2767 Pride and Shame (Part 1)

Zinya had been blind for most of her life. She recognized the baby noise and knew the sensation of the small body pressed against her chest, but everything else was a new and amazing experience.

How Elysia looked around, how her little fingers moved, every one of her movements was a delight for Zinya's eyes. She still suffered for having been denied the opportunity to spend time with her own children after their birth.

On top of that, due to her past condition, she had no idea what they had looked like during the various phases of their growth.

"Come on, the kids are waiting. Also, you don't want to make your sister-in-law jealous." Kamila chuckled.

Zinya blinked a few times in confusion, wondering why Tista or Rena should be jealous of her time with Elysia when Zinya realized that her sister was talking about Surin.

"That's a good one." She chuckled as well. "I swear, it's hard to think that Lith has a baby sister even younger than his daughter."

"Yeah, but Aran already makes the family tree weird so Surin isn't that much of a shocker once you get used to him." Kamila guided Zinya to the park where the kids were playing with their steeds and the enchanted sand castles that Lith had built for them.

Aran and Leria used chore magic while Filia and Frey countered the enemy fire with toy artifacts and alchemical tools that Vastor had crafted to make up for their weak mana cores.

"I'm happy to see them having so much fun yet it saddens me that Zogar is missing out so much because of his job." Zinya sighed.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Kamila took Valeron the Second from the crib and fed him.

"No, but don't worry." Zinya shook her head while also taking Surin in her arms. "Zogar is a great father. He spends a lot of time with the kids on his own. They have never been to a fair or an amusement park and Zogar has taken it upon himself to help them make up for the lost time."

***

On Mogar, the Spring equinox was called the Day of the Rising Sun and it was widely celebrated. It marked not only the end of winter, the rationing of food, and the isolation due to snowstorms, but also the moment when the day would last more than the night.

People on Mogar lived wary of the undead and knowing that their natural predators could hunt less while the days would grow longer made everyone happy even before the war with the Undead Courts had started.

Now, it made everyone ecstatic and made every noble from the Royals to Baronets sigh in relief. During winter and fall, they were forced to invest a great deal of money in security and make sure that there were enough soldiers to patrol the living areas regularly.

After the Day of the Rising Sun, instead, they could save lots of money just by having the soldiers help out with the construction and maintenance of public property during the extra daylight hours.

Zogar Vastor had decided to make use of the national holiday to take Filia and Frey to the city fair of Ustar, on the western side of the Kingdom, Ustar had an all-around amusement park filled with magical rides that only the highest nobles could visit anytime.

Anyone else needed to spend lots of money and wait a lot of time to make a reservation. Things got particularly hectic during the Day of the Rising Sun since Ustar would bring out exclusive rides and shows.

Vastor had invited Lith to come along with Aran and Leria, but he still had a hard time getting away from Elysia, and bringing her along would have ruined the holiday for Vastor.

Kamila was still under the weather, needing all the support of her family in her battle against her inner demons so she had also declined the invitation. Zinya hadn't come either, wishing to make up for her lack of experience with the newborns and leave Filia and Frey to spend some time alone with their dad.

Vastor had bought priority passes for all rides, allowing the kids to skip every line, even those that technically didn't allow for it.

He wore the insignia of his status as Archmage, vice-headmaster of the White Griffon, and Spellbreaker in plain sight, making the operators make way for him and the nobles grunt in envy.

"Can we really do it, Dad?" Filia asked, making his heart clench with joy like it was the first time he heard it.

It wasn't the word per se, it was how she said it. Her voice was filled with love, trust, and respect.

"There are no priority passes for Manohar's Madness and those people must have waited in line for hours. Isn't it unfair for us to take their place?" Even after everything Filia had gone through, she still worried about others and especially about her step-father's reputation.

"What if they spread bad rumors about you?"

"Yes, it's unfair." Vastor nodded while holding her hand and looking her in the eyes. "Like it was unfair that your mom was blind for years or that your schoolmates bullied you and your brother. Yet do you think that any one of them cared?"

"No, but two wrongs don't make a right either." Filia shook her head. "We are better than people like them because we act better."

Those words filled Vastor with pride and shame. Pride for his daughter and shame about himself who would have gladly killed everyone in line just to enjoy one of her smiles.

"Indeed, but let's put it this way. What does the Kingdom do to criminals?"

"It punishes them." Frey said.

"Exactly." Vastor nodded. "You don't reward bad behavior and those people are mean. Consider us skipping the line their punishment for mistreating commoners every day of the year."

"Are you not worried about what they might say about you?" Frey shuddered a bit under the glares of the nobles in line.

"Please." Vastor scoffed with confidence. "This won't put a single dent in my reputation. Even if I was a saint, those nobles would still find a reason to spread rumors about me. At least this way I'm earning it."

He laughed, ruffling the boy's hair yet his words lit a spark of rage in Frey's eyes, making him clench his teeth.

He was young but far from stupid. He had listened too many times to the bad things that people said about his mother and about Vastor for marrying her. Frey loved Zinya and considered Vastor his hero.

The boy had never forgotten about the day when the grumpy, round old man had protected Frey's family, standing alone against an army of undead. He was still grateful to Vastor for avenging the deaths of Brionac and Volgun.

Most of all, he was thankful to Vastor for giving Zinya sight and protecting her over and over. Vastor had given Frey's family a home, cool uncles like Tezka, and more joy than the young boy had ever believed to be possible.

He deeply wished that Vastor was his real father and to one day become someone like him.