Chapter 226 — I Found Them

Chapter 226: Chapter 226 — I Found Them

Chapter 226 — I Found Them

Victor arrived at the apartment, but before he even opened the door, something felt wrong.

He couldn’t sense Lyra.

He hadn’t been paying much attention to their Soul Bond on the way back, but now that he focused on it, he couldn’t feel her aura at all.

Victor froze outside the door.

Where is she?

A hint of panic immediately surfaced.

Had something happened while he was gone?

His mind went straight to the worst possibility.

The Evil God Organization.

Had they somehow gotten to her while he was at the Graveborn estate?

I shouldn’t have left her.

Victor pushed open the door.

"Lyra!"

His voice filled the apartment.

"Lyra! Where are you?"

Nala had been sleeping on the bed, but Victor’s shouting immediately woke her. The little Firebird raised her head and looked around before letting out a few confused chirps.

"Lyra!"

Victor quickly searched the apartment, but there was no sign of her.

His panic grew.

The apartment wasn’t large. There weren’t many places she could possibly be, and the fact that he couldn’t even sense her through their Soul Bond made everything worse.

For a moment, Victor genuinely believed something had happened.

He walked back toward the bed and sat down, trying to figure out what he should do next.

Then a voice came from directly beside him.

"Boo!"

Victor nearly jumped out of his clothes.

He spun around and found Lyra sitting right next to him.

For several seconds, Victor could only stare at her.

She had gotten him.

But even with his heart still pounding from the scare, the first thing Victor felt was relief.

Lyra was safe.

That was all that mattered.

The strength of that relief made Victor realize just how much he’d come to care about her. Somewhere along the way, Lyra and Nala had become his family.

Lyra’s playful expression quickly disappeared when she saw his face.

"I’m sorry, Victor. I just wanted to show off my new skill."

"Yeah, you showed it off all right." Victor exhaled and rubbed his face. "I couldn’t even sense you through the Soul Bond. I thought something happened to you while I was at the estate."

Lyra looked down, a little guilty.

"I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to scare you like that."

"No, it’s okay. It’s partially my fault for panicking the way I did." Victor gave her a small smile. "I’m just glad you’re okay."

Nala let out another few chirps from the bed before lowering her head again, apparently deciding the emergency was over. Within moments, she was back to comfortably resting.

Victor watched her for a second.

Then the reason he’d been so eager to return came rushing back to him.

His emotions shifted almost immediately.

Lyra felt it through their Soul Bond.

"Victor?"

She studied him.

"What’s wrong?"

Victor didn’t answer right away.

He’d been thinking about this conversation since leaving the Graveborn estate, but he still didn’t know how to tell her.

Lyra would be ecstatic to learn her parents were alive.

But Victor also knew her.

The moment he told her where they were, keeping her from running straight to the Graveborn estate would be difficult.

Victor looked down at his hands, his fingers moving restlessly for a moment before he finally looked back at her.

"Lyra, I’m about to tell you something, but you have to promise me you’ll do what I say."

Lyra’s expression immediately became serious.

"I promise."

She leaned forward slightly.

"What’s wrong, Victor? You’re starting to scare me."

"It’s nothing bad."

Lyra waited patiently.

Victor decided it would be easier to explain everything else first.

He began telling her about what had happened at the Graveborn estate.

He told her about the size of the estate and the strength of the people there. He explained his conversations with Gravius and Daniel, what he’d learned about the prominent families, and some of the things that had happened throughout the visit.

For some reason, going through everything else first made what he needed to say feel easier.

Nearly ten minutes passed before Victor finally reached the part he’d been avoiding.

He paused.

There wasn’t going to be an easy way to say it.

So he ripped the Band-Aid off.

"Lyra."

She looked at him.

"I found your parents."

Lyra froze.

Her purple eyes widened, and Victor immediately felt a wave of emotions rushing through their Soul Bond.

Shock.

Disbelief.

Hope.

Joy.

Everything seemed to hit her at once.

"My parents..."

Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"They’re alive?"

Victor nodded.

Lyra shot forward.

"Victor, where are they? Why didn’t you bring them back?"

"That’s the problem, Lyra."

Her excitement faltered.

Victor looked directly into her eyes.

"Your parents are currently slaves inside the Graveborn estate."

Lyra went still.

"Specifically, they’re Alex Graveborn’s slaves."

Her expression twisted.

The joy disappeared beneath a wave of anger so quickly that Victor could practically feel it crashing through their bond.

He understood.

Those were her parents.

Finding them had been her goal long before she’d ever met Victor. The entire reason she’d wanted to become stronger was so she could search for them, save them, and finally reunite with them.

"And you promised me," Victor reminded her.

Lyra looked at him.

Some of the anger slowly faded, but it was still there.

"You have to understand how powerful the Graveborn family is. You heard what I told you. Even the guards around their estate were at the peak of Spirit Gathering, and those were just guards."

Victor shook his head.

"I couldn’t even tell what cultivation level Gravius Graveborn was. But I can tell you this much—if he ever became serious, it probably wouldn’t take much for him to make either of us disappear."

Lyra understood what he was saying.

That didn’t make accepting it any easier.

"I know, Victor. But I can’t just leave my parents there."

"We’re not leaving them."

Victor answered immediately.

"But we have to do this my way."

Lyra remained silent.

"I’m going to speak with Elder Benton. I’ll see if I can convince him to negotiate with the Graveborns and find some way for us to buy your parents from them."

Victor paused.

"We have enough money to make a serious offer. I might even have to give up a secret or two to convince Benton to stick his neck out for us."

"No, Victor."

Lyra shook her head.

"My parents are important, but you can’t just tell people about our situation."

"I know."

Victor’s expression remained serious.

"But there has to be some give and take here. And your parents are just as important to me as they are to you."

Lyra stared at him.

"I spoke to them."

Her eyes widened again.

"I told them a little about you."

Victor smiled.

"They really do miss you, Lyra."

That broke whatever control she had left.

Tears immediately began falling from her eyes.

"Victor..."

Her voice trembled.

"We have to save my parents."

Victor nodded.

"We will."

Lyra moved forward and wrapped her arms around him.

Victor returned the hug.

"But you have to promise me again that you won’t do anything stupid."

Lyra didn’t respond immediately.

"At our current strength, we can’t force our way into that estate. You have to understand that. The only way we solve this right now is politically, through negotiations."

Victor pulled back enough to look at her.

"I think I can get Elder Benton to stick his neck out for us. It might cost us something, but it’ll be worth it."

Lyra slowly nodded.

Her tears began to settle.

"All right."

She wiped at her face.

"I believe you, Victor."

A shaky smile appeared.

"I can’t believe they’re still alive."

"I know."

Victor smiled back.

"I can’t wait for you to see them and show them how much you’ve grown."

Lyra nodded.

Even with the smile on her face, Victor could feel everything moving through their Soul Bond. Relief, happiness, anger, fear, impatience—her emotions were pulling her in every direction at once.

She needed time to process it.

Victor stood.

"I’m going to find Elder Benton right now and talk to him about what we can do."

He looked at her seriously.

"But you have to stay away from the Graveborn estate. Promise me, Lyra."

"I promise, Victor."

"Good."

Victor glanced toward the bed, where Nala was still resting comfortably.

"Why don’t you enter the Library and practice some alchemy for a while? It’ll help keep your mind off everything while I figure out what we can do."

Lyra nodded.

"I’ll be back soon."

"Okay, Victor."

She sat down and closed her eyes.

But she didn’t enter the Library.

Instead, she simply began cultivating, trying to settle the storm of emotions running through her.

Victor gave her one last look before walking out of the apartment.

The moment the door closed behind him, he pulled out his citizen ID.

It was time to call Elder Benton.