But inside, everything shifted.
’Now I understand,’ she realized. In her past life, she had never known about the prophecy. Now, everything made sense. Why did Dante try to separate her from Silas...Why, after Silas’s death, hadn’t Dante looked shocked, only devastated, as if he had already known this outco would co.
Hearing Ivy’s voice, Dante shook his head slowly.
Sha filled his eyes, heavy and unmistakable, and his shoulders sagged as though the weight of the past had finally caught up to him.
"I was wrong," he admitted quietly. "I blad you... but I never blad myself."
His fingers curled slightly, nails pressing into his palm. "Maybe, sowhere in my heart, I believed that as long as I blad you enough, you would leave on your own."
He lifted his gaze to Ivy, his voice softening.
"Thank you," he said sincerely. "Thank you for not leaving us, Silas."
His lips curved into a faint, self-mocking smile. "Even though I acted like a complete jerk."
Ivy shook her head gently, her expression calm but attentive.
Dante continued, his tone turning reflective. "There was also... an enmity between our families."
Ivy looked at him in confusion, brows knitting together. Dante chuckled under his breath, a humorless sound.
"Once, I declared that I would never allow the sons or daughters of Blackthorn to marry into the Nightbane family."
He shook his head again.
"At the height of that enmity, I even thought that if my son or daughter fell in love with a Nightbane, I would disown them without hesitation."
He exhaled slowly. "So when I found out that you were a Nightbane, I almost laughed. It was cruel irony."
His eyes dimd.
"I had arrogantly claid that I didn’t care about status, bloodlines, or history. Yet in the end, I watched my own son marry the daughter of the Nightbane family."
Ivy couldn’t help herself anymore. Curiosity flickered openly in her eyes.
"What kind of enmity was it?" she asked. "Why did it push you to say sothing so extre?"
She truly didn’t know. Her mother had never told her, nor had her father.
She had never dared to ask Alice or Dante, afraid it would reopen old wounds and ignite argunts. But today, she genuinely wanted to understand.
Dante let out a low laugh. "The reason... it’s complicated," he said.
"A grand one, you could say. But in the end, it all traces back to Silas’s birth."
Ivy stiffened slightly.
"When Silas was little," Dante continued, his voice growing heavier, "his chances of surviving were very low."
Ivy stared at him, stunned.
"At that ti, Silas was only one years old," Dante went on.
"He was on the verge of dying."
His jaw tightened.
"Alice was desperate. She searched for everything, growth serums, oral tonics, experintal treatnts. Anything that might save him."
He paused briefly.
"In the end, she contacted Helena, who happened to be working in the sa field."
A chill crept up Ivy’s spine.
"When Helena learned about Silas," Dante said quietly, "she wanted to conduct experints."
His gaze hardened. "And we allowed it."
The words hung heavy in the air.
"Those experints changed Silas completely." Dante looked at Ivy and asked,
"Have you noticed Silas’s current hair and eye color?"
Ivy nodded slowly.
Dante gave a bitter chuckle. "Those are his original features."
Ivy’s breath hitched.
"When Silas was born," Dante explained, "he had blue eyes and blond hair. That was how he looked as a child."
His voice lowered. "But after the experints, for reasons we never fully understood, his hair and eyes turned black. We never thought he would regain his original appearance in his lifeti."
He shook his head. "And yet, the apocalypse forced his body to revert to its original state."
He took a deep breath. "Alice was terrified. When she realized her son’s chemical composition had been altered completely, she aged years in an instant."
His voice turned cold.
"She cut ties with the Nightbanes without hesitation and declared she would never associate with them again."
"It should have ended there," Dante continued.
"But Helena submitted a report about Silas to the higher-ups. That report was later used for other experints."
His expression darkened.
"I don’t know the details. I only know that Alice was consud with rage when she found out."
"She swore she would never befriend Helena in this life," Dante said.
"And I... I was furious enough to make that declaration myself."
As he spoke, realization struck Ivy like a sudden blow. Her eyes widened slightly.
’That story,’ she thought. ’Mother once ntioned an early experint... a baby-strengthening serum tested on a child.’
Her temples throbbed as the pieces fell into place. ’That child... was Silas.’
It explained too much.
Ivy raised a hand and rubbed her forehead slowly. ’This is too much,’ she thought.
Dante noticed her reaction and continued,
"Anyway, the Blackthorn and the Nightbanes eventually reached an agreent."
Ivy looked up at him again, curiosity returning.
Dante smiled faintly. "You might not know this, but before the marriage, the Nightbanes reached out to us."
His gaze softened. "Helena, Victor, Alice, and I held a secret eting."
"The purpose was simple," he went on. "Both sides laid out our children’s struggles. We demanded one thing from each other,that neither side would make life difficult for the other’s child."
"In the end," Dante said, "we reached a mutual agreent. No harassnt. No interference. If either side broke that rule, the other would have every right to retaliate."
He sighed.
"It protected both Alice’s and Helena’s interests. Helena feared Alice would try to control you as a mother-in-law. Alice feared Helena would burden Silas with unreasonable demands."
Dante looked at Ivy steadily. "What you need to know is this," he said.
"From now on, live a good life with Silas. Leave the past behind."
Ivy nodded quietly, agreeing with him.
After a brief pause, Dante spoke again. "Since everything has been said..." His tone grew deliberate.
"I’d like to give you sothing." He t her eyes. "As compensation."
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