At Danilo's House
"Pancho and Kiala? How is that possible?" Suzeth exclaimed, stunned.
When she looked at her husband's panel, Nzinga froze in shock.
Consort:
• Lesliana Vermilion
• Mikaela Morningstar
• Leila Chronos
• Nzinga Ondjaki Afonso
Prince:
• Pancho Afonso
• Kiala Afonso
She understood what "consort" meant, and when she saw her own name there, it confirmed it. But she was startled when she saw three more names. She knew exactly what that meant.
It meant her husband had other women.
So, all this time… had her husband been cheating on her?
She doubted it. They had always followed an open-phone policy. Even back when she had her affair with Daniel, she had been careful with the meetings, scheduling only once a month and leaving no traces on her phone, which was not advanced at the time. After ending the affair, she often used her husband's phone — not to snoop, but because what belonged to her husband belonged to her, and vice-versa.
And her husband didn't mind. Many times she used his phone to play or look up recipes. Since her own phone was practically the children's device, always full of games and junk, his phone was off-limits to the kids. So, out of habit, she used his. Later, the children grew up and got their own phones, but she — out of habit — kept using her husband's.
So she knew very well that her husband had never cheated. Sure, he could have had a hidden phone. But nearly thirty years together is enough time to know — or think you know — someone.
After hearing her daughter, she looked further down. It was the "Prince" section. She saw the names of the youngest twins.
Her mind went blank.
Then she understood her daughter's confusion. Her husband's talent allowed him to evolve the talents of his descendants and partners. Seeing the names of the twins there could only mean one thing.
She began crying again — but this time, louder. And unlike before, this cry was one of joy and relief.
"I gave you children… Danilo, I really gave you children…"
She knelt down, still over her husband's blood, and said:
"Thank you. Thank you, my God. Thank you."
Seeing that, the other four children were overwhelmed by mixed feelings. Happy for their father… but disappointed that they weren't the ones.
It's one thing when everyone is dirty.
It's another when a few are clean while the majority is stained.
Among the wrong, the right one is hated.
But deep down, everyone wishes they were the right one — even when they claim otherwise.
The atmosphere grew strange. Moments earlier, they had been happy to discover their father was alive. Then they learned he had an overwhelming power. They didn't know how to react, because no matter how powerful he became, that power had nothing to do with them.
Now they discovered that the twins were actually their father's biological children. That was too much to process in just a short time.
But part of them couldn't help but resent the injustice.
Why not them?
They only allied with Daniel because they knew that, sooner or later, their father would distance himself from them. They would be seen as a symbol of humiliation. So, if they could choose, they would have chosen their father — the one who raised them.
---
"They are his children. His talent allows him to evolve the talent of his children."
Tiago, the second son, was still in shock.
"Good for them. They were really lucky," he said. "But looking at his wives… he has four, when he should have none, or one at most," Selma said — speaking for the first time since they arrived.
She was the most reserved and quiet of them all. Often so discreet that she was forgotten during family events. There was one particular event, when she was twelve, at her maternal uncle's house. He came to pick up the kids, and Selma was still getting ready — they forgot her.
She felt so terrible that her mother scolded the uncle harshly, and Danilo — to make up for it — spent that very day alone with her. And that's how the father-daughter outing tradition began: once a year, Danilo spent a day with each daughter.
It started with Selma. Later, Kiala heard about it and cried because she wanted it too. Selma, out of patience with her sister's tantrum, entered her "silent merciless mode" and gave her a beating. Danilo, feeling sorry, decided to take a day with the other two as well.
Suzeth, the oldest, must have been seventeen or eighteen. She pretended not to care, but still wanted to go — and she went. Of course, this was before twenty years old, before she learned everything.
Many boys at the time preferred money and thought the idea of two men going out to have fun was ridiculous. As long as they had a PlayStation at home, they occasionally played with their dad. They thought that was enough.
It was during that first father-daughter outing that she and her father nicknamed each other "the twins." Looking at the house's dynamics: Suzeth, the oldest, had a best friend — a distant cousin. Tiago and Evandro were very close. The twins were twins. They argued a lot, but still were twins. They fought each other, but if anyone provoked one of them, both united against that person.
But when she was born, she had no pair. Deep down, she felt lonely. And it's believed that shaped much of her personality.
When she learned she was her uncle's daughter, everyone suffered — but she… she never pulled away from her father like the other three. Instead, she became quieter and clung to him all the time. Every now and then, she slept hugging him.
Unlike the others, who distanced themselves to prepare for the inevitable alienation, she took all the affection she could.
But with her mother, she severed everything — didn't respond, and lost all respect.
---
That's why, upon discovering that only the twins were her father's biological children, she was the one who suffered the most.
Because… why not her?
Nzinga came out of the euphoria she felt after learning the twins were her husband's children. She had truly given him children. Then she stumbled upon the elephant in the room:
How did her husband suddenly end up with three more women?
She knew he had never cheated. So… how?
"I have a guess," Suzeth said.
All eyes turned to her.
"There's something called the rookie mission. And the higher the talent, the harder it is. And the harder it is, the greater the reward. Dad has such an enormous, terrifying talent that his secondary talent is SSS-level. So his main talent must be even higher. And besides, an SSS-level talent… no one on Earth has ever announced such a thing."
"They say that in the rewards for Fernando Torres's SS-level talent — the Mexican who was considered one of the strongest in the world — he completed his rookie mission so well that he managed to obtain a Wish Stone. But his stone was incomplete. And his wish was to evolve his talent to SSS. And he succeeded with just one incomplete Wish Stone."
"So… those women must have been created because of the Wish Stone. After all, with his talent, the more women, the better."
When they heard it, it made sense.
Nzinga's heart sank.
She knew the chances of her husband forgiving her were almost zero. And the chances of things going back to normal… impossible. But after seeing those three names, the tiny illusion she had left completely shattered.
Dreaming is part of human nature.
When we live something, our perspective depends on the position we experience it from.
Those who live in first or second person have a very different view from those who watch everything in third person.
Nzinga, living in first person, still felt there might be some chance to act and be forgiven. She had to believe. She wanted to believe.
But after seeing those three names… just names… yet placed where they were, everything changed.
Noticing her mother's discouraged face, Suzeth understood.
It seemed their father had moved on.
Their mother was the one who couldn't accept it. After all, barely a week had passed since the separation.
"The stone you mentioned… can it really grant any wish?"
---