Leegaain had actually failed to consider the Griffon-Dragon Lith hypothesis and it made him shudder.
A being capable of using both Origin Flames and Life Maelstrom would have been a potential threat to the balance.
"We must call Tyris and inform her immediately!" Salaark activated the mind link between them before Leegaain could stop her.
"Don't! I- We-"
"Salaark, to what I owe the pleasure of- Mogar almighty! I can never unsee that!" Tyris didn't like the image of her best friends stark naked and covered in sweat that popped in front of her eyes.
"Stop being such a prude. We've seen each other naked plenty of times." Salaark laughed her ass off.
"While bathing in thermal springs, not while exchanging fluids! What's Leegaain doing there and naked at that?" Tyris asked.
"Well, you see, when a man and a woman like each other-" Salaark made a circle with the index and thumb of her left hand while bringing the index of the right inside of it, but Tyris cut off the conversation before the Overlord could finish her sentence.
***
Village of Lutia, Lith's house, after the end of the dinner.
Despite their boastful claims, the kids fell asleep before the grown-ups were done clearing up the table. Between the pleasant warmth of the fireplace and the softness of the fur of their magical beast friends, tiredness closed their eyes without them even noticing.
"Is it safe to leave the kids alone?" Rena bit her lower lip out of stress.
"Since when are they alone? One magical beast in each bedroom, three Phoenixes, one Abomination wolf-thingy, and three squads of the Queen's corps stand guard outside 24/7." Lith said with a scoff.
"Even Balkor would rather kill himself than try to attack us here."
Everyone felt reassured by those words, remembering how much those godlike creatures seemed to care for the children.
Lith opened a Warp Gate leading in a random direction, Warping around a few more times, always relaxing the space behind them to keep people from following their path.
The last dimensional door led them in front of the clearing in the Trawn woods where the mana geyser waited for its master.
"Guys, this is where I fought the Wither alongside Protector and the other Kings of the woods." He said to explain why the vegetation was so thin and only young trees grew there.
Even after years from the fight, there wasn't enough food to sustain wildlife, making the area as empty and silent as a natural graveyard.
"This is terrifying, but how is it related to Kamila?" Rena asked.
Lith took off his stone ring, showing it for a second to his family before throwing it on the ground. The ruined Tower of Menadion rose up slowly, taking the appearance of the four-story building that Kamila had seen just a few days back.
Everyone stared at it in awe and amazement, almost too stunned to notice that someone among them didn't share their feelings.
Almost.
"Let me guess." Raaz said to Tista. "You already knew about it, correct?"
"Correct." She nodded. "And so does Nalrond, Protector, Selia, and the Ernas sisters."
Lith's relatives inhaled sharply, each one of them had a hard time not feeling hurt for his lack of trust and not expressing their outrage for knowing about it last.
"Seriously? You told Nalrond but not your own mother?" Elina had tried her best being understanding, but that was too much even for her.
"What Tista has failed to mention is that I told her only because otherwise she would have died of Awakening. The same happened for Phloria after I rescued her from the Feymar mines. I couldn't let them die so I had to tell them.
"Nalrond knows about it because we hid in the tower while running away from Dawn. As for Protector, after my attempt at saving his life, he shares all of my memories, remember?" Lith said with a sigh.
"It sort of makes sense, but only sort of. It still doesn't explain why Kamila broke up with you nor why you didn't tell us sooner." Raaz said. "To be honest, learning about important stuff after your girlfriend pains my father's heart."
"I told Kamila first because, if you knew, you would've given me such a hard time that she couldn't possibly miss it. Now please get in. The answer to all your questions is waiting for you and this is no metaphor." Lith said while opening the door for them.
Inside, the circular carpet had been updated once again, showing in its last panel the coming of the Verhen family.
"It's bigger on the inside!" They said in unison, gasping at the wide space around them.
Even the tower's lobby was bigger than the first floor of their house.
"Guys, this is Elphyn Althena Menadion, but she will always be Solus to me. She's my life-long partner, my other half, and my best friend." Lith waved at the stairs that lead to the first floor of the tower.
Solus came down slowly, hoping that by making a different entrance she would also obtain a different outcome. She still felt terrible for the break-up and feared that by revealing her existence, Lith might ruin his relationship with his family as well.
What everyone saw walking down the stairs was a golden fairy that looked like a creature out of one of the stories that Lith projected for the kids.
Solus looked like a short woman, about 1.54 meters (5'1") tall, made of golden energy, and with long golden hair that floated in the air as if she floated underwater. She wore a simple deep blue mage robe over a shirt and pants.
She had chosen clothes that resembled Lith's Archmage robe to both emphasize their bond and stress out that their relationship was more about business than romance.
At least so far.
Solus didn't want them to think that Lith had cheated on any of his girlfriends nor to be blamed for his unsuccessful love life.
"Solus, you already know everyone. She's been with me ever since I caught that huge boar in the woods years ago. Solus has walked by my side all the way through the academy, the army, and everything life threw at me." Lith said.
"Are you telling me she's your magical mistress?" Elina said, glaring at Lith with a fiery gaze that would've burned Mogar to cinders.
"Did Phloria break up with you because of her as well? Because you were already married?" The "My other half" part explained Raaz why despite his many talents and even more outstanding achievements, his son was still reluctant to settle down.
Lith already had a family that he kept hidden from his other family.
"I'm deeply ashamed of you three!" Rena said while pointing at Tista, Lith, and Solus. "Lith, how could you play with the hearts of so many good women without feeling an ounce of remorse?
"Tista, how could you enable such toxic behavior? No matter how much you admire Lith, you should have told us. As for you…" Rena stared at Solus, realizing that she knew nothing of the fairy's past or motivations.
"…I demand an explanation! How did you seduce my little brother into this mess?"
