A few hours slipped by in heavy silence. Inside the guest room, Renjiro checked on Sarina every thirty minutes, gently massaging her foot to stimulate her stagnant soul energy and keep her blood circulating. After three quiet hours, Sarina's eyelids fluttered open. The room was softly lit, and Renjiro sat in a nearby chair, quietly reading a book.
Sarina sat up slowly, her body still feeling light. Without a word, she reached over, took the book from Renjiro's hands, and placed it on the side table. Renjiro looked up, surprised, but before he could speak, the door creaked open.
Kael stepped into the room by accident. He stopped in his tracks, catching Sarina quietly observing Renjiro with a faint, subtle smile. Kael stared at the two of them, a knowing smirk forming on his face. Sarina offered Kael a completely innocent, guileless smile in return.
Kael slapped his hand against his forehead, muttering under his breath, "Seriously... is she really this innocent?"
Sara walked up behind him, leaning against the doorframe with a sharp smirk. "Why are you hitting your forehead, Kael? Did you lose your last brain cell?"
Before Kael could retaliate, Rexon walked past them, holding a hot, steaming cup of soup. He placed it quietly on the nightstand beside Sarina's bed.
Sarina looked around at the gathered faces, her voice small. "Am I... bothering all of you?"
Kael dropped his hand, his expression softening. "No. But from now on, you shouldn't live alone."
Sarina tilted her head, confusion evident in her eyes. "Why?"
Kael looked down at the floor, his voice turning somber. "Because I know that kind of pain. In fact, Renjiro knows it too." He caught his breath, a heavy silence hanging in the room as he stood still.
The gentle smile faded from Sarina's face. "Losing your family... it's the cruelest kind of loss in the corporate world."
"Yeah," Kael murmured gently. "We lost one of the greatest businessmen today."
Sarina nodded slowly, her knuckles whitening against the bedsheets. "I used to hate the Redgrave Group before all of this. I never thought you would actually come to help me."
Kael let out a soft sigh. "To be honest, I didn't even realize it until today... about your mother and your brother."
"We never even got their bodies back," Sarina whispered, her forced composure cracking slightly. "They died in that flight explosion."
Kael's eyes narrowed behind a calm expression. "You know... you don't have to force a mask over your face right now."
Sarina's faint smile faltered for a fraction of a second, but she quickly forced it back. "Don't be silly. I'm not wearing any mask."
Kael smirked lightly, knowing better than to press her further right now. He reached down, grabbed Renjiro by the collar, and hauled him up from his chair. "Let's leave her alone for a bit. We'll be outside."
He dragged Renjiro into the living room, tossing him onto the sofa before slumping down into the seat beside him.
Rexon glanced at Kael with a slight tilt of his head. "Why leave her alone in that state?"
"Because," Kael sighed, leaning his head back against the cushion, "I know what it feels like to lose everyone. She needs space to break down."
Sara stood by the window, nodding quietly. "Yeah."
Inside the bedroom, left completely by herself, Sarina's artificial calm finally shattered. Her eyes swelled with tears, overflowed, and ran down her cheeks in hot streams. She buried her face in her hands, sobbing aloud until a heartbreaking scream tore from her throat.
"Mom! Dad! Brother! I'm all alone!"
In the living room, Renjiro flinched at the sound. He immediately made a move to stand up. "Kael, I have to go back in there and give her support."
Kael reached out, catching Renjiro's wrist with a firm grip. "You can't go in there right now. She needs to let the pain out first." Kael looked at him intently. "Besides, she has a Void Soul. Once she's done purging her grief, you're the only one who can help her manage it."
Renjiro hesitated, then slowly sank back onto the couch, nodding heavily. "So... is she going to live here with us from now on?"
Kael closed his eyes, resting his head against the high back of the sofa. "I don't know. That'll be her choice." He let out a quiet breath and stood up, reaching for his coat. "Anyway, Renjiro, I'm heading to the company. I need to review some financial details and handle some business."
Renjiro raised a hand in acknowledgment. "Alright."
"Call me if anything happens," Kael added.
Renjiro waved him off casually. "Yeah, yeah, I got it. I can handle things on my own."
Kael grabbed a piece of toast off the dining table, popped it into his mouth, and snatched his car keys. A moment later, his luxury sports car pulled out of the driveway. On the congested city roads, drivers actively parted ways to let his sleek vehicle pass, avoiding the notorious Redgrave emblem.
With his Bluetooth earpiece active, Kael spoke directly to his board of directors while navigating the light traffic. "I'm almost there. I'll be conducting the candidate interviews personally."
Inside the grand lobby of the Redgrave Group headquarters, dozens of applicants sat rigidly on waiting benches, their faces pale with anxiety. The moment the main glass doors opened and Kael walked in, wearing his signature full-face black mask, the entire office staff froze. Row after row of employees bowed respectfully, greeting him in unison.
Kael gave a concise nod and walked straight into the main executive conference room. Sitting down at the center of the long table alongside the board of directors, he unlatched his mask and pulled it off.
A collective quiet gasp ran through the room. One of the older directors leaned toward his neighbor, whispering in utter disbelief, "How can a forty-year-old man look like a teenager?"
Kael heard the murmur, sighed under his breath, and pulled the mask back over his face without a word.
His new secretary immediately began calling in candidates one by one. Kael sat quietly in his leather chair, reviewing portfolios with cold efficiency. Within two hours, he had personally rejected eighty-nine candidates.
Then, the door opened for the next pair. A young man named Ashu walked in, holding a leather folder, followed closely by a young woman named Vrinda.
Ashu sat straight in his chair, maintaining perfect posture. Noticing Kael's calm presence, Ashu instinctively reached into his pocket, pulled out a neat handkerchief, and offered it across the desk toward him.
Kael held up a single hand, signaling him to keep it and sit back down.
Kael set his mask on the desk, unshielding his face as he stared directly at the young man. He raised an eyebrow, examining Ashu's features closely. "Have I seen you somewhere before? You look familiar."
Ashu shook his head politely. "No, sir. You haven't seen me. But... I feel like I've seen you somewhere."
Kael tilted his head. "That's impossible. You couldn't have seen my face. I've never appeared on television without my mask."
Ashu hunched his shoulders slightly, a flick of confusion crossing his eyes. "It felt like... face-to-face. Back when your mouth was covered in blood."
Kael's eyes widened slightly. A sudden spike of tension hit his chest. Standing up smoothly, he picked up a glass of water from the desk, took a slow drink, and forced his breathing to steady.
Setting the glass down, Kael looked back at Ashu, his voice perfectly controlled. "You were probably daydreaming."
Ashu blinked, then offered a slight nod. "Maybe."
Kael glanced over Ashu's resume, then at Vrinda's portfolio. "Your qualifications and skill set are exceptional. The company sees a clear future with both of you." He looked at Vrinda and echoed the exact same approval.
Standing up from his seat, Kael turned to the remaining board members. "Take care of the rest of the applicants."
Without waiting for a reply, Kael left the conference room and walked down the private hallway to his personal executive office. He sat down behind his massive mahogany desk, opening Ashu's file and staring at his photograph.
"It's strange," Kael muttered to the empty room. "He looks exactly like Dusk... the entity I fought when I was actually nineteen. The one Nyxara pushed back into the demon realm."
The air behind his chair rippled, and Nyxara's ethereal soul form manifested, hovering beside his shoulder. "That's because he is Dusk," she said casually. "Though... I believe he has been reincarnated into a human."
Kael's hand loosened, and the pencil he was holding slipped through his fingers, dropping onto the hardwood floor with a sharp click.
"Reincarnation... is actually real?" Kael picked the pencil up, turning it over in his fingers. He leaned back in his leather chair. "So, what should we do about him?"
Nyxara floated around the desk, her expression unconcerned. "It shouldn't be a problem right now. He clearly doesn't have his past memories, nor does he seem inclined to attack you."
Kael tapped the pencil rhythmically against the desk. "Unless those memories return. He might seek revenge against me... especially knowing you took the side of a human."
Nyxara let out a light, melodious laugh. "If that happens, he'll probably just fight you for control, or try to open a portal to invade this world again."
Kael stared at Ashu's photograph one last time, a dark smirk touching his lips as he rotated his pencil. "Yeah... most likely."