Supreme Hunter of Beautiful Souls

Chapter 541: Irritation is progress.

The small smile still lingered on Kael’s face when silence settled between them again. It wasn’t a broad smile, nor a particularly warm one, but for someone like him, it was enough to alter the entire atmosphere of the room. Elion noticed immediately, as she always noticed everything concerning her son, and crossed her arms with a triumphant expression, as if she had just won an invisible contest. Kael merely glanced at the almost empty cup on the low table beside the armchair, watching the rest of the coffee slowly cool.

"That’s good," he finally said, his voice calmer and lighter than before. "I’m a little tired of Yggdrasil ignoring me."

Elion raised an eyebrow and leaned against the side of a bookshelf full of disarranged books. The morning light cut through his golden hair, giving him an almost mythical aspect that was immediately ruined by the casual way he held a half-eaten biscuit.

"Emotionally tired or administratively tired?" she asked.

Kael thought for a second. "Both."

She nodded with the theatrical seriousness of someone receiving an important report.

"Fair enough. Being ignored by cosmic entities is usually exhausting."

Kael leaned his head back in the armchair and let out a long, sincere sigh, without any hurry to hide it. The accumulated fatigue of the last few days was still there, compressed behind his usual composure. He had dealt with a collapsing kingdom, a dying queen, a desperate princess, a corrupted king, improvised seals, long-distance teleportation, and the constant feeling that the world insisted on delivering poorly packaged problems to him.

In the midst of all this, there was also Yggdrasil.

"It closes paths, alters portals, returns unanswered messages, and acts as if I don’t exist," he continued. "At some point, this ceases to be symbolic and becomes simply irritating."

Elion bit into his biscuit and pointed at him.

"Excellent. Irritation is progress." "I don’t see how."

"When you stop turning something into a tragedy and start treating it as an annoyance, it means you’re ready to act."

Kael gave her a sideways glance.

"You just made that up."

"Yes. Still, it’s true."

She walked to the window and pushed aside a curtain with her fingers. Outside, black towers rose amidst violet mists, suspension bridges connected improbable levels of the palace, and flocks of enchanted birds circled in patterns that probably obeyed some undecipherable arcane mathematics.

"Then go there personally," she said, without turning around. "Stop talking behind closed doors and knock directly on the tree."

Kael watched her profile in silence.

"That’s what I intend to do."

The answer came out firm, without dramatization. There was something definitive in that sentence. Elion noticed and smiled at the glass.

"Ah. So we’ve reached the interesting part."

"Don’t turn this into an event."

"Everything is an event if observed with sufficient attention."

Kael rose from the armchair and discreetly stretched his shoulders. His body still betrayed fatigue, though less than any ordinary person could endure after the last few days. He walked a few steps across the room, dodging plants scattered on the floor and a suspicious pile of cloaks folded in a very dubious manner.

"I’ll have to go there personally," he repeated, now more to himself than to her. "If Yggdrasil wants to prevent meetings at a distance, then I’ll speak in her presence."

Elion turned slowly, studying his son’s face.

"Are you going to argue or to ask?"

"It depends on how she receives me."

"Excellent answer. Flexible and threatening."

"Realistic."

She chuckled softly and moved closer to him again. She stopped right in front of him, distractedly adjusting the collar of his coat as if he were still a child incapable of dressing himself.

"When you meet Sylphie," she said in a tone that was too casual, "Understand her situation first. If she didn’t want to meet you, she has her reasons, right?" He didn’t answer.

"Just understand the situation, okay?" she concluded.

For a few seconds, they were both silent. Not a heavy silence, but the kind of comfortable pause that only exists between people accustomed to each other on levels too ancient for explanations. The small enchanted fountain continued to run in the corner of the room. The smell of coffee still lingered in the air, now mixed with the aroma of crushed leaves that some plant had released on its own.

Elion then raised a finger, remembering something important.

"Speaking of which, I’ll see that dragon soon."

Kael closed his eyes for a moment.

"You said that too casually."

"Because to me it’s casual."

"Nidhogg gnaws on metaphysical roots."

"And appreciates polite visits."

"You’re not polite."

"I’m charming. It works similarly."

She walked to a dresser and began searching for something among drawers that clearly held incompatible objects. Kael heard the clinking of glass, metal, fabric, and something that seemed to squeak.

"When I talk to him," she continued, "I’ll let you know."

"No need."

"Yes, there is."

"I don’t want to be involved if the conversation ends in interdimensional catastrophe."

"That offends me. Not every conversation of mine ends like that."

Kael crossed his arms.

"How many finish?"

She thought for too long.

"We’re not discussing numbers."

He almost smiled again.

Elion finally found what he was looking for: a small, translucent green vial, which he shook contentedly before dropping back into the drawer without explanation. He closed it with his hip and returned to him.

"I’ll talk to Nidhogg. If he agrees, maybe you can find a way to the Original World Tree without having to force your way in."

"And if he doesn’t agree?"

"I’ll bring better cookies."

Kael slowly shook his head, as if giving up on understanding certain structures of the universe.

"You treat primordial forces like temperamental neighbors."

"Because that’s often exactly what they are."

She touched his arm lightly.

"Don’t worry so much. You always find a way."

Kael looked at her hand, then at his mother’s face.

"Not always."

"No. But whenever it matters."

The sentence hung between them for a longer moment. Elion didn’t dramatize it, and so it carried even more weight. Kael looked away first, walking to the table to pick up the empty cup and place it on the side tray.

"I’m going to see Grandma now," he said.

Elion nodded immediately.

"Good idea."

"After all," he continued, "I need to know what she found out about Vlad and the other woman."

As he mentioned this, the lightness of the room shifted. The conversation returned to the darker tone of the last few hours. The corrupted vampire king. The female figure hidden behind the tyranny. The seal cast on the two pendants. The memories Eleanor was rummaging through at that very moment.

Elion lost some of his playful humor and crossed his arms again, now more seriously.

"The other woman bothers me."

"Why?"

"Because your grandmother rarely gets truly interested in anyone. Curious, yes. Irritated, always. But interested like that..." She narrowed her eyes. "It means she recognized something dangerous."

Kael absorbed the observation without commenting.

"Was Vlad just a pawn?" she asked afterward.

"Maybe."

"Or a convenient victim."

"Also possible."

Elion let out a small sigh.

"Insecure men are always great targets for ambitious monsters."

"That sounds specific."

"Because it’s historical."

She walked over to him and adjusted his collar again, though it was already perfectly aligned.

"If Eleanor found an ancient cult, a possession, or some entity using smaller kingdoms as a chessboard, then this will grow."

"I know."

"And you’ll get involved."

"Probably."

"Then sleep first."

Kael stared at her in silence.

"No."

"Wrong answer."

"I’ll talk to her first."

Elion snorted dramatically.

"You inherited the stubbornness of the whole family."

"Which side?"

"Yes."

He walked to the door. Before opening it, he stopped with his hand on the doorknob and looked back. Elion was standing in the center of the room, her hair loose, her robe disheveled, her expression firm and affectionate at the same time. Domestic chaos personified.

"Thank you for the coffee," he said.

She placed her hand on her chest as if she had been deeply touched.

"Kael Scarlet spontaneously thanking twice in the same day. The world really is ending."

"Don’t spoil the moment."

"Too late."

He opened the door.

"If I’m late," she said behind him, "it’s because Nidhogg has decided to complain about digestion."

"If I hear cosmic roars, I’ll assume it failed."

"If you hear music, you’ll assume it succeeded."

Kael didn’t ask what that meant. There were limits even to his curiosity.

He went out into the corridor and closed the door behind him.

The palace welcomed him again with its silent corridors, ancient tapestries, and that constant feeling that every stone was observing more than it should. The lighthearted mood of Elion’s room gradually faded, replaced by his usual concentration. His footsteps echoed discreetly as he made his way to the upper floors, where Eleanor’s ritual was probably still taking place.

As he walked, he mentally organized what he needed to find out.

First: when Vlad truly began to change.

Second: who the woman was and where she came from.

Third: whether this was an isolated incident or part of something bigger.

Fourth: how many people were already compromised without knowing it.

These thoughts accompanied him through winding staircases and passageways lined with dark crystal. Servants respectfully avoided his path. Witch guards bowed silently. A distant door opened on its own as he approached, recognizing his presence through ancient magic.

Kael continued on.

Deep down, a smaller, quieter part of his mind also carried another thought: if Eleanor had truly found something serious, the rest would end there.

This didn’t surprise him.

Rest was often just the interval between bigger problems.

Still, as he climbed the last flight of stairs, he recalled Elion’s voice saying that he always found a way when it mattered. Irritatingly sentimental. Irritatingly optimistic.

Perhaps irritatingly correct.

He reached the final corridor leading to the Witch Queen’s chambers. The air there vibrated slightly with residual magic. Closed doors displayed lit runes. In the distance, behind one of them, a subtle and constant pressure could be felt in the space—a clear sign that Eleanor was still working.

Kael walked there without hesitation. But... suddenly...

"Wait... how did my mother know all that?..."