I'M an adult now.

No, he wasn't.

But Winter was five years old now. He could talk, walk, and move properly on his own. Gone were the days that he needed to be taken care of by his mother and his nanny.

It's my turn to take care of Mommy now.

"Young Master, are you done changing your clothes?" Isabelle, his nanny, asked from outside his room. "Should I help you?"

"Isabelle, I'm no longer a child," Winter said with a pout. When he realized that he was pouting like a kid, he gently slapped his lips. "I'm done changing."

He went out of the room because he didn't want Isabelle to get worried.

As soon as he did, he was surprised when he was greeted by a familiar flash of light– making him close his eyes.

There she goes again.

Right now, Isabelle was taking his pictures using the 'Ice Tablet' that he and his mommy developed when he was three years old.

It was a very thin tablet made from his ice and it would only melt once he died. The tablet was embedded with spirit stones that captured photos and videos. The black screen, on the other hand, was made from the dust of black diamond and other gems that were used to preserve memories. His mother liked to call the black screen as the "memory hub."

He opened his eyes to see Isabelle still fawning over him. "That's enough pictures for today, Isabelle," he said.

"Let's take a video next," Isabelle said with sparkling eyes. "Duke Nystrom will need a whole month to look at all the pictures and videos of you that I took for the past five years." As usual, she got emotional. "I can't wait for you and Lady Nystrom to be reunited with His Grace."

Well, he couldn't wait for his family to be reunited as well.

Unfortunately, for the past five years, he couldn't connect to his father's mind no matter how much he tried to do so. Eventually, he gave up. He realized that as long as there was a strong protection around the floating island, he could never create a connection with his daddy.

"I'll make sure that we will reunite with my father soon," he declared bravely. "Anyway, is Mommy not yet home?"

Isabelle shook her head. Even though he already told her to stop, it was obvious that she was still taking a video of him "discreetly." "Lady Nystrom and Miss Luna are still in a meeting. She told us not to wait for them and have lunch together."

"Okay," he said. He was used to how busy his mother was ever since they arrived at the island. And he wasn't mad. He understood that they needed to work hard so that they could return to his father's side soon. "Isabelle, I want to play outside before we have lunch."

She smiled and nodded. "I'll accompany you, Young Master."

"But you need to prepare our lunch, don't you?"

In their house, he and his mother lived with Aunt Luna and Isabelle. They helped whenever they could but overall, Isabelle was in-charge of the house chores.

They lived a simple life in Solarium– the floating island.

There wasn't monarchy and nobility there. The ruler of the island was called the Fire Archmage and the six other Keepers served as his advisors. 'Other' because the Fire Archmage was also one of the Keepers, making them seven in total.

Officially, the Fire Archmage and the Keepers were the rulers of Solarium.

But of course, they are servants of my Mommy.

The Sols, people of the Solarium, called his mother the 'Daughter of the Sun' and treated her like a goddess.

"Are you sure you'll be okay alone, Young Master?" Isabelle asked worriedly. "I don't want you to be bulled again."

He understood where Isabelle's worry was coming from.

The Sols seem to be awkward around me.

And he actually felt out of place.

I'm the only one in the island who can use ice, after all.

He could use his fire Mana but he was still more comfortable in using his ice. Thus, the kids around his age would always pick on him. Some ill-mannered brats would even question if he was truly the Supreme's son.

Of course, as an adult, it was his duty to be patient with the kids.

So to make them shut up, he challenged the strongest kid in the island last week. He knocked out the eleven-year old brat instantly– making him the new "big boss" of their stupid little gang. Ever since then, no one dared to bully him again.

"I'll be fine, Isabelle," Winter assured Isabelle with a big smile. "The streets are under my jurisdiction now."

***

"SUPREME, are you sure about your plan?"

Tilly smiled and nodded to answer Solaris's question. "We can't wait any longer, Solaris," she told the Fire Archmage. "Luna had already finished the medicine to cure Princess Nia's infertility. Now is the perfect time to return to the Moonchester Empire."

Right now, she was in the meeting hall with Solaris, Luna, and three of the six Keepers namely: Jameson Crawford, Roarke Sinclair, and Kelsi (the only woman among the Keepers).

The other three Keepers were still on an away mission.

"It has already been five years since the princess was exiled from the empire," she continued. "I'm pretty sure that the emperor is desperate now to fix his beloved's body. He could no longer delay his marriage with his new betrothed."

She got all that information from the Keepers who would take turns in descending down the empire to spy on their enemies.

Her Keepers gathered all the useful information that they could…

… except information about Duke Kiho Nystrom.

Those brats…

She scolded herself right away so she could focus on her agenda today: to convince the Fire Archmage to allow her to return to the Moonchester Empire.

"I understand that we need to act now, Supreme," Solaris, a young looking man with long red hair and pretty peach eyes, said worriedly. He may look young but he was actually one hundred and fifty years old now. He was able to live that long while maintaining his youth because of his blood. After all, he was the direct descendant of Wixx, the Red Phoenix. The Fire Archmage was basically her nephew. "But what I can't approve of is your second plan. I'll get straight to the point, Supreme. I don't want you to make a binding vow with Princess Nia."

She exchanged knowing glances with Luna.

Yep, we already expected this.

"I agree with Lord Solaris," Roarke said. "Making a binding vow with Princess Nia is dangerous."

"Hell yeah, it is," Jameson added. "You can't f*cking trust any Moonchester. They're all f*cking sly and plain evil."

"Did you read the Supreme's proposal?" Kelsi asked while giving Roarke and Jameson a disapproving look. Kelsi, with her ash gray shoulder-length hair and jasper eyes, always looked like she was judging people with a simple glance. She looked that intimidating. "Because if you have read the proposal, then you'd know that the Supreme's plan is flawless." She turned to her with sparkling eyes. "Supreme, men have no rights. Let us proceed with your plan."

Roarke and Jameson (with his dirty mouth) started to complain.

Solaris and Luna both stifled a laugh but when the two met each other's gaze, they instantly avoided eye contact.

Gosh, they're still so awkward around each other.

Not that she could blame Solaris and Luna for acting that way.

Anyway, the chaos in the meeting hall already told her that she couldn't go home early today.

Mommy is sorry, my little cinnamon roll, Tilly said to herself while thinking of ways to convince Solaris, Roarke, Jameson, and the other absent Keepers to approve her plan. I still have a lot of work to do.

***

"KIHO, why don't you get married again?" Emperor Aku asked him with a bright smile. "It has been five years since your wife left you. With my power, I can ask the church to void your marriage with Lady Nystrom."

Kiho sipped his tea before he responded to the emperor. "No, it's too bothersome."

It looked like the emperor was still waiting for him to say more. But when he didn't, he groaned in complaint.

I want to go home.

Right now, he was in the emperor's palace while having tea in the tea room that was supposedly only for the members of the royal family. He didn't know why he was allowed there. But if he knew that the emperor would only convince him to get married again, then he would have refused his invitation.

"Why are you still hanging onto your marriage with Lady Nystrom, Kiho?" the emperor asked curiously. "She won't be coming back to you. And even if she did, I'll just have her arrested. A Fire Mage isn't welcomed to our empire."

He put his tea cup down on the coaster. "Why do you want me to get married again, Your Majesty?"

It's none of your business, you know?

"I just thought that someone else deserves you more, Kiho," Emperor Aku said with a playful smile. "What do you think of Lady Lucina Morganna? Ah, she's now a Huxley. Isn't that better? She's a good woman and now, she belongs to a good family. She also gets along well with Julian. She's perfect for you!"

Kiho knew that he wouldn't get out of there if he didn't give a satisfactory answer. So even though he didn't want to, he uttered the words that he never meant: "I'll think about it, Your Majesty."

***

PS: You may send gifts if you can. Thank you~

***

[NOTE: Please ADD my story in your LIBRARY so you can be notified when I post an update. Thank you! :>]