Irene’s POV
I kept crying my eyes out. For the first time, my dad hugged me like when I was still a kid. Ah, how I missed this kind of endearment for years. It is comforting somehow. I wiped my tears away, then I freed myself from my father’s tight hug. I stared at my parents with wide eyes after that. As usual, mom’s face is the same. She is stoic as always and she never minded me. Ah, what did I expect? She’s the same as always. Did I actually expect that, somehow, she would miss me while I was gone?
“I have been training, dad…” I whispered in answer to my father’s question.
“Huh?” dad was unable to hide his surprised reaction.
“I have been polishing my skills…” I tried to explain.
“Skills in what?!” mom answered with anger. “Is it more important than what I was doing to you befo
