Chapter 328 — The North Remembers

She looked at Damian directly, trying to read his expression and failing.

"You have to understand, all the families are closely tied to each other for survival. Even though there are differences and conflicts, it would never go that far. Especially not with the patriarchs involved. They were all there when humanity nearly fell, when we had to build everything from nothing. They led us through that darkness together."

Damian stood up suddenly, his chair scraping against the floor.

He walked around the table to where Alaric sat, reached for the Phoenix bottle, and poured himself a glass.

Then he drank it down in one smooth motion, his throat working as the alcohol burned its way down.

Alaric watched him silently, his mind racing.

’Here it comes... The breakdown or the explosion or whatever he’s been holding back.’

Damian set the glass down and looked at Alaric.

The silence stretched.

Then he... smiled.

It wasn’t a fake smile or a forced one, but something that looked almost genuine despite the circumstances.

"...Thank you."

Two simple words that carried more weight than an entire speech.

Alaric’s chest tightened, relief and worry mixing together.

"Damy..."

Lyandra’s whisper sounded like she wanted to say something more, but no words came out that could capture what she was feeling.

Damian turned to look at her, his expression shifting as he deliberately changed the subject.

"But won’t everyone find out who I am eventually? The timing of the massacre and my age is too much of a coincidence."

Alaric shook his head, latching onto the change gratefully.

"You don’t need to worry about that. There are hundreds of people with crimson hair in the far North. Even before the world changed and portals opened, people from that region had similar features. It’s common enough not to raise suspicion."

He refilled his own glass.

"I kept my domain activated from the moment I left the portal with you, contracted it around myself to avoid all surveillance. Days passed while I tried to figure out what to do."

His voice became darker.

"I was prepared to commit another atrocity if necessary to secure your safety. Then... I came across Bloodmoon City facing a beast tide from a nearby forest. Many people there had different shades of crimson hair and eyes, enough variety that one more wouldn’t stand out."

He took a drink.

"I planted you among the refugees, saved the city from the monsters, and had all the adoption procedures done there with proper documentation. Everything was recorded. There were thousands of witnesses who saw me rescue civilians including one infant from the chaos."

His silver eyes met Damian’s crimson ones.

"Then I brought you to Lyandra... No one will ever know the truth."

Lyandra’s voice emerged quiet but firm.

"...You don’t have to worry. Almost everyone in the military and the far North knows one absolute truth."

She paused.

"Everyone related to the Bloodworth family is dead."

Her hands clenched as old reports surfaced in her memory.

"The massacre wasn’t limited to the estate. For the entire next day, every portal, every city, every town, every village that had anyone related to Bloodworth blood was targeted. They all died horrible deaths."

Luna’s breath caught audibly, another wave of horror crashing over her.

"If the Bloodworth family hadn’t been located near the war zones, it would have shocked the entire Federation. But the news was suppressed and the investigation shut down before it could really begin."

Lyandra’s voice became softer.

"...But the North remembers."

Alaric picked up where she left off, his voice carrying old anger.

"And everyone knew quickly enough that talking about it or asking questions related to the Bloodworth family meant death. There were friends, loved ones, people who tried to investigate what happened... All of them died under mysterious circumstances."

His voice carried old anger.

"The Bloodworth family was even more loved than the Murdocks among common people. They were closest to commoners despite being Imperial, sent their own children to die on battlefields protecting the North. There are millions who were indebted to them for protection, for resources, for simple kindness when other Imperials looked down on anyone without a bloodline."

He met Damian’s eyes.

"The patriarch of the Bloodworth family was a god to the people of the North. How could they not love a family that actually gave a damn about protecting them?"

Damian reached for the bottle again, pouring himself another glass.

Luna tried to reach out to stop him, but he drank it anyway under everyone’s watching eyes.

She felt the cold bitterness underneath his next words before he even spoke them.

"...And what did that love gain the Bloodworth family?"

His voice came out cold and cutting.

"Aren’t they all dead now? No one even mentions them anymore except the military and some Nobles... I only heard their name from Adrian Murdock and Ezra Thorne since coming to the Academy."

Alaric and Lyandra exchanged looks, their expressions complex.

’He’s right... Being loved meant nothing in the end.’

Damian set his glass down and looked between his parents, deliberately shifting topics again.

Luna felt the conscious redirect, the way he was pulling them all away from the heaviest parts of the conversation.

"Speaking of Ezra, why did he come here anyway?"

Lyandra sighed, her shoulders dropping.

It felt like secrets after secrets were being peeled back tonight, layers of carefully constructed reality falling away.

She looked at both Damian and Luna.

"My father, your grandfather, is alive... He’s the Vice Director of the Military Police, second only to the Director himself. He’s at the very top of the military hierarchy."

Luna’s face went blank, her silver eyes widening.

"...Huh?"

’All this time... We had family we didn’t know about?!’

Lyandra’s voice was quiet, carrying old pain.

"It’s complicated... In short, he didn’t approve of me marrying your father. When I went ahead anyway, I became practically dead to him. We haven’t spoken in years."

’But he’s been watching over the children anyway... Protecting them from the shadows despite his pride.’

The thought came with its own complicated emotions.

Damian gulped down another glass and looked at Alaric with sudden intensity.

Alaric raised an eyebrow.

"...What?"

"Don’t tell me your father is the Chairman or something."