“When I heard that my girls were involved with two of the most powerful men in the Kingdom, I had to make sure that they treated my daughters right.” Once again, Clefas attempted the carrot and the stick.
“Archmage Verhen, I heard that you’ve been dating my Kami for almost three years. Are your intentions honest or are you just playing with her feelings?” He was seconds away from shitting himself in fear, but he knew that the greater the risks, the greater the reward.
Anything that Lith said could be used against him in the noble circles and by acting as a good parent, Clefas had the opportunity to get on Kamila’s good side again.
If they ended up not marrying, Lith’s political opponents would pay a hefty sum to stain his reputation whereas if they did, the Retta household would be entitled to a share of Lith’s income from both the silver mines and as Forgemaster.
Or so he thought until the bathroom’s door burst open, letting Kamila out.
“Don’t you dare to call me Kami again. That’s family only and I’ve disowned you!” She took out the legal papers and shoved them under Clefas’ nose. “As for what we do with our relationship, it’s none of your business.”
“Dear, do you have to be so rude? Your father and your fiancé are trying to have a civilized conversation. Maybe if you wore something different from your Constable uniform, you wouldn’t be so judgemental.” Kima managed to make her feel like an unruly child by criticizing Kamila for her clothing and demeanor at the same time.
“Don’t be so harsh on her, dear. Kamila has a point. Our family did drift apart over the years and that’s because we worried more about our money issues than about our own blood.” Warm tears streamed down Clefas’ cheeks, yet Lith was unimpressed.
Compared to Zekell, the man had much to learn about crying on cue.
“Tell me about it.” Lith held Kamila’s hand, making her sit next to him on the sofa. “Maybe I can help you. If we ever have kids, they should have the opportunity to enjoy the company of all their grandparents.”
His words filled every one of those present with joy for a different reason, especially Kima who had yet to regain her cool from Lith’s entrance.
“My husband is too humble. We have plenty of promising business opportunities, the only thing we lack is the necessary funds. Without dimensional storage items and due to the tight security measures that the Kingdom enforced after the war with the undead began, making a profit has become difficult.”
Lith nodded for her to continue and Kima was happy to oblige. As Lith casually played with the buttons of his shirt or took an incredibly expensive item out of his dimensional pocket, Kima’s togue became looser.
She was so excited that, while talking about their business partners and operations, she often let slip a name or a detail too many. Clefas could only squeeze her hand from time to time, hoping that Kima would notice and get ahold of herself.
He couldn’t stop her without raising suspicions and Kima was actually doing an excellent pitch that the shortest pause would ruin.
“Interesting. I’ll talk about it with the administrator of my finances.” Lith said, making the Retta Couple inwardly jump with joy.
“What about you, Meln? What are you doing here?” Lith’s soft smile stung at Orpal’s pride for the umpteenth time that night, almost making his mask crumble.
Almost.
‘First you ignored me, then you cut me out of the conversation as if I’m just a piece of furniture, and now you use my new name to remember everyone that I’m not part of this family any longer. Well played, Leech.’ Orpal kept his cool solely thanks to Night’s training.
Between his memories and her previous fight with Lith, Night knew how sly he could be. She had predicted most of his moves and had Orpal get used to such taunting by having an undead shapeshift into Lith before rehearsing the present conversation.
The wet shirt move, however, was outside of her expectations.
‘Man, if he’s hot.’ Night hid that thought from Orpal to keep him from ruining all of their hard work out of blind envy.
“I’m here to reconnect with my family in the hope that they can forgive me. I may have not had an exciting career like yours, but I still got far in life. I’m here because Mom and Dad deserve someone who can take care of them.
“Someone who can spend more than the crumbs of their free time with them. You have been away the whole day to practice your magic, little brother, whereas thanks to my communication amulet, I can do business even from home.” Orpal said.
“Really? What kind of business could you possibly have? Is beating widows and children a thing now?” Tista returned as well, wearing the baggiest clothes she had.
Her attire oozed the disgust she felt for her long-lost brother while her words challenged him to prove to be more than the horrible person everyone remembered.
Just what Orpal wanted.
“The good thing about hitting rock-bottom, dear sister, is that you’ve got no way to go but up.” He inwardly smiled seeing Tista turn to a shade of purple when he called sister.
Her fury kept Tista from formulating words that weren’t insults, forcing her to shut up to not make Elina suffer and to not embarrass her family in front of strangers. Now she was the one clenching her fists and unable to speak, making Orpal feel reborn.
Then, he told them his story. Not the one about him losing a leg in a prison shortly after moving to the Gorgon Empire and being forced to live as a beggar on the streets until Night had found him.
It was the story that his partner had created for Orpal, turning his streak of failures and his wallowing in self-pity into the chronicles of a self-made man.
It was finally Orpal’s moment to shine and he enjoyed it to its fullest.
Like all good lies, it was based on truth. He didn’t hide his failure as a soldier nor his petty crimes and multiple incarcerations while he was still in the Kingdom. Orpal’s fiction started only when he had allegedly turned over a new leaf in the Empire, starting from scratch as a shop apprentice in a smithy.
Thanks to his skill and business talent, soon Orpal had taken over the shop after marrying the daughter of the blacksmith, a trophy wife of which he carried a beautiful painting in his dimensional amulet.
From there, he had allegedly made the business thrive, opening new shops and expanding into jewelry by becoming a skilled goldsmith as well. Every part of his story was devised to make him stand on par with Lith.
Night had made him into a skilled craftsman as well, as he proved by gifting Elina and Rena his “own” creations. She had given him a wife prettier and younger than Kamila that Orpal said was pregnant with their firstborn.
The news of a grandson made everyone’s heart but Lith’s flutter. Even if Orpal hadn’t truly changed, the child wasn’t responsible for the crimes of their father.
