Chapter 125: The Burden of Hidden Truth
The lacquered box sat between them on the dining table like an accusation.
Rey's thumb brushed the card again and again, as if touch could make meaning appear.
His mother watched him from across the table, hands folded, face unreadable.
"This is a bank card?" he asked, voice soft. Curiosity warred with embarrassment.
He already had one. Why hand him another?
Jasmine only exhaled, the motion small and practised.
"You have one, yes. This one's different. Go rest. You leave tomorrow."
Her fingers closed on the edge of the table. No further explanation. No fuss.
He slipped the card into his palm and found a folded slip beneath it—the code.
Upstairs, in the pale light of his room, Rey fed the numbers into the account screen with the careless impatience of someone who expected nothing spectacular.
The number hit the display, and his heart misfired.
50,000 Dracins.
Not points. Not credits. A real, stubborn pile of currency.
Rey blinked. Then blinked again.
Fifty thousand should have felt like fortune. Instead, it landed in his chest like a cold weight.
He took the card from his desk and padded down the stairs.
Jasmine answered the door with sleep still in her eyes. A hand rubbed at her temple; a slow, domestic gesture that said she'd been wrenched from rest for him.
"I—" Rey started, words tripping. "Mom, this—this is too much."
She didn't flinch. Her fingers moved with the quiet authority of someone who had made decisions for years.
"It's half of what we saved," she replied. "From before. From the capital. I thought… you'd need it."
Rey's cheeks burned—not from gratitude but from the humiliation of receiving so much for simply leaving home to study and grow.
"I can't take it," he tried, pushing the box back toward her. "Let me take five thousand. That's enough for travel."
Jasmine's mouth thinned. She hesitated, then reached out and nudged the box back across the wood.
"You will take it," she answered, calm as a closed book. "Do not refuse free bread."
He forced a laugh that cracked at the edges. She had always taught him manners. His mind spun with other numbers—darker, older figures whispered by the system he'd found.
'Over a hundred million', he remembered. Hidden. Unclaimed. Dangerous.
The thought pricked at him. He'd planned to leave some of that elsewhere for them. Now this pile might be enough. Too much.
"Mom," he said again, quieter. "Where did this really come from?"
For the first time, her composure faltered. Her eyes flicked away, toward the window. The light behind her rimmed her face with something hard to read.
"You must take it," she repeated, fingers splayed over the box as if to protect it from the world.
He reached out to stop her retreat, not with force but with a plea. His palm pinned the lid. She moved to close the door behind her and found it caught—stalled mid-swing, as if the frame had a stubborn hinge.
Jasmine tried to pull the door shut. The wood held. She set her hand flat against the door, cheeks flushing with sudden fatigue.
Rey didn't move. The box sat between them in his hands, and the air thinned.
"I won't leave without asking," he murmured. The words weren't a demand. They were something older—an insistence carved by worriedness and protection.
She looked at him then, the kind of look that carries decades of secrets in the hollows beneath the eyes.
For a heartbeat, he thought she would refuse. That she would say 'this was none of his business and shut the world away' like she always had.
Instead, she swallowed. Her throat worked. Her gaze dropped to the card in his hand.
"Not everything I do is for show," she whispered, near-broken. "But some truths are too heavy to hand over with a smile."
The hinge creaked faintly as the door shifted an inch.
Rey tightened his grip on the box, nails whitening.
"You tell me now," he said. "I leave only after carrying every secret I shouldn't. I won't let you lie to me by omission."
Silence filled the room. The clock ticked loudly and insolently.
Jasmine lifted her head. Small droplets glimmered in the corners of her eyes.
Her next words trembled out like a confession.
"Haa… you leave me no choice," Jasmine whispered, her expression softening. "You've grown enough, so I can tell you at least this much. Listen carefully. You know… after your father's death—"
Her words trailed, but Rey could already feel the weight pressing down.
After Rey's father passed away, Jasmine left the capital. She carried Rey by the hand, while Emmy was still in her womb.
Staying in the Dragon City wasn't safe. The capital would have destroyed them. She wanted a future for her children, not a cage.
So she chose Lumina City.
But her reason for choosing it wasn't simple. Jasmine wasn't just a widow from a normal background. She was born into a noble family—one with enough standing to live in comfort.
Lumina City had a branch of her family. Back then, when no one dared to help her after her husband's death, only one person stepped forward—the Frost Heart family head, Duke of the Ice Heart Kingdom. He helped them escape and settle here.
Her family quietly supported her. They even made her a hidden owner of a company, while she worked as a normal officer to keep suspicions away.
If anyone learned she was still connected to her noble roots, their lives would turn into hell.
That's why everything was hidden under layers of protection. Only a Duke-level family or higher could ever uncover it.
They had even offered her a mansion to live comfortably, but Jasmine refused. She chose a small home. A normal life.
For years, she lived a double life—mother and worker in the daylight, silent owner in the shadows.
Rey stood frozen as the truth unfolded. His mind flashed back to all the times he had pushed himself to work overtime, chasing scraps, thinking he had no choice.
All of it… pointless.
A strange relief washed over him. At least now, even if something happened to him, his mother had the means to protect their family until danger reached the level of life and death.
"Mom…" Rey's voice cracked slightly. "Why hide this from me? If we had money all this time, why did you let me take part-time jobs? I could've focused on my studies fully. I'm not complaining, but… I need to know."
Jasmine's lips curved faintly.
"Rey, do you know why? Because I didn't want you or Emmy to become spoiled children who rely on family power. If I told you the truth, would you still work hard? Would you push forward with your own strength instead of leaning on influence?
"If you had known, maybe you'd still become a good person, yes… but not this version of you. Not the man I wanted my son to grow into. Now you are exactly the person I hoped you would be."
Her words sank deep. Rey's eyes lit with a quiet understanding.
"I see… Mom, you're smarter than I thought. You've been planning all this since the beginning. However, I can't accept the entire amount. Just give me 5,000 Dracins. If I need more, you can transfer it later."
Jasmine chuckled softly. "Alright. We'll do it your way. I'll send you 5,000 to your card. If you need more, call me."
She carefully pulled the card back into her hand. It had once belonged to Rey's father.
"Mom… the house you prepared for me," Rey asked suddenly, "is that also from your family's help?"
She smiled faintly. "Yes. It's your uncle's spare house. He used it long ago. When he heard about you, he agreed immediately. Otherwise, I would've had to reserve a hotel room for you. I did want to let you stay in our main house, but that would have caused too much trouble for them. So, I refused."
Her eyes softened. "You don't mind, do you? Living alone for a while?"
Rey shook his head quickly. "No, it's perfect. I'll meet Grandfather and others later. For now… living alone is exactly what I need."
A spark of excitement flickered in his chest. The freedom to train, to grow stronger, without eyes watching.
Then another thought struck him.
"By the way, Mom… what's the name of our family? The family you came from?"
He asked it carelessly, forgetting for a moment that he was also their blood by connection.
"Oh, I didn't tell you the name of our family, did I? My mistake," Jasmine said softly. "It's the Valemont Family. A Count-rank household of the Dragon Kingdom. Many martial artists have been born from it, earning glory for the kingdom across generations.
"Even your grandfather is nearly at the peak of Stage 3, Acolyte. When you meet him, you'll understand what that level truly means.
"Your father… he had reached Stage 3, Low Acolyte rank after becoming the heir of the Duke family. But alas…" Her voice trailed off as her eyes clouded with memories.
"Mom… Mom! Are you alright?" Rey leaned forward, pulling her back.
Jasmine blinked and smiled faintly. "Sorry, I drifted into my own thoughts. What I mean to say is—when you meet your grandfather, be careful. He has a fiery temper, even from old times. I don't know how he is now, but… don't do anything reckless."
Rey nodded, though his mind was elsewhere.
'So, I'll finally see what a Stage 3 martial artist truly looks like. I still don't know if I can fight someone like that… but no matter what, I'll repay every kindness given to me and my family.'
"Hahahahaha!"
Rey's inner thoughts were cut short as Aiden and Victor's laughter echoed inside his mind.
"You? Helping a Stage 3 martial artist in the future? Hahaha… what a joke!"
"Yes, a fool who doesn't even understand his own family's situation is dreaming big," Victor mocked. "You can't even stand properly now, yet you're talking about paying debts? Laughable."
Rey's jaw tightened, his face darkening with frustration.
'Say whatever you want. One day, I'll prove myself. I'll never go back on my word.'
He clenched his fists and turned away.
"Enough questions for today," Jasmine suddenly cut him off, her tone sharp. "It's almost midnight. Tomorrow is your departure, so get some sleep. Not another word until morning."
She practically pushed him out of the room, ruffling his hair with a light slap before shutting the door.
Rey sighed, rubbing his messy hair. 'I was planning to leave behind a million or two for them to live comfortably, but… it seems that won't be needed anymore.'
Behind him, Aiden's laughter rang again. "Hahaha! Look at him, pretending to be noble, swearing to repay kindness. What a child!"
"Truly pitiful," Victor sneered.
Rey ignored them and rushed back to his room. "I'll prove it. Just wait."
He threw himself on the bed, which felt smaller and tighter every day. Not that it mattered. He was leaving tomorrow.
Closing his eyes, he steadied his breathing. Slowly, his consciousness slipped into the familiar white space.
He had been practising for two days, learning how to enter at will.
But tonight wasn't for training.
His gaze locked on the towering gate in the distance—the one he had always avoided, or more like gate that avoided him.
For some reason, tonight… he felt ready to challenge it again, feeling a call to enter it.
What awaited him beyond was still unknown.
—To be Continued—
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