"LORD FORRESTER, is there something on my face?" Julian asked the former saint politely. The saint sat on the sofa from across him. "You've been staring at me for a while now."

"That's right," his younger brother Winder, who sat beside him on the sofa, said. "Don't stare at my brother without saying a word. It's creepy."

"Yeah, don't stare at Julian," Lady Solenn said, who sat beside Lord Forrester and across from Winter, added. "He's mine."

Julian's face felt warm for some reason.

Lady Solenn can really be so... straightforward.

He wouldn't lie: the young lady could make her feel nervous even though he was already a grown up inside. But that was the thing. The princess's soul was that of a grown woman.

"Since when did my brother become yours, little brat princess?"

"Starting today, duh," the young lady said, then she turned to him with beaming eyes. "Isn't that correct, Julian?"

He knew that his cheeks turned red, and he was too embarrassed to respond.

Yes, he was feeling shy around Lady Solenn because of her bold advances. Moreover, he knew that just like him and Winter, the young lady's soul was also old. And there were times that he would see Lady Solenn in her adult form instead of her child appearance right now.

"Brother, don't get seduced," Winter said while patting his back. "I don't want a bully to be my sister-in-law."

"Winter, please stop," he pleaded his brother. You're only making me feel more shy.

"Yeah, you should stop talking about that kind of thing," Lord Forrester said, finally breaking his silence. "I can't believe that the Holy Scepter that I've been looking for so long is inside your body, Lord Julian. I didn't feel it in you when we met in the past." He paused for a while. "Although I have to admit that the fact that I wasn't able to read your Mana should have been my first clue. I thought your Mana was unreadable because your soul is different."

"I didn't know that the Holy Scepter is inside me," he said. "I didn't feel anything strange all this time."

"The Holy Scepter is dormant," the former saint explained. "But if it already fused with your body by now, we can only conclude that the scepter has been eating your divine power quietly. It's hard to explain but it is the kind of weapon that can be considered "alive." It was able to hide its presence while absorbing your energy. That's probably the reason why your Mana has become unreadable."

Julian fell silent for a while. "Lord Forrester, does it mean that I will die if the Holy Scepter inside me is taken away because it has already absorbed my divine power?"

Winter and Solenn both looked at him with a sad look on their face.

"Brother, don't worry about that," Winter said gently. "Based on the memories that our grandpa showed us, Aku Moonchester was able to take away the Holy Scepter without killing you. Well, we really don't know what happened to you in that life. But the emperor said that Lucina Morganna took care of you. Which means you survived."

He smiled and nodded at his brother.

But deep inside, he doubted if his life lasted long back then…

"Julian, I can see a gloomy around you even if you're smiling," Lady Solenn said while giving him a disapproving look. "Don't worry too much. I won't let you die."

He smiled shyly at the young lady. "Thank you, Lady Solenn."

The princess just smiled and gave him a thumbs up that she probably learned from his mother.

Lady Solenn is really cool.

"Lord Julian and Lady Solenn are right," Lord Forrester said. "I have an idea on how to pull out the Holy Scepter from your body without killing you, Lord Julian. But it could be dangerous."

"I'm willing to take the risk," Julian said, determined to set his negativity for once. "Lord Forrester, please help me live and stay with my family for a long time."

***

"WHO ARE you?" Wong snarled at the witch with a pair of pink eyes. "Why do you have the aura of a Moonchester?"

"I'm Stella of the Colorless Coven," the witch, who stood on a branch of the tree across from him, said proudly. "I'm the future empress so you better bow down to me, Keeper."

"I will only bow and kneel to one person, witch," he said with a laugh. "It doesn't matter even if you think you're the next empress of the Moonchester Empire. The Supreme will burn down the royal family anyway."

Stella of the Colorless Coven, much to his shock, smiled at him. And that smile of hers looked genuine for some reason. "I will gladly thank the Supreme if she ends the nasty twins for me."

Now that confused him. "You just claimed that you'll be the next empress. But now, you're saying that you'll be glad if Aku and Nia Moonchester disappear?"

"Can't I become an empress without Aku Moonchester?" she asked back with a smirk. "For that reason, I won't allow you to destroy this empire. You better tell this to your master as well: leave Moonchester Empire alone."

"I'm not your dog," he snarled at her. "If you have a message for the Supreme, say it to her yourself. Not that I'd allow a lowly being like you to meet her."

The witch smirked, but all of a sudden, her face twitched in pain. Then, much to his shock, she fell from the tree as if she was unconscious.

Well, not that I care.

His thoughts were cut-off when he felt a sense of danger. And then, he realized that the witch who was supposed to have fallen on the ground disappeared.

He suddenly felt a chill down his spine.

When he turned around, he was shocked to be greeted by Stella. But this time, his shock came from the fact that her pink eyes had turned golden snake eyes that reminded him of the Black Serpent.

"Just the sight of a person who serves my ungrateful daughter-in-law already makes me furious," the witch who seemed to have been possessed by the White Snake snarled at him. "Let me take a bite to compensate for the amount of rage your master brings me."

He was ready to fight the White Snake but all of a sudden, Elis Ripperton returned to his human form. The Blue Dragon stood in front of the White Snake (in the witch's body) to stop her from attacking him.

"Wong, we both know that we can't kill each other because of the binding vow that Tilly and Nia Moonchester made," Elis Ripperton said in a threatening voice. "I don't care what you came here for but I want you to leave now."

"And don't come back," 'Stella' snarled at him. "I can't kill you but I can torment you until you beg me to take your life, Keeper."

"If you're Yumi the White Snake and you're that angry that I tried to destroy the Royal Palace, then my visit here wasn't for naught," Wong said with a smirk while his body was engulfed in his orange flame. It was his teleportation spell that would bring him back safely to the Nystrom estate where Kelsi and the child Flint were waiting for him. "I have confirmed that the Moon God's real body is indeed somewhere in the Royal Palace."

***

TILLY'S heart broke when she saw Thaddeus Nystrom return to his original body after the ice that froze his corpse finally melted.

Of course, she hadn't forgotten that he was the one that killed her father.

But as the Supreme, he couldn't blame the entire thing to one individual only. If Aku Moonchester didn't curse her descendants, and if her brother Wixx found a way to break the curse instead of hunting down the Nystrom clan, none of this would have happened.

"Kiho, it hurts that I have the duty to see the bigger picture," Tilly said with clenched hands. "As Lord Maverick Prescott's daughter, I want to be angry and blame my pain on Thaddeus Nystrom. But as the Supreme, I have to acknowledge the fact that we're also at fault here. We messed up in all the previous lives that we had before this one."

If she didn't retrieve the memories of her past life, she would have lost herself to her wrath and punished Thaddeus Nystrom without the recognizing the root of the problem.

"We have to take responsibility this time," Kiho said, then he put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Let's be stronger together, Tilly."

"I'm sorry."

She and her husband were both surprised when Thaddeus Nystrom said those words.

"I really don't understand why I did the things that I did when I became an ice puppet," Thaddeus Nystrom said in a cracked voice, his face full of remorse. "I'm sorry for hurting our family. I'm sorry for killing those people."

As the daughter of Lord Maverick Prescott, she knew that an apology wasn't enough because it wouldn't bring back her father.

But deep in her heart, she was aware that a part of her had already let go of her anger.

"My father lived a good and honest life with the people he loved and loved him back," she said softly. Remembering her father would always, always make her feel vulnerable and strong at the same time. "I had the chance to introduce my family to him before we bid each other goodbye. Although the pain of losing my father will never heal, I am still grateful that he left this world surrounded by his family." She opened the door of the prison and went inside, her husband silently following her. "On the other hand, you lived a pitiful life in a cold isolated place like this. I can't blame you for losing your sanity and humanity." She knelt in front of her poor descendant, then hugged him while patting his back. "If you get the chance in the afterlife to meet my father and Lord Morgan Denver, and the people you have tormented during your long life, beg for their forgiveness. And if you were given the chance to get reincarnated, I want you to live an honest life. I pray that you get reborn in a warm home with a loving family next time. Then, atone for your past sins for all eternity."

Thaddeus Nystrom could only sob as a response.

Tilly closed her eyes, the warmth of her body began to turn into the flame that would burn her pitiful descendants to ashes.

Yes, that would also be the case for Garnet Nystrom and the rest of the ice puppets later.

***

"I'M SORRY, Lord Denver," Kiho said softly to the former captain of the Red Phoenix Knights. When he stepped out of the prison to give Tilly some privacy as she mourned the ashes of their poor descendant, he found Lord Denver leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. He couldn't read his thoughts because his face was unfathomable, but he knew that they had to have that conversation now. "Thaddeus Nystrom also killed your father. We should have consulted you before we bestowed our punishment to him."

Tilly felt the same.

But he knew that his wife had too many things on her mind already, so he decided to talk to Lord Denver.

"No, I understand, Duke Nystrom," Lord Denver said quietly. "And I trust the Supreme's decision. I'm relieved to see that my father's murderer genuinely regret what he did. It wouldn't bring my father back, but at least, I knew that he felt sorry for taking the lives of other people."

"Thank you for understanding, Lord Denver," Kiho said, then he put a hand on his shoulder. "And I'm sorry that it took us this long to get the justice that our fathers deserve."

***

"ARE YOU crazy?" Elis Ripperton snarled at Stella as soon as they returned to the chamber that she was using in the emperor's palace. "Why did you have to say those things to Wong? He's smart– he'll definitely realize who you really are!"

"I'm not trying to hide my identity," Stella, who sat on the armrest of the sofa, said proudly. "And if the Supreme finds out who I really am, don't you think she'd want to have me by her side?"

"It's too early to reveal your identity."

"Think about it, Elis Ripperton," the "witch" said, then she crossed her arms over her chest. "If I get close to the Supreme, don't you think you'll have the chance to get close to her as well?"

His brows furrowed in confusion. "What are you planning, Stella?"

"Don't call me that when the other person inside me is sleeping anyway," Stella scolded him. "Call my name, Elis Ripperton. I want to hear my real name from time to time."

"You're a lunatic but I understand where you're coming from," Elis Ripperton said while shaking his head. "Just what are you planning now, Elaine Moonchester?"

***

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