Chapter 3714: Mistaken Identity (Part 1) The conversation of the previous evening with her mother echoed in Solus’ ears, making her turn to look at Menadion. Solus’ eyes met Ripha’s, and the First Ruler of the Flames gave her a knowing look as her lips turned into a gloating smirk. "Good." Valeron nodded from his crib, and no one missed the first break in the silence between the boy and Lith. Valeron was still angry and hurt, but he didn’t want anything bad to happen to Solus. He wanted her to be safe and himself to be free to resent her for as long as he wanted. "What’s your next move, dear?" Elina asked. "I have no next move, Mom." Lith sighed. "I’m playing defense now. I have no idea what Meln will do next or how many Awakened still believe him. I can only prepare for the next attack the best I can and ensure that only the most foolish Awakened put their lives on the line on a maybe." *** During the following days, the situation with Valeron the Second made no improvement. Lith, Kamila, and Solus tried to keep the old routine, but backed down when the baby boy refused to acknowledge them. Elysia, however, took it much worse. She had no idea why Valeron was so angry, and he refused to speak with her. On the one hand, he envied Elysia for having loving parents and hated Lith and Solus for causing the deaths of Thrud and Jormun. On the other hand, Valeron didn’t want to make Elysia suffer by sharing his story with her. There was no point in making her miserable and maybe destroying her trust in her parents. Valeron didn’t feel part of the family anymore, but that was no reason to drag Elysia into his misery. She was innocent, just like he had been, and that was the only way Valeron had to protect her. He was a baby and couldn’t understand the irony of the situation. Doing to Elysia the same thing Lith had done to him only angered Valeron more. Every time Elysia cried his name and begged him to play with her made Valeron feel worse. He was hurting her to protect her, which made no sense at all, even to him. Yet he couldn’t muster the strength to pretend to be fine. His mind and heart still ached from the loss of his parents and the revelation that Lith had taken them away. Valeron was so hurt and confused that he spent most of his days in a daze, eating only when Elina and Raaz fed him, and sleeping whenever his little body gave out in exhaustion. Surin welcomed his company and silence. She liked to take long naps while hugging Valeron, and the fact that he wasn’t a nagging machine anymore. Truth be told, the baby boy had never nagged at her, he had tried to communicate. To a normal baby like Surin, however, it was just noise that made her head hurt. Lith spent his time working in the tower and teaching Void Magic at the academies. Whenever he took a break, he disappeared in the Spark and stared at the Voidwalker armor’s and the Golems’ refining process. It was slow and boring, but it helped him to keep the absence of Valeron from his life out of his head. The more Adamant turned into Davross, the less elemental energy it would take to jump-start the alloy’s newfound abilities. Kamila and Solus did their best to take his mind off Valeron, but Lith’s problem was their own. They had gone from taking care of two babies to only one, with the other hating their guts. Valeron’s eyes became filled with fury and pain from the betrayal whenever he looked at the two women. Every attempt to talk or just get close to him was met with screams. Valeron was dead to them. The fact that he was alive to the rest of Mogar was the only silver lining to that awful situation. *** Now that Kamila’s pregnancy was public knowledge, she left the house often and went out alone. At first, she did it in the hope someone would attack her and allow her to vent her fury for losing Valeron’s love. Then, she did it to check if Meln had spread more rumors and what the reaction of the people of Lutia was. ’I can take anything they dish at me, and since I’m the weakest in the family, they won’t pull their mean words.’ She inwardly sighed. It didn’t take much for Kamila to realize that none of her fears had come true. People only came to her to congratulate her and offer her their best wishes. If news of Valeron being the son of Thrud had spread, no one seemed to believe it. A quick visit to Rena’s house confirmed Kamila’s guess. "You can relax, Kami." Rena said. "At this point, if someone in Lutia were plotting something or even just grumbling, I would know. Zekell hears a lot of gossip at the temple, but none of it is about Valeron." "Well, yeah." Kamila shrugged. "That’s where all the weirdos who believe Lith is some kind of god gather. They consider Valeron like Lith’s son and would never badmouth him." "True, but if they heard any mean rumor, they would tell us." Rena nodded. "Also, don’t forget we have a reliable source at Vexal’s bakery. The people there have no reason to hold their tongues, yet still no nasty rumor." "We do?" Kamila asked in surprise. "Yep. You have to thank our heartbreaker here. Isn’t that right, Salman?" Rena nudged her handsome guest. "I swear to the gods, I’m innocent!" He replied in exasperation. "I didn’t do or say anything wrong. Brina just won’t leave me alone!" He pointed at a basket filled with oven-fresh bread. "Brina is your source?" Kamila asked. "Oh, yes." Rena giggled. "Ever since Salman came to live with us, she visits every day to bring some food and have a chat with him." "She talks about the most boring stuff until my ears bleed." The Rezar groaned. "Everything that happens in that bakery, I know. How can I send Brina away without hurting her feelings?" "You can’t do one thing without the other." Rena shrugged. "As for Brina, she’s just trying to understand what you like and dislike. She would talk less if you talked more." "I know." Salman sighed. "Thank the gods I have my work as a healer. At least I have a few hours of peace every day." The Rezar had a lot of experience in dealing with unwanted female attention. Back in the Fringe and Gabash, it was an everyday occurrence. He had yet to turn Brina down because her pestering made Rena’s children relax around him. Leria and the triplets weren’t afraid he might "steal" their mother, and that alone made the mood in Rena’s house much better than Selia’s. On top of that, Brina was happy to show him around Lutia and explain everything Salman wasn’t familiar with. ’She’s a necessary evil.’ He thought while leaving for the temple. *** Aran, Leria, and the other children were also hurt by Valeron’s sudden change of heart.