“Yes! One hundred times yes!” Kamila accepted the Camellia and threw her arms around Lith’s neck, kissing him with passion.
“One hundred children is a bit too much.” He said after their lips finally parted. “I say we take things slowly and put a few years between pregnancies.”
“I didn’t mean- Who cares.” She giggled like a little girl, kissing Lith again.
He gently swept Kamila off her feet and carried her to the bed while she still clung to the Camellia.
“The buds represent Elysia and our baby boy, right?” She asked.
“Correct. I would have engraved her name, but leaving the other space empty felt like jinxing myself. I’ll do it once we’ve chosen a good name for him.”
“I was expecting a hot, sweaty night of sex and instead you have outdone yourself and made me the most romantic gift ever.” Kamila’s eyes were misted with tears of joy.
“The two things aren’t mutually exclusive.” Lith said with the pensive expression she knew was his perverted face.
“Pervert.” She blushed. “Why did you kneel like that?”
“Because I’ve always regretted not being the one proposing to you and this kind of makes up for it. Don’t you think?” Lith asked, his face only millimeters away from hers.
“It does.” She swallowed hard. “What’s next? The Dragon and the Maiden? The Professor’s private lessons?”
“I’m all for roleplay.” He nodded. “What about the Supreme Magus meets his hot wife?”
“That’s a part I was born to play.”
After giving Lith a daughter and while carrying his son, Kamila was the most beautiful woman in Mogar to him. Even if gods were real and the goddess of beauty descended in front of him, Lith would have not looked at her twice if not to kick her out of the room.
***
Solus’ room, at the same time.
“Mom, are you alright?” Solus asked through the bathroom door.
“I’m fine, sweetheart, I’m just taking a bath.” Menadion replied.
“It’s been an hour since you got in. I was getting worried.”
“It’s been seven hundred years since the last time I felt hot water on my skin and soap on my hair.” Ripha said. “It would be weird if I didn’t take my time to enjoy this moment, Ep- Solus. I’m home. I can’t believe I’m finally back home.”
“That’s my point.” Solus nodded just to call herself stupid since Menadion couldn’t see through the door. “I still can’t believe you are back and whenever I don’t see you, I get scared you might have disappeared again.”
“Don’t be silly, dear.” Solus’ worry moved Ripha and the sweetness in her voice showed it. “Why don’t you come inside? I don’t mind company and there’s no need to keep yelling.”
“No, thanks. I’ll wait.” Solus blushed and this time was glad for the door’s obstruction.
‘I’m not a child. I won’t take a bath with my mother.’ She thought. ‘Also, knowing her, Mom’s perfectly capable of doing something rude like conjuring a scale and start keeping track of my weight.’
“I’m done, Solus. What did you want to talk about?” Solus had just sat on the bed when Menadion came out of the bathroom wearing a towel on her head and nothing else.
“Mom, what are you doing?” Solus asked in embarrassment.
“I’m dabbing my hair. Isn’t it obvious?”
“Not that! I mean, why are you naked?”
“No one takes a bath clothed, dear.” Menadion chuckled. “Besides, we are both women and you are my daughter. What should I be ashamed of?”
‘Not you, me!’ Solus was left speechless but her mind ran rampant.
Her mother’s body looked a lot like hers but with one glaring difference. Menadion’s hourglass figure was emphasized by her flat, toned belly.
“Oh, you mean this?” Ripha caught her daughter staring at her abs. “This is nothing much, Epphy. It just takes discipline, rigorous training, and healthy eating habits.”
“Nothing much my pale ass, Mom! That’s a l-”
“Language, young lady!” Menadion cut Solus short.
“Mom, I’m not a child.” Yet that was how Solus felt while Menadion scolded her. “This is how I talk with my friends and even with Lith.”
“But not with Elina.” Ripha lowered her gaze, feeling equally childish and petty on top of that for pointing it out.
“It’s different… but not for the reason you might think.” Solus rushed to say when she noticed the hurt in her mother’s eyes. “How much do you know about my current life?”
“I know only what you said out loud.” Menadion replied. “I was with you but not in your mind. I have no idea what you and Lith said to each other all those countless hours you spent together and his eyes flashed with your light.
“I guess you two shared a lot of deep conversations but never exchanged a single word.”
“Okay.” Solus nodded. “You see, I have very few memories of you. They are all very precious to me but they all date back to when I was a little girl. I have almost no recollection of my adult life except for the night Bytra killed me.”
There was no malice in her words yet they stabbed Ripha’s heart nonetheless. Those were the same memories Menadion experienced inside the Void Sigil.
‘I can’t blame Epphy for forgetting about the rest if even I consider our time together after Threin’s death irrelevant.’ She clenched her hands in frustration.
“In all those memories, you treated me like the child I was, but I’m an adult now. I want you to know the person I have become and treat me like the rest of your friends.” Solus said, unaware of her mother’s emotional turmoil.
“Why is Elina different?” Menadion asked.
“Put some clothes, dammit!” A wave of Solus’ hand and the Skinwalker armor slipped back on her mother. “Why, you ask? Have you seen her?”
Solus conjured a hologram of Elina hugging, kissing, and clinging to her children no matter their age or the embarrassment she caused them in public.
“Oh, yeah. That.” Menadion almost chuckled at the sight of Lith, Rena, and Tista squirming their way out of Elina’s clutches.
“If she didn’t treat me like that, I would feel left out.” Solus fiddled with her hair. “You instead are always cool and collected. In all the memories I have of us working at the Forge you treat me-”
“With detachment.” Menadion completed the phrase for Solus and sat on the bed. “But only because you asked me to do it.”
“I did?” Solus asked in confusion.
“You took pride in your talent and refused anything that might have been misunderstood for preferential treatment. You asked, or rather, ordered me to treat you like the rest of my disciples.” Ripha started tormented her hair just like Solus.
“I treated you coldly because I didn’t want to anger you. That’s all.”
“Good gods, I was a terrible daughter! I’m so sorry, Mom.” Solus held Menadion tight.
“Don’t be sorry, Epphy, it was my fault. I was a terrible mother.” Ripha tentatively returned the embrace. “You spent the years after Threin’s death trying to shake me out of my depression and reconnect with me but I always turned you down.”
