CHAPTER 217: CHAPTER 217: THE TRUTH BENEATH THE SILENCE

She had her mother’s features—soft, delicate, the kind that made people pause and stare. The same snowy hair, the same graceful aura, even at such a young age. But her eyes... they were his. Ordinary brown, without any clan glow or powerful bloodline.

She was his daughter.

The daughter Aeris had left behind.

The daughter she never got to raise.

Xu Kai held her tighter, his heart swelling with emotion he rarely allowed himself to feel. His past had been brutal—shaped by pain and survival. He was born on a remote, nameless planet where people lived and died in silence.

As a child, he had known nothing but hunger, hardship, and fighting for scraps in the dirt. He had clawed his way up through blood and grit, rising from the slums to become the first commander of Nuvexis Spire—a position many thought impossible for a commoner like him.

But none of those victories had ever made him feel truly alive.

Not like Aeris did.

Not like this little girl in his arms.

His daughter was the only light in his dark world. The only piece of Aeris he had left. And though her mother had vanished, leaving behind only questions and pain, this child had given him purpose again. She was his sunshine. His hope.

He looked down at her with quiet wonder as she played with the buttons of his uniform, babbling about something she’d drawn that morning. Her voice filled the house like laughter returning to a long-forgotten room.

The butler cleared his throat softly, stepping back.

"I’ll begin the test right away, sir."

Xu Kai nodded, his expression serious once more as he watched the man disappear down the hall with the vial. The storm inside him had calmed for now, soothed by the small arms around his neck. But soon, the truth would come.

And when it did...

He didn’t know if it would bring him peace—or break him all over again.

Still, he had to know.

Because if Liora truly was Aeris...

Then fate had brought her back for a reason.

And this time, he wouldn’t let her slip away.

After dinner, Xu Kai spent his evening just as he wanted—sitting cross-legged on the floor of the playroom, his sleeves rolled up and his coat tossed aside, while Aerish sat beside him surrounded by paints, toys, and scattered paper.

The two of them painted messy galaxies and made lopsided stars that didn’t look like stars at all, but she giggled every time he praised her artwork like it was the greatest masterpiece in the universe. He didn’t care about the mess. For a while, there was only her laughter echoing in the room, and the quiet joy of having her safe and close.

As the night grew deeper, her eyelids began to flutter sleepily. She curled up beside him, still mumbling about wanting to finish her drawing in the morning. He scooped her up gently and carried her to her bed.

She looked so peaceful now, her tiny fingers loosely curled against his shoulder, her head resting in the crook of his neck. He placed her down softly, brushing her silver white hair away from her forehead.

He leaned down and kissed her gently. "Sweet dreams, little star."

After tucking her in and making sure her nightlight was on, Xu Kai stepped out of the room just in time to see the butler waiting in the hallway. His expression was composed, but his hands held a sealed black envelope with a symbol of high clearance—something only used for extremely private genetic reports.

"They’ve arrived," the butler said quietly. "All of them. As you instructed, sir. Every lab confirmed the same result."

Xu Kai’s eyes flicked down to the envelope. For a second, he didn’t move. He simply nodded and took it in his hand without a word, before walking down the corridor to his own room. The butler watched him go, his brows lightly drawn together in concern, but he didn’t follow.

Inside the master bedroom, Xu Kai placed the envelope on the edge of the bed.

He didn’t open it immediately.

He walked to the balcony first, the city lights stretching endlessly beyond the glass. He stood there, trying to steady his breath, his heart thundering like it had a mind of its own. His hands were trembling slightly, not from fear—but from everything else that was tangled up inside him.

He had fought wars. He had stood against monsters and looked death in the eye without flinching.

But this?

This was something else. he had never thought that a day like this would come.

He sat down on the bed and stared at the envelope. The air in the room felt thick, heavy with all the possibilities that lay sealed inside that single piece of paper. His fingers hovered above it, but he couldn’t bring himself to break the seal just yet. His mind was spinning with questions and emotions that refused to settle.

What if she wasn’t Aeris? What if everything he thought, everything he hoped for... was just a trick of memory and longing? What if his mind had betrayed him, twisting shadows of the past into a woman who only resembled the one he had once loved? The resemblance, the voice, the mannerisms—they could all be cruel coincidences. And yet, the possibility gnawed at him.

But worse still—what if she was? What if it truly was her, standing there as if the years hadn’t carved deep hollows into his heart? What would he even do then? After all this time, after all the pain. After losing her and raising their child alone in silence, in aching solitude, carrying the weight of unanswered questions. What would he say to her? How could he face her with all the memories that still bled beneath his skin?

Either way, the answer would change everything.

He let out a shaky breath and slowly reached for the envelope. "Come on," he whispered to himself, "just look."

With unsteady hands, he opened the first report.