Chapter 3413 A Willing Prisoner (Part 2) Lith called Fyrwal and asked her to be their guide but she firmly refused. "First, I'm not your lackey. Second, if I were to show my face there, I'd be pestered to death. Last but not least, I'm already busy. Maybe another time." She replied. After a light dinner at the King's Table, another renowned restaurant recommended by the Ernas, Lith brought everyone to the Opera House for the play Tale of the Five Heroes. It was one of the most popular theatrical works in the Kingdom, recounting the lives of the four founding pillars before they met Valeron and that of the First King before he allegedly met the love of his life, Saefel. It was divided into five acts, one dedicated to each member of Valeron's party, and all of them ending with their first encounter with him. Valeron's act, instead, focused on his early life as a farmer and then his rise to power. Of course, most of the sordid and unpleasant things Oghrom had done were downplayed to an acceptable level that aroused compassion rather than disgust in the audience. In the same way, Juria Ernas' character flaws were tuned down, making her a righteous knight instead of an overbearing self-righteous jerk. Fyrwal's and Tessa's lives, on the contrary, were mostly a work of fiction. Very few knew they were respectively a Hydra and a Titania so all the parts about their youth as beautiful and talented human women came from the cover story Valeron had written for them in the Royal Archives. Their character was depicted correctly but everything that might reveal their real nature had been removed. As for Valeron, in the play it was a lucky encounter that made him stumble into magic books and he learned everything on his own thanks to his alleged peerless talent. Saefel appeared only at the end of his act, to make him fall in love and craft the legendary set as betrothal gift. If you doze off or Elina catches you staring in the void because you are working on your magic, you'll ruin the night for her. Try living in the moment.' Kamila had gone all out dressing up, hoping to at least partly make up for her earlier blunder. 'I know.' Lith inwardly whined via the mind link. 'Please, keep an eye on me.' "Three hours of my life I'll never get back. He secretly added. The entire female side of the Verhen family was sitting in a royal box of the Opera House, the closest possible to the left side of the stage while also giving an optimal view of the play. The babies, instead, were inside their Doomslayer crib in the corner of the royal box. They didn't understand the reason behind the ridiculous clothes, the strange place, and the weird lights but thanks to the Hush spell they heard no noise and smelled no scent. They were free to eat, sleep, and discuss without any stranger staring at them or disturbing them which was a huge improvement from the afternoon. "Mom, is it normal for toddlers to talk that much?" Tista pointed her evening gloved finger at the babies. "Not at all. Elina shook her head, making the red streaks covering her brown hair sparkle like rubies under the theatre's magical lights. "Lith, do you understand what they are saying?" "No more than you do, Mom. Baby babble mixed with Dragontongue is beyond me." He shrugged. Royal boxes were magically insulated from noise and smell. Only the voices and sounds from the stage could bypass the spells. It allowed the noble spectators to comment the play without disturbing the rest of the audience and to discuss their private business during the break in between acts. It was after Juria's act, as Lith's mind recovered from the sea of boredom, that he noticed something weird. "Mom, is this really your idea of vacation?" He asked. "Of course." Her beaming smile could have blinded the entire theatre. "Why? Is it so boring for you?" "No." He lied through his teeth. "I mean, visiting the Royal Palace, touring a city, watching a play, are all things you can do on your own. Why didn't you travel the Kingdom sooner?" "It's... complicated. Do you want to eat something after the play? I heard that Oghrom's Knife has a great selection of beers." Elina sat straight as she tried to change the topic. "Don't change the topic, Mom. What's complicated about traveling?" Lith pressed forward. "Fine." She sighed, her shoulders slouching a bit. "I just didn't want to inconvenience you." "Inconvenience me?" Lith echoed in confusion. "Sweetie, our house is safe." Elina replied "Thanks to all the arrays you placed, the magical beasts, and the units of the Queen's Corps, no one can harm me. Even if anyone is dumb enough to try, with the Warp Gate in the barn reinforcements are just one breath away. "The same stands when I spend time in Lutia, in the Desert, or when I visit Jirni. If I were to travel alone, instead, I would still have the escort of the Queen's Corps but that would mean reducing the number of people watching our family back home. "Your enemies would have an easier time kidnapping your father while he travels for work and the gods know if that's an experience he can afford to repeat without going crazy. Also, Rena, the children, and all the people in Lutia would be in danger. "If I travel alone, our family would be exposed and if someone puts their all into kidnapping or killing one of us, they could succeed. If anything were to happen to us, you would drop everything you were doing at that moment and run to our rescue. "You couldn't study, hold your academy lectures, or spend time with your family. Your life is already hard and unpredictable, sweetie. I couldn't bear the thought of robbing you of your peace and happy moments just to indulge in my selfishness. "When you are by my side, instead, I can do anything I want and go anywhere I want without endangering anyone." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶 "What?" Lith remained speechless as Elina wrung her hands in awkwardness. Luckily for both of them, the lights went out and Tessa's act began, freeing them from the need to continue the conversation. 'She lives as a willing prisoner in her house for me?' Elina had made solid and rational points but the final result was still a punch in the gut for Lith. 'Mom worries about how her decisions might affect me before making them? '... Suddenly, he felt like a jerk. He realized how, by asking Menadion to talk with Elina about her public displays of affection, he had robbed Elina of one of the few things she allowed herself to enjoy and further limited her freedom. 'While I am sitting here like an idiot, thinking about how bored I am, she is happy to be with me. She had waited all this time to get out of Lutia and share these moments with me and here I was, complaining! 'I won't allow anyone to ruin this for her. Not even me!' Such thoughts stirred a great anger inside of him. An anger that grew even stronger as Lith thought about the bounty Orpal had placed over his magicless family members.