The True Aether

Her consciousness was somewhat muddled, as if sinking into an endless fog.

Eni was not entirely sure what she had experienced afterward.

When she opened her eyes, a familiar ceiling appeared before her. The familiar carved patterns caught her eye, the very designs she would count every night before falling asleep.

She had returned to her own room.

Her room within the manor.

Turning her head, she saw Xia Lun and Aina sitting beside her. Xia Lun's face looked somewhat haggard, with a bit of stubble appearing on his chin. Even his usually meticulously combed black hair was somewhat messy now. Madam Aina sat quietly by his side, her slender fingers tightly gripping Xia Lun's sleeve, as if silently offering him support.

"Lord Xia Lun..."

Eni was slightly taken aback, not expecting the two of them to be here.

"What happened?" Eni murmured.

"You're awake, child?" Xia Lun spoke with some bitterness, his eyes filled with deep sorrow and guilt. "I am truly... sorry. To think Aise would actually do such a thing..."

"Young Master Aise..." Eni muttered to herself, and then she suddenly recalled what had happened earlier.

The bloody slaughter, the severed limbs and organs scattered across the ground, and then, amidst a pile of corpses, she was... by Young Master Aise...

All the color instantly drained from Eni's small face. Her stomach convulsed violently, and a surge of stomach acid rushed up her throat. She covered her mouth, retching uncontrollably. Her frail body curled up and trembled fiercely, yet she could not throw up anything.

Aina stepped forward on her own initiative and gently patted her back.

Eni began to cover her face and weep bitterly. Her shoulders heaved helplessly as tears continuously spilled through her fingers, dampening the bedsheets.

Aina gently pulled Eni into her embrace. Her movements were somewhat clumsy and stiff, clearly unaccustomed to doing such a thing for anyone other than Xia Lun, yet it carried a rare gentleness.

Xia Lun's expression turned exceptionally gloomy, exuding a chilling aura of authority. His hands, resting on his knees, clenched into fists, his knuckles turning white from the force.

"Child... I will find a way to give you a proper explanation," Xia Lun promised Eni.

"Young Master Aise..." Eni slowly raised her head, fresh tear stains lingering at the corners of her eyes. "How... how is he? Is he alright?"

"I have grounded him... Child, he won't hurt you anymore." Xia Lun forcefully suppressed the emotions in his heart, trying his best to make his tone sound gentle. "I will make him apologize to you."

Eni suddenly recalled the look in Aise's eyes when he looked at her earlier—paranoid, fanatical, yet mixed with an indescribable coldness...

That gaze made Eni feel as if her heart was being choked by an invisible hand. Her throat felt as though it was wrapped by a venomous snake, hissing and flicking its tongue at her, sweeping her up in a freezing sense of suffocation.

"No! I don't want to see him!" Eni cried out in a breakdown, hugging her own arms and shrinking into a ball on the bed, shivering like a quail in the dead of winter.

"Alright... I understand, child. You won't see him again, don't be afraid..." Xia Lun hurriedly softened his voice, anxiously comforting her. "I will send you back, send you home... You can stay with your mother from now on. If you ever encounter any trouble, you can always come to me. I will definitely help you..."

Upon hearing about her mother, a bit of light returned to Eni's eyes. She nodded gently, her voice as faint as a gossamer thread. "Thank you... Lord Xia Lun."

Xia Lun rubbed Eni's head with some heartache.

Xia Lun stood up, intending to leave, but Eni caught the corner of his clothes.

"Young Master Aise..." Eni suddenly spoke again, biting her lip until it turned white. "Lord Xia Lun, please do not blame Aise... I am his maid, I..."

Eni's voice broke into whimpers again. Aina handed over a handkerchief, helping her wipe the tears from the corners of her eyes.

"If Lord Xia Lun hadn't saved us back then... my mother and I might have died in some remote corner long ago... So, no matter what Young Master Aise does to me, I won't blame him..."

"These two things are not the same." Xia Lun shook his head. "I will handle this matter properly, child..."

...

Xia Lun did not know what had happened to Aise.

When he returned from outside carrying the unconscious Eni, his personality had undergone an earth-shattering change.

He had calmly told Xia Lun and Aina what he had done, a faint smile even lingering on the corners of his lips.

"Father, I have merely found my true self. I feel wonderful right now... I am simply following my desires. I don't think I did anything wrong."

Xia Lun, who had never hit Aise before, ruthlessly smashed a fist into his face for the first time, sending Aise flying to crash heavily against the stone wall ten meters away.

Aise, however, merely wiped the blood seeping from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand and slowly stood up from the ground. Aise did not fight back, nor did he even show any grievance or anger. He just stood quietly in place, looking at Xia Lun with those eyes that had become so unfamiliar.

It was Aina who stopped Xia Lun, who was like an enraged lion. "Xia Lun... it has already happened. What you need to do right now is properly settle Eni."

Xia Lun heeded Aina's advice and forcibly suppressed the fury that threatened to incinerate his reason.

Now, the matter with Eni had temporarily come to a close.

Xia Lun walked down the corridor with resolute strides, and Aina followed closely behind him.

"Xia Lun..."

"I know, it's fine, Aina." Xia Lun gave Aina's hand a squeeze.

Aina said no more.

Arriving at the door to Aise's room, Xia Lun took a deep breath and then pushed the door open to enter.

The room was very dim. Aise was leaning against the headboard, sitting on the bed with his legs curled up, doing who knows what... Seeing Xia Lun enter, his gaze immediately darted over.

In that instant, the scarlet pupils flickering under the candlelight made Xia Lun feel as if he were looking at a mindless, irrational beast.

"Aise..."

Xia Lun looked at his son, not knowing how to begin.

"What is it, Father?"

Aise revealed a bright smile, as if nothing had happened earlier.

"Are you... really Aise?"

"Why would you ask such a strange question? Of course I am Aise, your son." Aise laughed aloud, as though this were just an ordinary conversation between father and son.

"There is something very wrong with you. Who are you, really?"

"It is because I have found my true self... Father, the person standing before you right now is the real me."

"You were never like this before."

"Because I was always pretending, acting like the person you expected me to be... But that was far too stifling, and I don't want to go back to that. I am not lying to you, Father. If you don't believe me, you can ask Mother. She should have already noticed it..."

Aina's gaze toward Aise turned exceptionally cold, but Aise seemed completely unbothered by it.

Aise slightly narrowed his eyes. "I am sorry to have disappointed you, Father."

Xia Lun gave Aise one last, profound look and left the room without looking back.