Transcendent, but I can’t see that Soul Flame on your head? Are you able to hide even that? I thought no one can hide it."
Eric finally asked the question that had been bothering him ever since Ash returned, but one he could not ask in front of Saskia.
"Oh, you mean this?"
As soon as Ash spoke, a Violet Gold flame suddenly appeared upon his glabella, burning quietly while releasing a faint aura of mystery and transcendence.
Eric’s eyes widened slightly.
"So you did hide it, but how?"
"Well, I am not gonna lie, even my abilities were not able to hide it, but I experimented a little in past few days. The glabella is the entrance to one’s Soul, and the Immortal Seal also appears at the entrance. I don’t think this is a coincidence. One of the features of the Immortal Seal, I believe, is to prevent intrusion into one’s Soul. Thus, I pulled the Soul Flame to the entrance of my Soul, and the flame retreated back inside my body without any difficulty."
Ash pointed toward his forehead as he explained.
"It was not that hard. I believe other Transcendents could do it too, they just don’t do it. Maybe because their numbers are too low, thus they show it off? Maybe. Who knows?"
Eric nodded in understanding.
The explanation sounded simple enough, but knowing Ash, things that sounded simple from his mouth were rarely simple in reality.
"By the way, do you also want to Evolve? I can now evolve anything and anyone as long as they have fulfilled the conditions needed to evolve."
"Eh?"
Eric blinked in surprise.
He took his time pondering about the issue before eventually shaking his head.
"Not right now. If I suddenly vanish for a long time, Saskia and the people around the shop who know me will be asking too many questions, and who will look after the shop?"
"You don’t have to worry about that. I will be closing the shop for an indefinite amount of time."
Ash’s expression gradually became serious.
"You need to become strong if you truly want to protect Saskia and those close to you. Don’t tell me your flame of vengeance has been extinguished this early?"
The moment those words entered Eric’s ears, his expression froze.
Killing intent and anger immediately filled his eyes as an intense aura burst out from his body, causing the surrounding air to tremble faintly.
However, before even the slightest fluctuation could spread beyond the room, Ash casually waved his hand.
In an instant, everything was contained within the room.
"I have not forgotten anything."
Eric spoke in a calm voice, yet beneath that calmness lay hatred that had never faded even after all this time, because some wounds did not heal with time and some grudges only grew deeper with every passing day.
Ash looked quietly into Eric’s eyes.
He could see it.
The Pain.
The Anger.
The desire for vengeance burning deep within him like an undying flame.
And that was good.
Because hatred itself was not a bad thing.
So long as one controlled it, hatred could become the very force that pushed a person to move forward when the world gave them no reason to continue.
"Good, that’s good."
Ash nodded slowly as a faint smile appeared on his face.
"Do not let that flame die before you achieve what you seek. When you are ready, come back to me."
Eric silently nodded.
Just then, before either of them could continue the conversation any further, the sound of the shop’s doorbell suddenly echoed throughout the house.
-Ding Dong!!!!
The heavy atmosphere inside the room instantly dispersed.
Both Ash and Eric blinked for a moment.
The shop was closed.
So who could enter a locked door?
****