Meanwhile, word of Heather Frost’s actions had spread like wildfire.
The government, alongside the influential Storm family they were affiliated with, acted swiftly and decisively.
Heather was imprisoned and subjected to a public trial where her role in facilitating the kidnappings and experiments was laid bare.
It was eventually concluded that after a period of imprisonment, she would be subjected to a public execution. The punishment was severe, as both a warning and a statement: treasonous actions of this magnitude would not be tolerated by the empire.
The fallout for the Frost clan was catastrophic. Once a powerful and influential family, they were entirely severed from the Storms. Their businesses collapsed under the weight of the scandal, their allies abandoning them one by one. In a matter of weeks, the Frosts had gone from a position of prestige to the brink of ruin—of course, all of this was in the future.
Despite the losses, there were glimmers of hope. The children, now free of the invasive devices, were recovering slowly but steadily under the combined care of Queen, Kain, and Serena. Cherry, in particular, had begun to show signs of her old self, her innate resilience shining through.
She acted as a natural leader to the other children, and was already up and about assisting Kain and the others with caring for the other children—particularly the grey-haired boy that was kept imprisoned away from the others.
Surprisingly, despite the fact that several days had passed, there was still no sign of him waking.
Moreover, when they were contacting the family members of each of the children to let them know that they’d been rescued and would be returning home once fully healed, they realized that the young boy didn’t seem to have any close family.
His primary guardian was a great-uncle that didn’t even reside in Brightstar City, and simply sent funds to a caretaker for the boy—most of which were embezzled by said caretaker who provided the bare minimum of care and attention to him.
It’s no wonder that Heather quickly identified him as the perfect first target, when he went missing, it wasn’t until several days after his kidnapping when the uncle wished to speak to him that the caretaker reluctantly confessed to his disappearance and reported it to the local authorities.
Once the children were healed physically—which didn’t take too long due to the combined efforts of Queen and Eve—it was almost time to send them back home.
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However, despite their restored health, the memories of the torment they endured hung heavily over them, manifesting in frequent nightmares that Kain and Serena had had to wake and comfort them from during their healing periods.
Therefore, with the consent of all of the children, their memories formed while imprisoned would be scrubbed clean by Bea—even Cherry’s.
They all knew logically that they’d been kidnapped, because that’s what they had been told by everyone around them, but the specific memories of the torture and pain they went through were completely gone—even from their subconscious.
Following the erasure, the haunted looks in their eyes were replaced with tentative smiles. The memories of the ordeal—the cries, the cutting, the suffocating fear—were gone.
——— freēwēbηovel.c૦m
The sun shining down seemed to reflect the positive moods of the soon-to-be reunited family members.
Thankfully, Kain and Serena did not have to escort every child home—that task was assigned to the local guards.
Kain walked beside Cherry as they approached the orphanage, her steps quicker than usual. “Do you think they’ll all be waiting?” she asked, her voice a mix of hope and apprehension.
“They’ve been waiting for you every day since you went missing,” Kain said with a reassuring smile. “They’ll be over the moon to see you.”
As they rounded the corner, the orphanage came into view. The front yard was bustling with life, unlike the last time Kain had been there. The children, Bridge, the director, and even their neighbours all stood in a line with nervous anticipation as they waited for Cherry.
They were all holding small confetti poppers, balloons, or banners with a welcoming message for Cherry, but whatever exclamation they had collectively planned to shout out together went down the drain as soon as Cherry’s siblings spotted her—their world seemed to pause.
“Cherry!” Bridge, the eldest of the group, was the first to shout as he launched his massive body towards her and picked her up in a hug. His cry was a signal for the others to join. Milo and Jasper rushed out next, followed by Jasmine, Key, Parker, Sunny, Charlie, and the youngest, Melody.
They surrounded Cherry in a flurry of hugs, tears, and overlapping voices.
“We missed you so much!” “Are you okay?” “You’re really back!”
Cherry laughed, her voice breaking slightly. “I missed all of you too.”
The orphanage director stood on the porch, his face streaked with tears. “Thank you,” he whispered to Kain and Serena as they approached. “Thank you for bringing her home.”
After the tearful reunion between Cherry and the others, Kain motioned for one of his Vespids to carefully bring out the unconscious grey-haired boy. The moment drew everyone’s attention, curiosity and concern mingling in their faces.
“Who’s that?” the director asked gently.
Kain sighed, his gaze heavy. “His name is Gabriel. He doesn’t have anywhere else to go, and…” He paused, choosing his words carefully and keeping his explanation vague to avoid scaring the children. “And he still hasn’t been fully healed…therefore he will be staying with me until I can find a solution.”
“We will be staying here for now, but if he still can’t be fully healed by the time we need to head back to college, I will have to take him with me. Thankfully I have my own lab on campus and should be able to provide better care for him there.”
———————-
Kain and Bridge spent the remainder of their vacation at the orphanage bonding with their family, while Serena headed back to the Storm estate with some relatives who had come to the southern region to deal with the Frosts.
Although he was grateful for her help, he was more relieved to see her leave—Cherry had not stopped making suggestive innuendos or teasing remarks about the two of them since they’d returned and he couldn’t stand it anymore!
It was finally the date for them to leave in order to get back to the college in time for the start of school.
Thankfully, due to his contribution to the college’s representative team, they arranged for him to teleport back to Dark Moon City, so he could spend an extra few days with his family.
The children waved goodbye from the porch, their laughter filling the air. Cherry stood beside her siblings, her smile radiant.
“Come back soon, Kain!” she called out.
Kain raised a hand in acknowledgment, his heart lighter than it had been since he’d first arrived home, before turning to leave with Bridge and a new small addition to his life in Dark Moon City.