Bang—
The door slammed shut, cutting off the noise from the outside world.
"Have a seat."
Ye Guizhou's voice was low and calm.
"Mm."
Acheron replied without asking any questions.
As Ye Guizhou sat down, Acheron lightly lifted the hem of her red dress and gracefully took a seat.
Silence settled over the kitchen, broken only by the faint sound of their breathing.
Neither looked directly at the other, as if each were lost in their own thoughts—or perhaps simply waiting for the right moment to speak.
"No need to worry too much. Just say whatever's on your mind."
In the end, it was Acheron who broke the silence first.
Her violet eyes were like tranquil pools, quietly resting on Ye Guizhou. Her gaze was calm and rippleless, yet it seemed capable of seeing straight through the conflict in his heart.
Ye Guizhou's thoughts were tangled with contradictions. Part of him wanted to keep everything buried, yet another part felt that some things had to be made clear between family.
When he met Acheron's calm, emotionless gaze, he eventually let out a helpless sigh, his voice tinged with self-mockery.
"I really underestimated you. Compared to my constantly worried heart, you're far more open-minded than I am."
However, Acheron shook her head slightly, and a faint trace of vulnerability flickered through her violet eyes.
"Even now, I still feel nervous and afraid sometimes. I'm simply not very good at expressing those emotions."
"Is that so? Compared to having nothing at all, Father, you're merely afraid of losing the people you care about. That's why, despite your cold demeanor, you've always been quietly watching over and caring for Mother and Mo Xi. Even for Mo Xin and me—whom you took in because of a moment of kindness—you still gave us... that unreserved warmth hidden within your heart."
Listening to the usually taciturn Acheron speak so much at once, Ye Guizhou scratched his head awkwardly.
For some reason, he felt as though the person before him had completely seen through him.
Those calm eyes of hers seemed capable of peering straight into his thoughts... and even his past.
"Alright. Even though you call me Father, it seems I'm the one making a fool of myself here."
He paused before asking tentatively,
"With how perceptive you are, I suppose you can already guess what I want to talk about today?"
"Probably... my identity or my past?"
"Half right."
Ye Guizhou nodded slightly.
"It is something I'm curious about, but don't misunderstand. Acheron, in both Mo Qing's heart and mine, you've long since become family—family no less important than blood relatives."
As he spoke, a faint trace of tension appeared on his otherwise composed face. His fingers unconsciously tightened around the hem of his clothing.
Seeing that Acheron remained calm and expressionless, he swallowed and continued.
"As an ordinary person, there's a lot I don't know.
"But after living together for so many years, I can still tell that you're carrying a heavy past... perhaps wounds, perhaps secrets. I may not be able to help you, but I'd like to share some of that burden with you... even if all I can do is make it a little lighter."
Hearing those words, Acheron's violet eyes trembled slightly.
Yet Ye Guizhou failed to notice the fleeting change.
Acheron tilted her head faintly.
Compared to her usually carefree mother, she truly hadn't expected her father to perceive things so deeply.
It seemed his past was far less ordinary than she had originally imagined.
After a brief silence, and seeing that Acheron still hadn't responded, Ye Guizhou rubbed his brow. A nostalgic look appeared on his face.
"Back then, after our daughter... Mo Xi... disappeared without a trace, we were devastated. Then, not long afterward, you suddenly appeared unconscious in our home. Although it was Mo Qing who insisted we couldn't just abandon a young helpless girl like you... the truth is, I had selfish motives too."
At this point, Ye Guizhou seemed almost afraid to meet Acheron's gaze, yet he forced himself to continue.
"Acheron... you're an Ability User, aren't you?"
Acheron understood immediately.
The moment her father asked that question, she had already deduced where his thoughts had gone.
What puzzled her was that Ye Guizhou was clearly an ordinary person, not an Ability User himself.
After a moment's thought, she shook her head slightly.
"No."
"Is that so..."
Acheron's answer caught Ye Guizhou off guard. It was completely different from what he had expected.
Yet he didn't think she was lying.
Instead, he gave a self-deprecating smile and continued.
"To be honest, I know very little about the world of Ability Users. Most of what I know comes from fragments of rumors and hearsay. So when every investigation came up empty, I couldn't help wondering whether your appearance had something to do with our daughter's disappearance. After all..."
Acheron calmly finished the sentence for him.
"A daughter vanishes mysteriously without a trace, and a stranger appears just as mysteriously shortly afterward. It would be stranger to assume there was no connection at all."
Ye Guizhou lowered his gaze and offered no denial.
"That's why I agreed when Mo Qing wanted to take you in. And for a time, I selfishly hoped to find even the slightest clue through you. I even..."
He paused briefly.
"But in the end, Mo Qing stopped me. Then one year passed. Then two. Then even more. Eventually, I could no longer see the girl who always got lost as a stranger. Perhaps... that's why you still address me as 'Father' so formally. I'm truly sorry."
By the time he reached the end, a clear tremor had entered the voice of the usually steady and serious man.
When he finished speaking, Ye Guizhou slowly lowered his head in apology.
Acheron's expression remained as calm as ever, as though nothing could stir the surface of her heart.
The connection between the two events may never have been particularly strong.
But for parents who had lost a child, even the faintest lead would become the sole thread of hope left in their hearts.
Thinking of that, Acheron quietly watched her father bow his head in apology and made no move to stop him.
Just as she had said before—
Ye Guizhou often appeared as cold and immovable as a mountain, seemingly detached from the warmth of the world.
Yet deep down, he had always cared for those he loved and regarded as family.
Even if none of what he feared had ever truly happened, the suspicion he once harbored had become a permanent thorn lodged within his familial bonds—
A thorn buried deep in his heart, difficult to remove.