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Chapter 860: Condolences

Alexander didn’t have a reply to the statement, and Khan didn’t wait for it. Khan departed, leaving Alexander on the terrace while he returned inside the building.

Sadly, that marked the end of Khan’s solitary mourning period. The news of his return had long since reached every corner of the planet, and his inner circle had given him some privacy, but that time was over. The tournament’s second day was starting, so the chances of offering condolences were running out.

Familiar auras touched Khan’s senses as soon as he entered the building. Alexander had gone to the terrace but didn’t reach the area alone. Princess Felicia, Prince William, and their mother were waiting inside and didn’t stay still at Khan’s arrival.

“Cousin!” Princess Felicia called, almost shouting, rus.h.i.+ng forward. Khan half-expected a bow, but Princess Felicia hugged him, her squeeze’s strength conveying her sorrow.

Princes and Princesses usually never engaged in such affectionate gestures. Even in private, they upheld a specific level of decorum. Their lineage demanded it.

However, Princess Felicia had taken after her mother. She shared Princess Rebecca’s good heart, and her general awareness about Khan’s situation made everything worse. Princess Felicia didn’t only feel bad for Khan. She also blamed herself for her faction’s role in his loss. Khan never had siblings, and his relations.h.i.+p with women had always been complicated. Nothing in his life had prepared him for that event, leaving him partially stunned, especially since Princess Felicia’s emotions were genuine.

Khan peeked at Princess Felicia, who had hidden her face in his neck, before glancing at Princess Rebecca. The latter showed a sad smile and nodded at him. Unlike Khan, Princess Rebecca knew what was happening, so she gave him time to realize it.

The realization quickly arrived. Khan had Bret, but their relations.h.i.+p was dysfunctional at best. He never had a real family with whom to share tragedies. Khan had never experienced that instinctive and often unreasonable support and affection.

Joining the Nognes family didn’t change that. The event had happened after the a.s.sa.s.sination attempt, so everything had been entirely political and cold. Yet, enough time had pa.s.sed for one side of the faction to warm up to him.

“I’m okay,” Khan rea.s.sured, awkwardly patting Princess Felicia’s back.

Princess Felicia broke the hug, stepping back while taking Khan’s hand. Eventually, she let go of him, retreating to give him s.p.a.ce. Still, the pain never left her expression.

“My condolences, Cousin,” Prince William announced. “Problems aside, Bret was a great man.”

Prince William’s more polite and detached words aligned with his character, but his mother didn’t leave it at that. She stepped forward, reaching for Khan’s face. He almost dodged that incoming hand, but the symphony suppressed that instinctive urge.

“How are you?” Princess Rebecca asked, her eyes darting across the traces of dirt, sweat, and ruined war paint on Khan’s face.

“I’m okay,” Khan repeated, his tone conveying his awkwardness. His eyes were still s.h.i.+ning, and his expression had remained cold, but his uneasiness was evident.

“When was the last time you had a good night’s sleep?” Princess Rebecca questioned, her concern hiding the faint desire to scold Khan about the topic.

“I never have good nights of sleep,” Khan revealed, carefully lowering the hand on his face. “Aunt, it’s fine. You don’t need to do this.”

“But I want to,” Princess Rebecca stated. “You might be the faction’s leader and the best warrior in the Global Army, but you are also my nephew. Don’t forget that.”

Khan had fought wars and witnessed catastrophes, but Princess Rebecca made him feel like a small kid. He was powerless before that unconditional love, so he decided to run away.

“I must shower,” Khan exclaimed. “The tournament will start soon.”

“Everyone will understand if you take a break,” Prince William claimed. “Everyone is owed a mourning period.”

“I’m not everyone,” Khan declared, promptly leaving the area.

Khan hoped to remain alone for the following minutes, but crossing a few corridors brought him before another familiar figure. Prince Thomas stood before one of the building’s bathrooms, seemingly predicting Khan’s arrival.

“Are you going to offer your condolences, too?” Khan asked, crossing his Uncle to approach the door behind him.

“No,” Prince Thomas replied, following Khan into the vast bathroom. “I figured you needed a briefing about yesterday’s events.”

“Did the Lords have fun?” Khan questioned, ignoring Prince Thomas’ presence while undressing.

“Yes,” Prince Thomas claimed. “Though I fear they learned about your father’s departure.”

“Did Mister Cirvags show up?” Khan continued.

“He did,” Prince Thomas confirmed. “Reports said he looked quite grumpy.”

‘He always looks grumpy,’ Khan thought, diving into the shower to remove all the dirt acc.u.mulated on the trip. “Anything else?”

“Nothing worthy of note,” Prince Thomas revealed. “Your fiancée did an exemplary job.”

Khan didn’t say anything, focusing on scrubbing himself up. The falling cold water suppressed his faint tiredness, slight drunkenness, and strange mood, but his Uncle’s aura suddenly changed.

“My Prince,” Prince Thomas called, “Nephew. My condolences.”

Khan froze for a second but quickly resumed cleaning himself up. He truly wasn’t used to those situations, and his past with his faction worsened things. However, the genuine nature of those words kept dealing blows he didn’t expect.

Khan had every reason to hate his faction. All things considered, even his Aunt wasn’t innocent. She had abided by the n.o.bles’ rules, ignoring Khan and Bret for over a decade.

That genuine affection and concern also had a bitter taste. Khan would have never received them if he hadn’t earned his current position through strength and sacrifice. He wouldn’t even know he had relatives left without his many struggles.

Nevertheless, all the n.o.bles probably had dysfunctional relations.h.i.+ps, and Khan couldn’t lie to himself. As strange and complicated as it was, he still had a family. Even if the context and past were awful, he still had supportive and caring relatives.

‘Way to look at the bright side,’ Khan mocked himself while accepting the truth. The issue was similar to his mutations. He had made the best out of the Nak’s power, so he could do the same with his odd family situation.

Prince Thomas didn’t leave the bathroom and barely blinked while Khan dressed. The man calmly waited while Khan reapplied his war paint and wore his various ornaments, eventually following him outside.

By then, the quadrant had completely awakened. The various parties had left a widespread mess, but the area had enough cleaning robots and workers to attend to it. They also had all the room and time they wanted since everyone had started moving to the arena.

The guests filled the stages in no time, and the same went for the towers. Contestants also gathered in the arena’s lower areas, ready to jump on the battlefield and prove themselves before the most important people in the Global Army.

However, the atmosphere wasn’t as joyous as the previous day, and the hangovers had little

to do with that.

Everyone had learned about Bret’s death, and the Nognes family had yet to issue official statements to address it. Due to the topic’s intricacies, the public didn’t even know whether it would mention it. Still, Khan stood at the center of the issue, leaving the guests wondering

about his next move.

It didn’t help that the members of the Nognes family had yet to reach the arena. Everyone from aliens to humans had taken their appointed seats, but the actual event’s organizers were still missing, intensifying the confusion and rumors.

Everything changed when a series of s.h.i.+ps flew toward the arena, appearing above it. Each ride descended toward the appointed tower, stopping mid-air to release metal ramps. Prince Thomas, Princess Rebecca, and the other Princes and Princesses walked down under a wave of cheers, but most of the attention remained on the main vehicle.

The s.h.i.+p above the terrace with the Thilku Lords, n.o.ble representatives, Tlexc.i.p.alli, Scalqa, and Mister Cirvags had also released a metal ramp, but people had yet to descend from it. Yet, a figure eventually appeared, and the slightly dejected cheers resounded when the audience

recognized Alexander.

Things changed when two more figures followed. The blue light that illuminated each screen zoomed in on the scene triggered a proper uproar, which grew louder when the audience recognized Khan. He descended the ramp hand-in-hand with Monica, conveying the same intensity as always. Actually, he looked slightly more unruly, but only a few noticed that

detail.

Alexander, Monica, and Khan quickly reached their appointed seats, and the s.h.i.+ps departed, leaving the audience waiting for an announcement from the faction’s leader. However, Khan didn’t grant that wish, and Princess Rebecca soon claimed everyone’s attention by officially starting the tournament’s second day.

Princess Rebecca’s announcement didn’t kill the general curiosity toward Khan, especially from those sitting at his sides. The symphony told him that questions were about to arrive, but his fiancée was the first to claim that right.

“Did your eyes get dark at all?” Monica asked, whispering to Khan’s ear. She knew him better than anyone, so she noticed the issue.

Khan had actually missed that. He had decided to hide his true face after the a.s.sa.s.sination attempt, and his bright eyes were part of it. Yet, dealing with Bret’s death made him forget

that detail.

“These are my eyes,” Khan instinctively responded. Somehow, hiding part of his true colors didn’t feel right anymore. The decision wasn’t even rational. He simply didn’t do it.

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