Damon didn’t want what had happened to wear him down. He just wanted to be with his daughter and believe that everything was alright.

He reached out and gently touched her cheek.

The three-year-old immediately pushed his hand away with both of hers.

A soft awkward smile appeared on his face.

"Ranar my dear, don’t be mad. I promise I didn’t forget you. In fact, I was trying to get you a gift."

She turned slightly in his direction.

Her eyes looked sad but firm.

"I... didn’t want a gift. I just wanted you to come back."

The words were spoken in her small infantile voice, yet they struck Damon harder than any blade.

He felt his heart sting.

For once he genuinely didn’t know what to say.

Slowly he began to stand.

The moment he did, Ranar’s eyes widened.

She immediately grabbed his clothes with both hands.

The firmness in her expression crumbled.

Tears clouded her golden eyes.

"Don’t go. I... I forgive you. Don’t leave me."

Her voice broke near the end.

Damon froze.

Then he quickly bent down, scooped her into his arms, and hugged her tightly against his chest.

One of his hands moved through her long golden hair while the other rubbed her back softly.

"I’m never going to leave you. I promise."

The words came out as little more than a whisper.

His daughter had grown up.

She was still barely a baby.

Yet she had grown up.

Soft footsteps echoed behind him.

Turning around, Damon found his sister and Evangeline standing in the doorway.

Neither of them had interrupted.

They had simply stood there watching.

Damon offered an awkward smile.

"I’m back."

"I can see that," Evangeline replied coldly. "The deadbeat father who just ups and vanishes for two years."

"Yeah, that was sort of my bad. I sort of got stuck in a creepy dungeon and had to fight my way out."

Evangeline stared at him.

Luna stared at him.

Neither looked convinced.

Luna especially didn’t believe a word of the explanation.

Still, whatever had forced her brother away from his daughter for two years, she was certain it hadn’t been by choice.

"Welcome home, my prodigal big brother."

Damon laughed softly at her joke.

Looking between Luna and Evangeline, he felt a surge of gratitude.

They must have been the ones raising Ranar all this time.

Taking care of her for two whole years couldn’t have been easy.

Come to think of it, most of Ranar’s upbringing had been handled by other people.

Damon himself had barely been around.

The realization left a bitter taste in his mouth.

He kissed Ranar’s chubby little cheeks.

"I’m here, okay..." he whispered.

But Ranar wasn’t looking at him anymore.

Her gaze was fixed entirely on Lilith.

Lilith offered a friendly smile.

Ranar immediately turned her nose up.

Then she leaned closer to Damon and whispered loudly enough for everyone to hear.

"This is my daddy. Get your own."

Lilith blinked.

For the first time all day she looked completely defeated.

She already knew she had her work cut out for her.

Winning over Ranar Brightwater was clearly going to be a difficult battle.

The next few hours were spent recounting all the trouble Ranar had caused.

Apparently she was very much like a miniature Damon.

She had somehow convinced every child around her age to become her loyal minions.

She bullied adults.

Feared absolutely nobody.

Except Luna.

Everyone feared something.

For Ranar, that something was Luna.

She bullied her great-grandfather and constantly demanded impossible things from him.

Apparently worldly treasures were an unacceptable substitute for her missing father.

The maids and knights had even given her a nickname.

The Iron Princess.

She was deviously clever and frighteningly strong for her age.

But none of that was her greatest weapon.

She was cute.

And she knew it.

Ranar weaponized her cuteness with terrifying efficiency.

The family eventually held a banquet in celebration of Damon’s return.

Of course Lilith attended as well.

She had originally intended to return to her family’s domain and reassure her grandmother that she was alive, but after contacting her through a pager and receiving a lengthy earful, she decided it was easier to remain at the Brightwater Estate as a guest.

The feast continued late into the evening.

Damon sat among the family, recounting various fabricated stories about his time trapped inside a dungeon.

Nobody believed him.

Not a single person.

Halfway through one particularly questionable tale, a messenger arrived.

The butler accepted the report before making his way toward the Grand Duke.

The old man’s expression darkened as he read it.

"Godric Ravenscroft has been kidnapped."

The atmosphere instantly froze.

Cassian’s eyes narrowed.

Power swirled through the room.

"Who could have done such a thing?"

"Someone suicidal, that’s for sure," the Grand Duke replied.

Luna immediately covered her mouth.

"Emilia must be having a hard time. I can’t imagine what kind of monster would do such a thing."

The words hit Damon like a punch.

His heart sank.

Yet not a single trace of emotion appeared on his face.

"Isn’t Godric Ravenscroft dead?" he asked calmly. "From what I remember."

Evangeline slowly shook her head.

Anger flashed across her face.

"Not that Godric. This is Godric the Second. He’s the infant son of Xander and Emilia. You probably didn’t know about him because you’ve been gone for so long."

Damon nodded.

His face became colder.

"Who would do something so vile to an innocent child?"

"That’s what I want to find out," Luna said.

The glass in her hand shattered.

Fragments crunched in her grip.

"Whoever did this is going to pay."

Damon took a slow breath.

"Then House Brightwater shall aid them in their search. We will leave no stone unturned. No child should be separated from their parents."

The words came out perfectly.

Convincingly.

Nobly.

Yet as he spoke them, Damon could almost smell something foul clinging to him.

A disgusting stench.

The scent of hypocrisy. He was a hypocrite.