Mommy Villainess

"WE WILL raise the Supreme's second son."

Auro Moonchester hid his smile by sipping his tea. [Ah, it's going well as planned.]

Right now, he was in a secret meeting with Lady Cyrene Amelia– the new Sun Priestess. And yes, the new Sun Priestess came from the clan of the Sun Priestess who gave birth to Solaris. But instead of supporting their leader, Lady Cyrene Amelia chose to side with him.

He didn't expect it to be this easy.

When Julian was born, he sent the news to Solaris and the new Sun Priestess. The Fire Archmage didn't receive the news kindly. On the other hand, Lady Cyrene Amelia responded back by setting up a secret meeting with him.

That was how he ended up in a reception room in the Sun Temple while having tea with the new Sun Priestess.

"We will raise Lord Julian as the future head of the Fire Mage Clan," Lady Amelia said calmly, then she sipped her tea. "Lady Solenn has gone missing. Thus, Lord Solaris doesn't have a successor. It seems like he doesn't have any intention of taking a wife again. Thanks to that, Lord Julian will have all the right to succeed the Fire Archmage's position."

"It won't be easy, Lady Amelia," Auro said, then he placed the teacup down on the table between him and the Sun Priestess. "The Fire Mages around Lord Solaris are fiercely loyal to him and the Supreme."

"They are loyal but weak," the Sun Priestess said. "The strong ones have disappeared."

That was true.

The first ones who disappeared from the Fire Mage Clan were the strongest ones.

"The ones who are called the Supreme's Keepers…" he began carefully. "Did they disappear as well? They're the strongest Fire Mages I've seen."

"They did disappear after the Supreme passed away."

"And you do not know where the missing Fire Mages have gone to?"

"The answer is pretty obvious, isn't it? I would have reported to you immediately if I had known where our missing clan members have gone to," the Sun Priestess said, then she let out a deep sigh. "Your Majesty, you already know that there are currently at least two factions within the Fire Mage clan, don't you?"

He smiled slyly as a response. "Why are you asking the obvious?"

Of course, he knew that there was an internal conflict within the clan at the moment.

That was exactly why he delivered the news of Julian's birth to two factions: Solaris's family, and Lady Cyrene Amelia's side.

"Lord Solaris's faction is weakening as more members of his side kept missing," the Sun Priestess said. "Moreover, the Fire Mages at the foot of the hierarchy are starting to lose faith in Lord Solaris."

"Oh," he said, suddenly interested in the piece of information that he heard. "Why is Lord Solaris losing their faith?"

"It's for the same reason why I decided to take your side, Your Majesty," Lady Cyrene Amelia said solemnly. "It's been a while since we heard the voice of the Sun God. It's frustrating to see Lord Solaris dwelling on the Supreme Fire Mage's death rather than praying for our god to lend us his power again."

He knew why the Sun God was silent recently.

But of course, he wouldn't share that precious information with the Sun Priestess. He wasn't stupid. If the Sun God's silence was the reason why some of the Fire Mages were doubting Solaris's authority, why would he tell the truth?

[Let's just pretend to be ignorant.]

"Of course, I understand how precious Lady Soleil Rosenberg is to the Rosenberg Family– the heart of the Fire Mages' clan," the Sun Priestess continued. "But our clan cannot move forward if we keep on celebrating the dead. The times are changing but the Fire Mage clan is still stuck in the past." She sipped her tea and shook her head. "I don't want this kind of future for the Fire Mages, Your Majesty."

"Tell me what you want, Lady Amelia."

"I want to hear the Sun God's voice again," the Sun Priestess said firmly. "I want to create a new history for the Fire Mages. To do that, Lord Solaris and the Rosenberg Family must change first. Thus, I intend to raise Lord Julian as the future Supreme Fire Archmage."

He smiled before he sipped his tea.

[Perfect.]

The naïve Lady Cyrene Amelia didn't know that most of the missing Fire Mages didn't disappear by their own volition.

[She doesn't know that I'm abducting her fellow Fire Mages to experiment on them.]

Keeping the real Fire Mages, for now, would be beneficial to him.

The experiment on creating Fire Wielders by stealing the flame of Fire Mages and forcing it into non-Mana users wasn't going smoothly. They needed Fire Mages for the experiment, but the security in their country was getting tighter.

Thankfully, Lady Cyrene Amelia and her faction were here to solve his problem for him.

[Let's run wild while Lord Winchell hasn't returned yet.]

He would discard the Fire Mages on his side after the experiment succeeded. For now, they would keep him by his side as "allies."

"Your Majesty."

"What is it, Lady Amelia?"

"I hope the empire doesn't get involved once the fight for power within the Fire Mage clan begins," Lady Amelia said seriously. "Even if we unite, we still do not have the power to fight the empire if you suddenly decide to attack us while we're at our weakest."

To be honest, that was his initial plan.

The Fire Mage clan was so easy to attack as of the moment. But he didn't want to start another war when he was still expanding his territories across the continent.

[Yes, let's take it easy.]

Lady Soleil Rosenberg was gone.

His brother Kalel was being suppressed by Kyro.

[Everything is under control.]

"I will silently support you and your faction, Lady Amelia. I will also leave Julian in your care," Auro said with a smile. "May the Sun Priestess hear the voice of the Sun God soon."

***

"JULIAN, my child."

Julian, now five years old, wondered why his mother entered his room with a delighted look on her face.

Of course, he was happy to see his mother finally smiling again.

He was just wondering what happened for this to happen. Ever since he developed a mind of his own, he noticed that his mother was always sad. She was sad when his father wasn't with him, but she was also sad when his father was there to visit.

"Mother, you look happy," Julian said, then he smiled and hugged his mother's leg. "Julian is happy when you're happy, Mother."

His teachers told him that he should stop talking like a child.

[Even Mother encourages me to speak properly.]

But it slipped out because he was excited to see that his mother was happy. Thankfully, his mother didn't notice that he talked in the third person. Or maybe she just let it slide because she was in a very good mood.

"Julian, my dream is finally coming true," his mother said cheerfully, then she leaned down to pick him up and carry him in her arms. Upon a closer look, he could see that his mother's eyes were shining brightly. "You're going to be the official leader of the Fire Mage clan soon!"

His smile slowly disappeared.

A five-year-old child might be too young for other people. But for a royal like him, that age was enough to start learning about politics. Moreover, his teachers praised him for being smart and mature for his age.

Naturally, he easily understood what it meant when his mother said that he would become the official leader of the Fire Mage clan soon.

"Mother, what happened to Uncle Solaris?" he asked worriedly. "He's still the leader of the clan…"

He still called Lord Solaris 'Uncle Solaris' even though he wasn't his uncle. After all, Lord Solaris was Lady Soleil Rosenberg's nephew. And he was also the man who didn't accept him as the Supreme Fire Mage's son.

Yes, he knew that Lady Lucina Morganna wasn't his real mother. But in his heart, he only had one mother and it wasn't the Supreme Fire Mage.

However, he still considered the Fire Mage clan as his family.

Even though he lived in the empire's Royal Palace that his Uncle Auro provided for him and his mother, he would still visit the country where the Fire Mage clan lived from time to time.

He heard that when he was born, the Fire Mage clan had been divided into two factions.

The first faction was the one led by his Uncle Solaris. It was also the faction that hated him because the members believed that he wasn't Lady Soleil Rosenberg's son.

The second faction was the one led by his Aunt Cyrene, the Sun Priestess. It was the faction that took care of him and his mother. Whenever he would visit the Fire Mage country, Aunt Cyrene would welcome him warmly.

He also heard that Uncle Solaris had no more power over the Fire Mage clan even though he still held the title of the 'Fire Archmage.'

His Aunt Cyrene, as the Sun Priestess, was apparently the one controlling the clan now.

Yet, all Aunt Cyrene could do was to hail him as the official successor of the Fire Mage clan. But now, he would be declared as the next leader?

[That only means something bad happened to Uncle Solaris…]

"I heard that Lord Solaris is sick," his mother said in a cold and uninterested voice. "Julian, don't concern yourself over the people who didn't care about you."

"Mother, Uncle Solaris is still my family," Julian said softly. "Please allow me to visit my Uncle Solaris."

***

FOR THE first time after a long while, Julian was granted permission by Uncle Solaris himself to enter his room.

He heard that his uncle was sick, but he didn't expect him to be this sick.

No, that couldn't be right.

[Poison.]

His Uncle Solaris was definitely poisoned judging by the color of his skin.

He didn't know why but all of a sudden, the image of the "Lady White Snake," his grandmother, entered his mind.

[Could it be…]

"Julian?" Uncle Solaris asked for him weakly. His eyes were still closed and it looked like he was having trouble breathing. "Can you hear me?"

"Y-Yes, Uncle Solaris," Julian answered politely. "I'm happy to see you again but my heart hurts to see you in this state…"

"Julian, listen to what I'm about to say."

He felt a chill down his spine when he heard his uncle's serious and cold tone despite the weakness in his voice.

"Even if you take my place as the Fire Archmage, that will never make you a real Rosenberg," Uncle Solaris said in a cold and harsh voice. "You are not Lady Soleil Rosenberg's son– remember that, Julian Moonchester."

Moonchester.

His father, Kalel, was a Moonchester. Of course, there was nothing wrong to be addressed as such. But he was still hurt.

He knew what the Fire Archmage meant when he called him by that name.

Until the end, Uncle Solaris didn't acknowledge him as Lady Soleil Rosenberg's son. He didn't know if his uncle died because a week after that conversation he had with him, the Fire Archmage suddenly disappeared.

Uncle Solaris disappeared the way Lady Solenn and the other Fire Mages had disappeared for the past few years.

But to be honest, a new fear was planted in his heart.

It was the fear of claiming that he was a Rosenberg.

That was one of the most painful experiences that Julian had at his tender age.

And he engraved one thing in his mind, heart, and soul.

[I am not Lady Soleil Rosenberg's son.]

***

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