Chapter 828: The Father’s Palace
The door of the house opened slowly.
The warm light of the house’s lamps fell on the wooden floor, and the quiet smell of food that had not yet lost its warmth flowed through the silent space.
Daniel stood there for a few moments.
"It’s been a while since I’ve smelled this," he smiled. The enticing smell of the incredible food his mother cooked.
At his level, eating was no longer necessary for survival. His body simply didn’t need such things. But he still ate for the delicious taste and that enjoyable experience.
And aside from fried chicken, it was his mother’s cooking that tempted him.
The quiet sound of plates came from the kitchen. A few seconds later, Liana came out of the kitchen.
She had a small cloth in her hand and was apparently busy setting the dinner table. When her gaze fell on Daniel, she was neither shocked nor in a hurry.
She just stared at her son’s face for a few seconds, then a faint smile settled on her lips.
"This time, it took too long."
Daniel quietly closed the door and glanced briefly at the house.
"It was a bit more troublesome than the previous ones." Then he answered very quietly.
His mother had only returned an hour ago, but without wasting any time, she had already started cooking dinner. She didn’t even rest and went straight to cooking for her son.
Liana didn’t say anything, just stared at his face for a few moments, as if enjoying seeing her son’s face, or simply missing him.
"You remind me of your father. You’re looking more and more like him every day," she chuckled.
Daniel sighed. Even though his mother laughed, he knew that deep in her heart, she wasn’t happy. After all, she had lost her husband almost like this.
Liana just went back to the kitchen and prepared two cups of tea. A few minutes later, they were sitting across from each other.
The yellow light of the lamps fell on the quiet steam of the tea, and a strange silence flowed between them.
Finally, Daniel got straight to the point.
"Why did you go to Santcis?"
Liana wrapped her hands around her cup, staring at the tea’s surface for a few seconds. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to explain; rather, she seemed to be searching for the right words.
"To pick up something." Then she said quietly.
"Something that belonged to your father."
For the first time since the conversation began, Daniel’s gaze changed slightly. He didn’t know much about his father, only what had happened to him, who his father was, and where he probably was now.
But that was it. He didn’t know any details, and his mother never went into details and tried to avoid it.
"What was it?"
Liana took a small box out of her pocket. It was an old box, made of dark wood, with silver metal reinforcing its corners.
She slowly placed it on the table.
Daniel opened the box. Inside was a key. But not an ordinary key. It was made of black metal with silver veins like lightning moving across its surface.
Its body was covered with symbols that even with Daniel’s knowledge of laws and divinity, he could not recognize.
The moment his gaze fixed on the key, the white divinity deep within his being rippled slightly.
It was a small ripple, but it was enough to show that this key was made of something very special. Something so special that even his divinity reacted to it.
How could such a thing be in his mother’s possession?
"What... is this?" Daniel asked quietly.
"The key to your father’s palace." Liana’s gaze fixed on the key.
"Palace?" He was taken aback and a bit surprised. He hadn’t expected his father to have a palace!
He had asked about his father for years, but he had never once heard the word palace.
Liana nodded slowly.
"Before your father disappeared, he left a place behind. He never said anything about the details."
"Just once... when you were still a child... he gave me this key."
Her voice grew quieter.
"He said, ’If someday Daniel becomes strong enough... give this to him.’"
The room fell into silence again. Daniel didn’t take his gaze off the key.
Various reasons appeared in his mind, but unfortunately, he didn’t have enough information to form a complete argument about which was right and which was wrong.
"Where was this key all this time?" He didn’t remember their previous house having a safe or a secure place.
So where had this key been all along that even he hadn’t been able to notice it or find it?
"With a custodian." Liana answered without pause.
Daniel raised his head.
"Custodian?"
"In a bank."
"You put something this important in a bank?" Daniel felt he had misheard. Who puts such an important thing in a bank?
Besides, what if his father’s enemies were looking for this key? Wouldn’t they find it easily that way?
"What place is safer than that?" But Liana just smiled.
"Everyone thinks great treasures must be hidden in ancient crypts or secret palaces."
"No one looks for something like this in the middle of an ordinary bank."
Then she paused briefly.
"Besides, that man... was an old friend of your father’s."
Daniel nodded slowly. It was logical. Sometimes the best hiding place was where no one would even suspect.
But the problem was that this key was made of special materials that might be one of a kind. Ordinary Awakened might not notice anything, but the powerful ones would surely realize this key was special.
"So why did you bring it now? Did you decide the time had come?" But another question was troubling his mind.
"Of course not. It’s impossible that I would bring something this dangerous for you of my own will, even if your father said so! I brought it because that man said he could no longer keep it." Liana’s smile faded.
"Why?" Daniel sharpened his gaze. He didn’t pay attention to the first part of his mother’s words because that was just her personality.
Liana was silent for a few seconds.
Then she said very quietly:
"He said a few weeks ago, someone came looking for that key. It seemed they had realized the key was somewhere in that area, but they hadn’t been able to find the exact location."
"He went to your father’s friend, and your father’s friend managed to mislead him."
"Any information on who it was?" Daniel frowned.
"I don’t know." Liana shook her head.
"He just said they were wearing black clothes, and on their hand... they had a strange mark."
Daniel looked at the key again, then slowly reached out and took it.
At that moment, the world around him vanished for a fraction of a second. He was no longer inside the house. A massive hall stood before him, columns rising into the darkness of the sky.
Walls of black stone with golden lines shining on them.
At the end of the hall, a large throne stood.
But it was empty.
Only one person stood there.
A tall man, his back to Daniel, a dark robe draped over his shoulders. Without turning around, he just stood there.
The image disappeared as quickly as it had come.
Daniel found himself back inside the house. Liana had risen from her seat, worried.
"What happened?"
Daniel stared at the key for a few seconds.
As if he could still see that hall.
"Nothing." Then he said very quietly.
"The key should stay with you, but please be careful not to do anything dangerous." Then his mother nodded and rose from her seat.
"I’m a bit too tired. I’ve made your dinner." And before saying goodnight, she hugged her son.
When Liana went to her room to rest, the house fell into silence again.
Daniel sat alone by the table. He had the key, but where was the palace?
Besides, he was a bit doubtful that "his father’s friend" had managed to mislead the person looking for the key.
But that wasn’t the important thing right now. The more important question was: what did this key and that palace hide? What had his father left for him in that palace?
