By the time Felix left Acheron Deep, the sun had already started sinking behind the mountains. He sat in the back of the Association transport staring out the window.
Felix lived in Valemont City, capital of the Valerian Federation and one of the most heavily fortified cities in the world, largely because the Hero Association’s Central Command sat at its heart.
Research divisions, rift monitoring, advanced medical centers, training complexes, even a dedicated emergency response wing, the whole city had essentially grown up around the Association, which was exactly why Felix had settled here.
The city itself never really slept, towers lit with holographic advertisements, mana-powered transit gliding through elevated lanes, massive public screens scrolling the latest rift warnings, heroes in combat gear walking the same streets as civilians in office clothes.
But Felix’s apartment, several kilometers out from headquarters, was quiet. He could have afforded somewhere far more extravagant.
He’d simply never cared to, an entire floor was plenty: three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a wide living room, a proper kitchen, a training room, a small library, and a balcony that looked out over the skyline.
He let himself in, kicked off his shoes, and dropped onto the sofa. "Home."
He closed his eyes.
His wrist device buzzed. He cracked one eye open, read the screen, and groaned.
*Incoming Video Call — Mom.*
"No." It kept ringing. "No." It kept ringing. He sighed and accepted the call.
A holographic screen bloomed above the device, showing his parents seated together, both looking a little too comfortable.
Felix was immediately suspicious.
"Hey, Mom. Dad."
"Felix," his mother said warmly. His father raised a hand in greeting.
"How was your day?"
"Fine."
"What’d you do?"
"Special assignment." His mother exchanged a look with his father, and Felix knew exactly where this was going.
"You’re twenty-eight, you know."
"I’m aware."
"Your brother was already engaged at twenty-eight."
"And married at thirty. I remember, I was at the wedding."
"So you understand what I’m getting at."
"I understand you’ve had this conversation loaded up since the second I picked up."
His father chuckled into his tea. His mother pressed on, unbothered. "Cassian’s doing so well."
"He’s settled."
"He’s also seven years older than me."
His father set his cup down. "Your brother’s stronger than you, Felix. S rank now."
"S rank isn’t the same as stronger." Felix didn’t look up from his tea. "I trained with him. My proficiency’s a full grade above his, High I to his High II. Rank’s a ceiling. It’s not the whole fight."
"Rank’s rank," his father said, though with less conviction than he’d started with.
"Sure. And if it ever came down to it, I know who I’d bet on." Felix finally met his eyes. "Me. I’m still A-rank for now. Give it a few years, and the gap won’t even be close."
That stopped his father for a second, just recalibrating, like he’d forgotten his younger son didn’t actually need defending. "...Fair,"
he admitted.
"Thank you."
"Doesn’t change that you’re single," his mother cut back in, entirely undeterred.
Felix groaned. "There it is."
"We’ve been looking at some candidates."
"No."
"We haven’t even shown you anything."
"I know exactly how this goes."
His father, apparently back on side, cleared his throat. "Good families, Felix. Respectable."
"Dad."
"One’s an A-rank herself."
"Dad."
"You’d like her, I think."
"You’re trying to sell me a house right now, you understand that."
His mother laughed and leaned into the camera. "Don’t be dramatic. You’re a handsome twenty-eight-year-old healer with a good career, decent money. That’s a solid pitch."
"That’s a real estate listing."
"You’re single. That’s the actual problem here."
"Unfortunately," Felix said, and immediately regretted it.
"*Unfortunately?*"
"Bad word choice."
"What did you mean, then?"
He had absolutely nothing, and they both knew it. His father started laughing again, harder this time.
"Don’t encourage her."
"We’ll send over the photos," his mother said, already moving on, triumphant.
"And a little background on each of them."
"Please, no."
"Just look. That’s all I’m asking."
"You turned down the last twelve without meeting a single one."
"Because none of them were right."
"You never even met them!"
They stared each other down through the hologram. His father sipped his tea and stayed carefully out of it this time.
"If you won’t pick someone yourself," his mother said, "we’re just going to keep sending them."
He sank deeper into the sofa. "Why now, though? Why the sudden push?"
His parents traded a glance. "Your brother’s married," his mother said. "Expecting, even."
"Fair enough."
"And your sister has a boyfriend."
Felix sat straight up. "Since when?"
His mother’s smile widened, which was answer enough. "A few months."
"And nobody told me?"
"You were busy."
"I’m her *brother.*"
"She specifically asked us not to tell you yet."
Felix put a hand over his heart. "This family has no respect for me whatsoever."
His sister Liana was twenty-five, A-rank, Tier Three, Mid I in Lightning, and had spent her whole life quietly trying to outdo him, that was who she was. And apparently she’d picked up a boyfriend nobody had bothered mentioning.
"So that’s it, then," Felix said. "Cassian’s married and having a kid. Liana’s got someone. And I’m the only one left standing."
Neither of them denied it.
"You two planned this conversation."
"We’re just concerned," his mother said, entirely unrepentant.
"Just give the candidates a chance."
"*Mom.*"
They both laughed, and despite himself, so did he. Underneath the nagging he knew exactly what it was, they cared, even if the delivery had gotten genuinely unbearable over the years.
Fifteen more minutes of bargaining later, Felix finally tapped out. "I have to go cook."
His mother brightened immediately. "What are you making?"
"Something edible, hopefully."
"Send a picture."
"Fine."
"Take care of yourself," his father said.
"You too, Dad."
"And think about what we said," his mother added, right as Felix ended the call.
The hologram winked out. Silence returned. Felix stared at the empty air for a moment.
"Damn it. Even Liana." He looked at the ceiling like it might have an answer for him.
"Unbelievable."
An hour later he was walking through the market near his building.
He liked cooking, there was something satisfying about taking a pile of raw ingredients and turning it into something else entirely.
He picked up fresh vegetables, a good cut of meat, a handful of herbs, mushrooms, cream, a few spices, and a couple of rare imported ingredients. By the time he got home, the bags were overflowing.
He rolled up his sleeves. "Let’s forget today happened."
The kitchen came alive, knives through vegetables, meat sizzling in the pan, the whole apartment slowly filling with the smell of it.
He moved with the easy, practiced confidence of someone who did this often: slow-roasted herb-crusted beef, a creamy mushroom soup, fresh bread, roasted vegetables, and a chocolate dessert.
Nothing a professional chef would blink at, but well beyond what most people bothered with on a random Thursday.
He set the table, looked over the spread, and allowed himself a moment of satisfaction.
"Perfect."
Then he remembered the picture his mother had demanded, took one, and sent it. Three seconds later:
**Mom:** *You really should find a wife.*
Felix stared at his phone. "Unbelievable." He didn’t reply. He turned the television on instead.
"— another three rifts were successfully cleared today, bringing the weekly global total to —" The screen cut to a live report. "Earlier today, an S-rank rift was cleared by Valemont’s Eastern Response Team. Preliminary reports indicate no civilian casualties —"
Felix ate and half-listened. This was his life, in the usual order: rifts, monsters, heroes, mana, the Association, family nagging, cooking. And now, somewhere new on the list: a rehabilitation program involving five Tier 1 criminals.
His thoughts drifted back underground, to pale skin and light blue eyes and seven years of silence. Seraphina Veyr.
He still couldn’t fully place what it was about her that stuck with him.
It was the look behind her eyes. Something still alive in there. Furious, and painfully clear.
"I’ll figure you out eventually," he said to no one, and took another bite.
The news kept playing. Outside, Valemont glittered under the night sky, millions of ordinary lives carrying on.