Chapter 23: Falling in the cold

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Venti slowly took a step forward towards the building in front of him

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Venti slowly took a step forward towards the building in front of him. He was standing right outside Father's house.

He took a breath and moved forward with a look of determination in his eyes.

He entered the house which had an odd absence of lights. It was dark although the sun had not yet set outside. He went up the stairs into the 1st floor which had only one big room at the very edge.

He knocked on the door.

"The door is open", a voice spoke. It was Father's voice. A voice that Venti could recognize from miles away.

He pushed the door open and it creaked.

Father was sitting in the center of the room on his chair and there was nothing in the room except for that chair and a few boxes piled up at the edges of the room.

He smiled on seeing Venti at the door.

"Why simply stand there by dear child? Come in. This room is nothing new to you now... is it?"

Venti didn't reply back.

But he went in the room. The moment he entered, the door behind him shut down on it's own with a loud noise.

"Come come. Dont fear that. This house has been getting old afterall. But the circus will soon be moving to Sumeru. So what point Is there in repairing this old mess."

Venti stood still in front of Father.

He smiled at Venti and stood up. "Here, have a seat"

"No... I am fine.", Venti said finally.

"Oh? Ahh... children really grow up fast dont they. There was once a time...", he continued as he slowly walked in circles around Venti. "A time when you used to listen to everything I said. That was two years ago. Back then you used to blindly believe me. Haha... time flies dont you agree?", He stopped walking and kept his hand on Venti's shoulder.

"Is that all you wanted to say?", Venti asked with a certain coldness in his voice.

Father gave a smile yet again.

"What's the hurry? Dont we have a lot to catch up on? Let me hear how your recent days have been. Afterall  quite a bit happened between a few members of the Circus"

"How did you know about them?", Venti questioned back and looked directly at Father.

"How can I not know. I know my children better than anyone"

"No. That's not how it works. This game of family that we've been playing all this time... is it really just a game? That's the only thing I wanna know. And that is exactly why I am here Father", Venti asked with a fearless voice.

Father did not reply back immediately. He stood up straight and spoke,"What kind of question is that Venti?..."

His grip on Venti's shoulder became harder.

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