Chapter 130 — Family Talk II

Alaric leaned forward slightly, his stern face softening with something that might have been paternal concern mixed with respect.

"Don’t worry about us, Kiddo. No Noble family can harm us here in the Northern Region. The military is the strongest faction here, and we have... significant connections within military command structures."

His voice carried absolute certainty.

"They won’t touch us... Actually, even if they wanted they couldn’t touch us. Not without triggering responses they’re not prepared to handle."

Sebastian spoke up again, unable to contain himself.

"Damian, your parents aren’t just retired military veterans. There was a time when Monsters beyond the portals used to fear both of them. Especially your mother."

Luna’s eyes went wide with shock.

Damian’s expression showed genuine surprise, his usual composure cracking slightly.

"What?"

"Your mother carried out slaughters that made entire Monster clans avoid certain portal regions. She was one of the most feared awakeners on the frontlines for nearly two decades. Earned a reputation that still makes veteran soldiers speak her name with respect and enemies speak it with terror."

Sebastian’s voice carried pride despite the grim subject matter.

Lyandra looked uncomfortable with the attention, her black eyes dropping to her hands.

"That was a long time ago. It was a different life and I don’t do that anymore."

"Because you chose to retire when you adopted Damian. But the capability didn’t disappear just because you stopped using it."

Damian stared at his adoptive mother with new understanding.

This woman who fussed over his injuries and called him "Damy" and baked cookies and worried about him eating properly. This same woman had apparently been a legendary warrior who’d made Monsters fear her name.

And his father...

"Alaric was right there beside her through most of those battles. The two of them were a legendary pair on the battlefield. Monsters learned to retreat when they showed up."

Sebastian adjusted his glasses.

"Now Alaric occasionally trains military personnel when they request his expertise. Lyandra retired completely when you kids were growing up, focusing entirely on family.

But make no mistake... both of them are still incredibly dangerous when they need to be."

Luna looked between her parents with something approaching awe.

"Why did you never tell us any of this?"

"Because we didn’t want that life to touch you."

Lyandra’s voice was soft but firm.

"We wanted you to grow up safe, protected and without being defined by what we’d done or been. I wanted you to make your own choices without the weight of our reputations influencing everything."

Alaric nodded in agreement.

"Our past is our burden to carry. We saw no reason to place it on your shoulders."

Damian processed this information, his mind working through implications.

’S rank... They’re both probably S-rank now. That explains why Alaric moved with such confidence during the Norrington incident. Why authorities backed down immediately. And why they never seemed concerned about threats or danger.

My family is far more powerful than I ever suspected.’

But that raised other questions. Questions he’d been avoiding but could no longer ignore.

"Which orphanage did you adopt me from?"

The words came out before he could second-guess them.

"And do you have any information about my real parents?"

Complete silence crashed through the room.

Nobody spoke or moved.

Even Sebastian, usually ready with a comment or observation, looked away uncomfortably.

Luna’s hand tightened around Damian’s, her silver eyes wide, realizing this was territory the family had always carefully avoided.

Lyandra’s face crumpled, tears forming immediately.

"Why? Why are you asking this now? Do you not love us anymore? Have we not been good enough parents?

Is this because of everything that’s happened? Are you trying to distance yourself from us?"

Her voice broke on the last question, genuine pain evident.

"Lyandra, calm down. He’s not trying to hurt us."

Alaric’s hand rested on his wife’s shoulder, steadying her, though his own expression was troubled.

He turned his silver eyes to Damian, and for a long moment father and son just looked at each other.

"I can’t tell you everything. Not yet. The timing isn’t right and there are factors involved that you’re not ready to understand or handle."

Alaric’s voice was heavy with something that might have been regret.

"But I can tell you this much: your biological parents are dead... Both of them. You weren’t adopted from an orphanage."

He paused, choosing his words carefully.

"I came home to Lyandra one day carrying a newborn baby in my arms.

Told her we were raising you as our own. That was fifteen years ago."

The implications hung in the air, unspoken but obvious.

Wherever Damian had come from, whatever circumstances had led to Alaric bringing him home, they were complicated enough that even now his father couldn’t fully explain.

Damian absorbed this information silently, his face carefully neutral.

’So my origins are mysterious even to them. Or at least, Alaric knows something he’s not willing to share yet. And my biological parents are dead, which means that avenue of investigation is closed.’

Luna looked between them, feeling the weight of secrets and unspoken truths filling the room.

Sebastian cleared his throat awkwardly, clearly wanting to change the subject from this emotional minefield.

"Well, on a completely different note, I noticed something during your live feed. You’ve developed Slaughter Intent, haven’t you?"

Another heavy silence fell across the room, though this one had a different quality.

Now it was Damian’s turn to look uncomfortable.

The teenager from before his past life memories had awakened had been just that: a bored, directionless kid who’d never taken a life, who’d never faced real violence and who’d existed in comfortable mediocrity.

But the current Damian was a mass murderer carrying memories of being a Mafia boss.

Someone who’d killed more people than most soldiers. Someone who ran a criminal organization and had personally executed dozens.

And his family clearly wasn’t okay with that fact yet, even if they didn’t know the full extent.

Luna’s special skill was active, as it always was around Damian.

She could see emotions as colors and read the truth beneath words and actions.

It was an innate ability she’d been born with, something that made lying to her nearly impossible.

She’d told Damian before he left for the Academy that he didn’t need to act around her.

Right now also... she saw everything he was feeling.

The genuine love for his family... deep and true and powerful.

The affection for her specifically, intense and complicated in ways that made her heart beat faster.

But underneath that, woven through everything else, were the darker colors.

Black and deep crimson... Negativity and darkness that he carried constantly, hidden beneath smiles and strategic thinking and casual conversation.

He was fundamentally changed from the boy who grew up with her. And not all those changes were positive or healthy.