Lys stood just inside the doorway. He could already feel it; he was about to sit down in front of all of them, whether he wanted to or not. The weight of their attention settled on him like a heavy blanket. He could see the questions in their eyes, the mix of concern, curiosity, and mild disapproval.
Elara was the first to speak. She pointed at the chair across from her with a calm but firm gesture.
"Sit down, Lys."
Hearing the heavy tone in her voice, which he hadn't heard before, he obeyed without any argument and lowered himself carefully into the chair, wincing a little as his ribs protested. The wooden seat creaked under his weight.
The warmth from the stove filled the room, mixing with the smell of fresh bread and herbal tea, which Elara might've made just before Lys arrived. Sara, Mira, and Mitsu arranged themselves around the table with an energy that screamed that they had been waiting for hours to say their piece and had already organized their thoughts.
It wasn't a shouting match. It was calmer, more effective, and somehow more relentless.
Elara spoke first, her voice even and direct. "You went into the forest alone without telling anyone. You stayed past dark without sending any word. We had no idea where you were until Vessa brought you back half-dead."
Mira jumped in right after, leaning forward on the chair with her arms crossed. "Yeah, you came back broken in three places, and nobody knew where you were. But just when you woke up, you immediately walked to the guild before you were even steady on your feet. And then you walked outside the village walls to visit that grieving woman? Without telling any one of us? Do you have any idea how worried we all were? And now we hear from Sara, you want to bring another woman into the house without even asking us first?"
Mitsu stayed quiet, but she nodded along; her eyes said she also agreed with what Mira said, as she fidgeted with the edge of her sleeve.
Lys sat through it all, looking at the table. He had no real counter-arguments for most of it; they were saying as if he knew it, he was wrong. He nodded his head slowly. "Yes… I know. I should have told you guys about it before going outside the village."
Elara was quiet while Mira was speaking now. But as Lys acknowledged his fault, she simply looked at him with tired eyes and said, "When I heard you were missing, I didn't know how to finish the next hour. You shouldn't be like that, Lys. We worry about you. Every time you go outside, we will be at the house worrying about you. And when you make decisions like these on your own, we feel like we are losing you, Lys."
Although her voice was quieter, that one sentence at last landed harder than anything else. Lys felt it in his chest. He looked down at the table and stayed silent; the guilt settled deep in his heart.
When the group had made its case and the room had gone quiet, Selene spoke, finally.
"Uhh, guys," she said gently, looking around the table, "I know Lys did all of these without consulting us, but still… what he did isn't wrong itself, right?"
Mira turned to her with a frown. "We know what he did isn't wrong, but still, he shouldn't be reckless like that. He should think before going into a dangerous forest at dark that his family is waiting for him. He should think more about the consequences before doing those reckless stunts. He could have died back there, seriously. I know going over to that woman or even thinking about asking her to come live with us wasn't wrong, because if it was wrong, inviting Mitsu would be a mistake too. Which clearly isn't. I know he does those things thinking about others, but we, his family, want what's best for him first. We want him safely returned to us. Shouldn't he prioritize that first? We feel like if he goes on like this, he will seriously die…"
Mira couldn't finish that last sentence. Her voice cracked. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she started sobbing quietly, shoulders shaking.
Elara immediately reached over and pulled her daughter into a gentle hug, rubbing her back soothingly.
"It's okay, honey," Elara whispered. "He understands."
Everyone around the room looked at each other. Especially at Lys. Lys felt his guilt grow with each of their stare.
After Mira calmed down a little, Elara looked at Lys with a tired but resolute expression. She knew how he was. Even after everything that had happened tonight, he might not change and would still go on missions if he thought he could save people or help others. That was just who he was. There was no changing it.
So, as the elder in this family, she had come to a decision.
"From now on," Elara said firmly, her voice carrying the weight of finality as she looked straight into Lys's eyes, "Lys won't be an adventurer. And that is final."
The words fell like a stone into still water.
The room went completely silent.
Lys felt the impact hit him hard in the chest. He stared at Elara, his mouth slightly open, unable to speak for a moment. The idea of not being an adventurer, of giving up the growth, felt like someone had just taken away the only purpose he had found in this new world.
Mira stopped sobbing and looked up at her mother with wide, shocked eyes. She also hadn't expected this. Sara's hands froze mid-motion, thinking all of this had happened because of her. Mitsu leaned on the wall beside her slowly; her expression was serious but not surprised. She somehow expected this resolution from Elara way before everybody else.
Elara didn't raise her voice while saying that. She didn't need to. Even though quiet, her words had a steady and absolute weight to them.
"I've thought about this carefully. I can't keep watching you come home broken and bleeding every time you go on a mission. I can't keep wondering every time you leave whether this will be the day you don't come back. You are the core member of this family, Lys. If we lose you, we won't be the same. So, as the elder here, I'm telling you, no more adventuring."
Lys sat there, the weight of her decision pressing down on him. He wanted to argue. But looking at Elara's tired, determined face, and seeing the actual fear and love behind her words, he couldn't find the right words to say.
And just like that, the household matter had just become much heavier than he expected.