"That's why I then married a man without any magical power. It made it possible for me to protect him and guarantee him a long happy life. My family is the only people that I can afford to love and with my daughter's life in danger, I didn't have the patience to deal with an arrogant little runt."

"I know. In your shoes, I would have done the same." Lith said. "How is Brinja faring?"

"Splendidly. Thank you for asking. She's betrothed to my right-hand man, Ainz, and we're making the final preparations for their marriage." The Marchioness replied.

"Right-hand man? Is he-"

"A member of the Corpse? No, he only helps me with the Queen's corps business. He has his own ambitions and he's planning to use this marriage to achieve them. Brinja accepted his courtship only after she got tired of waiting for your calls." Mirim said.

"I'm really sorry for ignoring your daughter, but I was with Phloria at the time, and later I had too much on my plate to consider a relationship with anyone." Lith said in embarrassment.

"Don't be. My daughter never cared for you, only for your magical powers. Brinja lives her lack of talent for magic as if it's somehow her fault and she's desperate to make up for it with the family by marrying a powerful mage, no matter who he is. No offense." Mirim said.

"None taken."

"Nevertheless, she waited for you for years. Yet Brinja got over it as soon as you started to date Captain Yehval. My daughter could accept the fact that you were looking for a spouse gifted for magic whereas she found unforgivable that you preferred a commoner non-mage to her." The Marchioness chuckled.

Hearing how quickly Brinja's relationship with Ainz had developed and how much she cared more about a magically talented offspring than anything else, Lith felt like he had dodged a hail of bullets.

"I also want to apologize for being so distant after Lark's death, but that damn card doesn't endanger only my life, but that of my entire family. I had to make sure that what happened to Trequill doesn't happen to me as well." She said.

"I completely understand." Lith replied. "You owe me no explanation. You just did what you thought best for yourself, just like I do every single day."

"Here's where you are wrong." Mirim shook her head. "Ever since our first meeting, I closely followed your achievements. Over the years, Lark and I brought you to all the Royal Galas as if we were your parents, and you always made us proud.

"The gods gave me no children after Brinja and I never got the opportunity to walk her to the award ceremony of the six great Academies, but they made it up for it by making us meet."

"Between taking care of you as your political backer and of your relatives as the Commander of the Queen's corps, I'm not ashamed to say that I almost consider you as a member of my own family.

"I always kept myself at a distance because I was afraid to admit that you had cracked through my armor. It's only once you let someone get close to you that they can hurt you. Yet after Lark's death, it's up to me to step up and take his place."

"No matter where your future brings you, you'll always have a home here. A home that I'm building for you. Never forget that. I know that I've failed you with Lark, but as a soldier, you have learned that no one can always win.

"Sometimes a defeat ends with just a retreat, sometimes we lose good people. What matters is to stand up again, without letting pride or grief blind you. Always be careful, and never give up on your heart.

"Every time we lose someone that we hold dear, a part of us dies with them. Yet it's that pain that teaches us how precious life is and how to appreciate those who we love, no matter how annoying they are." Mirim leaned forward, kissing Lith's forehead before bringing them back to Derios.

***

A couple of weeks later, the city of Catreesh, West of the Kingdom.

"By the gods! This country is like a dimensional amulet full of secrets, each one holding another dimensional amulet." Kamila said after Lith had finished telling her about his meeting with the Marchioness.

"I guess every country is like that." Lith shrugged while looking around with curiosity.

Catreesh was south and west enough from Lutia to have a much warmer climate despite the season. Some flowerbeds were still blooming and thanks to the artificial lights, the roads were lively and crowded with people even after sundown.

Being one of the border cities between the Kingdom and the Desert, the city was a hybrid of both cultures whose beauty came from harmonizing them over the years. The people of the Desert treasured greenery above all while those of the Kingdom loved order.

The mix of vibrant colors of the buildings and the scent of foreign spicy food from the various establishments that surrounded the young couple made Lith's gaze wander around like a kid visiting a park for the first time.

Ever since Lark's death, Kamila had gone an extra mile to make sure that Lith wouldn't fall prey to his paranoia and disappear into his lab in search of power for days at a time.

He would always attend Faluel's lessons and dine with his family, but he had become more distant the more he became more powerful. In his mind, mastering Spirit Magic, Dominance, and acquiring a violet core were utmost priorities.

He dedicated to them all of his energies to make sure that when his enemy revealed themselves, he would be ready. Yet, his quest took a lot of time that he couldn't devote to his family anymore.

In a way, he was slowly turning into Kalla, postponing everything after just one more experiment only to rinse and repeat after a new promising discovery. Kamila was Lith's anchor to reality, forcing him to realize the passing of time by threatening him to break up more often than she liked.

It was a card that only her could play, breaking him free from his obsession like not even his parents or Solus could.

"It was very kind of Marchioness Distar to search for a place with a mana geyser for you." Kamila said.

She wore a light blue shirt over a knee-length black pencil skirt. Her long black hair was down. That together with her black eyeliner and light red lipstick emphasized her pale skin.

Those were the same clothes of their first date that she considered as her lucky charm. She hoped that they would jog Lith's memory and keep his mind from getting lost in thought during the date.

"What do you mean?" Lith had yet to tell her about Solus. He had only shared with Kamila the fact that he had asked Mirim to build above the geyser an empty keep big enough to hide the tower entirely.