"LORD SOLARIS, please stop punishing Princess Solenn and Lord Winter."

Solaris remained unfazed even though Kelsi, Jameson, Roarke, Maddox, and Braxton were kneeling before him.

His eyes remained focused on Winter and Solenn who were in the glass room that he'd like to call as the "Punishment Chamber." He and the other Keepers were in the "observation room" with the clear view of the glass room.

Whoever gets inside the room will experience the pain that their Mana does to other people.

So right now, Winter was shivering in cold while Solenn was being literally roasted while they knelt in the center of the room. They couldn't move even if they wanted to because each of them was locked up inside a transparent cube.

Of course, it pained him to punish the two most important children of their clan. But they had to be punished for putting the Supreme's life in danger.

Solenn's mistake was gathering information that she shouldn't get her hands on.

On the other hand, Winter was being punished for telling the Supreme something as important as the duke getting married without thinking of the consequence. They knew better than making Lady Rosenberg angry.

Our Supreme isn't perfect. Her major flaw is her uncontrollable anger. No matter how many years passed, it seems like her wrath will always be something to be feared of.

After Lady Rosenberg's outburst of temper, she fainted.

Right now, the Supreme was being taken care of Lady Luna and Wong in Lady Rosenberg's home.

"My lord, it's my fault," Braxton said with his head still hanged low. "It was me and my big mouth. Lord Winter and Lady Solenn wouldn't have heard about the information I got if I didn't talk about it. Please punish me instead."

"Please punish us and spare the young rulers," the other Keepers said.

"Our punishment will come later," Solaris said. Of course, the adults who were supposed to look after the young rulers must be punished as well. And yes, that includes myself.

"Lord Solaris."

Solaris turned to Lady Luna who just entered the observation room. "How is the Supreme, Lady Luna?"

"Tilly is conscious now and she has calmed down," Lady Luna assured him. "She's currently talking to Wong."

He let out a sigh of relief, then he turned to the Keepers. "The young rulers' punishment is over."

It was the Keepers' turn to let out a sigh of relief.

Then, they bowed to him before they all moved to get the young rulers out of the Punishment Chamber.

Kelsi and Maddox immediately rushed towards Solenn and wrapped the little girl in a towel.

Jameson, Roarke, and Braxton ran towards Winter to wrap the young lord in a thick blanket.

Despite the Keepers' concern, Solaris could tell that both Winter and Solenn were just fine. Even though both the young rulers had the body of a five year old child, the soul inside their bodies weren't young souls.

It pained him to rush the maturity of Solenn and Winter when they hadn't really experienced how it was like to be a child. But unfortunately, the son of the Supreme Fire Mage and the daughter of the Fire Archmage didn't have that kind of luxury.

Someday, they will lead the Fire Mage clan together.

"Lord Solaris."

Solaris turned to Lady Luna and he noticed that she was serious. "What can I do for you, Lady Luna?"

"Can we talk, Lord Solaris?" Luna asked. Even though she looked shy and nervous, she still looked determined. "I'm ready to hear your side of story now."

***

TILLY almost choked on her saliva when Wong suddenly knelt and bowed to her.

She just got out of her room and was about to fetch Winter in the temple when all of a sudden, the de facto leader of the Keepers showed up and kneeled. They never got along so seeing Wong do this in front of her almost gave her a heart attack.

Is this a new form of bullying?

"Lady Rosenberg, I apologize for the shameful behavior that I've shown during our last interaction," Wong said in a slightly more polite tone than usual. "I will properly apologize to Lord Winter and Lord Solaris, too."

"Rise, Wong," Tilly told him. "This feels more awkward than usual."

Wong just silently stood up and faced her properly. "I'll accept any punishment that you'll bestow, Supreme."

Oh, that was a tempting offer.

"Do you mean that, Wong?" she asked with a raised brow. "What if I ask for a ridiculous request as punishment for your attempt of hurting my son?"

"That's a tricky question," he said, his face as blank as ever. "You know that even though I'm rude to you, there's no way I can turn you down. But that doesn't mean I won't complain."

"I know," she agreed while nodding. The memory of her five years in Solarium was still crystal clear in her mind. A huge part of it was her almost every day banter with Wong. "Let me ask you questions then."

He just nodded as a response.

"Between saving my Brother Wixx and making a binding vow with Princess Nia to force her to work with me– which do you think should I do first?" she asked seriously.

"Saving the Red Phoenix, of course," Wong said without missing a beat. "While your plan to force Princess Nia to work with you is a brilliant idea, I still believe that saving Lord Wixx must be your top priority. And most of all, I believe the Red Phoenix will prefer it if he gets saved by his precious little sister."

She nodded while absorbing the Keeper's answer. Well, she already expected that from Wong so she was neither disappointed nor surprised. "If the majority agrees that I should save my brother instead of descending down to the empire, what would you do if I still choose to return to the Royal Capital?"

He groaned in complaint. Obviously, he already got what she meant by her questions. "Supreme, no."

"Supreme, yes," she said playfully. "I know that saving my brother is also important. But if you think he'd be happy if I were the one to save him, then that means you really don't know Brother Wixx."

His brows furrowed in confusion.

"My brother will definitely feel ashamed if I went and saved him," she explained. "I know that he wants me to find where he is. He even lured Luna to his temple to give me a clue. But that doesn't mean that he wants me to personally save him."

"You're not just saying that to convince me that you shouldn't go, are you?"

"Have I ever lied to you?" she asked. "Did I lie to you in the past as Soleil Rosenberg?"

"No," he said bitterly. "The night you left us to save the Black Serpent, you didn't even give an excuse. When we asked you why you were abandoning us for a man who couldn't even protect you, do you remember what you said?"

"I love him," she said that seemed to surprise Wong. "No, I haven't retrieved my memories yet as Soleil Rosenberg." She did for a while, but then Aku Moonchester took them away from her again. "I just know that I will always follow my heart– no matter how many times I am to be reborn."

"You're still the same fool that I remember."

"I don't really care about what happened between Soleil Rosenberg and Kalel Nystrom in the past," she said. "The memories that I have right now are the memories of my life as Tilly Prescott-Nystrom." Both the previous one, and the current one. "I'd like to think that Kiho and I were different from them."

"Does it make a difference?"

"Of course," she insisted. "My Kiho has never betrayed me in this lifetime. When he found out that I'm a Fire Mage, he didn't hesitate to betray the emperor for me. Not even once did Kiho make me feel that I'm second to anyone– I was always his top priority. I will never forget Kiho's love just because of the mistakes that Kalel did in the past."

The Keeper smiled bitterly. "Are you saying that you're choosing to live as 'Tilly Nystrom' and not as 'Soleil Rosenberg,' Supreme?"

"I am Tilly Nystrom, the Supreme Fire Mage," she said clearly and firmly. "I will not neglect my duties just to rebuild my family, and I won't let my family suffer just because I'm leading a clan. I don't deserve this position if I can't protect both." She put her hands on Wong's shoulders. To be honest, she wanted to ruffle his curly hair but he was too tall for her. "Wong, you don't have enough faith in me, do you?"

Wong's face turned red in embarrassment. "It's not like that, Supreme–"

"You ought to have more faith in me, Wong," Tilly said with a smile. After she retrieved her memories as Tilly Prescott-Nystrom, her mind hadn't stopped working to come up with many ways to take back what was hers- both her position as Duchess Nystrom and Kiho's wife. It wasn't just for her. She was doing this for Winter, first and foremost. After all, she wanted to give him a happy family in this lifetime. "Now, shall I bestow you your rightful punishment?"

***

LUNA was nervous but she was hoping it didn't show.

Right now, she was in the tea room with Solaris. They were sitting across from each other with a round table between them. But even though they were literally that close to one another, they still couldn't look at each other's eyes properly.

If Tilly was here, she would have already laughed at us for being so awkward.

Solaris cleared his throat to get her attention. When she finally looked at him, he smiled and put his teacup down on the coaster. Then, he broke the silence first. "Lady Luna, what is it that you want to talk to me about?"

She sipped her tea to calm her nerves.

After finishing it in one gulp, she took her time putting the teacup down on the table.

Yes, I know I'm being clumsy but I can't help that I'm nervous.

"Please take a deep breath, Lady Luna," Solaris said gently. Her clumsiness was probably making him worry about her. After all, she didn't usually act like this. "And don't force yourself if you aren't ready yet."

"I'm ready," Luna insisted, then she took a deep breath before she finally opened up the topic that she had been avoiding for quite some time now. "Solaris, was I really Lord Wixx's lover in the past?"

***

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