Muen had always been transparent with her feelings, from childhood to adulthood, she never changed.
The moment she saw Leon, she didn't bury her emotions like her younger sister, Aurora, who remained calm to prove her identity. Nor did she react like her eldest sister, Noah, who walked straight up and punched their old dad.
Her way of expressing emotion was always simple and direct.
Muen almost threw herself into the man's arms with all her strength, her tears flowing uncontrollably, like a dam that had finally burst.
Emotions are contagious, like a bomb, and Muen was the fuse.
Watching the father and daughter reunite and weep after twenty years, Aurora lowered her head, took off her glasses, and silently wiped the corners of her eyes.
Noah kept her hands in her jacket pockets, biting her lip, her pupils trembling, before finally turning her head away.
Leon gently stroked Muen's hair, just like when she was a child.
Her stubborn cowlick was still there. Her features were now as delicate as Noah's. Though the sisters shared the same face, Noah had grown into a stunning, coolly mature woman, while Muen had more of a "girl-next-door" warmth.
Muen hadn't cut her hair short like Noah. She kept it long, flowing and dazzling like Rossweise's galaxy-like silver hair.
After crying in her father's arms for a while, Muen sniffled and stepped back, her cowlick bobbing with the motion.
Leon smiled and patted Muen's shoulder. "You've become so beautiful, Muen."
"Dad, you… you haven't changed much. Still the same as twenty years ago."
Aurora, who had recomposed herself and put her glasses back on, chimed in from the side, "Dad, why did you only say Second Sister became beautiful? What about me and Big Sister?"
"Ah, well…" Leon heard the mischief in her tone.
"Muen and I are twins. Complimenting her is like complimenting me," Noah leaned against the stone wall, perfectly playing the cool elder sister. "So, the only one you didn't compliment is you, Little Light."
The scientist was stumped. Her big sister had a point.
Consequently, the instigator was the first to blush. "Fine then, you old fool! Looks like one uppercut wasn't enough to knock your love for your youngest daughter awake, huh?"
Leon scratched his head and chuckled, forced to amend his words. "You've all become beautiful. Didn't I pass out as soon as I saw you two? I didn't get the chance to say it."
Muen blinked her pretty eyes at Leon. "Dad, why did you faint?"
"…"
Leon thought, My dear child, you're still as innocently curious as ever.
"Nothing, I was just a bit tired and passed out," Leon lied smoothly. Being knocked out by his daughters… that was better left unsaid.
But he was still relieved that Muen, unlike her sisters, hadn't greeted him with a punch.
See? She's the real 'daddy's girl.' Those other two? All thorns and counterpunches.
"Alright, Dad. It's time to see her."
Leon's smile faded, replaced by seriousness. He knew who Aurora meant.
He nodded. "Alright."
"Mom is in the innermost room. Let's go."
The three sisters led the way, Leon following closely.
The entrance to the innermost room wasn't far; it was, after all, just an underground space, not very large, only enough for a few people to live in.
Yet, these few short steps felt heavier with each one Leon took. He was so close to Rossweise, but the anxiety in his heart grew stronger.
Suddenly, he remembered what Muen had said when they first entered the space:
'Mom's still the same. I've been keeping her company, chatting with her.'
The same? What did that mean?
Why the strange phrasing, 'chatting with her'?
What had happened to that foolish dragon?
The questions piled up in his heart, a crushing weight.
Leon did his best to steady his breathing, trying to calm the storm inside.
"We're here."
The three sisters stopped before a stone door. This time, it wasn't an illusion. Aurora reached out, pulled a hidden lever on the wall, and the stone door slowly slid open.
Behind it was a small room. Torches flickered on both walls.
In the center of the room stood a single chair.
And in front of the chair, a two-meter-long… crystal?
The dim light from the doorway made it hard for Leon to see the details.
But as his daughters led him inside and he saw the crystal clearly, he froze as if struck by lightning.
Inside the crystal, a silver-haired beauty lay with her eyes gently closed, her hands folded over her abdomen, pressing down on a photo.
She was so quiet, so still, as if merely sleeping.
But who in their right mind slept inside a crystal?!
The unease that had been building in Leon finally exploded, washing over him in an icy wave.
He felt cold all over, his spine barely able to support his weight, as if he might collapse at any moment.
His eyes wide, he stared at his wife within the crystal. He opened his mouth, but the countless words clogged his throat like stones. He couldn't swallow them, couldn't speak them.
It was suffocating.
Leon reached out a hand, but it trembled uncontrollably. It took all his strength just to lay his palm upon the crystal's surface.
The crystal was cold, like his gradually freezing heart.
"Rossweise… Rossweise…" His voice trembled too.
Noah stepped forward, gazing at their 'sleeping' mother, and spoke slowly:
"To stop that disaster, you entered the spatial rift alone and vanished. No one knew if you were alive or dead."
"After that, Mom… fell apart. She sank into despair, numbing herself with drink every day."