I didn’t expect to see Mother lounging on a canvas chair with a guy. Maybe I should have.

After my double-take, I stepped out onto the rooftop terrace, looking around. The summer sun burned down on us, enough to make me sweat if my robe hadn’t been enchanted. Mother looked relaxed, although the man sat bolt upright at my entry. That was harder than it sounded since she was sitting on his lap. At least they were fully clothed.

As I came closer, Mother languidly stood up, patting the man on the shoulder. “Welcome back, Inaris. This is Kei Yating. He’s, well, the closest thing I have to a boyfriend.”

We bowed to each other and exchanged polite greetings. I’d heard of Kei Yating. He’d been Mother’s lover for over a decade and was almost certainly Xiaodan’s father. Looking at him now, I could see a bit of a resemblance. He looked young, about the same age as Mother, with dark hair and dark eyes, attractive enough he could’ve been a model on Earth. His sleeveless vest didn’t leave much doubt that he worked out. I couldn’t get a good read on his cultivation stage.

“Yating, Xiaodan’s about to master a new technique in the lower courtyard,” Mother said.

He smiled and kissed her cheek before turning into a blur and racing down the side of the building. I couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. At least sixth stage. He’s more than a pretty face.

“How many lovers do you have, anyway?” I settled down on another chair.

“Depends on who you count, I suppose. Three or four regular ones currently.” Mother shrugged. “They know what they’re getting into, and can say no any time they want. But there have to be some perks to being the ruler, right?”

“Sure.” I stretched out a bit, getting comfortable on the chair.

“By the way, congrats on losing your virginity.”

I choked a bit. “Uh. Thanks, I guess. I didn’t, really. The guards reported it?”

“They report everything of relevance, although I’m only told the important parts. There’s also a tiny change in your aura. Something like this is considered a significant transition in this world.”

“Great.”

The conversation died there and we waited, the silence stretching on, until Mother sighed. “Okay. You want to know why I didn’t call you earlier, don’t you?”

“Sure.”

“Because there was no need to. Soul journeys always take at least a few days, and I saw no reason to take you out of the sect unnecessarily.”

I pushed the chair in a more upright position and turned to face her fully. “I get that. On the topic of the sect, though. I have a feeling you haven’t chosen it just because of its prestige. You wanted to challenge me to come in conflict with them in some way.”

Mother regarded me for a moment, her fingers tapping on her armrests, until she finally nodded. “Yes. I have a suspicion they’re doing something illegal, and I want you to find out. There’s nothing concrete, except hints from the qi in the area, and their behavior …”

I told her about what I’d seen in the village. All the while, she listened quietly and her expression didn’t change.

“This isn’t just the one sect, is it?” I asked at the end.

“Yes. It’s a systemic problem,” Mother admitted. “But this sect is more important than most, which is why I want you to investigate.”

“I hope you’re planning on doing something. Soon.”

“I am,” she assured me. “I’ve been preparing for a while.”

I looked at her in silence for a moment, then nodded. “Good. Then I’ll leave reform in your hands … for now.”

Mother cocked her head. “Why do I get the feeling that was too easy?”

I smiled and continued to look her in the eyes. “I mean it. I’m trusting you to handle this. Please don’t disappoint me.”

Another mother — or ruler — in this world would have been incensed. But Mother simply met my gaze calmly. When she spoke, her tone was sober. “I understand. I won’t.”

Silence returned, as we were both lost in contemplation.

How would you go about this? What I could think of was making new laws. Setting a minimum wage and a cap on rents and taxes. Then maybe workplace safety regulations and all the rest. But you’d have to control and enforce them, and I didn’t think this country had experience with that sort of regulation. Maybe it would be smarter to focus on creating new, acceptable jobs, so people had alternatives and could leave bad positions. In any case, Mother would be far more knowledgeable about the state of affairs than me.

After a while, the conversation resumed, this time centered on lighter topics. Mostly, we discussed ideas I’d had about technological improvements. I wished I could stay longer, this wouldn’t be enough to really get things started, but I could at least get her blessing on a few ideas I had. Plus, I asked her to get together a team I could work with when I returned from the sect so I could tackle that computer. Formations masters, whatever this world had in the way of electricians, mechanical engineers — variety would be useful. Also, any transmigrators who might know something related to the topic. Computers didn’t seem to be widespread among the different worlds, let alone people who really worked with them, but it didn’t hurt to check.

Then I talked about a few simpler ideas I had, ones that should be obvious.

“Telegraph lines?” Mother asked, eyebrows raised. So maybe not obvious.

“We already have electricity, it should be simple. And we’d get almost-instant communication that doesn’t rely on qi. Seems like it would have a lot of strategic value, if nothing else.”

“Now I feel stupid,” she sighed. “Of course it would. We just need to take care of protection from beast attacks. I’ll get together a few people working with electrical power. Can you write up some plans?”

“I already did.” I smiled and took a stack of papers out of my storage ring. “There’s a few things here. You can look through it. When I get back, I’d like to take charge and push the projects along. Though it’s not like I’ll have much time for it, sadly.”

Mother took the papers and leafed through them, nodding. “I’ll look forward to seeing what you can do.”

Great, now I’m nervous. I wasn’t much of a scientist, and only knew the basics of physics or chemistry. But with the help of local scholars and transmigrators, that should be enough for some technological progress. I’d already decided to start simple when it came to automation, but I figured I could bring larger-scale plans up after seeing how this worked out.

I was trying to find the best wording of the Church-Turing thesis when a pulse of qi entered my room. Frowning, I looked up from my desk, pausing my pen above the sheet of sheet of paper I’d been about to complete.

The qi formed into glowing letters in the air, spelling out ‘He’s awake’.

I departed in a flash. The pen clattered onto the desk, but I was already out of the door. Then I hurried down the corridor and flung open the door to Al’s room, stepping inside.

Al was just sitting up, blinking and looking around. He paused when he faced Mother, who stood before the bed, her hands clasped in front of her, hidden inside her sleeves. I couldn’t see her expression from my angle, only Alaster’s. A lot of emotions chased each other across his face.

“I - “ He swallowed. “I’m back. Mommy. I’m back.”

The next instant, Mother enveloped him in a hug, gripping him tightly.

He remembers. I came closer, waiting for my turn to hug Al.

I couldn’t help but feel a bit of a pang at seeing Mother hugging my brother. She’d never shown me any physical affection. She was probably busy with important things when I awoke from my soul journey. And then she didn’t want to scare me, since I didn’t remember anything. It was bad enough without dealing with emotional family. I stifled a sigh, a little annoyed at myself. I should have seen that the humor in our interactions was covering for hurt. Obviously she’d be emotionally affected by her daughter having this sort of memory loss.

Finally, she let him go, and I stepped up. “Al.” I hugged him, careful not to apply too much force or make him feel constricted.

When I released him, he continued looking around the room. “I’m back in Aran. I went on a soul journey … that means I died.” He closed his eyes, shaking. Mother started to hug him again, but he pushed her away, taking deep breaths. “I’m fine. I just need a bit of time to adjust.”

He was speaking in English, but had faint traces of an accent now. I guessed it was Asian. From a tonal language, maybe Chinese. But that was just an impression.

“So, you remember?” I asked quietly.

Alaster nodded, blinking. “Yes. Most of my memories of this life are vague, but … I remember lots of things. Like how you came back from your soul journey recently.”

He took a few deep breaths, wiping his eyes. We gave him time to collect himself. After a bit, his expression hardened and he stood up.

Mother commented, “You sound older.”

“I’m seventeen.” He grimaced.

“I’m very sorry you died this young.”

“My life on Earth…” He shook his head. “I don’t want to talk about it. Please don’t ask.”

Both of us nodded somberly. He’s from Earth too! I was dying from curiosity, but I’d respect his wishes and not bring his old life up. He’d have a hard enough time coming to accept his death without painful reminders. Heaven knows I haven’t quite accepted it yet.

He seemed more affected than me, maybe because he had two sets of memories, and knew his old life was gone right away. If his new old body wasn’t calm, he’d probably freak out completely. Although, he has to go through puberty twice now. Poor boy. That’s almost worse than losing your memories.

I took his hand and gave it a squeeze, trying to make it clear that I supported him. Although a little part of me was jealous of his luck, it was beaten and kicked into the corner by the larger part that was just glad he would remember his life, and me. Not that I knew him that well, yet, but I didn’t want to go through the whole drama again with me on the other side.

“You’re back, that is what matters,” Mother said. “Take your time to adjust. We’ll all support you. Well, Inaris is going back to the sect soon. But reach out if you need help.”

Alaster nodded. “Of course, Mother.”

“We’ll need to talk about serious topics, but that can come later. For now, I’m just glad to have you back.”

“We all are,” I added.

His eyebrows drew together a little and he didn’t reply. I couldn’t blame him. Of course he wasn’t glad his life ended.