After Ameria danced with Drannor, naturally, many other boys asked her to dance as well. As if that happened hundreds of times before, Ameria accepted with the same smile on her face. After a while, Zaos began to wonder if her face was paralyzed or something because her smile didn't break even for a second in almost an hour.

"I guess we all have our own share of trouble…" Zaos smiled.

Finally, after another hour of dancing, the party finally ended, and then Alessia finally moved to the entrance again to say goodbye to everyone who came to the party. One after the other, the kids began to leave the hall, and Zaos couldn't have felt more grateful for it. It has been a while since he spent three hours without doing anything productive. Still, he couldn't help but wonder now… what was he going to tell his mother, considering he didn't take anyone to dance? He certainly couldn't lie to her…

After saying goodbye to Alessia, Zaos, Drannor, and Ameria headed toward the gate, and there they found their carriages. Apparently, those two came together since the princess couldn't come alone, and it would be weird to stay accompanied by a guard. That makes Zaos wonder… did Ameria joined other parts while she was being escorted by guards?

"Well, see you guys tomorrow," Zaos said before he entered his carriage.

"I hope to see you dance the next time," Ameria said. "I will manipulate some information to make you popular."

"I wouldn't bet on it," Zaos said.

Zaos was exhausted mentally when he arrived home, but in the end, the worst part of the night was yet to come. When Zaos opened the door of his home, he saw his mother waiting for him. It was pretty late, so that caught him off guard.

"How was it?" Lyra asked.

"It was alright, I guess…" Zaos replied while he hurried to his room.

"Zaos! Did you dance with many girls? How many?" Lyra asked.

Zaos tried to ignore the questions since his mother wouldn't like the answers, but he was forced to stop and answer them properly in the end.

"Sorry, mom," Zaos said. "It didn't happen."

"Why? Did you get nervous?" Lyra frowned.

"No, I wasn't just in the mood for it," Zaos replied. "I am sorry."

"Did you even try?" Lyra asked.

"Well, from a certain angle… no," Zaos said.

"Was someone rude to you?" Lyra insisted on the matter. "Did this Alessia girl and her parents treat you badly?"

"I don't think so…" Zaos replied while he was recalling that scene. "They seemed polite enough considering that they knew the rumors about me."

"What kind of rumors? You're a war hero, Zaos," Lyra said. "And at a very young age."

"Well…" Zaos said.

Zaos didn't want to tell his mother once again that he found it tiresome interacting with kids. Not to mention, he didn't want to talk about how he wasn't well seen by the boys around his age due to what happened to his squad and his accomplishments. Considering that the boys didn't like him and the girls only heard a few rumors about him, it was only natural that he would stay isolated. Considering that, perhaps what Ameria said about manipulating information wasn't a joke, after all.

"Well, that is no excuse, Zaos," Lyra said, visibly disappointed. "I could have understood if you had given up after trying a few times, but you didn't even try to take someone to dance or make friends. I am very disappointed on you."

Those words cut more and caused much more damage than Elmar's spear. Zaos was already frozen on the spot, but his mother still landed the finishing blow by leaving the room without looking at Zaos again. That made him feel terrible, and he just stood still in that place for a while, feeling guilty…

"How come women can make men feel like this so easily…" Zaos said and then sighed.

For some odd reason, it seemed that Lyra wanted to make his son popular with the girls. That was weird considering that his father probably was popular but certainly wasn't a man worth admiration as a person.

After a while, someone unexpected showed up. It was Laiex… as usual, he returned home late, but that seemed even more late than usual. Zaos could easily imagine why he was later than usual.

"It seems you disappointed your mother," Laiex said after he entered and crossed his arms. "I heard how the party went today, Drannor gave us a brief report when he brought the princess home."

"I figured as much," Zaos said.

"I don't think that you will take these words at face value, but while you are trying to make your mother not to worry about you, you only end up making things worse," Laiex said. "Trying to use all of you free time to help her is commendable, but your mother isn't stupid. She can easily imagine why you don't want to spend time with other kids around your age."

Zaos took a deep breath to calm down. His father was quick to annoy him. Still, things were even more annoying than usual because he knew that his father was absolutely right. Still, even if Zaos were willing to do all that, he would feel weird because he didn't have the same mental age as the other kids. Perhaps he could get some friends if he decides to become minimally friendly, but becoming popular or even finding romance at his age would make him feel like a scum… unless his girlfriend is at least ten years older than the current him. After all, he had the mind of an adult, and most adults could easily fool young girls. That wasn't something Zaos wanted to do.

"Think carefully about your next actions and reflect on the events of this night," Laiex said. "That is, if you don't want to make things worse for your mother."

Zaos took a deep breath again… how come he let his father let the moral high ground in that situation? That could be funny if it weren't tragic.