ROARKE really didn't want to but he knew he had to comfort Jameson Crawford.

This wasn't the first time that Crawford was scolded, but this was the first time that he got completely quiet.

He's more annoying when he's quiet than when he's sprouting profanities left and right.

"It was your fault," Roarke said in an attempt to console Crawford. He was aware that it might not be the best way to cheer him up. But that was the kind of relationship that the two of them had. He'd rather get disowned by his "parents" than use sappy words to make Crawford feel better. "The Supreme and the Black Serpent are used to your usual spiel. But the young masters aren't. Of course, they'd get hurt if they hear you badmouth their parents. Your stupid dirty mouth doesn't help either."

"It was scary," Crawford, who was sitting beside him on the floor as they guard the Supreme's room, said in a quiet voice. And for once, he didn't curse. "I know that the illusion you saw was that of Lord Julian slapping my face. But what I saw and felt was different."

"How is it different?"

He gulped and touched his neck before he responded. "I really thought that the young master beheaded me. His bloodlust was so intense that his illusion felt real."

The Black Serpent was also good at creating illusions but he barely used it. After all, he hated using water techniques that the Moon God often used.

Still, both Lord Winter and Lord Julian inherited the duke's two Manas. Although Lord Julian's dominant Mana was fire, he still could use water and ice. They also shouldn't be surprised by the oldest's abilities since he had the memories of his past life.

And the Holy Scepter is also inside Lord Julian.

"Why did you suddenly go silent?" Crawford complained after a while. "You're so bad at comforting other people, Sinclair."

"Shut up," he said although he was quite relieved to hear Crawford's usual whining. He was starting to go back to his usual loud and annoying persona. "Crawford, did you notice? You can speak normally. I haven't heard a single profanity from you ever since Lord Julian scolded you."

"I want to curse so bad but my trauma won't let me."

He smirked at that. It wasn't like he was dismissing Crawford's trauma. He just figured that annoying each other was their best form of communication. "Just consider it as a good thing. Most people hate your foul mouth anyway. Especially me."

"Thanks," Crawford said sarcastically, then he fell silent again before he spoke in a soft voice. "We were born the way Lord Wixx imagined us to be. He left a strong characteristic within us that we couldn't easily overcome. It's my foul mouth for me, while you were born from his desire to have a child with the Moon Priestess."

"That's true."

"What will happen if I start to change?" he asked, fear evident in his voice. "I feel like I'm going to disappear if I suddenly get rid of the strongest characteristic that Lord Wixx has given me. I'm afraid of that, Sinclair. I don't want to change even if people only see me for my foul mouth."

He fell silent because that thought scared him, too.

Lord Wixx considers me as his son with the Moon Priestess. But the current Lady Luna doesn't act like our master's lover anymore. Am I going to disappear if the Moon Priestess "disowns" me?

"What's wrong with change?"

Roarke was surprise when the Supreme, who was now standing in front of them, asked. Even Crawford was surprised. After all, they didn't feel or hear her until she decided to let her presence known by talking.

Now that's scary.

When they got over their shock, Roarke and Crawford knelt properly in front of the Supreme and greeted her formally.

"Sorry, but I eavesdropped on your conversation when I heard Julian's name," Lady Nystrom said, then she squatted ddown in front of them. As if that wasn't enough to startle them, their precious Supreme had to ruffle their hair affectionately– making he and Roarke blush. The Supreme wasn't this close to them before when she was still Soleil Rosenberg. "Tell me more about what happened, Roarke and Jameson."

***

KIHO was supposed to show his son how to make a Water Sphere.

But for some reason, he suddenly felt annoyed and that ruined his concentration. Because of that, the Water Sphere that he was trying to make became a huge frozen globe.

Why am I suddenly pissed?

"Dad, that's not a Water Sphere," Winter complained, stating the obvious. He brought the children in the Frozen woods for their "secret training." Despite the cold, his youngest still wore light clothes. "Even I can make an ice globe like that."

"Is there something wrong, Father?" Julian, his perceptive child, asked worriedly. Unlike Winter, his oldest was wrapped in thick layer of clothes. Surprisingly, despite his unsuitable clothes for fighting, Julian was still agile. "You suddenly look… murderous?"

"Let's take a quick break, little brats," Kiho said, then he sat on the huge rock covered with snow. "Sorry. I just need to clear my head for a moment."

Winter and Julian sat on the bench-like stone covered in snow in front of him.

"What's wrong, Dad?" Winter asked. "Are you still sulking because Mommy kick you out of your room?"

He flinched at his youngest's accusation. It wasn't the reason why he was suddenly distracted. But he couldn't refute Winter's claim because it was true.

"Winter, that would be least of Father's worries especially now that we could be attacked by the enemies anytime," Julian scolded his brother, making him feel guilty. He just hoped that he regained his pokerfaced when his oldest turned to him with a worried look on his face. "Father, are you worried about what to do with the North King and his army?"

Ah, his oldest son's seriousness forced him to get his head back on the job.

"Yeah, I'm worried about that," he said. "Your mother and Nia Moonchester made a binding vow. If the North King is one of the people that the royal princess considered as ally, then we couldn't touch him." He clenched his fists when he remembered that the "ice prince" was the person who killed Lord Prescott, his dear father-in-law. "I can't imagine what Tilly feels now that she can't do anything to the person who killed her father. Worst of all, they are our descendants."

"Father, may I speak my mind freely?"

"Of course, Julian."

"I don't think that death is an appropriate punishment for the North King and his ice puppets," Julian said firmly. "I'm not saying that they shouldn't be punished. But they already lost their lives once. They have been living in the North since then. Even if they were reduced from being human beings to turning into ice puppets, I believe that they already lost the value of their lives. That's why I have a feeling that even if we kill them, they won't still understand the pain of losing a dear one. And as long as they don't experience that, I doubt if they'll ever feel remorse towards the people they killed. I even think that they don't understand that killing others is wrong."

"But they were once humans, Brother," Winter said with a confused look on his face. "Have they already lost their emotions when they became ice puppets?"

"That's possible," his oldest said to his youngest. "They have been living for so long in isolation. The only thing that remains in their heart is their hatred for our uncle, the Red Phoenix. I bet they already forgot how it is to live as a normal human."

He suddenly sat straight, causing his children to give him a similar look of confusion.

What Julian said a while ago gave him an idea about a suitable punishment for the North King and the ice puppets. It was the kind of punishment that wouldn't take their "lives," but one that was appropriate for the crimes that they had committed.

"Julian, thank you. Winter, good job asking the right questions," Kiho said, and he felt proud of both of his sons. "I'm sorry but I have to delay our "secret training,"" he said, then he stood up and turned to the direction of the mansion. "I need to consult something to your mother so let's return to the mansion first."

***

"ARE YOU not going to kill us?"

Wixx, who was lying on her side while floating in the air, yawned before he answered Garnet Nystrom's question. "I'd love to and it would be easy for me to melt a bunch of ice puppets," he said. "But I can never handle my little sister's wrath."

He received Tilly's message a while ago.

His precious little sister wanted him to delay the arrival of the North King and his ice puppets. She strictly told him to wait for her next instruction before he moved. He just hoped that Garnet Nystrom wouldn't be stupid enough to make him angry or else…

Tilly, you have to remember that I also have a bad temper just like you.

"Ah, how generous of you, Lord Winchell," Garnet Nystrom, now looking up at him with his army of ice puppets behind him, said. The king still looked the same as he remembered. "I wonder why you didn't give us the same generosity in the past? If you didn't mercilessly hunt us down back then, maybe we wouldn't have ended up this way."

He knew that he was being provoked so he held himself back from responding to that.

"But come to think of it, we should also blame the Supreme and the Black Serpent," the North King continued in a taunting voice. "If they protected us properly, the Moonchesters wouldn't have been able to curse the Nystrom clan. And if we weren't cursed, I wouldn't have been forced to choose this kind of life for my people." Anger crossed his eyes, making him realize that they were still capable of feelings emotions. "The Supreme has to take responsibility and deal with us in this lifetime. This is all her fault…"

He tried to hold back but when it comes to his little sister, he couldn't just keep quiet.

"You were the one who let the Moonchesters trick you," Wixx said coldly. He had been keeping the truth to protect the Fire Mages and the Nystrom clan. But maybe it was already time for both parties to know the truth behind the "betrayal." "Your memories of what happened in the past is very different from what really happened."

"I wasn't born yesterday, Red Phoenix," Garnet Nystrom said with a smirk. "Do you think I'm a child who would easily believe your words?"

Ah, could he hit this stubborn descendant of his little sister and knock some sense into him?

***

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