Chapter 3414 Thank You (Part 1) Trouble and Raptor were already standing guard outside the royal box in the form of armored knights and now they had company. Eyes opened and claws formed inside every shadow in the Opera House, watching and listening for threats. The phenomenon spread all over the city of Valeron until only the Royal Palace was spared and only because its powerful arrays stopped the creeping shadows. *** After the end of the play, Lith took everyone for a walk to enjoy the capital by night and then for a snack. The Verhen women with their elegant dresses and fine jewelry turned quite a few heads. Some even of 180° when they belonged to criminals or petty thieves who had dared to look at them for too long or too hard. The army of Demons was still there, invisible but ready to strike at the slightest provocation. Lith didn't miss how the moment they stepped out of the royal box his mother kept her distance from him. Whenever they were in public, even while eating, she would become quieter and her smile dimmer. When they returned to their hotel, Saefel's Haven, Lith entrusted the babies to Kamila and went to Elina's room to have a talk long overdue. Except for him and Kamila, everyone else had their own suite to enjoy a rare moment of privacy and solitude. "Mom, we need to talk." He sighed deeply. "Are you breaking up with me?" She asked with a chuckle. "It's not easy to find another mother as understanding as me, you know?" "Disagree," Lith shook his head, surprising her quite a bit. "It's not hard. It's impossible." "Thank you!" Elina hugged him and kissed his cheek. "What do you want to talk about?" "This..." He pointed at her arms. "And this." He pinched her cheeks to keep her smile in place. "I know Ripha told you not to be clingy in public and I can see how miserable you are ever since you've started following her advice." "You do? How?" Elina was flabbergasted. "Because I asked her to and because I'm not blind." Lith replied, flabbergasting her more. "I take it back. Ignore everything Ripha said. Even better, forget about it. You can hug, kiss me, and cling to my arm as much as you want." "But Ripha, I mean, you have a point." Elina lowered her gaze. "It's embarrassing for an adult man to be treated like that. People might misunderstand our relationship." "Mom, I want you to know I'm proud of you. I have never been embarrassed of you. Not once. Lith looked her straight into the eyes. "As for what the people think, that ship sailed a long time ago and sunk the moment I became famous. "There are all sorts of wild rumors about me. There are people who believe I had Valeron the Second with Solus while others that Shargein is my son. And don't get me started with all those who are convinced I have inappropriate relationships with Tyris, Faluel, and every woman I appear with in public. "That's both absurd and outrageous." Elina couldn't help but chuckle. "Where are you supposed to find time for your magical research while you sleep around so much?" "As if people would care about minor details like logic." Lith shrugged. "Bottom line, I don't care what they think, and neither should you. Please, go back to your usual self." "But, if you sent Ripha to talk to me about the issue, it must annoy you." Elina let him go and took a step back. "It does." Lith admitted. "But not as much as not seeing you smile from the heart or you keeping your distance from me like you are some sort of criminal. I love you, Mom, and making you happy makes me happy." He closed the distance, wrapping her in a hug and kissing her forehead. "Thank you, baby." Elina sniffled as she returned the embrace. "I promise I'll give Kami space to cling to you from time to time," "Thanks for your permission, Mom." Lith chuckled and she joined him. They remained like that in silence for a while. Long enough to make Lith wonder if after being separated all day his mother secretly needed him to recharge just like Solus. "Speaking of talks long overdue, there's something I've been ruminating for quite a long time, waiting for the right moment to bring it out." Elina said once she broke the embrace. "I'm listening." Lith nodded. "Please, sit down." Elina pointed at a chair and he complied. "I have a confession to make. The reason I've waited until now is because I don't need to speak with you but with the Void. Can you call him out for me?" At those words, Lith's mind had turned into a paranoid chaotic mess too frenzied to formulate a logical thought as countless nightmare scenarios flashed in front of his eyes one after another. His mouth, mind, and body were frozen. All he could do was shapeshift into his Abomination form. "Nice to meet you." Elina gave the Void a small bow before approaching him. "Isn't it funny? We've known each other for years but we've never talked." She looked at his alien features, the weird flaming hair, and those eyes filled with the same rage and pain that her son usually masked so well. As Elina studied his upside-down membranous wings, she felt like she had taken a thick veil off her eyes and was now staring at an uncomfortable truth she had always avoided. "You know, Lith, when you told me you were a hybrid, I only had a rough understanding of what it meant. On top of that, I always focused on the Dragon and Phoenix parts since Abominations are not public knowledge. "After you introduced Zoreth and Nyka to me, however, I started researching about undead a bit. I didn't learn much. Necromancy is too complicated and after asking around, I discovered not even Abominations know exactly how they are born. "The only point everyone is clear about is that Abominations are undead and to become one you must first die. It sounds silly saying it out loud, but I always ignored this premise, pretending it wasn't important. "Until Strider decapitated you and you went on a rampage, acting like a different person" Elina averted her eyes, tormenting her hands while she looked for the right words. "That's when it struck me. "You have an Abomination side, you always have. It means that at some point, you died and came back. I thought long and hard about how and when it might have happened. At first, I thought it might have been during your years at the Academy, like during Balkor's attack. "Then, however, I remembered that you and I already had our communication amulets back then. If that were the moment you gained your Abomination side, I would have lost your contact rune so it had to have happened before the amulet. "The more I thought about it, the less it made sense. Sure, your father and I failed to give you the best childhood, but you have always been a healthy child. You never required a healer so that's off the table too. "Also, since a young age your magic protected you from the likes of Meln's, adults, and even magical beasts."