KIHO was frustrated.

Winter's body was burning hot and he could sense that the heat was coming from his heart. But no matter how much of his ice Mana he used, his son's body temperature wasn't going down. And poor Winter was still whimpering in pain.

His son said that he felt like his heart was being roasted by a hot flame.

"I will freeze Winter like how I did when he was born," Kiho declared, then he turned to who was kneeling beside him while wiping off the beads of sweat on their son's forehead. "It will stabilize his temperature and hopefully, freeze the burning sensation in his chest."

To be honest, that technique was dangerous.

But since Winter's dominant Mana was ice, he was hoping that it would work the way that it did last time. Now that his memories were back, he was more confident with his abilities. Still, he wanted to be careful because this was the first time that Winter had begun his transformation as the Moon Serpent.

My son's little body couldn't handle it yet.

Tilly turned to him and nodded. "Please do what you think is best for our son, Kiho. I trust you."

"Thank you, hon," he said, then he gently put both of his hands on top of Winter's chest. "Everyone, please move away from my son."

Everyone, excluding Tilly, stood up and moved away from them.

"Kiho, take care of Winter," Tilly said, then she kissed their son's forehead. "Winter, your Dad will save you." Then, she turned to him with a serious look on her face. "Hon, I will just talk to Brother Wixx and Lord Forrester."

Kiho nodded, then he kissed his wife on the lips. "Leave Winter to me, honey."

***

TILLY gave Kiho and Winter one last look before she faced the people in front of her. "Brother, Lord Forrester, I need to talk to you. Please go to the next room."

Wixx and Lord Forrester both nodded, then they left the room quietly.

Brother Wixx is acting strange.

But she set aside that thought to turn to Julian who looked worried about Winter. She smiled at his son and squatted in front of him.

"Julian, don't worry. Your father won't let anything bad happen to Winter," she assured her son, then she put her hands on his shoulders. "Can you do me a favor, son?"

"Of course, Mother," Julian said right away. His eyes told her that he was still worried about his brother. But she could also tell from his gaze that he was ready for whatever favor she would ask of him. "What can I do for you?"

"Come down and assure our allies that everything is alright."

He looked surprised by her order. "Mother, do I have the right to represent you and Father?"

"Of course," she said firmly, then she gently touched her face. "Julian, you are our oldest son. If your father and I aren't available, you have all the right to be our representative. Why do you think that you do not have the right to do so?"

"Because I'm not the heir apparent," he said hesitantly. "I know that the law in the empire dictates that the first born son should be the heir apparent. You can't explain to everyone where I come from. So more likely than not, all of them will think that I'm an adopted son. And the adopted children do not have the right to be the heir apparent unless the only biological child of a lord is a female." He bit his lip before he continued. "I don't want the people who are unaware of the truth to think that you and father are being unfair to Winter. I don't want them to misjudge you, Mother."

Her heart broke for Julian once again.

When would this child learn to think about himself first? Of course, she was happy to know that Julian thought of their family this way. But being too selfless was being cruel to yourself.

"Don't worry, Julian," Solenn, who was standing behind Julian and beside Luna, said confidently. "I will beat up everyone and anyone who'd have the audacity to speak ill about you and your family."

His son's face turned red but he smiled at the little princess's words anyway.

"Please do that, Princess Solenn," she told the little girl with a smile. "Speaking of which, can I ask you to accompany my Julian?" she asked the princess, then she looked up at the witch. "You, too, Luna. Please check on our allies and see if somebody was harmed because of Brother and Kiho's dispute a while ago."

"Leave it to me, Tilly," Luna said with a nod. "Do what you have to do."

"We'll protect Julian, Supreme," Solenn assured her. "We will support our young lord and make sure that everyone acknowledges him."

She laughed softly at that. "Thank you, Princess Solenn," she said, then she turned to Julian. "Can I leave this matter to your hands, Lord Julian Rosenberg Nystrom?"

In the empire, once a lady was married, she just naturally loses her right to use her maiden's name.

But she wanted to remind Julian that he came from two powerful clans albeit the sufferings that he went through in the past. She knew that her own family hurt him back then, but still, she wanted him to have his faith back on the blood flowing through his veins.

And it seemed to work.

The look of determination on her son's face said so.

"You can leave it to me, Mother," Julian said in a confident voice. "I will not bring shame to our family."

"Hey, no pressure, my precious little cinnamon roll," Tilly said, then she kissed Julian's forehead. "Just do whatever you think is right and we will always support you."

***

JULIAN didn't expect that once he returned downstairs, he would be greeted by the fighting Black Serpent Knights and Red Phoenix Knights.

Even Lady Solenn and Lady Luna looked upset with the sight that greeted them.

"Lord Denver," Lady Luna called out to the former captain of the Red Phoenix Knights who looked frustrated while trying to tell the knights to calm down. But no one was listening to him. "What is happening here?"

Lord Denver walked towards their direction while explaining. "We saw the fight between the Black Serpent and the Red Phoenix a while ago," he said, then he stood in front of them with his arms crossed over his chest. "Since the Red Phoenix Knights are all Fire Mages like me, we are all naturally drawn to the Red Phoenix. My men started to cheer for Lord Wixx. And then, some of the Black Serpent Knights returned and heard the commotion. Since the Black Serpent Knights are people who have worked with Duke Nystrom back when he was still the captain of his squad, his men started to cheer for him. Before I knew it, my men and the Black Serpent Knights are already fighting each other. They don't listen to me."

"Men and their ego," Lady Solenn said in a disappointed voice while shaking her head. "And you call yourselves grown-ups? Argh, even Winter could be more mature than your men, Lord Denver."

Lady Luna nodded in agreement. "You took the words out of my mouth, Princess Solenn."

Lord Denver's face turned red from embarrassment. "I am really sorry for my incompetence."

"Don't be," Julian told Lord Denver in a calm manner. This was the man who took care of Flint ever since he took them under his wings. He knew that Lord Denver was a capable man. "The fact that the Fire Mages aren't using their flame to attack the Black Serpent Knights is a testament that you taught them well, Lord Denver."

The Red Phoenix Knights (aka the Fire Mages of Lord Denver's tower) and the Black Serpent Knights were fighting with their swords instead. But both sides were currently shouting strings of profanity at each other.

They all talk like Lord Jameson Crawford now.

Lord Denver looked touched by his words. "Lord Julian…"

"It's my father and uncle's fault that this happened," he assured him. "It is my family's responsibility to clean up this mess."

"Spoken like a true Nystrom," Lady Luna said proudly.

Solenn nodded in agreement. "Julian, I think I'm seriously falling for you."

Julian could only blush at that. "Uhm, please excuse me for a while," he said, then he turned his back on Lady Solenn, Lady Luna, and Lord Denver to face the fighting Red Phoenix and Black Serpent Knights.

He knew that he couldn't get their attention by simply talking. So he just released enough Mana to make the room hot despite the cold weather. That was when the knights stopped fighting, then they all turned to him silently.

To be honest, he was used to leading people because he was the head of the Nystrom clan in the past. He was just hesitating to act as a leader in this lifetime because he knew that it was Winter's place now.

But I don't want to disappoint Mother.

"Thank you for finally paying attention," Julian said, then he smiled at the knights. "Can everyone stop fighting and listen to me first?"

***

TILLY watched Wixx and Lord Forrester's reaction very carefully after she told them that this wasn't the first time that she was born as Lady Matilda 'Tilly' Prescott.

They both looked shocked.

Yes, even her brother.

Then, does it mean Brother Wixx has nothing to do with my reincarnation?

"I'm not the only one who came back," Tilly declared. Since only the three of them were in the room, she was free to talk about it. "Winter was also sent here. His remembers the memories of that life. But for some reason, he can't talk about it."

Both her brother and the former saint looked even shocked.

"Brother, it wasn't you?" she asked suspiciously. "I've always thought that it was you who brought me and Winter in this lifetime."

"We didn't meet in the lifetime that you just told me about so it's impossible for me to do that," Wixx said in a serious tone. "But you're the Black Phoenix, Tilly. You also have the ability to reincarnate on your own."

Well, that made sense. "How about Winter then?"

"Only one person other than the Red Phoenix could do that," Lord Forrester said, earning a glare from her brother. But the former saint just ignored Wixx. "Tilly, I think I know who helped Winter to get back in the same lifetime as you."

"Please don't tell me it's the Sky God."

"Of course it's not my father," the former saint said bluntly. "But it was definitely the work of another god."

She turned to her brother who seemed to be keeping more secrets. "Brother, I can tell that you're still hiding something from me," she said, her purple eyes glowing threateningly. "If you don't want us to fight again, then you better spill what you know."

Wixx looked at her for a solid minute without speaking before he let out a deep sigh. "I don't want to bring him up but I guess it can't be helped," he said, then he turned to her with a serious look on his face. "I believe it was the Sun God that brought Winter here, Tilly."

"The Sun God?" Tilly asked in disbelief, the glow in her eyes fading slowly. "But the Moon God said I swallowed up the sun?"

***

WHEN WINTER opened his eyes, he found himself inside a dark room.

The only thing lighting up the whole place was a ball of gold-ish flame floating in front of him. He wasn't surprised because it wasn't the first time that he saw that golden ball of fire. He couldn't mistake the warmth and the pure aura coming from it for something else.

"It's you," Winter said with a smile. "The god who helped me reincarnate."

The golden ball of fire bounced a little as if it was nodding. "We meet again, my precious grandson."

***

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