Vol 7. Chapter 8: Embrace

Seeing the situation, Leon quickly lowered his voice and said to Rebecca:

“Take the others out first.”

Rebecca glanced at Hera, then at Leon again, clearly uneasy.

“Captain, are you sure you’ll be alright alone in here?”

Leon kept his eyes fixed on Hera in front of him and nodded without turning away.

“I’ll be fine. Go.”

“Alright.”

Rebecca slowly stepped back, then signaled for the other mages to leave the chamber with her. One by one, the others filed out, and soon only Leon and Hera were left in the room... Hera, and the shattered remains of the crystal coffin scattered across the floor.

Hera still clung tightly to the wall, her lightning magic aimed directly at Leon.

“W-Who are you! Did the Void send you!”

Her memories seemed trapped in those two nights from thirty years ago. When she was being relentlessly pursued by assassins sent by the Void. Cornered with no way out, she had no choice but to exhaust all her magic power to transform the Thunder Spirit Core into a human.

After that, she fell into a sleep ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) that lasted for many years. She knew nothing of what had happened in the past thirty years. It was only natural that, upon awakening to find a group of unfamiliar mages around her, her first instinct was to assume they were Void assassins.

Leon raised his head and spread his arms wide, showing clearly that he held no weapon and wasn’t gathering any magic. Then he said:

“I’m not with the Void, Hera. This is the Human Empire—the place where you entrusted the Thunder Spirit Core all those years ago. Do you remember?”

Hera’s pale blue eyes trembled slightly, a hint of confusion appearing on her face, as though she were slipping into her memories. As the memories stirred, she muttered softly:

“Human... Empire...”

“Yes. Just now, you even mentioned the Casmod Orphanage. So I’m guessing you still remember placing the human infant created from the Thunder Spirit Core at the orphanage’s doorstep before you fell asleep.”

Leon’s reminder triggered the memories buried deep inside her. Her gaze lowered slowly, and the lightning magic in her hand gradually faded.

She clutched at her forehead, shaking it slightly. Her newly awakened mind wasn’t ready for deep recollection. Doing so only brought headaches and a sense of disorientation.

Seeing this, Leon stepped forward, hoping to comfort her. But the moment he moved, Hera instantly bristled.

“Don’t come any closer!”

Leon quickly froze.

“Alright, alright, I won’t. Take your time, but don’t force it. Your mind has just awakened from over thirty years of sleep. It’s normal to only remember fragments. Please, don’t push yourself.”

Hera bit her lip and fought through the pain pounding at her temples, digging through the fog of her consciousness for the memories of that time. Slowly, she lowered her arm, her face full of fatigue. She looked at Leon, and his figure was reflected in her pale blue eyes.

“What’s your name?”

Hearing that, Leon let out a quiet breath of relief. It seemed they could finally start talking properly. He thought about stepping closer, but remembering how even a single step earlier had caused her to recoil, he stayed where he was, maintaining a cautious distance. The most important thing now was making her feel safe. That was the only way forward.

“My name is Leon.”

After a pause, he added:

“Leon Casmod.”

At the sound of his surname, Hera’s pupils twitched.

“Casmod... Why is your surname Casmod? What’s your connection to that orphanage?”

Leon placed his right palm flat against his chest, his posture respectful, his tone sincere.

“All the children at the orphanage have the surname Casmod, because Teacher Karoline said it was the name of our first director. So... I’m an orphan adopted by the Casmod Orphanage.”

Hera hesitated for a moment—then, unexpectedly, she took a step forward.

Even so, she remained cautious. She asked:

“Can you take me to the orphanage now? I need to find someone. He might not be there anymore, but... but I have something really important to ask him... I have to find him. I don’t know where he is... I don’t even know what he looks like, or what his voice sounds like... I’m sorry... I—I...”

She was starting to ramble, her words all jumbled together. Leon’s chest tightened at the sight of her, newly awakened from decades of sleep, barely able to speak clearly.

He was a deeply emotional person. Seeing Hera like this, he couldn’t help but imagine... If she hadn’t met him first and had instead awakened alone in a world thirty years later, how lonely would she have been...

Leon knew that feeling... The overwhelming loneliness he’d felt when he passed through the rift in time and arrived thirty years into the future.

Before meeting young Aurora, he too had felt like the weight of solitude was going to crush him. The strangeness, the suffocation, the loss for words, the helplessness... That was the first feeling that greeted someone who returned.

“Please... take me to the orphanage. I have to find him. Please...”

Perhaps she sensed the sincerity in Leon’s voice. Even if she still hadn’t let down her guard, Hera began to reach out to him for help. Or perhaps she simply had no one else to turn to... No one except the man standing before her, named Leon.

The two stood face-to-face, separated by the shattered crystal coffin. Their eyes met.

After a moment, Leon said softly:

“No, you don’t need to go there, Hera.”

“What...”

The rejection stunned Hera. For two seconds, she stood frozen. Then suddenly, her emotions exploded.

She rushed forward, vaulting over the stone platform that had once held the crystal coffin. In just a few steps, she was in front of Leon. One hand grabbed his collar, the other flared with lightning magic.

Outside the chamber, Rebecca immediately drew her gun and charged in.

“Captain!”

Leon raised a hand to stop her.

“It’s alright, Rebecca.”

“Take me there!!”

Hera was practically shouting now, her voice wild, laced with both threat and helpless desperation.

At this moment, she clearly wasn’t capable of controlling her emotions. Given her incomplete grasp of the situation, this kind of impulsive behavior was within Leon’s expectations.

“You don’t know how important he is to me. I have to find him, so—hurry up—”

“I’m the one you’re looking for, Hera.”

“...What?”

“I said, I’m the one you’re looking for.”

The lightning in her hand slowly faded.

Hera let go of Leon’s collar and staggered two steps back, leaning against the stone platform. She stared blankly at the man in front of her.

Mature, composed, with a calm air about him. Even when she’d just assaulted him—so aggressively, so rudely—he hadn’t shown a trace of panic.

“I’m not sure how I could prove it to you, but I think...”

...

As he spoke, Leon lowered his gaze to his own palm. Then, slowly, he raised his hand and extended it toward Hera.

“My body carries your power. You can feel it, can’t you?”

Hera stared at the wide, callused hand before her. Both the palm and back were covered in scars and hardened skin. She could tell—this was the hand of a warrior. A warrior who had endured bitter winds and trials, yet stood tall in glory.

She didn’t say anything. She simply reached out her own hand.

Their fingertips brushed—and a flicker of lightning danced in the space between them.

In that moment, Hera felt a power she knew by heart. Not just the Thunder Spirit Core, but the very power that belonged solely to her.

A single tear slid down the corner of Hera’s eye. She stepped forward, and pulled Leon into a tight embrace.

And as a loyal, married man—Leon had never, in all these years, allowed himself to have any excessive physical contact with any woman besides Rosvisser.

But Hera was different. This embrace held no trace of gender.

What it carried—was a bond of kinship that had come thirty-two years too late.

TL Note: This chapter touched me to the core. I'm eagerly looking forward to the next one 🥹