Family · A Rift in the Underworld

Sky Island · Kingdom of God

After a brief moment of shock and confusion, everything was finally explained.

Inside the palace above the Cloud Sea, the lights were soft, and the air was so still they could almost hear the clouds slowly drifting.

Rock sat to one side without interrupting, quietly listening to Kai and Elsa's explanation.

His initial shock had long faded, replaced by a calm, focused expression.

Elsa gently held the swaddled baby, her movements careful, as though even the slightest extra pressure might disturb this hard-won peace.

Her voice was soft, carrying a nostalgia she made no effort to hide.

"My family... is very small."

She paused, a gentle yet slightly lonely smile appearing on her lips.

"It can no longer even be called a 'family.'"

"It was a very old, minor branch, so old that even its family records have become nothing but legend."

She lowered her head and looked at the sleeping child's face, her gaze seeming to pass through time toward a past that had long since faded away.

"I once told Kai—"

"My family's story is like clouds scattered along the edge of Sky Island. Soon, there won't be any trace left to find."

At the time, she had merely mentioned those words in passing.

Even she had never expected them to be remembered.

But Kai had taken them to heart.

He stood beside her with his back straight, his expression as simple and steady as ever, yet unusually solemn at that moment.

"When I learned the child was going to be born, I thought about it for a long time."

His voice was low and unhurried, but firm. "Rock has already grown up healthy and become the pride of the Kingdom of God... He has already made my life incomparably complete."

As