To Live Again, For the First Time!

Emilin had been doing more than just bathing in the bathroom, after all, she had been there for quite a while.

Emilin cleaned herself up, and it was only then that she could finally give her family a call and that's exactly what she had been doing before heading out to the living room to meet up with Xander and Levi again.

Texting wouldn't be enough after such a long time without contact. 

Even though it had been only a few days, it felt like much longer for Emilin. Thankfully she hadn't let her parents worry as she had given a good estimate for the length of the trip, extending it by a few more days before she departed.

As for her brothers, after using the features of the shoes, there was no chance that they would let her off without a video call to see if she was truly okay, but that was also good, she also wanted to talk to them.

She first called her parents so that she could talk to her brothers separately.

"Mom, Dad."

Emilin smiled brightly just seeing the faces of her parents from the screen of her cell phone.

"Aiya, you still remember that you have parents?"

"You haven't contacted us for so long that your dad and I were debating whether you had gotten a boyfriend behind our backs! How could you cheat on us like that? Tell us which man stole my little baby's love, I'll make sure to go teach him a good lesson."

Gabriel, who sat beside his wife Elena had a sour face for a second there.

'If I didn't know that you were talking about our daughter...'

Even knowing that it was their daughter Elena was talking to, Gabriel was still eating some vinegar, as for anyone else who would like to join the fray in the fight for his wife's love, they better first consider if they are willing to put their lives at risk.

Three children were already more than enough competition for him, especially when he had a hard time winning against any one of them.

He couldn't help but sigh ruefully at the thought. He loved all his children very much, but he wasn't even considering having another one.

As for Emilin, she couldn't detect any of these sentiments coming from her father.

"Haha, what do you mean?"

Emilin could only imagine what kind of social skills would be necessary to get a boyfriend. Even if she wanted to, as life would have it, she simply didn't have those capabilities.

"Honey, don't be silly, if our daughter got a boyfriend, I'm sure we would be the first to know, right?"

That question was more directed at the person from the other side of the screen rather than the wife who sat beside him.

Gabriel made his intentions and insinuations clear as he shifted his gaze to the screen.

"Mom, Dad, I'm not here to talk about my nonexistent love life..." Emilin said poutingly. 

She could only act like this in front of her family, but the truth was, even then, she was still putting up a front so that she could protect her loved ones.

Just like how she wasn't telling them how she had gotten injured or 'kidnapped'.

"That's too bad, then I guess we'll just leave it at that then." Elena poorly faked a sad tone while putting her pearly white teeth on full display.

'Yes, I can just tell how sad you are mom. Oh, so sad' Emilin inwardly thought.

"I wanted to be the first to tell you, and also to tell you first, that I want to get into photography," Emilin announced with a serious face.

This was something that she truly wanted to take seriously and so she definitely had to inform her parents first, no matter how the final outcome may be.

Previously, she had been just like her Big Brother Theo. She had many things she was supposedly good at, but none of which she was passionate about, which is currently still an issue that plagued Theo.

This is why he had so readily agreed when his little sister had pointed him in a direction, which just happened to be acting, and also why Emilin had done so in the first place.

Learning acting and at times interacting with people who hid their true nature was a good method of self-discovery as her Big Brother Theo developed some of his other skills.

If he had already had something he liked to do, there was no way that Emilin could possibly impose any of her designs onto his path. 

She wouldn't be able to live with herself if that were the case.

Elena and Gabriel were silent for a bit as they processed what their youngest daughter had just said.

Emilin's caring mother, Elena, was the first to react.

"Do you like it?"

She asked.

Four words were enough to showcase just what kind of family Emilin was a part of.

Their questions were never related to anything superficial. It wasn't about whether they had the finances, the connections, or even the skills. They didn't even bother asking if Emilin had been considering this for very long, why she was considering it, or if she was any good.

All that could come later.

When push came to shove, they only ever really cared about their children's well-being and happiness.

As long as Emilin was happy with her decision, everything else was rather superfluous.

After all, what were parents for?

Even if Emilin were to disregard all her other assets and only concentrate on photography, if that made her happy, what else was important?

But it is not to be forgotten that some part of this mindset is too privileged for many.

As for many of those in the middle, who was neither too rich nor poor, there was only one question left to ask.

[Proceeds to ask a dozen more questions.]

Do you really think how good you are as a parent is based on how successful your child is? Or how prestigious the school they attend is? Or even their salary?

It was truly a wonder why people went on to flaunt to other parents what kind of school their child attends, especially if that child had to disregard everything they liked to do to get there.

Of course, it was fine if their child liked studying and was incredibly happy at where they were, but if they were not, if they were regretting their every day at the most prestigious school in the nation, could you really say you did your job as a parent?

To some extent, money is always necessary, and many times good, but what happens when it's not?

When you become so blinded by it that you forget what's important.

Honestly, what's more important?

Working your ass off, tiring your body and mind in an unhealthy manner for some more cash lying around, or spending some more quality time with the people you love doing the things you enjoy?

There had to be some balance, some sense of measure, right?

At some point, you must realize that that time will never be bought back. There are some things called priorities, though many times, they are not set straight.

Of course, your job and cash flow are important, but at different times, different priorities should be set.

What about all those crazy novels, where the billionaire parents disregard their child so much that they are traumatized for life, just so that they can keep their business empire. Have they ever considered why they need so much money and influence?

To keep their family happy? I call bullshit.

"Yes, I like it."

Emilin responded in regards to the question her mother had previously posed to her.

Emilin was glad that she wasn't born into some rich or royal family with multiple branches and dozens of people fighting to be successor because she knew very well that those existed in this world.

In fact, they weren't low in numbers either.

Well, now was not the time to think about it.

"Then that's good, as long as you like it." Elena's smile brightened once again if that was even possible.

At this point, the light was already emitting from her back.

"Dear, I don't mean to be a party pooper, but have you already figured things out?" Gabriel wasn't asking about anything specific, only trying his best to get such thoughts in his daughter's minds so that she could be more prepared with whatever would hit him next.

"I was about to tell you that next. I've got some of my general course mapped out, but there are some parts that even I am not 100% sure about yet."

And so, the conversation went on for another 15 minutes.

They spoke about Emilin's experience, her next route, and trips with some idle chat mixed in the middle.

And right after hanging up and getting her act together, Emilin clicked on the button that would contact her two older brothers.