"Say that again." Salaark appeared out of thin air, cutting Crank short. "Say that again to my face if you dare." "I-" "You dare threaten my blood under my roof?" A violent white aura engulfed the children, protecting them from the Hyperion's killing intent and snuffing his own aura. "Technically, this is the Kingdom and the house belongs to Lith." Crank managed to say in a whimper. "You idiot. I'm the Blood Desert. Wherever I go that's the capital of my domain!" Then, Salaark turned to Aran and Leria with the sweetest smile. "Go inside, kids, and warn the others that no one has to come out until I'm done." "Yes, Grandma." The kids sniffled, hugging her leg for comfort and extending Crank's sentence further. "Now you can start praying." Once Aran and Leria closed the door, the Overlord stretched her hands and neck, making them pop. "Are you telling me that I can sweet talk my way out of this?" Crank tried to Warp but the space was sealed. He tried to move, but his body was frozen in terror. "I said praying, not begging. There's always the chance that a god might really exist and come to your rescue." Salaark replied. "Let's find out together." *** Lith's house, a few hours later, right before dinnertime. "You did nothing wrong." Lith said to cheer Aran and Leria up. "Sure, you could have been clearer, but look at Abominus and Onyx." The two beasts were finally managing to conjure small holograms with elementary forms. They would last just a few seconds before losing cohesion, but it was a start. "Crank is mean." Leria pouted. "Can't you kick him out?" "No. Our deal stands." Lith shook his head. "Also, life is full of mean people. You have to learn to deal with them." "They are seven years old, for the gods' sake!" Rena said. "They should just play and have fun." "In five years, they might go to an academy." Lith replied. "We can't follow them there. They need to stand up for themselves." Elina's and Rena's hearts clenched at those words. To them, it was just yesterday that the kids had been born and the two women felt like their babies would leave the day after. "Come to mommy, Leria." Rena wanted her daughter to be happy, yet also to never grow. Elina was hugging Aran while Kamila was planning to have a word with Lith about using a softer approach to raise Elysia when Salaark walked through the back door. "We are done talking." And by talking she meant a non-stop beating with just enough breaks to shove food down Crank's throat to make sure he wouldn't die nor grow insensitive to the pain. "Baron Crank has something to say to you." The honey badger was in perfect health. The Guardian had taken care to heal him properly and fix his noble clothes before bringing him in. "I'm very sorry." He fell to his knees, his tone cracked by regret. "I shouldn't have raised my voice. I've been a jerk. Please, forgive me." He wanted to cry, but Salaark had warned him not to and showed him her Pits of Agony. The Awakened from Verendi who had attacked Kamila were still there. They couldn't be called alive and death was a dream to them. The vision of what waited for him were he to defy her orders had made the Hyperion puke his guts out. "I'm sorry too." Aran said. "I should have called Lith once I noticed that you weren't making any progress. I enjoyed seeing you fail because you were rude to us but that was mean of me." "Can you forgive me?" Crank asked. "Yes. Friends argue but they can always make up." Leria offered him her hand which the Hyperion kissed instead of shaking. "Thank you, master. I will never forgive your generosity." The honey badger started to whimper and cry. The kids hugged him, forgetting about his earlier outburst. "Thank you for clearing things up for us, Grandma." Aran had no idea what had happened and had taken Salaark's words at face value. He really believed she and Crank had just talked like his parents did after he argued with one of his friends. "Anytime, kids." She caressed their hair before turning to Crank and her tone became stone cold. "Anytime." *** A few days later, Crank had accepted taking the course from the beginning and he had quickly learned how to conjure simple holograms. Lith estimated that in a week tops the Hyperion would have mastered tier zero Light Mastery and gone back to his fief. Every time Salaark was on shift, however, the Hyperion practiced like his life depended on it and he progressed by leaps and bounds. 'I'm starting to think that Grandma "talked" the shit out of him. Crank has lost all of his sass with the kids and worships Kamila just to be safe. I must ask Grandma to teach me how she did it.' Lith thought. "How do I look?" Kamila asked. She was wearing one of the new evening dresses that Lith had bought for her. It was flaming red, with cap sleeves that left her neck, shoulders, and arms exposed. It had a keyhole neckline and a hoop skirt that would keep her from tripping while they danced. It was decorated with white lace and several small emeralds that formed a flowery pattern, giving the impression she was wearing a bunch of Camellias woven together. "You look amazing." Lith said while staring at her still-growing breasts. "Stop talking to my breasts. My eyes are up here." She snorted since he had yet to comment about her hairdo, the make-up, and all the details that had taken her hours to make. "I'm sorry, Kami, but I stand by my words. You look and smell amazing. That white gold tiara really brings out the black of your hair." He said while only one pair of eyes moved to the rest of her figure. "Eyes up here. All of them, smartass." "Fine." He sighed. "You have no idea how lucky you are." She grunted. "You just put your white Supreme Magus robe over your high uniform and you are done. I spent the whole evening getting ready so I'd like a bit more enthusiasm and a little less leering." "I tried to show you my enthusiasm earlier but you flipped me off!" Lith replied. "Yeah, because I didn't want to start over from the shower. I want you to appreciate my efforts, not ruin them." Kamila clicked her tongue. "I'm sorry." His voice dripped sarcasm. "I must be a pig for being in love with my wife who also is the most beautiful woman on Mogar." "Say that again, but this time look me in the eyes." She cupped his face, covering all eyes but two. "I said that I love you and that you are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen." Lith had met lots of Awakened yet she could see that he wasn't just attempting to butter her up. "Say that one more time and once we get back from the gala, you will see how I look in that Dragon Maiden dress." Lith did as bidden and then they came out from his room. The rest of his family was already waiting for them in the living room.