Chapter 619: I promise

After the departure of the Governor, other awakener families came to visit him one after another.

This time, none of them sent their heirs to the Starfall family. Each family head came personally.

They arrived in polished carriages and on horseback, dressed in their finest clothes, their faces carefully composed.

These were the same families that had once dismissed the Starfalls as upstarts, the same families that had laughed behind closed doors when many factions began to attack them in the shadow, trying to get their hands on all their resources.

Now they came bearing gifts and false smiles, eager to curry favor with the young man who had cleared the second floor.

For their visit, the Starfall family did not show any hostility. Neither did they show them any smile.

Thoren received them in the visitor’s room with the same cold courtesy he had shown the Governor.

Ardyn stood beside him, his expression unreadable. Serene remained in the background, her gaze sharp and assessing.

Under such a strange atmosphere, none of the awakener families stayed longer than necessary.

They came, they spoke, they left.

Each departure was quicker than the last, until the estate was finally empty of guests.

As the time for Thoren’s departure grew nearer, he ordered the guards to stop allowing guests into the estate.

No more visitors and no more politics. The remaining few hours, he wished to spend with his family.

The tension that had hung over the halls for past hours began to fade, replaced by something warmer.

Something fragile.

Thoren played with Elara around the estate compound, chasing her through the gardens.Her laughter echoed off the stone walls, bright and unrestrained.

Inside the manor, the family of four played many indoor games.

Chess.

Cards.

A board game that Elara had invented herself with rules that changed every few minutes. They sat together in the sitting room, the fire crackling in the hearth, and for a few hours, the world outside ceased to exist.

But the clock kept ticking.

Serene stared frequently at her son with an unwilling expression. No mother wished for their son to venture into such a deadly realm.

Every time she looked at him, she saw the boy he had been. The child who had run through these same halls.

The young man who had grown too quickly, who had shouldered burdens no one his age should carry.

She sighed heavily, trying to mask her sadness with a forceful smile.

Ardyn’s stoic expression faltered many times. His jaw would tighten and his eyes would grow distant.

But he continued to put on a brave front, clapping Thoren on the shoulder, discussing strategy and logistics of their family business as though it matters right now.

But his hands trembled when he thought no one was watching.

As for Elara, her laughter and mischievousness became lesser and lesser as Thoren’s departure drew closer.

She grew quieter.

Her smiles came slower.

Her eyes followed her brother everywhere, as though she feared he might vanish if she looked away.

They were playing chess when it finally happened.

The board was set between them, the pieces arranged in their starting positions. Elara stared at the board without seeing it.

Her fingers hovered over a pawn, but she did not move it. Her breath came in shallow, uneven pulls and her shoulders began to shake.

Then the first tear fell.

It landed on the chessboard, a single drop that spread across the polished wood.

Then another.

Her face crumpled, and the pain she had been holding back for days finally broke free.

"Brother, can you not go?" she wept loudly.

The words tore through the room like a blade.

Serene’s hand flew to her mouth. Her own tears, held back for so long, spilled down her cheeks without permission.

She tried to wipe them away, but her eyes would not listen to her command. The pain she had masked with forced smiles and quiet sighs erupted, as she could no longer hide it.

Ardyn’s brave front crumbled. He turned his face away, but his shoulders shook. His hand gripped the arm of his chair so tightly that the wood creaked.

Thoren looked at his family.

His mother, weeping silently.

His father, broken in a way he had never seen and his sister, her small body trembling with sobs.

He rose from his chair and walked around the chessboard. He knelt before Elara and took her hands in his.

"I have to go," he said gently. "You know that."

She shook her head violently.

"Promise you will come back to me," Serene said, her voice shaking.

She had risen from her chair without realizing it. Her hands were clasped together, her knuckles white.

She did not want the tears to fall. But her eyes would not obey her command.

Thoren looked at his mother.

"I promise," he said.

He turned to his father.

"I promise I will come back alive."

Ardyn met his son’s gaze. For a long moment, neither of them spoke. Then Ardyn nodded, a single, jerky motion.

Thoren looked back at Elara.

"You know I never break my promises. So believe me."

Elara sniffled. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, smearing tears across her cheek.

"You really promise?" she whispered.

Thoren smiled. It was a small smile, but it was real.

"I really promise."

She threw her arms around his neck and held on tight. He held her back, one hand cradling the back of her head, the other wrapped around her small frame.

Over her shoulder, he looked at his parents.

Serene pressed a hand to her chest and Ardyn placed a steadying hand on her shoulder.

The pain in the room did not vanish. It remained, a quiet ache in every heart. But something else settled alongside it.

Belief.

Because Thoren never broke his promises.

And indeed, he never did.

And right, that was the only life line they were going to hold on it. Unlike other floors, news of the third floor was almost nonexistent.

And that alone, shows the horror of the third floor.