Chapter 74

Chapter 74
Chapter 74: Father (6)

“…So,” the commander began, resting his interlaced fingers on the surface of his desk. “For the public record, our stance will be that General Max did command the hit on Bones, yet the actual slaughter of the remaining squad members fell on Colonel Samson. Seeing as Bones survived the scheme he was pulled into, his sentence will remain light—though General Max’s standing is bound to suffer.”

“I seriously question whether any officer present swallowed General Max’s admission,” I replied. “The ranks who catch wind of it will likely feel the same.”

We had fallen short of exonerating General Max completely. Ironically enough, his very admission had cemented his innocence in everyone’s eyes. Even with the chance to heap every ounce of blame onto Bones, he had stood before the entire assembly and claimed full responsibility. Only a genuine parent would choose such a path. And a father of that caliber would never have decreed his own child’s execution.

“What is to be done about Yosef?”

We had never managed to secure concrete evidence demonstrating that Yosef commanded Colonel Samson to execute Bones and wipe out the squad. Even so, the reality that he immediately sent subordinates the second rumors circulated of the colonel surviving, alongside the tortured soldiers stepping forward willingly to confess they assassinated Samson on Yosef’s command, made his culpability glaringly obvious.

Even with all that, publicly condemning General Max instead of Yosef remained unavoidable—without indisputable proof, bringing the hammer down on Yosef would have provoked the entire pro-Hayden faction into open revolt.

Naming Max as the guilty party rather than Yosef was the commander’s call, not mine. In asking how I planned to address Yosef, he was transparently evaluating my reaction.

“Yosef’s fate rests in your hands, Father.”

“Ves?”

“Contain any urge to seek private vengeance.”

“You honestly believe I’d maneuver behind your back to strike at him?”

“I do.”

Well, that was blunt. The commander evidently assumed I was merely playing along with his authority while quietly plotting retaliation against Yosef.

“I won’t touch him. If you still doubt my word, I will maintain total distance from Yosef for the foreseeable future. Does that satisfy you?”

“Very well…”

Skepticism still lingered across his features. Did he truly harbor that little faith in his own flesh and blood?

Right then, the office door was flung wide, and Meursault came barging inside.

“Your Excellency, we have a crisis! It appears Haydam—”

My name was the very first word out of his mouth?

“What did I supposedly do now?”

Lounging deep into the cushions of the couch, I threw the question back at him. Only upon hearing my voice did Meursault finally register my presence, his eyes widening in shock.

“Haydam, you’ve been here…?”

His inflection implied I shouldn’t have been anywhere near the room.

“How long have you been sitting there?”

“Since early morning. Hasn’t changed.”

“Truly…?”

“What actually happened?”

“Well… General Yosef has perished.”

“Pardon?”

“Good grief. That is a genuine complication.”

“Why are both of you glaring at me?”

“Haydam.”

The commander’s voice dripped with immediate censure. Straightening up from the cushions, I put on an expression of sheer grievance.

“I had nothing to do with it. You’ve literally watched me lounge right here since the morning without moving a muscle.”

“That may be true, yet considering your habits…”

Was he serious right now?

I swung my gaze toward Meursault. “Meursault, precisely how did General Yosef meet his end?”

“Ah, well… even to me, it seems bizarre. He was struck down by a bolt of lightning during routine drills.”

The commander’s brow knitted tightly. “Lightning?”

“Why turn your eyes back to me just because lightning was involved?”

“Because… if anyone could scheme a way to guide a stray lightning strike directly onto Yosef’s skull, Haydam, it would be you.”

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

“Fair point… even with your capabilities, commandeering the sky’s lightning would be an absurd reach.”

“You’re stating what ought to be obvious.”

Despite conceding the point, the commander kept studying me with blatant suspicion for quite a while.

Their intuition was uncomfortably sharp.

—

*No way!*

Curled up against my chest, Luna battered my ribs with her miniature paws.

*Picking up mastery over an innate ability this swiftly is totally cheating! You aren’t supposed to get it so fast!*

“And why shouldn’t I?”

*Because if you do, I won’t have the chance to tutor you!!*

So that was her motive. I had suspected my rate of advancement was exceeding normal parameters. She had likely embellished the learning curve purely out of a desire to play instructor—a suspicion that seemed entirely justified.

Ever since Luna initially informed me that I had awakened a special power, I had drilled its manipulation day after day. Admittedly, those sessions had rattled the inhabitants across the sector, but at this stage, dropping an electric strike squarely onto a distant drill yard came without struggle.

Naturally, guiding a bolt cleanly onto someone’s crown still demanded line of sight. With Yosef, the vantage point he occupied to oversee soldier drills never varied, allowing me to strike him from afar. To be entirely truthful, I had simply been targeting the space around his head…

Yet hearing the reports claim the lightning struck him square on the center of his skull made me think a sliver of divine retribution had guided it too.

*It yields terrifying destructive power, but…*

Sustained use would be completely off the table. Furthermore, if individuals kept dropping dead from lightning within the very same district, suspicion would inevitably mount. Yosef bore genuine responsibility for the deaths of my valued men, yet the commander would never abide me settling the score through a personal vendetta.

*On another note, Luna found the whole scene deeply moving.*

“I thought that name rubbed you the wrong way.”

*A parent stepping up to shoulder the blame just to shield his boy! It’s so noble. The bond of family is truly magnificent!*

Hardly.

This predicament only arrived at a balanced resolution because General Max possessed genuine integrity. Had he not stepped forward to shield Bones right then, Yosef and Max would have looked identically corrupt to me, and I would have been entirely ready to break both of their sons.

Very few people would willingly take the fall for an adopted child—or a biological one, for that matter—under identical circumstances. Perhaps that perspective was simply the cynical byproduct of being raised by less-than-ideal guardians. Consequently, I couldn’t bring myself to echo Luna’s romanticized view of family.

There was no reason to voice that bitterness to the small creature, though. If Luna truly represented the original Haydam, then I was the intruder who had usurped his kin.

*If Luna Moon really is my biological mother… then this little thing would technically be my elder sibling.*

The possibility only deepened my wish that Luna Moon had no maternal connection to me whatsoever.

*Don’t you feel any urge to see your father?*

Luna’s abrupt inquiry caused me to tilt my head.

“I was standing right in front of him moments ago.”

*Not Hayden! Your real father from that other realm!*

“Ah… not in the slightest.”

Naturally, I had a father. After my mother walked out, he was the sole figure responsible for bringing me up.

*Yet he almost certainly isn’t my true father.*

He had never laid a hand on me. If anything, his gentleness carried an unnerving, hollow edge. Even during childhood, I could sense his total lack of genuine concern for my existence. During my teenage years, I once pressed him to lead me to my biological father. The man had merely chuckled, as if entertained by a brilliant joke.

*—Regrettably, there is no other father.*

Whether his words confirmed he truly was my biological progenitor or merely signified that my true father was already dead, I still couldn’t say. Eventually, sheer dread kept me from ever prying again.

*You truly harbor no desire to meet him? Even though he’s your parent?*

“He likely has zero desire to encounter me either. It’s entirely possible he hasn’t even registered my absence.”

*Mew… so kin can actually want nothing to do with each other.*

Observing her ears flatten in dismay, I offered a late reassurance: “Commander Hayden must have yearned for Haydam desperately. I heard he spent ten relentless years scouring the world for him.”

*Truly?! Wait—no, that carries zero meaning for me!*

Whatever you say.

“Haydam, so this was where you were hiding.”

In the middle of my back-and-forth with Luna, Bones and Lucas swung the door open and strolled in. It appeared the two were still lodging inside the commander’s quarters.

“Wait, is that a feline?”

Even with Bones and Lucas entering the space, I didn’t bother concealing Luna. Keeping her stashed inside the ring indefinitely wasn’t an option, and someone was bound to spot her eventually. Luna similarly showed no urge to bolt or hide; she merely nestled against my torso, fixing them with wide, translucent blue eyes.

“I haven’t seen that cat around here before.”

“Same here. She looks far prettier than anything in the illustrations.”

“Is that the creature you were searching for back in the infirmary?”

Ah—of course. Upon waking in the clinic, I had inquired whether Bones had laid eyes on a cat. He still held onto that detail. Bones might be emotionally volatile, but the young man possessed keen observational instincts.

I offered a flippant explanation. “Yeah. She must have slipped into the salvage squad’s baggage.”

“Clever little beast.”

At this rate, the pair would likely take my word for it even if I claimed Platon was my own offspring.

Luna opened her jaws in an expansive yawn before settling into my lap to drift off. Bones and Lucas, despite their imposing frames, crouched down beside the mattress and spent several silent moments simply marveling at her.

…Just how long did these kids intend to loiter in my quarters?

“If you’re done admiring the cat, how about telling me why you’re here?”

“Oh—right. She was so charming it slipped my mind entirely…”

Moments like this laid bare that they were still merely eighteen years old.

Lucas cleared his throat repeatedly, visibly flustered by how thoroughly a pet had derailed him, before adopting a formal cadence.

“We… came to offer our sincere thanks, Haydam.”

“Completely out of the blue?”

“You’ve already caught word that the piece of trash Yosef caught a lightning strike and dropped dead, right?”

Don’t tell me these two also presumed I orchestrated the strike and arrived to praise me for it.

As I studied them warily, Bones ran a hand through the hair at the nape of his neck.

“Watching that scum get struck down by heaven made my chest tighten. Sure, he got what was coming to him in the end, but if His Excellency hadn’t recognized General Max’s innocence… I would’ve been consumed by rage.”

Fortunately, they harbored no suspicion toward me. I offered a subtle nod, prompting Bones to press on.

“There wasn’t a scrap of hard proof to clear General Max. The fact that everyone—including me—could accept his innocence deep down is entirely due to your efforts, Haydam. Thank you.”

“Is that genuinely something to thank me for?”

Genuinely baffled by his gratitude, I pushed back.

“When all is said and done, the person facing the sentence is your father. Yosef’s demise was a freak accident. You claim everyone now recognizes your father’s innocence, but that reality is only understood by the officers who stood in that room. The rank-and-file soldiers remain completely in the dark regarding what transpired. In the official archives, your father will be etched as the lowest sort of monster—a man who mandated his adopted son’s demise and dragged innocent soldiers down with him. We structured the outcome that way because it served my interests. And you’re still thanking me?”

“I am. Even taking all that into account, thank you, Haydam.”

“…”

Bones held my gaze without the slightest hint of hesitation.

Lucas looked back and forth between the two of us before chiming in with measured caution.

“My gratitude aligns with his, Haydam. You appear convinced that failing to publicly clear General Max makes our thanks unearned. But we comprehend the situation. Had the decree not named General Max as the punished party, neither Bones nor I would have found a path back into the military. Because the common ranks remain ignorant of the hidden reality, they are actually extending their sympathies to us.”

“I never factored any of that into my calculations.”

“Which makes us all the more appreciative.”

“Just take the thanks and let it be.”

“…”

Recognizing they would likely refuse to depart until I yielded, I offered a reluctant nod.

Seeing the gesture, Bones flashed a wide, satisfied grin.

“Whenever you need a hand, just call on us. We’ll pay back every debt through our own labor.”

“I mirror that pledge. If any task requires assistance, I will step up without hesitation.”

Now I had two more individuals echoing the exact promises Platon kept making. Even with their eagerness, there wasn’t much these two could realistically accomplish for me…

“Ah.”

“What’s on your mind?”

“A thought just struck me regarding something you can handle.”

“Ideal timing. What is it?”

“Give us the assignment, whatever it entails.”

“You’re truly willing to handle anything?”

“Without question. For your sake, Haydam, we’d gladly—right, Bones?”

“…Wait. The tone he just used is suddenly making me deeply uneasy.”

Bones’s instincts truly were sharp.

“In the grand scheme, it benefits the entire sector, so stop sweating.”

“What kind of madness are you planning to thrust on us that demands scaring us beforehand?”

A bright, beaming smile spread across my face as I looked at the two of them.

“I’m going to force my father into a divorce.”

“…Come again?”