Primordial Heir: Nine Stars-Chapter 371: The Journey to understand himself

"Oops! My bad."

The words tumbled out of Nero’s mouth in a rush, an immediate apology following his girlfriend’s sudden, sharp shift in demeanor. He held his hands up in a gesture of surrender, his expression a mix of genuine remorse and sheepish embarrassment. The ice in the room was still spreading, and he could feel the temperature continuing to drop around them.

Khione’s ice-blue eyes studied him for a long, uncomfortable moment. The frost on the walls crackled softly. Then, slowly, deliberately, she spoke.

"How do you know?" Her voice was calm, controlled, but there was an edge to it that hadn’t been there before. She paused, her gaze never leaving his face. "No, let me guess. Either you heard it from someone—Lux, perhaps, or maybe you stumbled across some old record—or it’s related to your eyes." She tilted her head, the earlier cuteness replaced by sharp, analytical focus. "I’m guessing it’s the latter."

Nero couldn’t help but chuckle, a low, warm sound that seemed to cut through the frosty atmosphere. He wasn’t shocked by her deduction. Khione was many things—beautiful, powerful, fiercely loyal—but above all, she was smart. One of the smartest people he had ever met. Of course she would piece it together.

He sat beside her again, the bed dipping under his weight. The silence that followed was not uncomfortable, but thoughtful. Two people sharing space, processing, giving each other room.

The candles had burned lower, their light softer now. The frost on the walls began to slowly recede as Khione consciously relaxed her grip on her law. The morning breeze pressed against the window, quiet and patient.

Minutes passed. Maybe more. Time had a way of stretching in moments like this.

Finally, Nero broke the silence.

"Why aren’t you asking anything?" He turned to look at her, genuinely curious. Most people, faced with a sudden revelation like this, would bombard him with questions. What did you see? How does it work? Can you do it again? But Khione simply sat there, her expression calm, her thoughts her own.

Khione met his gaze, a small, knowing smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

"Well," she began, her voice thoughtful, "even if I ask, I have a feeling you won’t tell me everything. Not yet, anyway. So it’s better to contain my curiosity until you’re ready to share everything with me." She paused, her eyes softening slightly.

"Besides, I also carry secrets. You saw how I reacted when you mentioned my second name. That wasn’t just about privacy, Nero. It was personal."

She shifted, drawing her knees up and wrapping her arms around them, a gesture that made her look younger, more vulnerable.

"I don’t like people calling me Eleanor," she continued, her voice quieter now. "It reminds me of my mother. It was her name. She passed away when I was young, and every time someone uses it, it brings back memories I’m not always ready to face." She glanced at him, her ice-blue eyes holding a rare flicker of pain. "Everyone in my circle knows better than to call me that. Lux, the others—they all know to use Khione. It’s an unspoken rule."

Nero listened in silence, his heart aching for her. He had known, intellectually, that she carried her own burdens. Everyone did. But hearing her speak of her mother, of the pain still carried in a name, made it real in a way it hadn’t been before.

He reached out and took her hand, his fingers warm against her cool skin.

"I’m sorry," he said simply. "My bad. Truly."

Khione squeezed his hand in acknowledgment, a small gesture that spoke volumes.

"As you guessed," Nero continued, "it’s related to my eyes. A new ability I suddenly gained. I don’t understand it fully yet—I can see... information. About people. Their names, their strength, their potential. It’s like a window into who they are." He shook his head, frustration flickering across his features. "But I don’t know why it appeared now, or what it really means. I’ll explain more when I understand it myself."

He paused, staring down at their joined hands.

"Talk more about me?" He let out a soft, humorless laugh. "Even I don’t understand what I truly am, Khione. Every time I think I’m starting to figure it out, something new happens. A new law awakens. A new power emerges. Visions of wars I don’t understand, beings I can’t comprehend." He looked up at her, his dark ominous red eyes—no longer swirling, just his normal eyes—holding a depth of weariness and wonder.

"I began this journey to find out more about myself. To understand where I come from, what I’m meant to be." His voice softened, taking on a nostalgic quality. "And to live a good life. That was the promise I made to my late mother, before she died. That I would live. Really live. Not just survive, but find happiness, find purpose, find a reason to keep going."

Khione listened, her expression gentle, her hand never leaving his.

"Every day, I discover something new about myself," Nero continued. "Some of it is incredible. Some of it is terrifying. And some of it..." He looked at her, a genuine smile breaking through the weight of his words.

"Some of it is beautiful. Like you."

Khione felt her heart swell at his words. The Ice Queen, melted again by this impossible man.

She didn’t respond with words. She simply leaned in and rested her head on his shoulder, her white hair spilling across his chest. In the quiet of the room, with the morning moving forward close, that simple gesture said everything.

They sat together, seemingly normal yet they are broken somehow, like two broken people finding wholeness in each other. Two souls carrying secrets and pain, choosing to share the weight. Two hearts, beating in quiet synchrony, waiting for whatever the dawn would bring.

The questions could wait. The mysteries could wait. The war, the nightmares, the organization, the Raizen—all of it could wait.

For now, there was only this. Only them, enjoying the moment.