The room was eerily silent.
Only the infants' innocent gurgles and the sisters' somewhat frightened gazes remained; it was the first time they had seen their brother angry.
Xing Yu calmly ate her food; she understood her brother's behavior, knowing he had simply suppressed his emotions for too long and needed to vent.
Du Yao wanted to go teach another disobedient brother a lesson, but Miracle, lacking tact, sat on her with a thud.
The faint rustling of the White flowers, inadvertently brought to bloom by Heluosi, swayed in the gentle breeze.
"Three days without a beating, and they'll tear down the roof; a good thrashing will make them listen… Ugh!"
As Du Yao took a few steps, she was pulled back by the combined efforts of the women; a real beating would only make the father-son relationship more strained.
"Qinuo, Arthur, I, I didn't know it would be like this!"
The most heartbroken was undoubtedly Kara, tears constantly streaming from her eyes.
One was Qinuo, whom she wanted to protect, and the other was the result of her and Qinuo's love, yet on their happiest day, things had turned out this way.
It was also because she usually overlooked Arthur's feelings.
"Kara, trust me."
Qinuo picked Kara up from her half-crouching position and handed her to the other women.
He then half-crouched himself, looking at his second son.
"You're asking for it, you stinky brother!"
"I'm not stinky."
Hearing this, the women subconsciously looked at Du Yao and Miracle; they were fighting again.
Du Yao slapped each of them away.
"Arthur…"
Qinuo's voice was not loud, yet it clearly overshadowed the brief silence after Du Yao and Miracle were slapped away, as well as Kara's suppressed sobs.
He offered no defense, no anger, not even a hint of embarrassment at being offended, simply gazing calmly at the son before him, who had too early borne too much, yet was as stubborn as a Kryptonian iceberg.
"…You're right."
This statement took everyone by surprise; even the icy barrier in Arthur's eyes seemed to show a subtle, almost imperceptible crack.
Qinuo's half-crouch brought him almost eye-level with Arthur; in his deep eyes, there was no condescending judgment, only honest scrutiny.
"I have never been a good father; my firstborn children, Du Yao and Miracle, never caused me any worry from the moment they were born.
Qinuo slightly tilted his head, glancing at the twins who had just gotten up, were baring their teeth at each other, but were also being warned by Du Yao's gaze.
"Their biggest 'problem' was just fighting each other, but they never truly needed my and Du Yao's attention and comfort as a father and mother."
His gaze swept over the infants in their swaddling clothes—Sophila, Leia, Danqing, Aliyah, Delilah, Regla, Heluosi—these newborn, strangely talented little lives.
"A misconception arose in my mind.
I thought all children were like this, born with talent, growing naturally under their mother's protection, and that a father's role, perhaps, only became important when they needed guidance and strength to face the World."
Arthur's eyes shifted slightly.
"I am not a good husband either; although we have our children, I still haven't proposed to them or held a wedding."
Qinuo looked at him, his gaze gradually softening and firming.
"But, Arthur, there are two points where you are wrong."
The boy's eyelashes trembled slightly.
"I returned not to receive cheers with a halo, nor merely to fulfill the label of a 'father's' duty."
Qinuo's voice was gentle yet carried an undeniable power.
"I returned because here is my home, my loved ones, my children—including you, Arthur Zo-El."
For the first time, he clearly spoke Arthur's full name, emphasizing that Kryptonian bloodline inheritance.
"And also, for me, the past can be changed; I have never missed your past, I have always been there."
As soon as his voice fell, a golden light erupted from Qinuo's body.
Arthur couldn't help but narrow his eyes.
Suddenly, a new memory appeared in his mind.
The first time he opened his eyes, he saw a strange man.
When he was toddling, a pair of large hands carefully protected him from behind.
The first time he couldn't control his power, and his uncontrolled Heat Vision was about to erupt, it was covered by a hand over his eyes.
Day and night, fragments of memory flashed by rapidly.
When he first clumsily tried to use ice breath to freeze snowflakes, that observer with encouraging eyes.
When his sisters were born, the person who, besides their busy mothers, also waited outside the delivery room, and was the first to touch the newborn's cheek with a warm finger.
When Du Yao and Miracle were once again fighting like cats and dogs, with energy flying everywhere, that person watched the show with the whole family, making bets.
"You… I…"
Arthur looked at the man in front of him in shock, his throat feeling as if something was blocking it, unable to make a sound.
What immense power this was; time seemed to lose its meaning before him.
Although he had heard about his power from his mother, aunts, and uncles, it was only when truly facing it that Arthur deeply felt that shock.
Not just Arthur, but everyone present had their memories altered.
For the past three years, Qinuo had never left them.
The children's last bit of unfamiliarity with Qinuo also vanished, their eyes filled with closeness.
"What should you call me now, Arthur?"
Qinuo said with a smile.
"…Father."
The coldness in Arthur's eyes gradually melted, replaced by some embarrassment.
Three years of companionship, and the words he had said earlier seemed utterly unreasonable.
"Since you've called me Father, that means our father-son account is settled. Now, let's settle the account for making my Kara cry."
Qinuo's smile deepened, carrying a sense of "teachable youth" satisfaction, but then, a dangerous mischievousness entered that smile.
"Do you know what happened to the last guy who made my wife cry?"
Arthur's expression stiffened; he certainly knew, that guy was still a famous attraction in hell.
"The rest is up to me. If you don't get a beating for three days, you'll tear down the roof. Those who can't bear to watch can leave."
Du Yao stepped forward, a black long whip appearing in her hand, her dangerous gaze making Arthur afraid from his genes to his very core.
If Arthur dared to vent his dissatisfaction towards Qinuo with a surge of grievance and resentment, then facing Du Yao—the "mother" who truly gave him life—the reverence etched into his bones instantly overwhelmed all rebellion.
Du Yao and Miracle also forgot to fight at this moment, their eyes wide, with a hint of schadenfreude and… profound shared suffering? After all, they were all too familiar with Du Yao's "education."
"Ah, ah, ah!"
…
After it was over,
Arthur lowered his head and picked up his spoon, feeling for the first time that the dining room lights at home were so warm and bright, and the aroma of the food so enticing.
Though his butt hurt terribly.
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