CHAPTER 116: VIOLENCE IS THE ANSWER

"This is so unfair!" Luna cried, her voice cracking, her anger aimed not at Marilyn or Peri, but at the woman that had taken her mate away.

Marilyn let out a long sigh as she stood calmly before the two girls.

Peri sat in silence, her thoughts tangled. She couldn’t understand what she was feeling. The man she had feared so much just last night was now the one she worried about most. She felt almost frightened again—but this time, frightened that something terrible might be happening to him.

The silver-haired girl turned her teary eyes toward the oldest in the room. "Why... Why can’t he meet us? Can you tell me again?"

Luna’s voice wavered with desperation. She hadn’t fully heard Marilyn’s earlier words, but when they finally sank in—’Hades isn’t coming back...’—her mind went blank, refusing to accept them.

Marilyn softened her tone. "He’s gone to train his traits as a dragon. If he doesn’t, he risks losing control again. I’m sure you don’t want to face that side of him once more."

Peri shuddered at the memory, her body betraying her no matter how hard she tried to remain calm.

But Luna’s eyes only hardened. "Regardless of the reason, he should have been allowed to see us. He needs us just as much as we need him."

She couldn’t stop imagining how devastated Hades must feel right now. He always carried silent dread in his heart—about his blood, about his origin. And last night, for the first time, he had truly lost control... forgotten himself.

Peri finally stood and asked in a quiet voice, "When will he return?"

Marilyn gave a helpless shrug. "Until Lady Supreme deems him ready. But don’t worry, at most, a week."

"A week?!" Luna’s eyes widened. Her voice rose as if her chest might burst. "What—"

{Luna.}

The voice slipped into her mind. A voice she knew better than her own heartbeat.

"Hades?!" she gasped, her eyes darting around the room, desperate to find him.

{I’m reaching you through our bond.}

She froze. Her gaze landed on Peri, who looked back in confusion.

"He’s... talking to me through our bond," Luna whispered. Her heart pounded as she asked aloud, "Where are you? Can we come to see you?"

{Not now, Luna. I’m afraid it will take a few days before we can meet again.}

Her body sank onto the bed, her shoulders losing all strength. "I-Is it... because of us?" she whispered, almost afraid of the answer.

Peri’s eyes widened, but she stayed quiet, patiently waiting, knowing Luna needed to finish.

{I... I don’t want to scare you two again, Luna. Seeing Peri afraid of me—it broke me. I can’t let you feel that way again.}

The bond pulsed with his hesitation before he added,

{Just a few days, Luna. I promise, I’ll return to you both. Trust me... this isn’t easy for me either. But it’s something I must do.}

Luna’s eyes brimmed with tears. Her lips parted, but no words came. Silence fell, heavy and unspoken.

Peri’s chest tightened as she watched the silver head’s trembling expression. She didn’t need to hear through the bond to understand—it was written all over Luna’s face.

Marilyn quietly excused herself, leaving the two girls alone.

For her, these emotions were still a mystery. So messy, so raw, so difficult to understand. Yet in this room, their weight was undeniable.

...

"How did it go?" Kaelith asked as she returned from scouting the area, her steps silent against the forest floor.

Hades let out a long breath. "I’ve... hurt them for sure."

Kaelith studied her son quietly. She knew how deeply he cared for his mates, how much of his heart was tied to them. This sudden separation would cut him as much as it cut them.

With a faint, wry smile, she said, "You might be one of the rare few dragons in this realm who truly care for and respect their mates."

Hades looked up at her, brows furrowed, as if questioning the weight behind her words.

Kaelith shook her head lightly. "You’ll come to understand what I mean once you see more of society. For now... focus on the hunt."

He drew in a steadying breath and gave her a small nod.

Without another word, Kaelith led him deeper into the forest that spread wide to the north of her castle.

"This place is called the Death Well," she explained as they moved. "Every grade of monster can be found here."

Hades, though his breath was uneven from exhaustion, still asked, "W-What... kind of ranking do you use here?"

Kaelith slowed her pace so he could follow, her tone shifting to that of a patient teacher. "Monsters are divided by the kind of opponents they can overwhelm. It goes like this: civilian rank, soldier rank, battalion rank, general rank, king rank, mythic rank, and finally... legendary class."

She cast him a sidelong glance. "And don’t compare those soldiers to the ones you fought in the human realm. These are different altogether."

"I understand," Hades muttered, nodding.

The pair moved swiftly, slipping past towering trees until Kaelith perched lightly on a thick branch, twenty feet above the ground. Hades stopped below, scanning for signs of danger.

Her gaze sharpened as she spotted movement in the clearing. A smile tugged at her lips.

With a graceful leap, she twisted into a backflip, landing beside her son like a cat returning to earth.

Had Hades not been weak with hunger and exhaustion, he might have clapped at the display.

She pointed toward the creature grazing in the distance. "That beast is a Bullrob. A full-grown one. Its strength falls somewhere between soldier and battalion rank."

Turning to him, her eyes narrowed with challenge. "Now go. Defeat it—without using a single drop of mana. If you use magic, I’ll kill it myself and move us to the next target."

Hades’s eyes widened. "Eh? What kind of training is this?" He had expected something entirely different—maybe meditation by a waterfall, something that would help him find inner calm and control. But this... this was nothing like that.

Kaelith placed a firm hand on his shoulder. Her voice was steady, unyielding. "We are predators, son. Peace will never shape us the way violence can."

Hades bit down on his lip, forcing himself to face the beast. Its hulking, boar-like body radiated power, its tusks glinting under the dim light filtering through the trees.

After a brief silence, he gave a resolute nod. "I understand."

Maybe, this was the time he forgot about his beliefs and started trusting his mother.

For the sake of reunion, he needs to work hard.

°°°°°°

A/N:- Thanks for reading.