The baby boy had never realized that it was Protheus the Doppelganger who came to visit him from time to time, impersonating Thrud and Jormun thanks to his bloodline abilities and the biological samples he had assimilated. Lith felt honored whenever the baby boy called him dad. He was grateful for the trust that Valeron put in him and how much the baby boy cared about being considered a part of the Verhen family. Yet those feelings only made things much harder for Lith. If he added the third Camellia blossom, Valeron would have either understood that his parents were dead or assumed they had abandoned him for good. That Kamila and Lith were replacing Thrud and Jormun. If he didn't, however, Valeron would have thought that his adoptive parents didn't return his love. That for them, he was just a guest, someone the Verhens had to take care of only because of duty, if not pity. It was a lose-lose situation for both Lith and Valeron. There was no right answer, and no matter how much Lith pondered adding a third Camellia bud, he couldn't find a winning move. Even if he did, it would just be a temporary fix, like putting a band-aid on an open wound. The more Lith included the baby boy in the family and the deeper Valeron's feelings for him became, the worse the inevitable fallout between them would be. Lith knew that, one day, when Valeron was old enough, he would have to tell the boy the truth behind the disappearance of his parents. Lith would have to tell Valeron that Jormun and Thrud were dead because he had killed them. Jormun had died by Lith's hand, and Queen Sylpha had executed Thrud, but it was only thanks to Lith taking down the Golden Griffon that she had succeeded. Lith knew that Valeron wasn't going to care who had dealt the finishing blow. All that would matter to him was that his family was gone, his throne lost, and that Lith was responsible for it. At that point, rage and betrayal would twist the baby boy's perspective. He would consider all the acts of kindness as acts of guilt for killing his parents. Everything Lith had done would be mistaken as an attempt to earn Valeron's forgiveness. Everything Valeron the Second knew would turn out to be a lie, and his entire childhood a cruel mockery. "Tough question doesn't even scratch it." Lith sighed. "It's a time bomb with a short fuse. Under any other circumstances, I'd say to exploit the baby's lack of memory and tell him the truth only once he's old enough to understand it, but we don't have that luxury. "Valeron knows his parents, and there's no magic that can make him forget about them. To make matters worse, the War of the Griffons is already part of history books." He handed Kamila a tome opened to the right page. "Sooner or later, he's going to read this." Lith tapped at the page where he was credited for killing Jormun and taking down the Lost Academy. "Even if he doesn't, someone is going to tell him. "And you can bet that will happen the moment Valeron asks about his parents and someone overhears him. There are not many people named Thrud, and Valeron's silver eyes will clear any doubt about which Thrud he's talking about." "Good gods!" Kamila stopped eating at the thought. "You can wait until he's four at most, if not even three." "Which gives me between one and two years." Lith sighed. "Poor Valeron. And poor you." Kamila held Lith's hand. "I can't imagine how a four years old boy will take such news or how he'll react, but I bet it will be far from pleasant." "Hence my question." Lith tapped at the vase. "What do I do with this?" Kamila pondered the matter for a while before answering. "Be honest with me. Are you taking care of Valeron out of guilt?" "No." Lith shook his head. "Otherwise, I would have left him in Leegaain's-" "Grandpa!" Salaark's voice cut him short. "Damn, Grandma, we're having a serious conversation here!" Lith snarled yet received no answer. "Grandpa's and Salaark's care." He continued in petty revenge for the interruption. "Don't make me come there, young man!" "That way, Valeron would have grown without ever knowing me, and when he learned the truth, he would have had years to consider all the facts before he could think about revenge. "Just like Elysia, Grandpa and Grandma wouldn't have let him out of their sight until he came of age. It would have given me about 15 years to prepare, and put no strain on our relationship. "We would be complete strangers, and Valeron is smart enough to know that I'm not some ruthless criminal. I didn't kill his parents in cold blood, but because we sat on opposite sides of a bloody war. It was either my life or theirs." "Then why did you take him in?" Kamila asked, nodding. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚 "Because I promised Jormun I would." Lith wrung his hands. "Because we were both willing to kill each other to protect our children's future. Jormun wasn't evil. He was just a worried father, like me. "I couldn't stand the thought of leaving his son an orphan, forced to live in a gilded cage until Valeron became an adult. I know all too well how living in fear of being rejected, not for something you did but because of what you are, feels. "Even with a loving family, I experienced loneliness and isolation for most of my life, but at least it was my choice. In Valeron's case, he has no choice because the War of the Griffons took it away from him. "If not for Phloria's death, I would have taken him in right after the battle for the White Griffon. I knew he was innocent, but…" "But you couldn't stop seeing Thrud every time you looked at Valeron." Kamila untangled his hands and took them into hers. "You couldn't stop seeing Phloria's corpse." "Yes." Lith exhaled sharply. "So, what do I do?" "First, I have a small confession to make." Lith nodded for Kamila to continue, and she told him about how she had gone to the Blood Desert to take care of Valeron before Lith brought the baby boy home. "I'm sorry for going behind your back, but I know how important a promise is to you and how torn you were between your promise to Jormun and your grief for Phloria." She said. "I kept my visits to the Desert a secret only to help Valeron while giving you the time you needed to sort out your feelings." "That's why the transition was so smooth and Valeron seemed to like you at first sight!" Lith's eyes went wide in understanding. "Thanks for the apology, but it's not needed. You did the right thing." "That said, my suggestion is to tell Valeron the truth when the moment comes, but to do it with a mind link and remove the bloody parts." Kamila said. "He's still a baby for the gods' sake. Show him everything and I mean everything. "From when you first met Jormun inside Huryole to the last fight inside the Golden Griffon. Show him what kind of man Jormun was and, most importantly, what kind of man you are and the relationship between you two."