From the inky dark, a woman stepped forth. Her every motion was silent, deliberate, predatory in its elegance.

Vespera Ashborn.

The Shadow Monarch.

The matriarch of the Ashborn line, and Kaiden's mother.

Her crimson eyes flicked over the surroundings, lingering for a heartbeat on the frail woman lying on the stretcher, then settling on her son. There was no visible emotion on her face. No warmth. No coldness either, just a calm, abyssal neutrality.

Kaiden smiled crookedly. "I see you're still far too big an extrovert."

Naira's breath hitched as pure horror overcame her heart, unsure if he had lost his mind. This being was far too ominous for the native teen to even look at without her pulse increasing tenfold, yet Kaiden was joking with her?!

Kaiden, uncaring for the girl's inner turmoil, dryly added, "Honestly, you should speak a little less. No one can get a word in next to you."

"…"

The silence that followed could have frozen a volcano.

Vespera tilted her head, then began walking toward him with that soundless grace that made her seem like she was gliding rather than stepping.

"For a somewhat successful entertainer," she said evenly, "your jokes leave a lot to be desired."

Kaiden raised a brow, though his grin remained unfazed. "Is that so? Maybe my target audience is young ladies, not married women in their forties."

Vespera stopped. For a single beat, the air around her grew heavy enough to make Naira shuffle back instinctively. Then…

She smiled.

Not the kind of smile that brought comfort. It was subtle, chilling, and impossibly sharp, a curve of lips that could cut glass. A smile no camera had ever captured, and one that existed only for those select few who dared to speak back to her with sass.

"It seems you've lost respect for your mother," she said flatly.

Kaiden chuckled, still unfazed. "Or maybe I'm just finally a man living on his own, not in your home. You can't ground me for the whole summer vacation now."

The shadows around Vespera increased in their intensity as her expression darkened. "Are you sure about that, son? I could most certainly try."

The tension increased as their eyes met. Hers, glowing with muted menace; his, shining with boyish mischief.

In truth, Kaiden knew better than anyone that beneath that icy composure was warmth buried deep, sealed beneath decades of discipline and loss. Reaching it was like chipping through glacial stone, but when he did, it was worth it.

Ignoring her clear threats, he turned and gestured toward the bronze-skinned teen standing a few paces behind. "Mother, meet Naira."

Vespera's eyes followed his hand. When she noticed the existential dread in the girl's eyes, she recalled her ominous shadows, banishing them back into the abyss.

Kaiden continued, "She's someone I want to protect. And one day, I want to see her smile, really smile, without the kind of worries no kid her age should ever have to face."

Naira froze. Her throat tightened and her cheeks flushed deep red as she lowered her gaze. She hadn't expected that… not from him. Not from the man who faced monsters of legend and not only lived to tell the tale but somehow even toppled the most deadly of them all.

To think such a man was harboring these hopes for her… It shocked the girl.

Kaiden patted the girl's shoulders, then motioned toward his mother, dressed in black from head to toe. "And Naira, this is my mother, Vespera Ashborn. She'll be taking care of your mother's recovery. She's one of the richest, strongest, and most influential people in the whole country."

Naira's head snapped up, eyes wide. "The… whole country?"

Kaiden nodded lightly. "The United States of America. Where hundreds of millions of people live."

The girl blinked rapidly. Hundreds of millions? She couldn't even wrap her mind around that. Her world until now had been a few hundred people and miles of open plains and green wilderness. The sheer scale of what he spoke about made her head spin.

Vespera exhaled through her nose, very visibly unimpressed. "It appears I've become the caretaker of every ill mother you stumble across and can't take responsibility for yourself." Her tone was smooth, but the jab was sharp, referring to Aria's mother, Julia, who now lived in the Ashborn mansion, together with Lux and Damian, Aria's sister and brother. If that wasn't enough, so were Alexandra's parents residing there as well.

Kaiden's grin returned. Instead of snapping back, he took a few steps forward, closing the distance between them. Vespera did not react, did not step back to regain the distance between her son and herself. It was only her crimson red eyes that followed his approach.

Those very same eyes, the twin infernos millions of monsters saw before their agony-filled demise, snapped wide open as the cold woman felt her son's arms wrap around her in a firm embrace.

The Shadow Monarch, one of the most feared women alive, froze completely.

Kaiden leaned down and murmured against her ear, "I know you like Julia. She's probably your best friend in the whole world, isn't she? So stop your whining, Mother."

For the first time in years, Vespera felt her composure truly falter.

When she had unlocked her class, her mind and body had been reforged into something more, something colder. The Shadow Monarch's heart still beat, but the intensity of her emotions had dulled. She could remember what warmth felt like, but it was rare that she experienced it herself.

Now, though…

The steady rhythm of Kaiden's heartbeat pressed against her ear. His arms, strong, warm, and unyielding, held her with a familiarity she hadn't felt in her entire life. The air left her lungs in a quiet, unsteady sigh.

"We have never hugged since you were a little baby…"

Her thoughts whispered the truth she would never speak aloud, or so she thought. Vespera's heart skipped a beat when she realized she'd said it out loud despite her intentions to keep it to herself.

Kaiden's voice softened further. "Then let's change that. My girls taught me that physical warmth is the best way to show affection. We Ashborns used to act like posh royals even before the mana apocalypse, thinking such gestures were beneath us."

He leaned back just enough to meet her eyes, smiling brightly. "But I'm not an Ashborn anymore. I'm a Grey now, a name you yourself gave me. In the Grey family, showing love isn't just allowed, it's very heavily encouraged."

For a long moment, Vespera simply stared at him.

Then, slowly, hesitantly, her arms lifted, resting lightly against his back. Not quite returning the hug, but certainly not rejecting it either. It was the best she could offer. Her crimson eyes flickered with a great deal of emotion. It was a truly, extremely rare sight.

One Kaiden ensured he would not forget.

For a heartbeat, neither of them moved. Kaiden could almost feel the war inside her, between the stoic Monarch the world knew and the mother who once held him in her arms when he was small, feeding her baby with her breast milk.

Indeed, while the Ashborns were an extremely rigid family even before the apocalypse, Vespera vehemently refused to have another woman breastfeed her children. Such fervent motherly instincts were especially present when it came to her firstborn son, Kaiden.

Then, almost abruptly, she drew in a shaky breath and stepped back. "That's enough. Your girlfriends will get the wrong idea," she said coolly, though her voice carried a faint waver that only he would have noticed.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.