Kaiden and his group left the Ashborn manor in two separate groups.
Kaiden was flanked by his girls while Vespera walked in another direction with a group of her guards forming a protective periter around her. She took Julia, Naira, and her mother with her toward the sleek black vehicles waiting in the driveway. Lux was supposed to go with them, too, but she was clinging to Aria too much, so they agreed to take the girl in their own vehicle instead.
No one wanted to tear the little sister away from Aria now that she finally got to spend so ti with her.
Currently, Lux was holding Aria’s hand and hopped excitedly next to her with a grin plastered across her face. She kept glancing up at her big sister and then ahead toward the path leading them away from the Ashborn mansion, looking as if she couldn’t believe this was actually happening.
Eating out with Aria, Kaiden, and everyone else felt like a dream.
Alice walked beside Kaiden with less outward expression. Her face was much calr and her steps asured, but the firmness with which she gripped his hand told a different story.
Possessive. Unrelenting.
Kaiden got the distinct impression that she was refusing to be the little sister who showed less affection for her older sibling.
Kaiden chuckled inwardly with warmth spreading through his chest. ’Little sisters are far too precious,’ he decreed in his mind with absolute certainty.
He tightened his hold around Alice’s dainty hand.
The two looked at each other, and their smiles ca at the sa mont, bright and unguarded.
"Thank you for standing up to Mother for ..." Alice murmured quietly.
Kaiden squeezed her hand again and just nodded happily in return, feeling no need for words. Then he reached over and petted her head a few tis with gentle affection.
"!!" Not being one to act nonchalant when it ca to being headpatted, Alice hopped once with pure joy lighting up her mismatched eyes, pushing her skull against his palm to make the gesture feel even stronger.
One could argue this girl was a professional ’big brother affection conniseur,’ having already developed tactics on how to make the most of their monts spent together.
Aria caught Kaiden’s gaze from where she walked with Lux still bouncing beside her. Their eyes t and held for a mont before they both smiled widely. Their free hands reached out at the sa ti, and their fingers intertwined naturally as they walked together.
Two older siblings.
Two needy little sisters.
And a mont that felt perfect in its simplicity.
Kaiden and co made their way toward the Association artifact vehicle that had carried them here. The massive armored transport glead under the starry night sky with magical wards shimring across its surface. The crew was waiting for them there with the engine already humming.
He grinned inwardly. He was reaping imnse benefits from the governnt even now. ’Maybe it’s ti to reward them with so information... if we keep taking and taking, then this relationship will quickly turn parasitic...’
Then he shrugged internally. ’Then again, our re presence in the country is a boon to the governnt. As long as we’re in their jurisdiction, we’re at least not helping their enemy nations.’
’Hmm... I’ll decide what to do with a full belly, I guess.’
The vehicle door hissed open with a pressurized release of air.
"Kaiden... Everyone..." ca a dejected female voice.
Kaiden raised a concerned eyebrow when a teary-eyed Alexandra stepped forward.
The girl had lost her demonic maid outfit for the occasion.
She’d refused to et her parents after so many years while wearing it, even if she was proud of the outfit and her station. She did not wear it to be an eyecandy for Kaiden, not one bit.
She was the proud maid of the Paragon of Sin and his Sinsworn Valkyries and Monster Girls. Thus, the outfit felt fitting, especially considering their abyssal ho, the dungeon.
However, one did not greet their parents in their work clothes.
That’s why she was dressed in an elegant knee-length dress with delicate lace trim along the neckline and sleeves. The soft cream color accentuated her gorgeous blonde hair, which fell in loose waves past her shoulders. The cut of the dress highlighted her voluptuous, feminine figure while remaining tasteful, and the crystal clear blue of her eyes stood out against the pale fabric.
But her gorgeous attire was stained now.
Sared makeup flowed from her eyes in dark streaks that cut down her cheeks alongside her tears. Her lips trembled as she looked at Kaiden, and her hands clutched at the fabric of her dress.
The aforentioned eting with her parents never happened.
And the weight of that failure was written across every inch of her face.
Nyx stepped out from the vehicle behind Alexandra and looked sadly at her friend. She’d been with her when Alexandra ran away from the confrontation and had watched the girl crumble piece by piece on the walk back.
Alexandra’s lips trembled, and fresh tears spilled down her cheeks. "I’m so sorry... You provided with so much, and I still failed..." Her voice cracked, and she clutched her dress tighter. "I’m living in your ho and eating your food, I enjoy your protection, I enjoy your friendship and your concern for my well-being, and I can’t even do this much... I can’t even walk up to my parents and say hello..."
Her breathing grew uneven, and her shoulders shook. "At this rate, I’ll never be fixed... I’m broken forever-"
Kaiden released Alice and Aria’s hands.
He stepped forward in one heavy motion that cut through the air. The movent said everything about his thought process before he even opened his mouth.
Alexandra’s words died in her throat.
"K-Kaiden?" she gasped as the man towered over her from up close.
"I will not let you finish that terrible declaration, Alexandra," he decreed.
Alexandra gasped as she understood what was going on, and more tears fell. "W-why not...? It’s true... I keep enjoying your kindness... all I do is cook you food or make your bed... You don’t even have children for to be a proper live-in maid... The relationship is so one-sided..." Her voice dropped to barely a whisper, and she couldn’t et his eyes. "I hoped I could make you feel your efforts were rewarded with reuniting with my parents, but I failed at even that..."
She looked small. Defeated.
Her posture was hunched inward as if trying to take up less space in the world. The way she spoke about herself carried the weight of soone who’d been taught over and over that her worth was conditional. That she had to earn the right to exist in soone’s presence. That kindness always ca with a price she’d eventually have to pay.
Years of abuse had carved those lessons into her bones.
Kaiden’s expression turned sad. His chest tightened as he looked at this wonderful woman who thought she was a burden. Who thought basic human decency needed to be repaid with perfect performance.
He reached out and touched this girl for the first ti as he pulled her into a tight, warm hug.
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