"That's it?" Lith was flabbergasted.
"Don't sell it short. You would beco a mber of the Royal family, give them heirs, and help them with whatever business they need. The Crown knows that you are a Divine Beast that would outlive them all.
"If you accept their offer, you will be a mber of the Court until Peonia's natural death with all that cos with it. As long as you are discreet and don't humiliate the Crown, you would be allowed to have other relationships." She said,
Lith mulled over her words for a while. The second option was a no-go since it would an submitting to a subjective judgnt that could keep him chained for an indefinite ti.
The first had the charm to be easy. Just disclosing the existence of Spirit Magic to Royal Forgemasters would be enough to beco a Magus. Yet the idea of sharing his spells and research made Lith's skin crawl.
The last option was quite alluring as well.
Peonia was an intelligent, attractive woman and a powerful mage. Marrying her would have ant giving his parents all the protection they needed and Solus the ti she needed to grow.
On top of that, being an arranged marriage there was no need to be faithful. He would keep dating in the Awakened community and with a bit of luck, maybe find soone.
On the other hand, Lith didn't like the idea of becoming a puppet of the Crown nor that his children would suffer the sa fate.
"You don't have to reply now. This was just a formal eting on the Kingdom's behalf to express its interest in your return and present you with options. Is there anything you have to ask ?" Jirni said.
"What if I don't co back at all?" He asked.
"Your houses will be sold, the mine will belong to the Kingdom, and everything magical you left behind will be thoroughly studied and patented by the Royal Forgemasters." She replied.
"Until we hear your answer, you have my word that none of your creations will be examined. Anything else?"
"No." Lith shook his head.
"Perfect." Jirni's uniform shapeshifted into comfortable adventurer clothes, linen pants and a shirt. "Then allow to introduce myself again. I'm Jirni Ernas, a friend of the Verhen family."
"Nice to see a friendly face, Jirni." Lith smiled and shook her hand.
She pulled him close in an embrace.
"I'm so sorry for what happened to Raaz. How is he now? His condition looked terrible in the hologram."
"Dad has made a perfect recovery in the body, but his mind is unwell. He can use a bit of company." Lith tried to lead Jirni out of the room but she stopped him.
"Not now. There are so things we need to discuss privately first. Lith, be honest with . Are you human?"
"Not anymore." He shook his head. "I was when we first t, but then things changed as I reached adulthood."
"That's what I thought. Your body language and your mass were all wrong for a human when I hugged you." At those words, Lith rose his eyebrows in surprise.
"It did seem out of character."
"Please, before asking questions, I always have answers ready." She scoffed, feeling insulted. "What are you exactly?"
There was no judgnt or spite in her voice, only curiosity.
"A Tiamat. The fusion between a human, a Dragon, and a Phoenix." He decided to keep his Abomination side a secret.
"Interesting." She nodded. "Did you get the best or the worst of the two worlds?"
"I got a brand-new world." He sighed, going back to his chair.
"Do you have Origin Flas? Because my poor Orion would gladly beco your frequent custor. You have no idea how expensive that stuff is." She chuckled, yet seeing Lith's face darkening, Jirni rembered how dire his situation was.
"I'm sorry. I understand that between what happened to your father and your identity being exposed to the whole Kingdom this is no laughing matter to you. I ant no offense, I'm just built that way.
"When I see a business opportunity, I have to seize it."
"You and both." Lith chuckled back, thinking how similar he and Jirni were.
He wondered how things would have changed if he were born in the Ernas household. Jirni wouldn't have given him the love and care Elina did, but between her training and the Ernas' legacy, he would have been unstoppable.
He lost himself in that fantasy for a while before he saw a business opportunity and felt the urge to seize it.
"Did you say that Orion uses Origin Flas? How so?" Lith asked. "I'm no expert, but I know how hard it is to purify sothing without damaging the materials and Orion is no Dragon."
"It's actually pretty easy." Jirni casually shrugged. "The first purchase is the most expensive because the Emperor Beast also has to sell you sothing like this."
She put a huge flask on the table that looked made of glass but at Lith's Life Vision it shone like a lightbulb.
"The Beast breathes the Flas in here and sohow, when my husband removes the stopper, they purify their target without causing any collateral damage. That's because we only buy them from a very skillful creature.
"We tried buying cheaper Flas but either the purification process was incomplete or part of them would go wild and damage Orion's lab, if not even his ingredients. After losing a small fortune that way, now he only buys the good stuff."
She put another flask on the table, but this one was full to the brim with bright violet Origin Flas. Lith looked at the violet fire in awe as it danced inside the sealed vessel despite the lack of fresh air.
"How nice of you to bring them with you on a diplomatic mission. Were you expecting trouble?" Lith smirked, understanding the ga they were playing.
"No. I just imagined that a business opportunity would present itself and I needed to check if we can both profit from it." She said with a sly smile, offering him to examine the two flasks.
Lith took one of them in each hand and used Demon Grasp to understand how they worked. He expected them to be sothing simple, like a dinsional storing device, but they were so much more.
'Fuck sideways! These things are the closest thing to an alchemical Spirit Item I've ever seen. The flask's enchantnts allow the Flas to retain the willpower of their caster and purify their target.' Lith thought.
'At the sa ti, they can also bear the imprint of the buyer so that they are the only ones who can open the flask and use their own willpower to direct the Flas. I have no real use for such things, but their enchantnts are one of the pieces of the puzzle I lacked for my Golems.'
A warm smile appeared on his face seeing the first ray of light after so many dark days.
"Do you mind if I keep the empty flask?" Without Solus and the Eyes there was no way for Lith to study such a complex device in a short ti.
Besides, it was clear that the developnt was too convenient to be just a coincidence.
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