Chapter 568: Grounded

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation | Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Yarin’s POV:

“Yarin! Hey, come back to your senses!” The sudden shout startled me. I turned around and saw Lily frowning at me. “Watch your clothes, kid. I don’t think your shirt is that thirsty, now, is it?”

I looked down and saw that the cup in my hand was tilted at an extremely dangerous angle. The milk was about to spill out of the cup.

“Damn it!”

At the critical moment, I put the glass of milk far away from me on the dining table. This was my last clean shirt. If my mother saw my disheveled appearance, she would nag at me again!

When I thought of my mother, I couldn’t help but feel dispirited. Aunt Eve told me my parents were coming to the transit station. They would arrive at noon.

In the morning, many people passed by the lounge with the excuse of doing something and tried to see the real faces of Heller and me. Our ‘disappearance’ had received considerable attention. My mother had even contacted the human side to find traces of me.

Now that I’d been found, the first thing that bothered me wasn’t being scolded but being visited like a rare animal.

This was especially true at mealtime because we had only gone to bed in the wee hours of the night. It was already late in the morning when we got up. However, the cafeteria was still crowded.

Lily said it was because ‘brunch’ was popular in human society, but no matter how I thought about it, it was because they could openly visit ‘rare animals’ in the canteen.

The food in the transit station was average. This was a way of beautification. Even I knew it was an offense to say that the food in other people’s territory was terrible. The torture of food made me even more dejected. I almost counted the seconds to record the time, praying my parents could come a little later.

However, this moment had finally arrived. When I saw the special car with the royal insignia slowly drive into the checkpoint from afar, I could almost see the tangible anger bursting out of the car.

I looked at Lily for help, but she rolled her eyes coldly and told me to pray for myself. Heller was even more scared than me. He was timid, and Cynthia always said he was ‘like a bald chick’.

This was a low-key visit. There was no welcoming ceremony, no speech, only a pair of frowning parents and a debate in a small lounge.

Everyone left, including Lily. In the narrow lounge were only Heller and me, who were anxious, and my parents, who were on the verge of losing their temper.

“Yarin, Heller, your dad, and I are happy to see you safe and sound,” my mother said impassively. “God knows how many endings I had in mind when Kara told me you were missing – kidnapped, assassinated, radical conservatives, the wanderers. But by the grace of the goddess, none of that happened. You just ran away from home! You just ran away from home.

“Can I ask what you were thinking? Threatening Lily to take you away in the middle of the night, even running to human territory, staying in the homeless’ nest for a few days, and even witnessing an illegal transaction. I never knew that my sons were so brave. Daily training is no longer enough for you to exercise your muscles. You have to run to the gangs and show off now!”

I tried to defend myself. “We didn’t threaten Lily… Well, I just know that Lily ‘can’t refuse a crown’s want’. And I swear that we didn’t do anything dangerous. The House of the Homeless was extremely boring. I only taught a few homeless people a lesson. There was no gang involved…”

“You’re quite proud, aren’t you?” My mother suddenly raised her voice. “Just a few homeless people? Are there labels on their foreheads telling you who they are? Do you know how many gang spies there are in that kind of place? If you provoked one, you would attract a group of them!

“Are you strong enough to fight ten people alone? Are you confident that you can dodge all the bullets?”

I still wanted to say something to justify my behavior, but I knew everything. This trip was born from my arrogant and ignorant curiosity. It was full of dangers and traps. Heller and I didn’t return safely because of ourselves but because of Lily’s sensitivity and strength and the good luck of bumping into Aunt Eve.

“Calm down, Selma. At the very least, the children are safe and sound now. This is what we feel most grateful about.” My father stood up to comfort my furious mother; however, he didn’t act as a mediator as usual; instead, he looked at Heller and me seriously.

“You’ve gone too far this time, boys.” I had rarely seen my father speak in such a harsh tone. He was usually a loving father, but today we had crossed his bottom line. “You didn’t even consider your safety, let alone others. This is a very stupid way of disappointing your mother and me.”

My parents didn’t say anything particularly intense, but every word made my heart feel soaked in lemon juice.

Heller was tugged at my sleeve.

“I’m sorry, Father, Mother…”

In the end, we could only say a meaningless apology..