Lykea was still amused about Ren's story…
"Well, it sounds like he only missed an important daughter from the Goldcrest house!" Lykea hollered cheerfully, mentally ticking off the kingdom's high noble inventory.
That specific, wildly inappropriate observation actually managed to break the tension. A chorus of genuine laughter erupted from Sirius and Luna despite the heavy emotion of the moment.
It was even more hilarious to Luna.
But they had spent far too long inside this soundproof bubble, so the rest of the kingdom's sprawling history and the Goldcrest fall could be delivered to Lykea at a much slower, calmer pace later, preferably when she wasn't fresh out of a crystal tomb, and when Ren wasn't currently the color of a dying star.
When the tears finally subsided and the breathing leveled out, Ren managed to expertly slither his way out of the crushing embrace and the avalanche of gratitude.
