"Ellie… That is a very pretty name."

Kiernan said with a soft voice, and crouched before the little girl, who acted very shyly, and averted his gaze.

'…He kind of looks like dad…'

Ellie thought.

Kiernan, after ten years in Dead World, had changed in the looks department, as he had grown to look more mature.

He stil had the same handsome features that he was famously known for, but he had shed all his youth from his face.

It took all of Kiernan's willpower to not hug her immediately, but he didn't do that because it would scare her.

She didn't know who he was, and if he went with, "Hi, I am your dad, who should be dead," she would think he was a crazy stranger.

"What are you looking at?"

Kiernan asked.

"Fish…"

Ellie mumbled, but she then looked at the flying ship and asked curiously.

"How does that ship fly?"

"Haha, I actually don't know, it just does. Maybe the ship prefers the air more than the sea."

Kiernan said with a smile.

"Mmh… Why are you looking for mom?"

At that moment, Ellie asked the question that she had been plagued with, and looked at the man's gray eyes.

There had been many men with dirty motives who had approached her mother, which made her very wary.

There were even men who tried to become friends with Ellie to show that they would be good "father" to Aoi, which was just creepy and manipulative.

Ellie never liked any of them.

She thought that there was something different about this man, but she didn't know what.

"I am your mom's friend. The best friend."

Kiernan said with a smile.

"…Really? I have never seen you before… Are you really mom's friend?"

Ellie whispered.

"Haha, you are a smart kid. I've been gone for a while, and I heard that she would be here, so I came to see her."

Kiernan said and offered his hand to her, asking, "Can you take me to her?" one more time.

Ellie looked at the hand, then carefully grabbed it, and started walking back to the village while holding hands with Kiernan.

She was hanging her head low as if she were feeling shy.

"…Where is your dad, by the way?"

Kiernan asked.

"…I don't have dad…"

Ellie whispered with a melancholic voice.

"Oh, really, what happened?"

Kiernan asked.

"…He left and never came back…"

Ellie said.

"Oh, your dad sounds like a scumbag."

Kiernan said with a sad look.

"No, he isn't!"

At that moment, Ellie snapped and looked at him with a furious gaze as if she were going to attack him if he was going to insult her dad one more time.

"Don't insult him…"

Ellie returned back to her shy self and looked away.

"I am sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

Kiernan said.

In that moment, they arrived at the village, and the people there looked at Kiernan with confusion, "Who is that?" expression on their faces.

She took him straight to the farm, and there were many fields of wine grapes, making the scenery mix of purple and green.

It was a very beautiful sight.

"…There."

Ellie pointed at one of the buildings, let go of Kiernan's hand, and started running away, leaving Kiernan alone.

Kiernan watched as Ellie ran off into the distance. She met two children, Baru and Daisy, and left somewhere.

'I don't know whether Ellie would be happy that I am back… Has she missed me? Does she even want a father? I don't know… My heart hurts when I think that she might not want me.'

Kiernan thought, but then his heart started beating, and he slowly approached the farmhouse—which was the biggest one on the farm.

There were an old woman and old man sitting on the terrace of the farm house on reclining chairs.

They were doing something that looked like knitting.

In that moment, Kiernan stepped up the terrace steps, and they looked at him with quizzical expression, wondering who was he.

"Excuse me, is Aoi living here?"

Kiernan asked.

"…She is. Who is asking?"

The old woman asked with furrowed brows, looking suspiciously at this strangely handsome man, as they weren't the most fond of strangers.

"A friend… I'd like to see her."

Kiernan said with a gulp.

"…I don't think she is here currently, but you can talk with the owners of this farm, Bella and Karma. They are inside."

The old man said.

'…Bella and Karma…? Mom, dad… They own this farm together? What happened that got them back together?'

Kiernan gulped, nodded with a "thank you" to the two elderly fellows, and entered the farmhouse with his heart beating against his heart.

He had imagined this reunion a million times in his head during his time in Dead World, and he had always thought that this day would never come.

'Would they be angry at me…?'

In that moment, he heard something in the kitchen, as if someone was washing dishes, and he quietly approached that place.

When he opened the kitchen door, he saw a black-haired woman's back facing her. She was scrubbing the dishes.

It was easy for him to tell who she was—Bella Abracadabra, his mother.

"...!"

Kiernan thought about just calling out to her, but he couldn't gather his courage, and immediately closed the door again.

'What would I even say? Hi, I am back? Fucking stupid… It will feel like I just went out for milk. Maybe I should've just called them?'

Kiernan thought with a pounding headache.

"Hey, who are you?"

In that moment, a deep voice came from behind him. It was voice he hadn't heard in ten years. But he could easily recognize it.

"…"

Kiernan took a deep breath and slowly turned around, and his gray eyes locked with Karma's eyes.

With visible speed, he could see his eyes widening in shock.

The face, while older, still looked just like his deceased son, who he hadn't seen in over a decade.

"…Fuck, these hallucinations…"

Karma massaged his temples, and rubbed his eyes, cursing "Shit, I thought I stopped seeing those already," and swallowed hard.

He had suffered from chronic hallucinations ever since Kiernan's death, and thought that this was just another one of those.

"Karma?"

At that moment, the kitchen door opened, and Bella walked out with a smile on her beautiful face, but her smile then faded.

She looked straight into Kiernan's face.

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