"It's bad indeed if I can't even use a metaphor without it being dissected!" Lith snapped.

"You guys are unbelievable! You consider me old enough to get married, live on my own, and even have children. Yet at the same time, I'm apparently too stupid to choose who I should date.

"I don't remember a single objection at Rena marrying Senton just because he could be after my money. Why are you blowing everything out of proportion? If my birthday is such a bother, I can always cancel the party.

"I'll spend the morning with you and the evening with her. Everybody wins!" Lith said.

'Or at least I do.' He actually thought.

"Lith dear, we don't think that you are stupid." Elina said while shus.h.i.+ng the peanut gallery.

"It's just that Senton had his family business and even if he was a gold digger, well, we were confident that the moment he broke Rena's heart you would've ripped his out." Elina replied while biting her lower lip.

"You what?" Raaz quieted Rena's outburst by placing his hand over her mouth. She didn't know whether to be more infuriated by her parents' lack of trust in her judgment or by the shadow of death that had lingered over her marriage.

"We are just worried about you. Kamila sounds like a good woman, but you are a Great Mage who could get a fief and a n.o.ble t.i.tle with a snap of your fingers. If only you relinquished your mania of traveling like a migratory bird, of course."

Elina had tried countless times to make her son take up a more sedentary career. Every time Jirni called to tell her about Lith's latest achievement, she would feel something crus.h.i.+ng her heart.

Elina knew from experience that the bigger the reward he got, the deadlier his mission must have been.

"I'd never force you to choose between her and your family, I'm just nervous because this is the first time you've brought someone home. It means the world to me. Yet since you have always refused to introduce her to us, I can't help but be worried by your sudden change of heart."

"Relax, Mom, Kamila is not a gold digger. I've met plenty of them. Heck, now I can admit I even dated a few, but I never fell for their trickery. They always make up some sob story and then start asking for money, favors, or magical items.

"Ever since I've known Kamila, she has never asked me for anything but to be careful doing my missions. She told me about her family when I told her about mine and that's it. No relative that needs a Healer, no forgemastering asked or given.

"For the record, she wanted to meet you for a month now. It was me who delayed because I was afraid you would scare her." Lith sighed.

Elina had heard a lot about Kamila from Tista after she had returned from Othre. Lith's words made her hope she could be the one who finally grounded her boy, maybe even give her a grandchild or two.

"What do you mean scare her?" She gasped.

"Mom, Kamila is a career woman, she's older than me, and she's not a mage. I would really appreciate no mentions about how much she earns, how many kids she has planned and stuff like that."

"Don't worry, she won't hear a word about it from us, right?" The peanut gallery nodded, even the still gagged Rena.

"What about the rest? Is there something she doesn't like to eat? Anything we should know?" Elina asked.

"Just one thing. She is as terrified as you are of making a bad first impression, so cut her some slack." Lith replied before working out the final details.

***

'Based on Earth's calendar and how close the new year is, I'd say I was reborn around mid December. It's odd how people on Mogar have split the year into seasons and weeks but not months.' Lith mused as he opened one Warp Steps after another, crossing the s.p.a.ce between Derios and Lutia in less than a minute.

'Hey, Copernicus, less thinking and more acting. You're scaring your date by showing off this much.' Solus warned him.

Kamila was used to Warp Gates and considered them a marvel of magic. Them being fueled by a whole city made it much easier for her to not think about the amount of power they required.

She had studied the maps, so she knew the Marquisate's capitol and the village were hundreds of kilometers apart. Seeing the scenery around her change with every Gate Lith opened with but a flick of his wrist was beyond impressive.

"I'm a bit tired, do you mind if we stop a few minutes so I can catch my breath?" Lith lied through his teeth. They were in the middle of a small clearing, on top of a hill he had picked to avoid dirtying their shoes and pants with mud or snow.

"Sure." She smiled rea.s.sured at the idea he was still human. "You shouldn't exert yourself so much. We could have taken a coach."

"And waste a lot of time and money for something I can do for a roasted chicken's worth of energy? No way." He replied with an indignant tone, making her laugh heartily.

"By the way, I know it's your family, your rules, but isn't our attire a little too casual?" Kamila asked pointing at her legs. For the first time in his life, Lith had actually picked someone else's attire.

She was wearing a warm long coat over a salmon pink woolen sweater, black pants, and flat shoes. Lith had insisted on clothes she wasn't fond of and comfortable shoes whereas she would have preferred something more sophisticated.

"No. You are forgetting that my house is in the middle of the farmlands. Heels would get stuck in the soft ground and the kids will make a mess of your clothes. One of your usual pencil skirts would make you look great for about five minutes.

"Then you would trip over their toys and their adorable, little, and ever dirty hands would make you curse every second of your stay." Now it was his turn to laugh.

If not for the self cleaning properties of the Skinwalker armor, Lith would never wear anything but sweatpants near his little brother or his niece.

"Do you think they will like me or will they try to burn me at the stake?" Kamila had been second guessing herself for almost a week. She was older than Lith's biggest sister and was scared at the idea his parents were even one bit as bad as her own.

"You already know Tista, which is a plus. As for my mother, when I told her you would come to our home for my birthday, she freaked out as much as you did. Heck, she even used almost the exact same words." Lith shrugged.

"You didn't tell her I freaked out, right?" Kamila was still embarra.s.sed about the poor performance of her nerves. After facing a Carpenter, she found it unbelievably stupid being so scared of a loving mother.

Maybe.

"Of course I didn't." Lith lied again, as Solus emitted retching sounds in his head.

'I hate how easily he spouts bulls.h.i.+t, but seeing how both Elina and Kamila relaxed after knowing how nervous the other one was, I must admit it's the right thing to do.' She thought while Lith opened the last Gates that brought them in front of the Verhen household.