When love could no longer be loved, when tears could no longer be shed, when he melted his father's cold heart, when the father's love he longed for returned to him, he no longer needed or desired it.
When he put the dagger on his father's neck, he said, once a teacher, always a father.
Is it because the father's love came too late, or because his heart is dead? If he were asked to make a new decision now, he might choose not to go back again, and maybe his heart wouldn't hurt like this.