The following morning...
The Varien Tribe remained unusually quiet.
No laughter echoed through the streets.
Even the warriors preparing for battle spoke in hushed voices.
Everyone knew what had happened.
Everyone knew their former young master had fallen.
Inside the chief's residence...
Lord Cris Varien stood silently before the window.
He hadn't slept.
Not even for a moment.
Beside him stood his younger son.
His eyes were bloodshot.
The letter Varinder had left him remained folded carefully inside his robes.
Neither of them had found peace.
How could they?
For twenty years...
They had waited for Varinder to return home.
Instead...
Only his final words had returned.
Lord Cris slowly exhaled.
"They're awake?"
A servant bowed respectfully.
"Yes, Lord Cris."
"They're in the eastern courtyard."
The old chief nodded.
"Leave us."
Without another word...
The two men slowly walked toward the courtyard.
The morning sun gently illuminated the garden.
Birds sang from nearby trees.
A peaceful scene.
One that felt strangely out of place.
Rajiv sat beneath a large tree.
The mysterious white egg rested quietly in his lap.
Both hands held it tightly.
As though it was something precious.
Beside him sat Ananya.
Her father's letter remained carefully folded in her hands.
Neither child spoke.
Neither smiled.
They simply watched the wind move through the trees.
For a long time...
Lord Cris simply stood there.
Watching them.
His breathing gradually became uneven.
For twenty years...
He had imagined this meeting countless times.
He imagined lifting Rajiv onto his shoulders.
Teaching him how to hunt.
Listening to Ananya proudly tell stories about her little brother.
He had imagined laughter.
Family meals.
Arguments.
Birthdays.
Not this.
Never this.
For the first time in decades...
Lord Cris found himself afraid.
Not of battle.
Not of death.
But of taking one more step.
His younger son quietly placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Father..."
Lord Cris slowly nodded.
Then...
He walked forward.
Rajiv noticed them first.
The little boy looked up.
His blue eyes quietly observed the two unfamiliar men approaching.
Instinctively...
He moved a little closer to Ananya.
Seeing that...
Lord Cris felt another pain stab his heart.
His own grandson...
Didn't know him.
How could he?
He had never even seen the child before today.
Stopping a few steps away...
Lord Cris slowly knelt.
Ignoring his status.
Ignoring his position.
Ignoring every watching servant.
He simply wanted to meet his grandson.
For several moments...
Neither spoke.
The old man opened his mouth.
Closed it again.
Words...
The man who had commanded thousands of warriors...
Could not find a single one.
Eventually...
Only one sentence escaped.
"You..."
A gentle smile appeared through his tears.
"You look just like your father."
Rajiv lowered his eyes.
His fingers tightened around the egg.
"I miss him."
Four simple words.
They shattered the old man's heart.
His vision blurred instantly.
"So do I..."
His voice barely remained steady.
"So do I, child."
Silence returned.
Then Rajiv looked at him again.
His expression was filled with innocent confusion.
"Did you know Father?"
Lord Cris smiled sadly.
"I've known him..."
"...since the day he was born."
Rajiv blinked.
He thought about those words carefully.
Then quietly asked,
"...Then why didn't Father ever bring us here?"
The question froze everyone.
The breeze itself seemed to stop.
Lord Cris lowered his head.
There was no easy answer.
Because the truth wasn't simple.
Varinder hadn't left because he hated his family.
He had left because he loved them enough to sacrifice his own future.
How could a five-year-old understand something like that?
The old chief slowly reached out.
Then hesitated.
He was afraid.
Afraid the child might pull away.
Rajiv quietly looked at the hand.
Then...
Without saying anything...
He placed his own tiny hand inside it.
The warmth nearly broke Lord Cris.
Very gently...
He pulled the little boy into his embrace.
Rajiv didn't resist.
He simply buried his face against the old man's shoulder.
Neither of them cried loudly.
They simply remained there.
Holding onto the only family they had left.
Nearby...
Varinder's younger brother slowly approached Ananya.
Unlike Rajiv...
She never lowered her guard.
Almost instinctively...
She shifted closer to her little brother.
Placing herself slightly between him and the approaching man.
The movement was small.
Almost invisible.
Yet everyone noticed.
She had already begun protecting Rajiv.
Just as she had promised in the letter.
The younger man stopped immediately.
He smiled sadly.
"You really are his daughter."
Ananya looked at him silently.
"When your father thought someone might be in danger..."
"He always stood exactly like that."
Only then did Ananya slowly relax.
The man knelt before her.
"You have your mother's eyes."
He smiled softly.
"They're kind."
His expression suddenly became amused.
"But..."
"When you're determined..."
"You look exactly like my annoying older brother."
For the first time in days...
The corner of Ananya's lips moved.
Only slightly.
But it was enough.
Seeing that tiny smile...
The man's own eyes became wet.
For one brief moment...
It felt as though Varinder was standing there again.
The rest of the day passed quietly.
No one forced conversation.
No one tried to pretend everything was alright.
Instead...
Lord Cris began telling stories.
Stories Rajiv and Ananya had never heard before.
How Varinder once climbed onto the roof to avoid his cultivation lessons.
How he secretly released all the tribe's hunting dogs because he thought they looked lonely.
How he spent three days avoiding Father after accidentally breaking the ancestral spear.
Rajiv couldn't help asking,
"Did Father really do that?"
Lord Cris laughed.
"Oh, much worse."
Even Ananya quietly listened.
The stories didn't erase their grief.
Nothing could.
But for the first time...
Their father no longer existed only in painful memories.
He became a mischievous boy.
A troublesome son.
A protective brother.
A man who laughed.
A man who dreamed.
A man who had truly lived.
As evening descended...
Lord Cris watched the two children sitting beneath the tree.
Rajiv had fallen asleep while hugging the white egg.
Ananya quietly covered him with a blanket before sitting beside him once again.
The old chief smiled.
A sad smile.
But a genuine one.
His son was gone.
Nothing would ever change that.
But his blood remained.
His dream remained.
His family remained.
Lord Cris slowly closed his eyes.
Then made a silent promise.
"Varinder..."
"You protected them until your final breath."
"From today onward..."
"That responsibility is mine."
Far away...
The evening wind carried the scent of smoke from the direction of Vera.
The past had turned to ashes.
But beneath the fading light...
A new family was slowly beginning to heal.