For most of his life
Kaien Veyr never understood what people meant when they said someone was "living peacefully."
He understood survival.
Conflict.
Training.
Pain.
He understood the pressure of battlefields and the weight of carrying lives upon his shoulders.
But peace?
Peace always felt temporary.
Like a fragile pause between disasters.
Even now, nearly two years after the final war, part of him still woke each morning instinctively expecting alarms, emergency broadcasts, or news of another catastrophe waiting beyond the horizon.
Instead—
he woke to sunlight.
And somehow that remained harder to adjust to than war ever was.
The morning began quietly.
Too quietly for Kaien's liking.
He sat near the balcony outside his residence overlooking central Novaris while reviewing several reconstruction reports through floating holographic screens beside untouched breakfast dishes.
The city below was already awake.
Public transportation systems moved through the streets steadily while merchants opened storefronts beneath warm morning light. Workers crossed bridges connecting newly rebuilt districts while children in school uniforms moved through the city laughing loudly with friends.
Normal life.
Kaien still wasn't fully used to seeing it.
Or participating in it.
"You're doing it again."
Nyra's voice interrupted his thoughts gently from behind.
Kaien glanced over briefly while she stepped onto the balcony carrying another cup of tea.
"…Doing what?"
"Thinking too much before breakfast."
"I have responsibilities."
"You also have food getting cold in front of you."
Kaien looked down at the untouched meal silently afterward.
Nyra sighed dramatically before sitting beside him.
"For someone leading all of humanity now, you're surprisingly terrible at taking care of yourself."
Kaien stared toward the city again afterward.
"That sounds exaggerated."
Nyra gave him an unimpressed look.
"You worked for sixteen straight hours yesterday."
"…I slept afterward."
"You passed out on paperwork."
"That still counts."
"No it doesn't."
A few moments later Lyss stepped outside as well still half asleep while carrying a blanket wrapped around herself lazily.
Without saying anything, she sat directly beside Kaien before leaning against his shoulder immediately.
Kaien blinked once.
"You're awake?"
"Barely."
Nyra laughed softly nearby.
"You stayed up reading again, didn't you?"
Lyss closed her eyes afterward.
"Maybe."
Kaien quietly watched the two of them afterward.
Moments like this still felt strangely unreal sometimes.
Simple mornings.
Casual conversations.
Peaceful silence.
No battle waiting afterward.
No desperate struggle for survival interrupting everything.
Just life continuing naturally.
Across multiple lifetimes, Kaien spent so long chasing peace that now he finally had it—
he didn't entirely know how to exist within it yet.
Eventually Nyra glanced toward the floating reports surrounding Kaien again before frowning slightly.
"You're still reviewing settlement disputes?"
Kaien sighed softly.
"The western expansion sectors are arguing over transportation control again."
Lyss groaned immediately afterward without even opening her eyes.
"How do humans survive extinction then immediately start fighting over roads?"
Kaien almost smiled faintly hearing that.
"Humanity is talented that way."
Nyra rested her chin against one hand afterward while watching him carefully.
"You know…"
Kaien looked toward her.
"You're allowed to stop working sometimes."
He immediately answered automatically.
"There's too much to do."
Nyra's expression softened slightly afterward.
"That's not what I meant."
Kaien stayed quiet.
Because deep down—
he understood what she was really trying to say.
He still lived like war could return at any moment.
Every decision.
Every schedule.
Every day.
Kaien pushed himself constantly because part of him still believed slowing down even briefly would somehow lead to disaster.
That mentality helped save humanity countless times before.
But now?
Now it was quietly destroying his ability to actually enjoy the life he fought for.
Nyra suddenly stood afterward before taking several holographic reports directly out of Kaien's hands.
Kaien frowned immediately.
"…What are you doing?"
"You're taking a break."
"I absolutely am not."
"You absolutely are."
Lyss finally opened one eye afterward before lazily adding,
"She's right."
Kaien stared at both of them in disbelief.
"You're staging a coordinated attack."
"Yes."
"And it's working."
"That's the important part."
An hour later Kaien somehow found himself walking through central Novaris without military escorts, council meetings, or reconstruction reports for the first time in weeks.
He still wasn't entirely sure how Nyra and Lyss managed forcing him into it.
Yet here he was.
Just walking through the city.
Like an ordinary person.
Or at least as ordinary as Kaien Veyr could possibly appear anymore.
People still recognized him constantly of course.
That part would probably never disappear entirely.
But over time the reactions had softened noticeably.
Instead of terrified awe, most civilians now greeted him naturally. Some waved casually while shopkeepers nodded respectfully as he passed through the streets.
The fear surrounding his reputation gradually faded alongside the war itself.
Now humanity saw him less as an unstoppable weapon and more as the person helping rebuild their world afterward.
Kaien preferred that.
Greatly.
Nyra and Lyss guided him through several newly rebuilt districts afterward almost deliberately avoiding government sectors entirely.
They visited reopened markets filled with civilians.
Public parks restored after wartime destruction.
Even ordinary cafés Kaien normally ignored completely because he remained too busy working constantly.
At first Kaien felt awkward.
Like he didn't belong in places this normal anymore.
But slowly…
the tension inside him eased slightly.
At one point while passing through a crowded marketplace, Kaien noticed several musicians performing openly near one of the public plazas.
Real instruments.
Live music.
He unconsciously slowed walking hearing it.
The sound carried softly through the streets while civilians gathered nearby simply listening peacefully beneath the afternoon sun.
Nyra noticed his reaction immediately afterward.
"You like it?"
Kaien remained quiet briefly before answering softly,
"…I forgot music could sound like this."
Not military broadcasts.
Not war marches.
Not emergency signals.
Just music.
Created simply because people wanted beauty to exist.
Later that afternoon they eventually reached one of Novaris's elevated garden sectors overlooking the city skyline.
The area used to function as an anti-air defense platform during the war before reconstruction teams converted it into a public space afterward.
Children ran through the gardens now instead of soldiers guarding artillery positions.
That contrast struck Kaien harder than expected.
The three of them eventually sat beneath a large tree overlooking the city afterward while warm winds moved gently through the surrounding gardens.
For once—
Kaien wasn't holding reports.
Wasn't attending meetings.
Wasn't planning reconstruction schedules or political negotiations.
He was simply sitting quietly beside the two people who mattered most to him.
And strangely enough…
that felt harder than battle sometimes.
Because war always gave him a clear purpose.
Peace forced him to confront himself instead.
Lyss suddenly spoke quietly afterward while leaning back against the tree.
"You know what's strange?"
Kaien glanced toward her slightly.
"What?"
"In our past lives…"
Her gaze drifted toward the city ahead.
"…we always spent so much time chasing moments like this."
Silence followed briefly.
Because she was right.
As Karna, peace barely existed for him at all.
As Arin, war consumed almost everything after their memories awakened.
Even in this life, survival and responsibility constantly overshadowed ordinary happiness.
Yet now—
they finally had the quiet life they once dreamed about.
And none of them fully knew how to settle into it naturally yet.
Nyra softly rested against Kaien afterward before speaking quietly herself.
"I think we're all still waiting for something terrible to happen."
Kaien didn't answer immediately.
Because again—
she was right.
Part of him still expected the world to break apart eventually.
Expected peace to disappear suddenly.
Expected fate itself to drag him back into endless conflict again.
Maybe that fear would never fully disappear after everything they experienced across multiple lives.
Then suddenly Kaien felt something small collide against his leg.
He blinked downward.
A ball.
One of several nearby children immediately froze afterward realizing exactly who accidentally stopped it.
The poor child looked horrified.
Nyra immediately turned away trying not to laugh again.
Kaien picked up the ball silently afterward while the children watched nervously from a distance.
Then after several moments—
he simply threw it back gently.
The children stared at him for one second longer before immediately continuing their game afterward like nothing happened.
And strangely enough—
Kaien smiled.
A small one.
Brief.
But genuine.
Nyra noticed immediately.
"So he can smile."
Kaien instantly lost the expression afterward.
"That never happened."
Lyss laughed softly beside him.
"We literally saw it."
"No evidence exists."
The sun slowly began setting afterward across Novaris while golden light spread through the rebuilt city beneath peaceful skies.
Kaien watched the horizon silently for several moments.
Then quietly admitted something he hadn't fully realized until now.
"…I think I'm scared of peace."
Nyra and Lyss both looked toward him immediately.
Kaien's voice remained calm afterward.
"War always told me what I had to do."
Protect.
Fight.
Survive.
Simple.
But peace?
Peace left room for uncertainty.
For emotions.
For dreams.
For the possibility of losing things that actually mattered personally instead of merely strategically.
And after lifetimes of endless conflict—
that vulnerability terrified him more than battle ever did.
Neither Nyra nor Lyss responded with words immediately.
Instead they simply moved closer beside him quietly while evening light covered the city below.
And for the first time in a very long time—
Kaien allowed himself to sit in silence without searching constantly for the next war waiting beyond the horizon.