Chapter 61 – Ren Sinclair

Dawn’s first light streamed through the windows of the Schubert mansion. Golden rays illuminated a room thick with nerves.

Ada paced across the hall again and again, as if every step might bring the news she longed for. Her breath was shallow, her hands trembling. Even Opera’s masks were gone, crumbling into ashes that scattered with the wind.

Luisina, calmer on the surface, couldn’t hide the tension coiled in her shoulders. That false composure only unsettled the paladin further.

At the window, Emilia Sinclair stood still as a statue, her gaze fixed on the horizon. Meanwhile, Mia and Nia hurried in and out without rest, carrying tea, blankets—anything that might ease the wait.

Finally, Emilia’s voice broke the silence. Calm. Steady. As cold and firm as ice.

“Trust Ren.” She turned her head slightly toward Ada. “He has never failed anyone… and I don’t believe he’ll start now.”

Ada froze mid-step. She swallowed hard, that woman’s certainty piercing straight through her chest.

“I… I don’t know what to say…” she whispered, lowering her eyes.

“He’s alive,” Emilia declared, her voice so resolute it hardly seemed human. “I can feel it. I’m his mother.”

The words spread through the room like a balm. Ada opened her mouth to reply, but then a creak shattered the stillness.

The mansion’s front door opened slowly. The hinges groaned, as though the world itself held its breath.

And there he was.

“Honey… I’m home,” Ren murmured, exhausted, leaning on his katana as if it were a cane.

His steps were unsteady, every movement an effort. The executioner’s mask was gone—what remained was only a man who had challenged hell itself and returned alive.

Ada ran to him and threw her arms around his chest, burying her face against him.

“Welcome home… my love,” she whispered through her tears.

Ren’s lips curved into a weary smile.

“Don’t squeeze so tight… even my bones hurt,” he joked weakly. But Ada didn’t let go. Not for a second.

The others began to gather around, holding back tears and smiles.

“See?” Emilia’s voice cracked with pride. “Didn’t I tell you? My son never fails. Isn’t that right, Ren?”

He stumbled toward her and pulled her into an embrace, as if an eternity had passed since the last time.

“I’m back, Mother.”

The silence that followed was heavy, charged with unspoken emotion. Then, after a moment, Ren lifted his eyes. A strange calm flickered within them.

“Mother… there’s someone I want you to meet.”

He drew his katana and slashed the air. The blade tore open a dimensional rift, rippling like a liquid mirror.

“Luisina… would you do me the honor of bringing Yura here?”

The Yuki bowed her head lightly.

“As you wish, my lord. Say no more.”

She stepped into the portal without hesitation—and returned moments later.

From the light of the rift came a figure running, white hair streaming like snow in the wind. Yura emerged with Yukina in her arms, eyes shimmering with tears, heart racing.

“Ren!”

Time seemed to stop. The child reached out her tiny hands toward him, and for the first time since the battle began, Ren allowed himself to break.

He embraced his first wife and his daughter.

“I’m here, Yura… it’s finally over.”

Then he lifted Yukina up, smiling in a way that erased every scar from his face, and turned toward his mother.

“Mother… this is Yukina. Our daughter.”

Emilia accepted the child into her arms, wonder in her eyes as she stroked her granddaughter’s cheeks.

“What a precious little one my son kept hidden from me…” she whispered, tears glistening.

Ren lowered his head.

“I’m sorry, Mom. I didn’t want to say anything until everything was over.”

Yura bowed as well, apologetic.

“Please forgive us…”

“Don’t worry,” Emilia replied, serene, her voice moving them to the core. “I imagine you had your reasons.”

Ren then took Ada’s hand and placed it gently on her own stomach.

“And soon… she’ll have a younger sister,” he added with a tired smile.

Ada lowered her head, holding him tighter in silence.

Ren looked around at them all, peace on his face unlike anything he had ever shown as Phantom.

“No more secrets. No more missions. At last… it’s finished.”

He wrapped his arms around Yura and Ada together, sealing that moment as the beginning of a new life.

And so, Phantom vanished forever… and Ren Sinclair was finally free to live.