The footsteps echoed even before any voice.
They were firm. Rhythmic. Laden with authority.
Kael felt it first.
Not as murderous intent—not yet—but as presence.
A cold pressure that pierced the destroyed courtyard like an invisible blade, causing the Chaos within him to react reflexively, rising in alertness.
Irelia felt it too.
Her body stiffened imdiately.
Adalric… only smiled more.
"Ah," murmured the Sword King. "You arrived quickly."
The footsteps stopped behind him.
A female voice sounded, clear, sharp, laden with contained impatience.
"Old man," she said. "What the hell happened here?"
Kael didn't see her yet.
But he knew that voice.
He knew the rhythm.
He knew the danger.
Adalric laughed, opening his arms theatrically.
"You arrived right in the middle of the show, Alia."
She took another step forward, still with her view blocked by Adalric's broad back.
"I crossed half the capital because I received reports of a mana explosion in the noble district" she said. "I hope this is sothing really interesting."
"Oh, it is" replied Adalric, amused. "See for yourself."
He took two steps to the side.
And made room.
The world stopped.
Alia Valroth's gaze fell first on the destroyed courtyard.
Then on Irelia, still with tear marks on her face, her sword sheathed, her body tense.
And then—
Kael.
For a single instant, there was no reaction.
Not a word.
Not a movent.
Her expression simply… went blank.
As if sothing inside her had been forcibly ripped away.
The air around her began to cool.
Not gradually.
Not symbolically.
The ground cracked.
A thin layer of ice began to spread from her feet, creeping through the cracks in the stone like crystalline veins. The vapor of her breath beca visible.
The Chaos within Kael recoiled, instinctively.
"...You," Alia said.
Her voice carried no surprise.
It carried sothing far worse.
"You son of a bitch..." she continued, each word descending a tone. "You woke up... and didn't tell ?"
She slowly raised her gaze.
Her eyes were empty.
There was no explicit anger there.
No tears.
There was sothing demonic, cold, absolute—a fury so compressed it seed to have crushed any visible emotion.
Kael swallowed hard.
"Alia—"
He didn't finish.
She began to walk.
Each step caused the ice to spread further, the air growing heavy and cutting. The temperature in the courtyard plumted rapidly, to the point where the family's assassins instinctively retreated.
Irelia stepped forward.
"Alia, wait—"
"NO—" Alia's voice cut through the air like a blade. "Don't interfere."
She didn't take her eyes off Kael.
"You're seriously injured," she said, her voice now dangerously calm. "You were in a coma, you bastard. You son of a bitch, you didn't even tell you woke up?"
She stopped a few feet from him.
The ice already covered half the courtyard.
"And now I co in here," she continued, "and find you standing, breathing… laughing… fighting."
Kael took a deep breath.
"I couldn't—"
"I DON'T CARE!" she shouted.
The impact of her voice was physical.
The mansion walls creaked.
A wave of ice exploded forward.
Kael reacted instantly.
"Partial Anchoring!"
Chaos expanded beneath his feet, stabilizing the space around him as an irregular wall of black ice rose before him.
CRASH!
The wave collided violently, frozen fragnts exploding in all directions.
Alia didn't slow down.
She charged forward using her own magic.
"You have NO right to decide when you return to my life!" she shouted, raising her hand.
Arcane symbols swirled around her arm.
"Imperial Form — Boreal Judgnt!"
Spears of pure ice ford in the air and fired in sequence, tearing through space with absurd speed.
Kael dodged by centiters.
One spear grazed his shoulder, freezing the sleeve of his kimono instantly. — Damn it… — he murmured.
Irelia drew her sword.
"Kael, if you"
"NO!" Kael shouted. "Don't get involved in this!"
She froze.
Alia heard.
And laughed.
A short laugh. Broken.
"Protecting her now?" she asked, with disdain. "Funny… you never protected like this."
She appeared before him in the blink of an eye.
A fist coated in ancient ice ca straight for Kael's face.
He raised his arm.
The impact threw him several ters back, his body crashing through an already cracked column and rolling across the frozen ground.
He spat blood.
Before he could get up—
CRACK!
The ground in front of him exploded.
Alia was there again.
"Get up" she said coldly. "Stand up and look at when I kill you."
Kael rose slowly, Chaos condensing around his body.
"If you think that's going to make you feel better…" he said, with difficulty "…then hit ."
She trembled.
For a mont.
The ice around them began to vibrate.
"You always do this…" she whispered. "You act like you can carry everything alone."
She raised both hands.
The sky above the courtyard darkened.
Clouds spiraled.
"Alia," Adalric called, finally serious. "Enough."
She didn't answer.
"Alia!" he roared, releasing part of his aura.
She stopped.
She took a deep breath.
The ice continued to spread, but the attack didn't co.
Kael seized the mont.
He took a step forward.
Then another.
"I woke up," he said softly. "And the first thing I thought of was you."
She clenched her fists.
"Liar."
"I was scared," he continued. — Fear of looking at you… and seeing that I wasn't strong enough to stay anymore.
A heavy silence fell.
The ice began to crack.
Alia was breathing heavily now.
"You should have trusted …" she said, her voice finally faltering. "I grew stronger for you. I held everything in… for you."
Kael stopped a step away from her.
"I know."
She looked up.
Her empty eyes began to fill with sothing dangerous.
"Then don't you dare leave again" she said. "Because next ti… I won't forgive you."
The ice around them exploded into particles of cold light.
The courtyard fell into absolute silence.
Adalric let out a slow laugh.
"Ah…" he murmured. "This is going to be fucking interesting."
Irelia closed her eyes for a second.
Kael… just breathed.
The world wouldn't leave him in peace.
The silence that followed wasn't empty.
It was heavy.
Too dense to ignore.
The ice still cracked here and there, thin fissures spreading across the courtyard like fresh scars. The vapor of Alia's breath rose in short, irregular clouds. The Chaos within Kael remained contained, vibrating low, attentive—not to fight, but to sustain.
Kael took another step.
Alia didn't retreat.
She didn't advance.
She just stood there, rigid, as if any movent would cause her to crumble or explode again.
He slowly raised his hand.
Irelia held her breath.
Adalric watched, attentive now, without the exaggerated smile—just genuine curiosity.
Kael placed his hand on Alia's shoulder.
She shuddered.
"…No" she murmured, almost inaudibly. "Don't touch …"
He didn't back away.
He moved a little closer and, before she could raise another barrier of ice or gather enough anger to push him away—
Kael pulled her into a hug.
It wasn't dramatic.
It wasn't too strong.
It was firm.
Real.
Alia froze completely.
Her body stiffened, her arms pinned to her sides, as if she didn't know what to do with it. For a second, the air around them cooled again—an instinctive reflex.
Then… it broke.
A low sound escaped her chest.
A sob.
The ice around them began to lt.
"It's okay…" Kael said softly, close to her ear. "It's okay now."
She tried to speak.
The voice wouldn't co out.
He squeezed her a little tighter, resting his chin lightly on her head.
"I won't fall again," he continued. "I won't be defeated like this again."
Alia closed her eyes tightly.
Her fingers tightened on the fabric of her black kimono.
"You…" her voice ca out shaky. "You promise?"
Kael didn't hesitate.
"I promise."
She took a deep breath, her face pressed against his chest now, as if only then realizing that he was warm. Alive. Present.
"Nothing will bring down anymore," he said. "Not even those who try to hurt … not even those who try to hurt those I love."
The courtyard fell silent again.
This ti, differently.
More human.
Adalric was the first to break it.
"Hah…" he let out a short laugh, crossing his arms. "Look at this."
Kael looked up, still embracing Alia.
"What?"
"You," Adalric replied. — Speaking as if you're invincible. That sounds dangerously arrogant, boy.
Kael didn't look away.
He didn't smile.
"It's not arrogance."
Adalric raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, no?"
"No" Kael replied firmly. "Last ti, I thought I was strong enough. This ti… I know where I failed."
The Sword King stared at him for a few seconds.
Then he laughed for real.
A full, satisfied laugh.
"Heh…" he said. "I like that answer better."
Irelia released the breath she was holding.
She looked away for a mont, disguising the tightness in her chest, then looked at Kael again.
"You… really ca back, didn't you?" she murmured.
Kael nodded slightly.
"I ca back."
Alia still wouldn't let go.
But now… it wasn't out of anger.
It was fear of letting go.
The world outside remained dangerous.
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