Chapter 105: Finally Home

Neo’s POV:

The sound of horses moving faster through the forest echoed loudly as I, along with my father and the knights, pushed onward, splitting ourselves into several small, separate groups to make better time, some staying behind to deal with whatever monsters might cross our path, while the rest of us focused entirely on pressing forward.

I looked at the scenery passing by while riding, thankful that I’d learned how to properly ride a horse back when I was twelve, since horsemanship was considered one of the essential skills of any trained warrior, and my father had never once hesitated in teaching me properly.

’Well, I still don’t know exactly how Mother managed to find out my location, and it’s genuinely strange that they even entered the Desolate Land in the first place. From what I’ve always been told, it’s a deadly realm where almost no one is permitted to enter. Even the Velkrath Empire itself banned ordinary travel here.’

’Wait a second. Something feels off about all of this. That knight attacking the territory mentioned they came from another part of the world, somewhere humans actually live. So someone must be sending them here. And I remember even the fortress knights were complaining about missing his wife and kids, wondering when the next batch of guards would arrive. That means there’s a steady, ongoing rotation happening around this place.’

’Which means some noble family is actually running an illegal operation out here, despite the entire region being officially off-limits. I need to tell Father about this properly. If word of this gets out to the wrong ears, it’s going to cause a massive stir across the entire empire.’

As the horses pushed steadily through the forest, hours finally passed, and I caught sight of the treeline thinning, light spilling through the gaps between the dark, shadowed canopy above. The moment my horse cleared the final stretch of trees, my eyes were momentarily blinded by the sudden rush of open daylight, though a few seconds later my vision adjusted properly, revealing the wide, open land stretching out before us, the other side of the Desolate Land, where the forest itself served as the only real divide between the two separate realms.

There were no walls or signs marking the border. No one had ever bothered to mark it, since the forest itself had always served as a natural boundary.

Birds chirped somewhere overhead, the tall grass swaying gently in the breeze, and the knights pulled their horses to a halt behind us, letting out slow, relieved breaths as they took in the familiar, open landscape, clearly grateful to have made it safely back into the empire’s own territory.

Cassian glanced over at me and gave a small nod. "Let’s head home, Neo. Your mother’s been waiting for you long enough already."

I nodded without saying anything, pulling the reins and urging my horse forward as fast as I could manage.

Just imagining her face, worn down and sick with worry, settled a heavy weight directly over my chest.

I had no idea how she’d spent these past ten months. Whether she’d been eating properly, taking care of herself, or even smiling as she used to. I didn’t know what my absence had done to her, and the truth was, I wasn’t even sure how much I really meant to her.

The ride back to the Draven estate passed in a blur after that, the familiar roads and landmarks rushing by faster than I could properly take them in, my chest tightening with every passing mile as the estate finally came into view in the distance, its tall gates and towering mansion exactly as I remembered them, standing proud against the afternoon sky.

The moment we passed through the front gates, the doors to the mansion burst open before the horses had even fully come to a stop.

"Neo!"

Sylvia came rushing down the front steps so quickly she nearly tripped over the hem of her own dress, and I barely had time to dismount before she collided into me, wrapping her arms around me so tightly I could hardly breathe.

"You’re home. You’re actually home." Her voice cracked halfway through the sentence, tears already streaming freely down her face as she pulled back just enough to cup my cheeks between her hands, studying every inch of my face as though trying to memorize it all over again. "Look at you. You’ve grown so much. Did you eat properly out there? Were you hurt? Why didn’t you—"

"Mother, I’m fine. I promise," I said with a laugh, even as tears began to well up in my own eyes.

Right behind her, a smaller figure came barreling across the courtyard, dark hair bouncing wildly with every running step.

"Brother!"

Evelyn crashed into my legs with the full force of a small cannonball, wrapping her arms tightly around my waist and burying her face against my side, her small shoulders shaking as she finally let herself cry properly after what had clearly been a very long ten months.

"I thought you weren’t coming back," she mumbled into my shirt. "Mother kept saying you would, but I was so scared, and I kept checking the garden every single day in case you just showed up, and—"

"Hey, I’m here now. I’m not going anywhere," I crouch down to her level before pulling her into a tight hug.

She sniffled loudly, pulling back just enough to look up at me with wide, red-rimmed eyes. "Promise?"

"Promise."

That seemed to satisfy her enough, because she immediately latched back onto me with renewed enthusiasm, and I let out a small laugh, finally allowing myself to properly relax now that I was surrounded by the two of them again.

"Where’s Yuki?" I glanced around the courtyard, half expecting the little dragon to come barreling out to greet me the same way Evelyn had.

Evelyn pulled back slightly, wiping at her nose with the back of her sleeve. "She’s sleeping. She’s been sleeping a lot more lately, and she gets really sad whenever we mention you, so I didn’t want to wake her up and make her sad again right away."

"That’s fair. I’ll visit her properly once she wakes up," I said with a soft smile, though I couldn’t quite shake the guilt weighing on my chest.

Sylvia reached out and smoothed down my messy hair, her eyes still glistening with unshed tears, though a warm, genuine smile had finally settled across her face now that the initial shock of my return had properly worn off.

For a long moment, the four of us simply stood there in the courtyard, wrapped up together, the familiar warmth of home settling comfortably over me after what had felt like an impossibly long stretch of time away from all of it.

Then, finally, a thought surfaced that I hadn’t been able to shake since the moment incident from ten months ago.

"Where’s Nora?"

The question hung in the air for a moment, and I noticed, almost immediately, the way my parents’ eyes flicked toward each other, a brief, silent exchange passing between them that I couldn’t quite read.

"She’s, ah... she’s probably in the library. You should go find her."

"She’s missed you just as much as we have," Cassian added, coming to stand beside Sylvia. He wore a smile, though there was something forced about it that Neo couldn’t quite ignore.

I looked between the two of them, a strange, uneasy feeling settling into my chest at the careful, measured way they’d both answered, though I couldn’t quite place exactly what was bothering me about it.

I nodded and put the strange feeling aside for now before heading into the mansion. My first stop was the library. More than anything, I just wanted to see her with my own eyes and make sure she was really okay.

***

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