The portal opened in the middle of his room just like usual, and Erend stepped out of it with a blank expression and a whirlwind of emotions twisting inside his chest.
At this hour, his mother was preparing lunch, and the comforting aroma drifted all the way into his room.
This was the human world. The quiet, normal, and painfully peaceful world. Far from the commotion of the other world or in the facility far away from this city.
He stepped out of his room and walked toward the kitchen with a kind of desperate eagerness.
Of all the chaos surrounding him now, of all the impossible problems he carried, holding his mother again was the one thing that could keep him grounded.
His mother, who had already sensed his presence the moment he returned, didn't look surprised when he suddenly appeared at the door.
She turned toward the kitchen doorway and greeted him with a gentle, warm smile only a mother could give.
