Upon hearing her words, Dominic's face became stiff and solid. He had become completely silent and still except for the movement of his eyes, which widened to display the clear shock he felt on the inside.

“My... relatives...?” He asked uncertainty. “W-What do you... mean, Shana? My r-r-relatives? They… they can't be…”

Shalany nodded, and Emilia said, “They claimed to be your relatives and kept telling us about the food they apparently made for you when you were still a kid.”

He turned to her, his expression finally being freed to show the astonishment he felt at this piece of information. While he did share his past with them, he did not go into detail in explaining everything because he wanted to move on with his life. Now, however, it seems that his past is still linked to his present.

“Were there women? Four of them in total?” He asked in a nervous voice.

“Yes. They kept saying you'd instantly recognize them when you see them and kept going on about the sweets and stuff that they treated you back then.”

This time, his eyes fully widened as his suspicions were finally confirmed. The only people in his entire life who would know such detail were his actual relatives.

“Where…? Where are they now?” He asked quickly, moving forward and looking urgently into his wife's face. “Shalany! Where did they go?!”

His wife was taken aback by his sudden urging but replied nevertheless, “They left a few minutes before you came.”

“A few minutes ago?” Dominic asked, an idea forming at the received information. “Then there's still time to catch up with them! Nara! We're going!”

“Huh? Going where?!” Nara demanded, amazed at the abrupt decision his friend made and quickly followed him out of the house.

“Dom! No!” Shalany said, and she, too, bolted after them, leaving behind Emilia and Amaranda.

“Well… This is awkward,” commented Amaranda telepathically before letting out a sigh. “I wonder what he is planning to do.”

“I don't know but I’m uncertain whether he went off with good intentions or not,” replied Emilia with a look of concern on her face.

She glanced at the child still sitting on the floor and looking confused. It looked like he was looking left and right and around at his surroundings to find out where his parents went off to.

“Ama, would you mind staying and watching over the kid please? I feel I should go with them as well,” suggested Emilia.

“I think that's a good idea,” agreed the Magic Titan.

She waved her hand, causing a magic circle to appear beneath the child before letting him float towards her. He smiled and laughed happily while he flew through the air before landing gently to sit on Amaranda's lap. There, she began rubbing his hair gently with a pleasant smile on her face, and he closed his eyes as he seemingly enjoyed it.

Emilia smiled at the sight before leaving through the door and following in the general direction that Dominic, Nara, and Shalany went. Once she reached the street, she momentarily lost her bearing as she wildly looked around to catch a glimpse of the people she was chasing until she heard a low commotion coming from a nearby side street.

She quickly dashed after them while skillfully weaving through the crowd and startling them in the process. Doing her best to apologize whenever she bumped into or cut across people, she continued searching for the three people until she found them gathered together with Dominic speaking in a loud voice.

“Damn! Where did they go? Nara, can you sniff them out?” Dominic asked without thinking.

“How can I smell someone I haven't met before?” Nara asked incredulously.

Dominic became frustrated, and he soon started asking the people around him by giving them a basic description of the people he was searching for. Unfortunately, it appeared that no one recognizing the people that fit his description, and he appeared to be despondent at his failure to find them.

“Dom, please stop. Let's go back. We won't find them here,” pleased Shalany in tight voice. “They're long gone.”

“They wouldn't have gone if you didn't send them away!” Dominic retorted, suddenly flaring up at his wife as he did not seem capable of thinking straight.

She looked hurt by him berating her and appeared to be close to tears as sadness filled her face. Just then, Dominic received a powerful punch to the face so hard that a strong wind blew in every direction, and he flew several meters into the air before crashing down heavily on the ground.

“What the hell, Dom?!” Nara exclaimed sharply, glaring angrily at his friend from the anger he felt by watching Shalany, whom he considered as a sister, being hurt by his foolishness. “You're hurting your wife! Realize that!”

Dominic, who was momentarily reeling from the stunning blow, looked up with a blank expression on his face. Then, as realization dawned on him, he turned to Shalany who was silently crying into her hands as she covered her face.

“Shana…?” He whispered weakly.

Emilia, who witnessed this scene transpire along with everyone else on the street, sighed and thought, “As I feared…!”

Just then, all four of them heard Amaranda's voice in their heads say, “Port to Home.”

In an instant, a large magic circle formed beneath them before they got engulfed by a blue light before both them and the magic circle vanished. In the next moment, a blue light appeared inside of the Rutherford Household and they appeared in the same positions before the teleportation.

“You certainly are causing quite the disturbance outside, Dominic,” commented Amaranda, who seems to be rubbing the hair of the child who was fast asleep.

“Oh. He's asleep,” said Emilia, walking over to bend and check. She looked up at the Magic Titan and asked, “Did you out him to sleep?”

“Didn't need to. It seems that he really liked me rubbing his hair gently like that.”

“He'll become your fan whenever someone did that,” said Shalany, who walked over and raised her child gently in her arms from Amaranda's lap.

“Shana…” said Dominic slowly, sounding nervous from the guilty feeling he felt for shouting at her. “I'm–!”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“There is no need for an apology between family members,” replied his wife firmly before he could complete his sentence and stopped him in the process. She then turned towards Emilia and asked, “Isn't that right, Emy?”

Emilia smiled at the calm expression Shalany had on her face, but she noticed the uncomfortable expression on Dominic's face. At that moment, Mariana walked in through the entrance carrying bags full of vegetables while holding them with one hand each. She stopped upon seeing the crowded living room, causing her eyebrows behind her spectacles to rise in amazement.

“Oh! Sir Dominic and Sir Nara, you are back and… Emilia and Amaranda! It's so good to see you but… what's with the atmosphere? What happened?”

Everyone glances at each other awkwardly before Emilia said, “It isn't a long story, but it will take some time to explain so…”

“Please get started on lunch, Mary,” said Shalany, referring Mariana with the nickname she gave her unlike everybody else.

“Sure… I suppose I should get started soon,” replied Mariana, looking a little surprised before heading over to the kitchen.

As soon as she disappeared into the kitchen, Emilia turned her attention on Dominic and said, “Dom, instead of getting frustrated on your wife and then apologising for it, why don't you think where you went wrong? What made you hurt your wife when you never ever did it before.”

Dominic opened his mouth to speak but hesitated because of the reality of the situation. He understood it was his overly concern of knowing that his relatives were looking for him that made him feel frustrated at her, otherwise, he would not have cared.

“It's because I was too focused on finding where my relatives went,” he replied finally, bowing his head slightly in shame. “I know I should’ve thought about it logically but… I got carried away at the thought of meeting them again.”

“Why are you so excited to meet them when, as far as I know, they betrayed you?” She asked, walking over and resuming to take the sheet she had held earlier.

“Yeah. That has me feeling puzzled as well,” commented Nara, who had shoved his friend towards the chairs and sat down next to him. “Why do you care so much about them so suddenly when you never once thought about them till now? They betrayed you, didn't they?”

“Um… Well…” said Dominic hesitantly. “I… O guess you're right to think that but… it's it kind of unfair to use that as a basis to not see them when they came so far to try and see me? Even Lucky always said; give your an enemy a chance at redemption before giving up entirely on them. So, if we give a second chance to villains, then why not them?”

Emilia looked surprised at the mention of her husband and cast her eyes down in sadness as she felt he would have probably agreed with Dominic. Only Nara appeared to be unfazed by his comment as he asked in a serious voice.

“Aren't you bringing that up conveniently to suit your needs, Dom? I don't think it's right if you to do that. It's not fair. Isn't your, so called, justice against accepting such a convenient excuse.”

Dominic looked trouble, and Amaranda spoke telepathically in support of Nara.

“Nara makes a valid point, Dominic. They hurt you as a kid and left you to live all alone. Knowing about it, your wife did the most sensible thing of not letting them meet you in fear of what might happen to you.”

“You're all that's left to her other than your son, Dom. Just as… Lucky's the only one we… we have anymore other than… our children.” Emilia said, speaking slowly due to the sadness that threatened to make her cry at the thought of not having her husband by her side.

“Emilia…!” Dominic said, looking aghast at seeing her look so tearful and trying so hard not to cry. “I'm… so sorry… If I had been stronger… I could've rescued him! I know I could've if… if I had put in everything I had.”

Emilia saw the anguish he was feeling and quickly wiped her tears and said in a firm voice, “Stop blaming yourself, Dom. It's no one's fault that Lucky fell through that portal and don't rule out the possibility that he will make it back. Believe me. I know my husband, and I know he will come back to us.”

Dominic, Nara, Shalany, and Amaranda were amazed by the sheer confidence with which she said those words. There was no mistaking the determination she felt and the confidence she had in her husband's ability to make it back home alive and well.

“As for what you just said, Dom,” she began with a small smile on her face. “You're correct that my husband would say that, however, I think you'll find that he will say something else that would've put you on the right track.”

“Which is…?” The Sword Titan asked, looking curiously at her.

Emilia's smile widened as she said, “Prioritise your duties.”

“Prioritise… my duties?” Dominic repeated, looking confused.

“That's right,” she said in a firm voice. “You may want to forgive them and meet them despite everything they did to you, however, you also need to remember your priorities, which is Shalany and your son. They depend on you just as you depend on them. If she doesn't like the idea of meeting your relatives, then it's best to follow her judgement because she's doing it for your sake. She is angry at the people that hurt you and abandoned you, and she will do anything to hurt them back, but instead she is trying to keep a good distance between your family and theirs because it won't result in anything good “

“A ruptured glass can be fixed with magic but feelings and bonds cannot be fixed so easily, Dom,” said Nara, looking sadly at his best friend. “Just look at the relationship I currently have with my clan. They hate me, and I hate them because they killed my parents. Despite that, I knew the circumstances, and I understood it's the fault of our stupid culture, so maintaining my distance from them now because it's safer if we remain separated and meet as little as possible.”

“I'm the same because I'm an eyesore to them, and I detest the kind that my people became,” added Amaranda in their support.

Dominic looked between them, taking in the helpful philosophical advice they were giving him from the experiences they had. It made him realise yet again of how immature he was thinking and helped him finally form a firm decision on what to do from now on.

As their explanation came to an end, he bowed his head in gratitude and said, “Thank you, all three of you. I… finally see the error I was about to make. Thanks to you, I now know what I must do.”

They sensed his determination and knew he had accepted their logic as it made perfect sense. As they smiled pleasantly at him, he turned towards his wife with a serious expression on his face.

“Shana, I'm sorry for making you worry about me all this time,” he said, making her widen her eyes in surprise. “Please believe me when I say that you and our son are number one, no, the only people that are very important to me in this entire world. I wouldn't be able to live without you, nor can I stand anyone taking shots at you! I will never betray you nor suppress you because I wouldn't be the man that my master raised me to be! If I ever do that, I will take my own–!”

He could not finish the last word because his wife suddenly leaned forward and placed her hand across his mouth to stop him from finishing his sentence. A small tear escaped from the corner of her eyes as she was deeply moved by the emotional speech he had given.

“It's fine, Dom. I understand, and I'm also sorry for hurting you. Maybe it's my feelings of concern that made me act so rashly and be very overprotective of you, but please… I want you to be happy, only then will I be happy, too!”

The two of them stared into each other's eyes and smiled passionately. Nara and Emilia smiled and, although she could not see, Amaranda also smiled after sensing the loving atmosphere that was filling the room. Emilia felt they could handle any situation now and decided it was time for her and Amaranda to depart.

“I think it's about time we take our leave,” she announced much to the surprise of both Shalany and Dominic.

“What? You're leaving already?” He asked in surprise.

“You haven't even been here that long, and I only managed to give you a glass of water and tea! Stay for lunch,” implored Shalany.

Emilia smiled and shook her head before saying, “No. We have to go home and start our own cooking. I think Ondine would've finished making sweets by now with the remainder of our food supplies, and everyone will be coming home soon.”

“Then tell everyone to come here! We'll have a feast!” Shalany said firmly, but Emilia shook her head resolutely in disapproval.

“No, Shalany, but thanks for the offer,” replied Emilia with a finality in her voice that ended all protests from Shalany and Dominic, who understood she would not change her mind.

They all rose to their feet and headed over to stand next to the entranceway. Emilia and Amaranda smiled and bid them farewell before going out of the house. As they were on their way out of the Rutherford Property, Dominic called after them.

“Emilia! Once again, thank you for your help. If ever a time comes that you and your family are in danger, I swear I will come and rescue you all! I swear it on my name and my family!”

This made Amaranda chuckle with laughter and brought a smile on Emilia's face and she said, “I hope that day never comes.”

She firmly believed that his help would not be necessary at all but she had no idea that it would become necessary sooner than she thought.