Return of the General's Daughter
Chapter 135: Confrontation

Chapter 135: Confrontation

As soon as the words were spoken, the room fell into a silence so profound that one could hear a pin drop. Although the Norse siblings had already learned from Asael that their sister was alive, hearing it directly from him while she stood in front of them brought a whirlwind of complicated emotions — joy, confusion, doubt, and suspicion.

Lara’s accusing gaze bore into Asael. Didn’t he promise not to tell anyone of her identity?

Asael lowered his gaze, his heart racing. He felt guilty; he had promised to keep her secret but had broken it.

"You came here with the identity of Kane Mendel, a man and not a woman. Who wouldn’t doubt your intention, Mr. Mendel?" Odin spoke with the authority befitting that of a general. His gaze lingered over Lara’s face, and she noticed it softened. But when she blinked and looked again, his gaze returned to that of the stern commander.

General Odin’s thoughts were complicated. He dared to hope that his daughter was alive, but he was scared that, indeed, it was a ploy of his enemies who wanted him destroyed. If that happened, then his family would even be more devastated; his wife and he would have no way to recover.

Lara understood where they were coming from. She had studied psychology and psychiatry. She knew how to read faces, how to tell when people were overly cautious, and when to tell when people played mind games. She would be as skeptical as them if she were in their shoes.

But still, she felt a little disappointed. Only Asael and Bener seemed excited to have their sister back. Was it because she spent time with them?

She lowered her gaze, and when she looked up, her face was a mask of indifference. It was the same face she wore when she faced her father, mother, and siblings after she embraced the truth that she, the eldest daughter, the chosen one to carry out the vendetta, would always be regarded as a dead person in the family.

Asael panicked when he saw the shift in Lara’s facial expression. He felt that if he did not do anything, he would lose his sister forever. He scrambled and pushed Galahad away. The force caused him to wince in pain.

Lara’s forehead creased when she noticed the amount of force Asael exerted.

"Your internal wounds are still healing, Lieutenant. Please do not force yourself and exert effort." Lara spoke formally in Kane Mendel’s voice, as a doctor would.

Asael stiffened. His face turned ugly.

"Lara, Sis." He spoke breathlessly. "I am sorry for breaking my promise. I was wrong. I should have prepared them first. I am just worried that people will take advantage of you, and have no one to protect you."

Lara’s face softened. She liked this eldest brother of hers. He was worth the effort of the sleepless nights she spent dragging him away from death’s door. But then she hardened her resolve. The time for her to return to the original host’s family — her new family, has not yet come. If they were this cautious to doubt the resurgence of the family member that they doted so much in the past, there must be a compelling reason behind it.

Her gaze shifted to General Odin, her back straight and her head held high. "General, I have come to Hainai to deliver a message that your General Kromwel risked his life getting. He did this because none of his soldiers were capable of doing so at that time due to injuries they sustained. I could not arrive there flaunting my femininity; wouldn’t that invite trouble for myself?"

She paused, scanning the men in the room; her gaze lingered a moment longer on Galahad. Reya had told her that the brothers who doted on her the most were Asael and Galahad, as they were old enough to watch her grow up. Galahad was stronger than Asael, which made him the one willing to act as her pony. He was also the one who taught her archery and swimming, since Asael had been sickly during his childhood.

"I am glad that I lost all my memories after someone hit my head and the human traffickers took us; if not, wouldn’t I be heartbroken now?" Lara spoke without masking her voice.

Gasps were heard from the brothers as they stared at Lara, their eyes bulging.

"Reya had always comforted me, saying, ’Miss, your father would surely look for us.’ but days went by and turned to years, and no one looked for us." She had a mocking smile on her lips. At the corner of her eyes, she saw the hurt in Asael’s face and the knuckles that turned white from clenching.

"Sis, we didn’t know... we thought ... I explained it to you last time." Asael did not look like a commander of the elite Eagle Force at that time. He resembled a lost puppy.

Her gaze drifted back to General Odin. "I overheard that they intended to sell me to Turik once we crossed the borders of Zura; thankfully, I was able to escape."

She dropped a bomb, and General Odin’s vision darkened. He felt a sharp pain in his chest, and his legs felt like jelly. He grasped the edge of the table for support. He opened his mouth, but no words came out.

Lara’s gaze turned gentle when she spoke to Asael. "Don’t worry, Asael, I can take care of myself. Worry about yourself. Your body needed three months for you to fully recover. You can only protect me if your body is fully healed."

She glanced fleetingly at the other men in the room, who were frozen on the spot. "If nothing else, I am leaving."

Lara left the room without looking back.

The moment the door closed, Asael threw a punch at Galahad. However, he was still in pain, and his punch was weak.

"It is your fault, Galahad. Why do you have to question her like that? Did you know how I learned that she is our sister?"

Galahad, who had still not recovered from Lara’s words, stood there stiffly. He was the most cunning among his siblings, but at that moment, his brain cells seemed to have been all frozen, refusing to work.

"I was dying, trapped in the darkness in an endless void. Then, a soft, gentle voice whispered in my ears, telling me that she was Lara, my sister, that she had survived and I should survive too, and that I still needed to dote on her. The voice was persistent, and it was the one that guided me from the darkness into the light, and I woke up from my coma."

Galahad fell on his knees, his hands covering his face. "I am sorry. I didn’t know. I was a fool to doubt her. I am sorry." The hardened lieutenant known to have the greatest self-control sobbed.