Bethsha gestured towards Fiona.
"Allow me to introduce Queen Fiona of the Lyran Kingdom. Your mother."
Queen Fiona hummed as she stared at Jason’s face appreciatively, and the moment Jason saw her, his mind immediately travelled to Hesabeth. Fiona reminded Jason so much of Hesabeth that Jason was sure the two women would definitely get along if they ever met! Well, it was either that, or they would hate each other! They both had this aristocratic appearance and mannerism that made it seem like they were always looking down on you!
Jason put his hand out towards Fiona for a hug, and Fiona was a bit surprised by the gesture. Bethsa had already told Fiona that Jason was not the sort of person to be shy around his family, but Fiona knew that Jason was the overlord, so she expected him to at least be a little uptight. The person she was seeing right now was just like any regular family man! Fiona closed her eyes and sighed as she felt all of her expectations crumbling, but Fiona couldn’t help but smile at the same time. The fact that Jason wasn’t uptight actually made Fiona a little happy!
Fiona stepped forward and gave Jason a hug, and she spoke softly.
"It’s a pleasure to meet you, son."
"It’s great to meet you too, mother."
Fiona pulled back and smiled up at Jason.
"I’ve heard a lot about you from my sister-wives, but the rumors of your exploits around the Primordial Expanse become ever grander with each passing day, especially for someone so young. Let us sit together sometime later and talk about your journeys. I have a particular interest in hearing tales of great adventures."
Jason chuckled softly, and he promised to do that later. Jason then turned away from Fiona, and his eyes softened as he saw Gina walking towards him. Jason felt a feeling of undeniable happiness spreading through his chest once he laid eyes on Gina, and when she smiled, Jason’s face lit up immediately! Jason moved away from the others, and he took Gina in his arms gently. Gina ran her hand over Jason’s face softly before placing a short kiss on Jason’s lips and pulling him into a loving hug.
"Welcome home, baby."
Jason tightened his hand around Gina and pressed his face into her shoulder as he exhaled calmly, and for the first time in a long time, Jason felt completely at peace. This was home! Jason leaned forward and gave Gina another deep kiss, and Gina laughed as she held Jason’s face softly and kissed him back. The two of them were like that for a few long seconds before Jason finally pulled back and spoke through their mental link.
’I missed you, babe.’
Gina smiled as she ran her hand along Jason’s jaw.
’I missed you too, baby. How was your trip?’
Jason sighed tiredly, and he shook his head before speaking out loud.
"It was way too long. Hondura was an absolute mess. I did my best to set up something resembling an organized world, but I’ll have to wait and see if it works."
"You went to Hondura? Was there a problem there?"
Bethsa spoke up as she followed Jason and Gina towards the dining room, and Jason had to explain how he was approached by some of his Elder Worlds about the Witch of Calamity.
"She was using some sort of water-based mind art to control the civilians in multiple worlds, and it was blocking some of the trade routes close to Hondura."
"Oh, you’ve met some of the Elder Worlds? I was actually invited to join them recently due to the advancement at Vanta. But I’m on the fence since it adds more responsibility to my people."
Bethsa let out a small sigh as she took a seat, and Fiona spoke up.
"Becoming a member of the Elder Worlds isn’t really a problem. The only time you’ll suffer from the responsibilities is if a war were to break out. You’d be forced to share in the rebuilding efforts along with your Overlord."
Fiona and her children took a seat opposite Bethsa, and Bethsa hummed as she helped Kai sit down and ruffled his hair with a smile. Kai and Maya were sitting together with Janet, and Bethsa turned to where Jason and Gina were sitting at the head of the table.
"Do you think I should join, Jason?"
"Yeah, you should. It’ll be good to have an ally on that side. The Elder Worlds also get a cut of the dimensional taxes, so you’ll be making more money too."
Bethsa’s eyes gleamed when she heard about money, but Hendrix spoke up.
"Jason, I heard a rumor in the fifth domain that Overlord Val’kat is planning to reintroduce a precious mineral back into the market. A lot of worlds have been clamoring to gather gold to prepare for it, but some sources say that the mineral is actually being bought from the sixth domain. Is that true?"
Jason smiled at Hendrix, and Hendrix immediately knew that those rumors were true! Hendrix asked Jason what the mineral was!
"Overlord Val’kat has refused to reveal any information about the mineral, so we can only wait for him to begin sales. If we know what the mineral is, we’ll be able to get better leverage in the market."
Jason thought for a few seconds before he decided to just tell them. It wasn’t like it was some big secret, and it would help his family get richer.
"The mineral is Aqualith."
"!"
A wave of shock passed through the room, and Jason grinned when he saw multiple eyes widen in surprise! Jason leaned back and continued.
"Yes, I know it’s surprising. But it’s true. I found a deposit of Aqualith during my journey with Gina, and I have quite a bit of it in storage. I plan to begin sales before the end of the month."
The people at the table were all stunned! Both Vanta and Lyran were water-based worlds that relied heavily on aquatic artefacts and water-based mana stones, so Fiona and Bethsa understood just how much value this mineral had, and they knew that once the market opened, Jason would be making billions of gold coins every month from Aqualith sales! Bethsa decided right then that she would talk to Jason about striking a deal later, but Fiona let out a small sigh as she realised she couldn’t strike a deal.
Since Fiona was under the fifth domain, it would be seen as a sign of disrespect to go behind her Overlord’s back and buy Aqualith straight from the source. It would be like a governor going to import a product from another country without letting their president know first! But this deal was far too important for Fiona to simply leave it up to chance, and Fiona cleared her throat before she spoke up.
"I would appreciate it if you could put in a good word for us with Overlord Val’kat. The market for those stones will be very fierce, so having a bit of preference would be appreciated."
Fiona spoke in an easygoing voice, but Jason could easily see the intensity in her eyes. Fiona wanted those stones badly, and she was trying to make sure Overlord Val’kat sold them to her at a fair price before the excessive interest from other worlds pushes the price through the roof. Jason just chuckled, and he said that he would put in a word with Val’kat. After all, that is what family is for. Fiona beamed when she heard this, and she nodded thankfully to Jason!
Both Hendrix and Georgia were surprised to see how close their mother already was to Jason! They both knew that their mother was not the sort of person to show emotions so easily, and none of the step-siblings that they had met so far managed to make their mother act this freely with them so quickly!