He'd returned because of the fact he had left his daughter here, all by herself. He'd won the wars that Viserys, his father, had sent him out, not so much as thinking about the fact he did have a daughter he should be taking care of, guilt sat in his soul for leaving her for seven years... she would be 12. The girl had lost her mother only months after he'd left. Viserys had promised he could come back and then told him to stay, disregarding Aemond and his daughter's feelings.

He should've been back despite his father's wishes but every time he thought that far, he was reminded with the fact he was always trying to get his father's praise. His mother had kept telling him that it would all be over soon. It wasn't but he was finally back.

His daughter had stopped writing to him, because he stopped responding and he really started to feel like an asshole. Towards the end of the war, he would write small letters to her, but he never got a response from her. She didn't deserve such a shitty family... he just hoped they were treating her well... like how they treated Rhaenyra's children.