Chapter 12: Adam's Request
As Kafka looked at her sleeping daughter while Adam watched silently beside her, the silence continued. But unlike before, this silence was calm and peaceful, with only the moonlight passing through the window.
"So, are you going to talk, or are you going to keep staring at me until morning like that?" Kafka asked directly, stopping the motion of caressing her daughter's head. "I know I'm a very beautiful woman, but even I would end up embarrassed if you keep looking at me like that," she added, though her face did not show the slightest trace of embarrassment.
"Sorry, it was rude of me to stare at you like that," Adam admitted simply, without further comment. Then he asked, "Tell me, as a Stellaron Hunter, you should know where they are, shouldn't you?"
Hearing his direct question, Kafka froze for a fraction of a second and thought, 'So he's looking for the Stellarons… but why is he searching for them?' Despite the doubts in her heart, she did not ask them aloud and instead thought quietly, resting her gloved right hand on her chin.
Adam said nothing and merely smiled while waiting for her answer.
"We aren't called Stellaron Hunters for nothing, my dear husband," she replied while looking at him, using an answer that was not exactly "yes," yet clearly affirmed it.
"I see. Thank you for the answer," Adam said simply.
Kafka only smiled and said nothing, though her thoughts were elsewhere.
'I can't read him at all. I don't know what he's thinking, nor what emotions he has, Kafka thought. Yet there was curiosity toward the man beside her. I wonder who you are… or what you are… ' she thought while observing his pure golden eyes.
Silence fell over the room again, and their gazes returned to the five-year-old child lying in bed. Each was lost in thought, Kafka trying to understand Adam, and Adam quietly reflecting.
'The real question is: how do they know where the Stellarons are?' Adam wondered.
After all, he was not a Seer who could simply divine the answer, nor did he yet possess the omniscient authority of the White Tower.
A small sigh escaped his lips.
That sigh did not escape Kafka, who sat beside him. She could not help making a sarcastic remark.
"Wow. I didn't know the great saint could act human."
But Adam showed no visible reaction, inwardly or outwardly, which disappointed Kafka slightly.
'No matter what I say, he doesn't seem angry, shy, or even happy. He feels… empty, despite that smile glued to his face.'
'Could he come from Pteruges-V, just like me… or from a similar planet?' Kafka wondered while looking at Adam, as though she had found someone like herself. In truth, it was nothing more than curiosity toward a potential kindred soul.
After all, his expression never changed. The same gaze, the same smile. It was as if his face had been fixed in place, unable to show anger, fear, or even sorrow.
'Even if he seems empty, it's not just fear that he lacks… it may be all emotions. If that information is true, it would change many things,' she continued thinking.
At that moment, Adam asked another question.
"Tell me… the leader of the Stellaron Hunters, Elio, can see the future, can't he?"
Kafka's finger trembled for a second, and realization struck her.
So that's what he's after. Information about Elio.
She turned her face and looked directly into his eyes. Her usually playful and teasing gaze became more serious for a second.
"It's no secret that Elio can see the future. But that's not what you're really after, is it… my husband?"
Though her tone remained casual, she stretched the words my husband as if warning him.
Adam did not react. He merely turned his head and looked at the moonlit darkness outside.
"Don't worry. I'm simply curious. After all, it's a fascinating power he has," Adam explained in a gentle voice, revealing neither too much nor too little.
'I wonder if Elio's future works like divination… and whether the future he sees is immutable,' Adam thought, hiding that his true target was not the Stellarons, but Elio himself.
As Adam stood and walked toward the small bookshelf in the modest room, Kafka, as if wanting to change the subject, spoke.
"You gave her a really small room."
She glanced around. Aside from the things she had brought, there was nothing else here.
Just a simple, ordinary room.
Knowing she wanted to change the topic, Adam instead pressed forward.
"Do you think Elio's future is one hundred percent reliable?"
This question was not meant to plant doubt, at least, not for now.
Kafka did not answer. She merely laughed and looked at Adam as though his provocation meant nothing.
At that moment, without Kafka realizing it, Adam had already gotten what he wanted. So he calmly changed the subject, just as she had wished.
"Tell me a little about the child. After all, I only had one week with her, and then five years of absence."
Seeing the sudden shift in topic, Kafka chose not to comment and simply went along with it. She began recounting the events of Elara's life from birth until now.
"Well, Elara gave me a lot of trouble when she was born," Kafka explained, returning to her usual self. "I had heard pregnancy was hard, but imagine when I found out I was pregnant with your child. Giving birth, raising her, all of that… it was exhausting. And to make it worse, her father wasn't there. When she woke up at three in the morning, I had to take care of her alone. I was so tired that I just handed her over to Silver Wolf and Blade to look after."
She continued complaining about raising a child alone without the father.
Hearing her complaints, Adam did not react. He merely smiled, accepting that he was at fault, and apologized from time to time.
As time passed quietly and Kafka continued speaking until she finally finished, Adam, noticing how late it had become, said simply:
"It's late. You should go rest. I'll guide you to your room."
Kafka refused.
"I'm sleeping with my daughter tonight. After all, I promised her."
As she finished speaking, she removed her coat and climbed onto the bed.
Adam said nothing and simply moved toward the chair where he had been sitting.
But before he could sit down, he heard Kafka's voice.
"Where do you think you're going? Didn't we promise to sleep together tonight, all three of us?"
Adam turned and saw her raise her arm, beckoning him closer. He froze and looked at her with confusion, as if he truly did not understand what she meant.
In the end, he shook his head and refused, saying there was no need and that he would stay here.
But Kafka insisted.
"Stop acting like an old man and come sleep with us."
She smiled at him as though she delighted in teasing him.
Adam now lay on Elara's left, while Kafka lay on her right, smiling at him.
Then he felt a small movement.
A little hand grabbed his robe.
It was Elara's sleeping hand. She was doing the same thing on Kafka's side.
Neither adult said anything. They simply closed their eyes.
In his thoughts, Adam could not help but wonder:
'I no longer need sleep… but perhaps this could help my humanity. I wonder how far this relationship can go before "It" happens.'
At that moment, for the first time in five years, he fell into a deep and peaceful sleep beside other people he could call his family.