“So, where are we going now?” Amaranda asked Emilia as they both walked along the crowded street. “I believe we’re done with shopping?”

“Yes, but since we are out and about, let's visit Dom’s house as its nearby. From there, we can plan to visit anyone else since we haven't met each other after the war.”

“Good point,” agreed Amaranda, nodding her head in agreement.

And so, they walked for several seconds in silence as they headed towards Dominic's house. While on the way, they were chatting about the everyday life they lead, with Emilia giving some advice on cooking to Amaranda.

“I still can't believe you fell in love with that ruthless dragon,” admitted Emilia quietly.

For a moment, it appeared as if the Magic Titan was embarrassed from the momentary break in her composure. Then, as if accepting the situation, she shrugged her shoulders in resignation.

“It sort of… happened. I mean…” she said telepathically.

“Yeah, I understand how you feel. I suppose that's how I felt as well when I first met my husband; coming to my rescue in the labyrinth as I was in mortal danger.”

“Really?” Amaranda asked, sounding surprised. “The two of you first met at a labyrinth?”

“Yes. The very same one that is located in this capital,” replied Emilia with a smile on her face as she thought back to how their encounter happened. “My master at that time had ordered several of his slaves to go into it to gain experience for him, and I was also included on that day.”

Amaranda looked angry at those words and asked, “Rotten scum should be driven into extinction.”

This time, it was Emilia's turn to shrug her shoulders and reply with, “That's what all of us felt, even those who were needlessly killed, but if he didn't send us on that suicide mission, I would not have met my husband.”

“Emilia…”

“Whatever the case, I think it's fate that you and Lagron had met each other.”

“Indeed, and it wouldn't have been possible if Lucky had not brought him back from the Dragon World.”

“And I think that wouldn't have been possible if my husband hadn't lost,” said Emilia, sounding a little annoyed.

“Oh,” said Amaranda, feeling awkward.

“I'm still annoyed that my husband lost but… I guess Lagron wouldn't admit it,” stated Emilia while letting out a sigh.

“He won't because he didn't beat his enemy down with all he had. It felt like a letdown to him and wants to fight him again as soon as he returns.”

Her words suddenly made Emilia smile and say, “He won't beat my husband a second time.”

“We shall see about that,” replied Amaranda, forming a smile on her face.

Emilia gave her a sidelong glance and smiled, sensing that the Magic Titan was somehow rooting for her lover to win. Deciding to keep her silence, Emilia kept walking towards Dominic's home.

Dominic and his family had been living in the castle for some time, and then moved into a rented home. Now, after having received a great amount of money for his war effort like the others from Venezuela, he finally bought a house of his own and settled down permanently in the capital.

They soon reached the district where the house was located at and found that a something was happening. Or rather, they saw his wife, Shalany, speaking very seriously to a group of women standing at their entrance.

“How many times do I have to tell you?! I'm not going to let you meet my husband! No chance! Now, get lost!” She said in an angry voice.

“Please!” One of the ladies begged her in desperation. “If he sees who we are, you'll believe that we really are his relatives!”

“Give us one chance to meet him! Please!” Another lady begged, stand side-by-side with the other woman.

Shalany snorted in disdain and said, “Relatives? What relatives? The only relatives he's got are us, his direct family, and the Phoenix Titan's family!”

“No!”

“We are his relatives as well!”

“Please, believe us! We are who we say we are!”

“I used to make tasty sweets for him all the time! He'll recognize me immediately when he sees me!”

“I often made cookies and such for him! He'll surely remember me as soon as he sees me! Please?”

“If you'd just let us meet him, just one time, we can sort this out!”

“Let you meet him once and make him remember the past? No. I don't think so! You'll only make him sad again, so I won't let you meet him. Now, don't make me force my hand in making you leave!”

On their way towards the commotion, Amaranda was unable to see the situation due to being blind but was able to sense the tension in the air.

“What's going on over there? They sure are creating quite the disturbance.”

She did not understand what was happening, but Emilia quickly understood the problem at hand. The entire Chand family, excluding the twins, were fully aware of the betrayal that Dominic suffered at the hands of his relatives with whom he was very closely attached with. So, it only made sense the Shalany would be heavily against letting any of his relatives meet her husband, what with the disastrous past they once hand.

“I guess they came searching for him after the war was over since his name and photo was widely spread around the world to make people recognize him as part of the Nine Pillars of Power.”

The Magic Titan was still confused and turned to ask telepathically, “What's going on, Emilia? Who are these people? Do you have any idea?”

“Yes. I have an idea of who they are but this isn't the time for explanations. We should go over and see what we can do.”

“I concur,” replied Amaranda in agreement, and they increased their pace to reach the house in a few seconds.

Shalany, who was struggling to keep them out by using her barrier magic, saw the two women come and appeared to be relieved.

“Emilia! Ama! Please, help me drive them out!” She asked them for help and indicated at the people gathered at the front of her house.

The people, numbering between ten to fifteen, quickly turned towards them and began begging them as well. Amaranda quickly became annoyed and was prepared to teleport them all away from that place but Emilia, the pacifist as she was, decided to handle this in a honorable fashion.

“Excuse me?” She asked in a loud voice, catching g their attention and making them turn to face her. “Is something wrong?”

“Yes!” They said together and turned to look angrily at Shalany. “This woman isn't letting us meet with our nephew!”

“Yes! She keeps rejecting the idea that we're his actual relatives!”

“Like I can believe any of you!” Shalany retorted angrily.

Emilia sighed, and after sending that this conversation is not going to go anywhere, she spoke asked Shalany, “Is Dom at home?”

Shalany shook her head and said, “No, and I don't know when he'll be back.”

“In that case, we'll wait here till he arrives!”

“That's right! I'm not leaving without meeting with him!”

“No way at all!”

Emilia admired their determination but knew it was a bad call in this situation. So, she spoke softly to them in order to convince them that it was better to leave.

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“You're causing disturbance by staying here when he's not home.”

“What? We're not causing any disturbance!” They replied indignantly, but Emilia shook her head in disagreement.

“The law enforcers won’t feel that way. You are in private property and when they come, they will listen to her, not you.”

“Yes! They'll listen to me!” Shalany said, catching onto Emilia's plan and going along with it. “I'll tell them you're causing me disturbance, and they'll take you away and lock you in jail!”

“What?!” One of the men exclaimed sharply. “No, they won't!”

“Yeah! You're only bluffing!”

As they looked disbelieving, Emilia sighed and said, “It’s up to you; you can stay and risk getting caught and then face the situation of a jail sentence. It's entirely up to you.”

They looked at her and became slightly nervous by the convincing expression she wore on her face. It started to dawn on them that things would really become bad for them if it were to go like she predicted. If that were to happen, they would never be able to speak to Dominic again from the shame of being arrested.

Emilia noticed the change in them and smiled a little as she gave them a way out of their predicament.

“What you could do is come back tomorrow and then meet with him. That way, you won't be in trouble and you'll also be able to meet with him when he's home.”

Their eyes widened as they understood that the plan she suggested was indeed good. Feeling satisfied, they nodded anomalously in agreement before leaving, shooting an angry look at Shalany before going.

Finally, when they could not be seen anymore, Shalany let out a deep sigh and deactivated her magic.

“Honestly, that was frustrating,” she commented while letting out a sigh. A moment later, she turned to the two ladies and said with a refreshing smile, “Thank you for the help. You came at just the right time.”

Emilia and Amaranda exchanged glances before Emilia replied with a smile, “Well, it was a good thing I decided to come out for shopping then.”

Shalany appeared to be surprised, but she quickly laughed and brought them into their house. It was a much larger house than before; three bedrooms with attached bathrooms, one large hall, and a roomy kitchen.

When they entered the hall, their kid was playing on the floor with some toys. It appeared that the commotion just outside his house did not appear to bother him one bit.

“Want something to drink? Like coffee, tea?” Shalany asked them, returning to her courteous manner of speaking.

“Tea for me, please,” said Amaranda telepathically.

Emilia raised an eyebrow and glances at her in amusement, but did not say anything as she said, “I'm fine.”

“No way you're fine! This is the first time you've come after the war! You have to drink something!” Shalany said, looking pompously at her.

Emilia chuckled and said in resignation, “Then, water.”

Shalany shook her head in disapproval, but she relented and left the room to get tea and water for them. While she was gone, Emilia sat down with the kid and sometimes pinched his cheeks or helped him in whatever enjoyment he was having with the toys. Amaranda silently glanced at them with her eyes closed, unable to witness the cute scene and feeling sorrow at her lack of eyesight.

“Shalany’s kid sure is playful. I just hope my children will be as active as him and will not possess my defects,” she thought in concern.

This was because she remembered the previously held owners of the Magic Titan title to have descendents with defects.

A few minutes later, Shalany returned with a tray of three cups full of liquid, two of them steaming as they were both tea while the third glass had water in it. Emilia took her seat as Shalany lowered the tray to each of them to take their glass and placed it on the table before taking another tea for herself and taking her seat.

Amaranda quickly took a sip of her cup and sighed contentedly before praising the brewer.

“This tastes wonderful!”

“Thank you,” replied Shalany, smiling sweetly at her.

Emilia smiled and asked, “When did they come?”

Shalany took a sip of her tea, sighed deeply and appeared to think before saying, “About half-an-hour before you two arrived, and I am glad you arrived when you did. Thank you, Emy, Ama.”

“It's fine but… Mmm. They really came, didn't they?” Emilia asked, seeking to think about something.

Shalany nodded and said, “Indeed, and I bet they saw those wall posters of the Nine Pillars Of Power and decided to check on him like he was an afterthought. Such people are…!”

She did not complete the sentence, but it was easy to understand how she felt from her body expression. Even Emilia sympathized with her as they both know that tragic history that Dominic has with his relatives.

Amaranda, who was feeling clueless about the subject, set her cup down on the table and asked Shalany, “So, who were those people, and why were they pestering you? I mean, it's clear that some kind of fight is happening between the two sides.”

As she faced Shalany, the woman in question remained silent for a moment. It appeared that she was unsure whether to share Dominic's sad past, and turned towards Emilia for advice. Emilia caught the glance and nodded once with a reassuring smile, which was enough for Shalany to speak.

“They're relatives of my husband.”

“You mean from the orphanage?” Amaranda asked, feeling confused.

“No. No. It's not the orphanage. They are really related to Dominic from their relationship with his parents. You know, sisters of his father and brothers of his mother. That kind of thing.”

“Oh…!” The Magic Titan exclaimed, appeared to be amazed. “And here is was under the impression his parents died young, and he was raised in a orphanage before being taken in by the previous Sword Titan.”

She paused, appearing to think as she found something strange in something that Shalany said.

“So, if they're his relatives, then why did he grow up in an orphanage? Is it that they…?”

She left the sentence hanging, unsure whether it was wise to complete it or not. Shalany, however, smiled and nodded her head in agreement. Then she remembered that Amaranda cannot see her, so she spoke instead.

“They abandoned him, Ama. Every last one of them left him to fend for himself when he paid all of his parents’ debts with all of his assets.”

This made Amaranda furrow her eyebrows in seriousness and ask, “Fill me on what happened, Shalany.”

“Sure,” replied Shalany.

And so, she retold the story of Dominic's childhood. The time his parents were killed in an accident and, despite going against his relatives wishes, he paid off his parents’ debt with all of his assets. This led to them completely abandoning him and forcing him to live at the orphanage like a complete loner before his fateful meeting with the Sword Titan of that time.

“So, if it weren't for the Sword Titan, Dom wouldn't have been here and I… I would never have met him…” Shalany finished, shedding small tears from her face as she felt the sadness in his story more than anyone else.

Feeling his mother in some distress, her son crawled his way towards her and kept nudging her gently. She looked down at her son, smiled and lifted him up to set him down on her lap before smoothly rubbing his hair.

“That… is truly tragic,” admitted Amaranda, her telepathic voice full of sorrow. “It's almost as similar to my own, except that I walked out of my elven community since they never showed me any value from the beginning. Whereas, he was abandoned by the very people he trusted and had great hope in. So, I can understand the feeling of yours in not letting them meet your husband.”

“Thank you for… understanding, Ama.” Shalany said with great gratitude.

Emilia looked at the understanding expression in Amaranda’s before turning towards Shalany and asking, “Will you let Dominic know about them coming to visit, and you turning them away?”

Shalany hesitated for a moment, feeling unsure on how to reply. Then, as if coming to a decision, she looked at Emilia with a firm expression on her face.

“No, Emy. I won't tell him.”

Emilia continued to keep her expression Nora as she asked, “But… isn't that lying to your beloved? I mean, he hasn't kept a secret from you at all, has he? So, why hide it from him now, Shalany?”

The woman sitting opposite the fidgeted with her fingers nervously and replied, “I-I know that, Emy, but… I'm scared. W-What if I told him about them, and he forgives them? He might solve their problems, he might start lending them money, and he might shower them with the affection he once showed them as a child? What about us then? Would he still be as lovingly as he is now, or would he put us on the lesser priority because they are in more need than us? That's why… I'm scared… Too scared to be honest with him on this one. Besides, I'm not deceiving him; just keeping the truth from him. That's all.”

Emilia looked sadly at her friend's decision to take the easy route and said, “Shalany… You're right that you're not deceiving him because the one you're deceiving is yourself.” When Shalany appeared to be surprised, Emilia elaborated by saying, “What you're choosing is the easy way out, but it's not correct. You can't hide it forever, Shalany. Dom will learn about it sooner or later, and when that happens… he will not be happy with you.”

Shalany appeared to have become slightly angered by her words of criticism and furrowed her eyebrows. Still, she maintained her cool as she replied to her.

“You're overthinking about this, Emy. Dom won't find out unless–?”

She suddenly stopped speaking and widened her eyes as she stared at the entrance to their house. Emilia looked at her in confused as she did not know what made her stop speaking, which she discovered the moment she turned around to face the entrance.

There, framed in the doorway stood the present Sword Titan, Dominic Rutherford. He was wearing an expression of suspicion as he stared at his wife, causing her to gulp and look back nervously at him.

“I won't find out… what? What exactly I won't find out, Shana?” Dominic asked with a slow serious tone in his voice.

Upon seeing his father come home, their son slowly jumped off his mother's lap to land on the floor. From there, he slowly crawled all the way towards his son while making sounds that only a baby would make.

“Hey there, youngster! Your Papa's back!” Dominic said, scooping up his son in his arms and held him up in the air with a loving gentleness that only a father would possess.

“Dom! I told you to wait up, didn't I?” Asked a familiar voice from behind before the War Titan, Nara Simhara, stepped through the threshold.

“Sorry but I sensed that we have guests,” replied Dominic with a smile, holding his son steadily in his arms.

“Oh yeah. We certainly did,” said Nara in agreement, turning to face both Emilia and Amaranda. “Hello Emilia, and you too Amaranda. Fancy seeing you both here.”

“How are you, Nara?” Emilia asked politely.

“How are you, Nara? It's been a few weeks, hasn't it?” Amaranda asked telepathically.

“Yeah. I'm good. Thanks for asking, both of you. And true, Amaranda, it sure has been a while since the group last saw each other. How's your relationship with that arrogant man?”

“You take his attitude way too personally,” stated Amaranda with a chuckle. “Other than that, it's good.”

Nara laughed and said, “He gets on my nerves. Anyway,” and he turned towards his best friend and asked, “By the way, what were you saying earlier, Dom? I couldn't hear properly cause’ I was on my way in but it sounded oddly serious.”

“That's a good question, Nara. Don't you agree, Shana?” Dominic asked, looking very suspiciously at his wife. “You're hiding something from me, and I want to know about it now.” When she remained silent for a few seconds, he sighed and asked in a more serious tone, “Shana, tell the truth. What happened while I wasn't here. I'm not going to quit asking until you say it!”

“Dom…” Shalany said slowly in a nervous voice, her body shaking slightly as she nervously fidgeted with her fingers.

She turned towards Emilia for help, to which the opposite lady wore an expression that said, “Tell him. It's better now that later.”

Feeling cornered, Shalany finally resigned to whatever might happen and said, “Earlier, before Emy and Ama came, we got a visit… from your relatives.”