I decided to be the bigger man and forgive them for downright molesting me.

After picking ourselves up, we finally decided to take that bath.

When we reached the stream, I increased the size of the dirt basin so we wouldn't have to huddle together… especially since I wanted to keep as much distance as possible from these feral animals.

One by one, we stripped down to our underwear and stepped into the makeshift jacuzzi after I'd warmed the water to a comfortable level.

And oh, was it comfortable.

Steam rose pleasantly around us, the warm water feeling like heaven against the cool jungle air. The scent of wet earth mixed with the gentle heat of the river, grounding us in a strange, calming contrast to the chaos we'd just survived.

…Or, well, at least they did. Because my dignity definitely didn't survive.

"Ahhh! This is life," Vince let out a throaty moan, his eyes practically rolling back. He stretched his arms behind his head like the physical embodiment of laziness. "I'm so glad your aunt didn't kill you."

I scowled at him. "Why would my aunt kill me? She's my aunt!"

"Dude, I don't know how you nobles work," he shot back. "From what I heard around the Academy, you and your sister have a pretty serious rivalry. When you beat her during the Team Test, it was the talk of the town."

"What?" I blinked, genuinely shocked. I'd never heard about that. Or maybe I just didn't remember. "It's a normal brother-sister rivalry. If Cadets back at the Academy are free enough to gossip about such trivial things, then they're not training hard enough."

"Then there's also that viral video of your face getting rearranged by your father — the Golden Duke," Ray added casually. "Considering that, we were genuinely worried you'd die."

I opened my mouth to argue, then closed it just as quickly. "…Y-Yeah. Okay. Fair. But not everyone in my family hates me! My uncles are fine. One of them even likes me a little. My aunt's okay. The clan elders are just mildly annoyed by my existence. So yeah, only my father has a problem with me."

A quiet silence followed.

Then Michael frowned with visible curiosity in his eyes. "Why does he?"

"I-I don't know—" I started.

But then, I quickly remembered that the easiest way to get others to believe in you was to open yourself up to them.

People liked honesty.

Or rather, the feeling of honesty.

They liked vulnerability. They liked believing that you were trusting them. And when they felt that — when they felt that you were leaning on them, they offered their own trust in return.

So instead of deflecting and joking it away like I usually did, I let myself relax and stared down at the gently rippling water.

"I think…" I said slowly, choosing my words carefully, "he hates what I represent."

They all focused their full attention on me, even Kang.

I took it as a cue to continue. "I represent my mother's sacrifice. You all must know about her."

Ray brought his brows together. "Sorry, I don't?"

Michael answered before I could. "She was the last Saintess before Saintess Inyasa, the current one. You might not know her because her influence was mostly in the West and Central. Like all Saints, she has countless feats under her name, but her most famous legend comes from the War of Black Fangs. It's said that—"

"Oh, wait, never mind!" Ray leaned forward, cutting him off. "I think I do know her. The woman who didn't let a single soldier die under her command while conquering the Black Fangs region, right? Yeah! I saw some tribute posts about her on her last birthday."

"Right. Her. They call her the Saintess of Boundless Salvation. My mother," I nodded, still staring down at the water. "It wasn't just during the War of Black Fangs, either. The truth is, after reaching her peak Soul Potential, she never let anyone die. In her presence, death had no authority, and suffering had no meaning. People say a Saint is meant to guide humanity, to inspire it, and to save it when it truly matters. And my mother did exactly that. She saved everyone. Soldiers, enemies, criminals. She refused to draw lines."

No one interrupted.

So I went on.

"Maybe that's why, as if to mock her, the heavens gave her youngest son a disease with no cure. Me," I took a breath, adding an unintended dramatic pause. "I was still little when my health deteriorated. The official diagnosis was Essence Poisoning. Even my mother couldn't heal me, because Essence itself was killing me. I was supposed to die. You could even say that I was fated to die."

My fingers curled slightly beneath the water.

"And I did. But she… she brought me back at the cost of her own life." I swallowed. "My father was away at the time, searching for a way to save me. So when he returned… he returned to the sight of his dead wife."

I lifted my gaze a little, watching the steam curl upward.

"According to those present there back then, my father didn't cry immediately. He stood there for hours, staring at her pale corpse, before finally ordering everyone out of the room and helplessly breaking down," I continued evenly. "The simple truth is, he never felt much of anything for anyone his entire life. He didn't care about his family or his kids or even his legacy. There was only one woman who managed to claim the untamable heart of Duke Arthur. Only one woman who made him care. And she was the one he lost."

The silence was getting far too heavy now.

I shrugged, feeling a lump in my throat that I succeeded in pushing down. "So now, when he looks at me, he doesn't see his son. He sees his wife's sacrifice. Hell, I don't even think he hates me. He just hates that I remind him of my mother. Of what he couldn't protect. Of a choice he never got to argue against."

Another brief pause ensued.

Then Michael's voice came softly. "That's… very unfair."

I snorted. "Yeah. Welcome to reality."

Across from me, Ray shook his head with an indignant grunt. "Argh. Fathers! Mine had me with my mother out of wedlock, then never gave a fuck about either of us."

Vince rubbed his forehead. "At least he didn't gamble everything away, sell your mother to a drug cartel, turn into a drunk, and start abusing you and your twin siblings."

Ray froze. So did everyone else.

"Oh my god, Vince!" Ray gasped, reaching out to grip his shoulder.

Vince inhaled, definitely remembering some very unpleasant things, then waved a hand. "It's fine. But I swear I'll treat my child better than he treated me."

Ray barred his teeth for a moment, looking just as angry but just as resolved. "Same."

"Same," I added as well.

We sat there in solemn silence, far more depressed than I was certain the girls were when they were bathing together.

Finally, Kang sighed. "Cheer up, you all. At least none of you were raised by a cannibal father who tried to eat you."

We all blinked.

Ray was the first to find his voice… and the courage to use it. "What the actual fuck?! Your father tried to eat you?!"

"No, of course not. My father was a chef," Kang gave us a confused look, like we were the ones not making any sense. Then he raised an eyebrow in sudden realization. "Oh. Oh! You thought— me? No, no, no. I meant at least you guys didn't have a cannibal father. My father is good. He's an angel."

I lost it.

So did the rest of us.

"You fucker!"

"We were having a moment! A moment!"

"I'll kill you!"

"I hate you!"

Kang exploded into a fit of uncontrollable laughter, completely unrepentant after successfully baiting us all.

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