Chapter 639: Master’s Finally Home

Each of them held a massive cardboard box.

The glossy high-definition printing across the front showed the ruins of Iunu, framed by swirling starlight, leaping flames, and the towering silhouette of a red dragon.

Lia looked down at the box in her hands as her fingers traced the embossed gold-leaf lettering... BLESSED LAND.

A quiet, complicated knot twisted in the pit of her eleven-year-old stomach.

’Eluned is a primary Hero of Blessed Land,’ Lia thought, her brows knitting together as she remembered the quiet miraculous garden beneath the falling skyscraper.

The memory was still burned into her eyes.

The massive roots holding thirty stories of concrete... The blooming lotuses and that breathtaking gentle woman who had sat on the grass with her, answering her questions with endless patience and calling her ’Little Sister.’

Eluned had said it plainly.

’Everything we are was granted to us by Lord Silas. If we are mountains today, it is because he provided the earth upon which we stand.’

Lia had looked at the television news reports for the past twelve days.

Every single broadcast had spoken of Lord Vespera, the terrifying, single-armed Lord who commanded Blessed Land, the one who held the Northern continent in an iron grip and laughed at rifts.

’If Eluned belongs to Silas, then Silas is Lord Vespera... My big brother is the Lord of Blessed Land.’

She clicked her tongue softly, a small irritated pout pulling at the corner of her mouth.

’Why does he keep everything a secret?’ she grumbled internally. ’He tells me to finish my homework. Meanwhile, he’s running around an active war zone pretending to be an immortal warlord and not telling his own sister a single damn thing... When he gets back, I’m hiding his favorite cups...’

Beside her, Kaede was already working her fingernails beneath the tamper-evident tape on her box.

"I need to see the dragon," Kaede muttered frantically, her tongue poking out between her teeth. "The box says the deluxe Talira has actual LED lights in the mouth... If I don’t see the fire right now, I’m going to combust."

"Don’t tear it open on the sidewalk," a calm mature voice called out from the curb.

The three girls looked up.

Parked smoothly against the granite curbing was a vehicle that looked like it had been dropped directly out of a royal motor show.

It was a Vell-965.

Unlike Silas’s sharp two-seater Zenith IVR, the Vell-965 was a massive, six-passenger luxury land-cruiser finished in deep liquid midnight-emerald.

The chassis was forged from heavy sound-dampening titanium-composite alloys, with tinted panoramic glass and active suspension that made it float over cobblestones without a single vibration reaching the cabin.

Standing by the open driver’s door, wearing an elegant gray wool coat over her spotless black maid’s dress, was Martha.

The older woman’s hair was pinned back in its usual tidy knot with her hands resting comfortably on the chrome frame of the door.

The car had been a gift from Penelope’s older sister, Harper Whitmore.

After being evacuated from the Iunu ruins aboard Evelyn’s private jet, Harper had spent four days recovering in a private clinic before immediately purchasing the luxury cruiser and having it delivered directly to the Silverleaf apartment.

Martha had adamantly refused to accept the keys at first, citing the obscene multi-million-credit maintenance costs, but Harper had practically forced the digital title into her hands, insisting that the Graves household required a secure armored vehicle to ferry the children around the city while Silas was away.

"Come along, girls," Martha said with a warm maternal smile, gesturing toward the spacious rear cabin. "The wind is picking up, and you can open your parcels properly on the rug at home. Into the carriage..."

"Yes, Miss Martha," Penelope sighed, nudging Kaede’s shoulder to stop her from ripping the cardboard.

The three girls climbed into the plush, heated leather seats of the second row, sliding their massive boxes onto the floorboards between their knees.

Martha slipped behind the steering wheel with her foot pressing the starter pedal.

The Vell-965 hummed to life with a quiet purr with the dashboard displays flaring in soft amber luminescence as she engaged the drive gear and pulled smoothly away from the curb.

Kaede leaned forward, resting her chin on the back of the front passenger seat.

"Miss Martha?" Kaede asked, tilting her head. "Is Master Silas coming back today?"

Martha glanced into the rearview mirror, her kind eyes softening with a hint of quiet worry.

"I don’t know, sweetheart," Martha answered honestly, steering the heavy cruiser through the wide suburban avenues. "He hasn’t sent a single communication through the encrypted terminal for more than ten days but the news bulletins reported that the main rifts in Khemet have been suppressed... Master Silas is very strong, and he is very responsible. He will return as soon as the work is finished."

Kaede looked down at her hands, fidgeting with the hem of her jacket.

"Um," Kaede murmured, a faint, shy blush tinting the bridge of her nose. "I wanted to give him a gift. When he comes back... To thank him for rescuing us from that horrible palace."

She paused, darting a sideways glance toward Lia sitting beside her.

"There’s no problem with that, right, Lia? Just a thank-you gift?"

Lia turned her head, crossing her arms over her chest, eyeing Kaede with the cold scrutiny of an older sister guarding her territory.

"As long as you’re not interested in my brother," Lia said, her voice entirely flat and unimpressed, "a gift is fine."

Kaede’s face instantly flushed a vibrant, incandescent pink.

"I-INTERESTED?!" Kaede squeaked, her hands flying up in a frantic, uncoordinated wave. "Not at all! Why would you even say that?! He’s an older man! He’s scary! He wears that dark cloak and probably cuts monsters in half! I’m just being polite! In my country, it’s standard cultural etiquette to repay a life-debt with an appropriate material tribute!"

Lia raised one eyebrow, leaning her cheek against her palm as she looked out the tinted window.

"You’re getting remarkably defensive for someone who is innocent,’" Lia remarked dryly.

Penelope let out a soft cultured giggle from the other side, covering her mouth with her sleeve.

"Now, now, girls," Martha chuckled softly from the front seat, her eyes twinkling in the mirror. "In the Shogunate Isles, reciprocal honor is indeed a sacred tradition... Master Silas will appreciate whatever gesture Kaede chooses to offer so there is no need to tease."

Kaede slumped back into her leather seat, crossing her arms and puffing her cheeks out in an embarrassed pout.

"See? Miss Martha understands international diplomacy."

The Vell-965 glided effortlessly through the northern residential district, eventually turning off the main avenue and approaching the private security gates of the Silverleaf Complex.

The automated transponder chimed as the heavy wrought-iron gates swinging open smoothly to grant them entry.

Martha guided the emerald cruiser down the cobblestone driveway, pulling into the private garage bay beside Silas’s low-slung matte-black Zenith IVR.

She put the car in park and switched off the turbines, turning around in her seat to face the three girls.

"Do we have any homework that requires attention this afternoon?" Martha inquired, adopting her firm no-nonsense tone.

"Math worksheets," Lia sighed, unbuckling her seatbelt.

"Ancient history essays," Penelope added with a polite nod.

"I have to translate three pages of Europa trade law into classical kanji," Kaede groaned, dragging her hands down her face. "It’s pure torture..."

"You’re the one that picked that subject, deal with it."

"Hey... you don’t have to be so rude about it..."

"Then you may have one hour with your boxes," Martha decreed with a decisive nod, opening her door. "And after that, books on the table until dinner is served... Understood?"

"Yes, Miss Martha," the three chorused, scooping up their heavy master-cartons and tumbling out of the cruiser onto the garage floor.

They carried the boxes into the ground-floor foyer with their sneakers scuffing against the polished limestone.

Kaede immediately kicked off her loafers, practically peeling off her stiff school uniform blazer and tossing it onto the banister with a loud groan of relief.

"Freedom!" Kaede cheered, stretching her arms above her head. "I want food before homework. Miss Martha, please tell me there is leftover pork cutlet."

"I prepared a cold noodle salad and glazed chicken breasts before I left to pick you up," Martha laughed, hanging her wool coat on the brass rack by the door. "Wash your hands first. I’ll just run upstairs to retrieve my phone from the study... I want to see if he answers my call this time."

"Okay!"

Martha stepped past the shoe cubbies and began ascending the carpeted staircase, humming a quiet cheerful tune under her breath.

She reached the third step from the top landing and suddenly, the heavy cedar floorboards above shifted.

A tall figure stepped out of the private master suite, moving with silent fluid momentum.

Martha, caught mid-step, looked up.

Her eyes locked onto the figure as her breath caught in her throat and her foot slipping on the edge of the stair.

"Aah—!"

Martha gasped, her balance violently giving way as she began to pitch backward toward the hardwood landing below.

A blur of motion tore through the upper air.

Before Martha could even register the fall, before her spine could meet the hard edge of the steps, a firm, warm arm wrapped smoothly around her waist.

The force of the fall was absorbed in a single effortless second, bringing her back upright with the gentle stability of a stone pillar.

"Careful, Martha," a low, familiar, slightly amused voice murmured from above her. "Those stairs are steep. I really on’t need my head housekeeper cracking her hip on the banister..."

Martha blinked rapidly, her heart hammering against her ribs as she clutched the lapel of the man holding her.

Down in the foyer, the three girls froze.

Lia, Penelope, and Kaede slowly turned their heads toward the staircase, their eyes drifting upward.

Standing at the top of the landing, holding Martha securely by the waist, was Silas Graves.

His dark hair was damp, curling slightly around his ears while smelling strongly of sweet mountain mint and lavender bath salts.

He wasn’t wearing his regular clothes, and he wasn’t wearing his boots either, instead he was casually draped in an oversized, plush white terrycloth bathrobe with a golden sun-crest embroidered along the collar with his bare feet planted firmly on the landing carpet.

The foyer fell into stunned silence.

Silas slowly released Martha, giving her shoulder a light reassuring pat as the older woman caught her footing on the landing.

He looked down over the banister, his dark eyes sweeping across the three girls standing frozen among their massive cardboard boxes. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Silas rubbed the back of his neck, letting out a soft self-satisfied chuckle.

"You know, Martha," Silas remarked casually, leaning his forearms against the polished mahogany railing, "we really need to upgrade our household soaps... I just spent the afternoon bathing in thirty fathoms of imported lavender mineral foam, and I’ve decided our current lavender bars are an insult to the skin... We need the luxury stuff, you know, the kind with the gold flakes."

Lia stood at the base of the stairs.

Her small hands clenched into tight fists at her sides and her cheeks puffed out into a furious rounded pout with her dark eyes glaring up at him with enough heat to melt lead.

"You meanie!" Lia barked, her voice echoing off the foyer ceiling. "You big meanie!"

Silas blinked, looking down at his little sister with an innocent, lopsided smirk.

He raised his hand, offering a lazy, two-fingered wave.

"Oh, hey," Silas chuckled, his voice warm and easy. "Did you miss me?"

Twenty minutes later, the dining room table of the Silverleaf apartment was groaning under the volume of porcelain platters covering the polished oak.

"Ehehehe~"

Martha was practically floating.

The older woman moved between the kitchen and the dining room with a light springy bounce in her step with a radiant smile lighting up her face as she carried plate after plate into the room.

There were braised short ribs in sweet soy glaze, steaming bowls of hand-pulled wheat noodles tossed in chili-garlic oil, two platters of crispy panko-crusted chicken breasts, three varieties of pickled mountain vegetables, a clay pot of bubbling seafood stew and a massive wooden bowl of fresh sweet melon slices as well.

Silas sat at the head of the table and his terrycloth bathrobe neatly cinched with a pair of wooden chopsticks resting in his right hand.

He stared at the mountain of food before him, his eyebrow twitching slightly.

"Martha," Silas muttered, looking up at her as she set down another dish of glazed dumplings. "There are five of us in this house... This is enough sustenance to feed a medium-sized mercenary group I think for a week. Are you trying to kill me with sodium?"

Martha stopped, resting her hands on her hips, her eyes crinkling with deep warmth.

"You have been fighting in that dreadful dusty desert for nearly two weeks, Master Silas!" Martha scolded him gently, though her cheeks flushed with a soft, pleased pink. "Look at your frame! You’ve probably been eating cold military rations and dry biscuits! You must eat every single delicacy on this table, or my heart will be utterly broken."