CHAPTER 169: DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TWINS

She didn’t even say anything.

Just grimaced, dramatically, like she’d uncovered forbidden knowledge.

"Hey!" Riven slapped her hand away and turned an even deeper shade of pink. "You’re the one who keeps inhaling instant ramen, guzzling soda, and watching trashy shows all day during our off-hours, but I’m the one who picks up the weight?! The world is so damn unfair!"

Nyx giggled and leaned forward suggestively, replanting her own two big breasts on Kaiden’s head, her hands still gently working his shoulders as she declared, "Don’t worry, Riven. Men with actual good taste like a little extra softness on their women..."

Then she glanced slyly at Luna and added with a smirk, "...A little more meat to grip onto and suckle on to their heart’s content, you know?"

Luna snorted at the obvious jab and responded by immediately flashing a middle finger into the air toward Nyx without looking, the classic Storm Valkyrie response.

Kaiden chuckled at the entire exchange, loving how naturally the chaos flowed between the new additions and his beloved Valkyries. Somehow, in a very dysfunctional way, it all just worked. His girls were already working on getting the rather closed-off Riven to open up, while Rae seemed like a party girl who would not struggle one bit in finding her place among his admittedly similarly somewhat quirky gals.

Satisfied, he leaned back into the plush couch, enjoying the view of the half-naked siblings bickering while his girls settled into the environment like they’d lived there forever.

The mood was light, the air full of banter and teasing... until Aria suddenly slapped her thighs with a sharp smack that echoed through the room.

Her beautiful, silvery eyes turned urgent.

"Wait! What about my family?"

Everyone paused, turning to look at her as she abruptly sat up straighter on Kaiden’s lap.

"I mean... If we’re being moved to a literal defensive bunker because there’s such a grave potential threat to us, then what about them? My mom, my sister, my little brother... They’d be the easiest way to get to me, and therefore to all of us!" she exclaimed, panic rising in her voice with each passing moment. "What if someone already...?!"

Without waiting, she sprang off Kaiden’s lap and practically sprinted toward the hallway, right in the comms room’s direction.

"I need to call Grace! I need to know if they’re okay!"

But before she could disappear out of sight, Riven’s voice rang out.

"I’ll contact her for you."

Aria paused mid-stride as Riven tapped her tablet, already in motion. Her fingers moved deftly across the glowing screen, navigating through several encrypted channels. Her glasses reflected layers of data streaming by in polished lines of code. Within seconds, a soft ping sounded as a secured connection stabilized, and Grace’s voice flowed from the speakers in that always-polished, faintly exasperated tone:

"Unless you or your wonderful sister have already set something on fire, what’s the emergency?"

Riven adjusted her glasses with a small push of her finger. "Negative. Aria Levander is concerned about the safety arrangements regarding her family members."

A pause came from the other end of the line.

Then a long, quiet sigh from Grace.

"...Of course she is."

There was a rustle on the other end. Grace sounded like she was massaging her temples.

"Well... Before we could arrange official extraction for the Levander family, they were... ’acquired’ by a certain individual."

Kaiden’s eyes narrowed. Aria gasped with both of her hands flying to her mouth, her heart almost having stopped right then and there.

Grace continued, unaware of the extreme panic she’d just caused with her poorly chosen words. "A certain Shadow Monarch decided to get involved before we could. She relocated Aria’s mother, sister, and younger brother to her personal villa. She extended a very firm—read: non-negotiable—’invitation’."

Aria blinked, the rapid beating of her overworked heart lessening slightly. "Vespera...?"

"Correct," Grace said, sighing again. "The chairman tried to move them into neutral protection zones, but the Shadow Monarch wasn’t... open to discussion. She said, and I quote, ’I’d like to spend quality bonding time with my fellow future mother-in-law. She seems like a lovely woman. I also need to work on my public image; everyone keeps calling me a stone-faced murder machine, so maybe some normal human interaction will help.’"

For a moment, nobody spoke.

Then Aria slowly exhaled a massive breath of relief and dropped to her knees, pressing a hand to her heart.

"Oh, thank God..." she murmured. "If they’re with Vespera, then it’s all good... That woman could make a demon lord piss himself with a mere look. I trust her way more with my loved one’s protection than any random corrupt government agent."

"..." Grace remained silent upon hearing Aria’s statement.

Kaiden smiled, planting Luna on the armrest before standing to raise Aria into a princess hold and returning to the sofa. Once comfortably seated, he resumed stroking her and Luna’s thighs as he said, "She’ll protect them as if they were her own. You don’t have to worry."

But Rae and Riven?

The strange pair of sisters had gone still. Silent. Both looked like they’d just swallowed a live grenade.

Their eyes darted from the screen to Kaiden.

Then to each other.

Then back to Kaiden again.

And then, slowly, they turned their necks in sync toward him, blinking furiously, minds racing to catch up to what they’d just heard.

Finally, in perfect unison, they gasped:

"The Shadow Monarch is your mother?!"

Kaiden couldn’t help but smirk amusedly at the synchronized shriek from the twins. The name Vespera Ashborn carried quite the meaning with it.

He leaned back into Nyx’s comforting hands with Aria and Luna still curled in his arms, and stroked their sensual thighs affectionately.

"Yeah..." he revealed without wanting to hide anything, knowing the gov was already painfully aware of his identity, grinning from ear to ear.

He then continued with a wry expression, "But while I might’ve popped out of that woman’s womb... Let’s just say our relationship is ’a bit’ complicated."

"..."