Free Web NovelChapter 353: Home Again
No matter how much magic the man used, the black mana leaking from him in his fury was clearly visible to Qiong Xing’s eyes. freeωebnovēl.c૦m
"...Albe."
"I know."
"Your hands?"
"I don’t need them. I’ll finish this myself."
Qiong Xing knew it was cruel to ask someone to kill his own father.
But after everything that had happened, forgiveness was no longer possible.
"Albe."
"...What?"
"Thank you... for becoming part of this family."
At first, Albe had only been searching for his younger brother.
After finally finding him through Qiong Xing, he had been devastated when he was rejected.
He could have chosen to give up.
Yet he had followed them because he did not want to be left behind.
Because he, too, had been starving for love and family.
It had not taken long for Qiong Xing to realize what kind of person he was.
A kind boy who cared deeply about his brother and his family.
That was why they had become family.
Why they had promised to live together.
Every day since then had been filled with happiness.
"That’s supposed to be my line. I’m the one who should be saying it. Thank you... for giving me a family. For becoming my family."
Albe glanced once at Cari sleeping in Qiong Xing’s arms, then gripped his sword and walked forward.
Qiong Xing silently watched his back.
"I found my family. And because of that, I will never forgive you for trying to destroy it. I can’t forgive you. So... I’m going to bring you down."
The sword pierced deep into the man’s abdomen.
Yet even that was not enough to finish him.
Using the man’s collapsing body as support, Albe began draining away every last trace of his remaining magic power.
"...Your injuries?"
"I’m fine. Though I’ll probably be bedridden for a while."
Lian’s healing had treated the worst of his wounds, but it was only emergency care.
Between the pain throughout his body and the blood he had lost, Qiong Xing knew he would need considerable rest.
"Thank you, Fenrir."
"For what?"
"For telling me. Because you were there, we were able to save this child. We made it in time. Thank you, truly."
Fenrisúlfr had remembered everything they had discussed before.
Because of what Fenrisúlfr had told him back then, Qiong Xing had been able to stop Cari.
"...Isn’t that what family is supposed to do?"
Fenrisúlfr, too, had once known nothing about family.
But now he simply stated that helping one another was only natural because they were family.
"That’s right. We are family. I’m very happy that you became part of ours, Fenrir."
"I see. Then rest now. Leave the rest to me and your mates."
Lying to Fenrisúlfr was difficult.
The pain Qiong Xing had been suppressing finally overwhelmed him, making his entire body tremble.
Still holding Cari in his arms, he collapsed to the ground.
Somewhere in the distance, he could hear Katarina calling out to him.
But reassured by Fenrisúlfr’s promise to handle everything, Qiong Xing finally allowed himself to lose consciousness.
...
"...Honestly, wake up already!"
"Ow!"
A sharp thwack rang out as something struck his head.
The moment Qiong Xing opened his eyes, Roan’s face was right in front of him.
For some reason, Roan seemed to be in unusually good condition.
"?...Good morning."
Qiong Xing had no idea what was going on, but greeting someone after waking up seemed like the proper thing to do.
In response, Roan let out a long sigh.
"Morning. More importantly, let me go already. I’d rather not die yet."
"Huh?"
His hand?
Tilting his head in confusion, Qiong Xing looked down and discovered that he was clinging to Roan like a body pillow.
...Why?
He remembered holding Cari before collapsing, but somehow Cari had been replaced by Roan by the time he woke up.
Judging by the way Roan was speaking, it seemed unlikely that Cari had transformed into him.
"I said, let me go already!" freewebnσvel.cøm
"Ow. Hey, hitting someone the moment they wake up isn’t exactly..."
"Hey!! Why are you hitting him!? Qiong Xing is my mate, you know!"
"Rawr~!"
As Qiong Xing remained lost in thought and made no move to release him, Roan smacked him again.
Before Qiong Xing could scold him for it, Iseul and Lingxiao suddenly appeared between them and forcibly pulled them apart.
"Um... can someone explain what’s going on he..."
"Qiong Xing!"
"Qiong Xing!"
"Qiong Xing!"
"Qiong Xing!"
"Mama!"
"Mama!"
"Mama!"
"Ah, good morning, everyo... guhh!"
It hurt.
No, more importantly, he couldn’t breathe.
The moment everyone realized he had woken up, his entire family came charging into the room.
Apparently, they had all heard the commotion.
Qiong Xing was immediately engulfed in an intense group hug.
He knew he must have worried them a great deal, but he wished they would show a little more restraint.
"Y-You idiots! Let go! Are you trying to crush him to death!?"
"!!"
Roan finally noticed Qiong Xing’s face turning increasingly blue and hurriedly rescued him.
Roan had technically been the original cause of the situation, but Qiong Xing appreciated the help nonetheless.
"So? What exactly happ..."
"It’s because big brother kept hitting Qiong Xing!"
"Y-You idiot! You didn’t have to say that..."
"Roan. Come here for a second."
Watching Roan being dragged away by Joa and the others, Qiong Xing understood that Iseul’s comment had probably been unnecessary.
Still, he had a feeling that trying to defend Roan right now would only make things more complicated, so he quietly watched him being taken away.
"Mmm... so?"
"Ah, right. Guess I’m the one explaining."
Among those remaining, Albe was the only one capable of giving a proper explanation, so Qiong Xing asked him to tell him what had happened.
"I can more or less guess what happened with Roan, but let’s set that aside. I’m just glad you’re okay. Does anything hurt?"
Qiong Xing tested his arms and legs after being asked, but there did not seem to be any problems.
When he nodded, Albe visibly relaxed in relief.
