186 Keeper of the Keepers (1/2)
Tilly laughed at what Luna said. ”What is my son doing now?”
”I saw him practicing an apology speech,” Luna said, then she sat on the sofa across her. ”I think he wants to apologize to Solenn but his prides keeps him from doing so.” She sighed and shook her head. ”Lord Winter's pride is bigger than his little body.”
She laughed again. ”He's been locked up in the house for almost a week now. I told him he can only come out when he's ready to apologize to Solenn.”
It was the witch's turn to laugh. ”Ah, I see. No wonder the young lord looked like he wanted to punch himself while practicing his apology speech.”
Right now, they were in her office in their house.
Their next meeting with Solaris and the Keepers would take place once Wong and Sentinel returned. They were free until then. But that didn't mean they had nothing else to do.
After all, she and Luna never stopped working since day one.
”How are you, Luna?” she asked while pouring tea in her teacup. ”Have you retrieved new memories recently?”
Luna shook her head. ”No matter how hard I try, I still can't remember where I hid the Holy Scepter in my previous life. Lord Solaris told me that I shouldn't be too hasty. He said I could lose my mind if I force myself to remember everything.”
”You should listen to Solaris,” she said, then she sipped tea before she continued. ”We don't need the Holy Scepter for now so take it easy, Luna.”
The witch sipped tea first before she talked. ”I know that, Tilly. But I want to be of help in any way I can.”
”Thank you, Luna,” she said sincerely. ”Your past self also did a good job. You sealed your memory of the Holy Scepter very well.”
She let out a frustrated sigh. ”I sealed it so well that even I can't crack it now.”
”True,” she said with a laugh. ”But to be honest, if memories were easy to retrieve, we would never be in this situation. In fact, I heard from Solaris that humans are forbidden to remember their past lives. Only a handful like us are stubborn enough to break the law of nature.”
The witch nodded in agreement. ”That's why I'm very amazed by your idea, Tilly. Thanks to the videos that you recorded before we left the Royal Capital five years ago, it became easy for me to explain what was going on when you lost your memory. But the most useful video that we have was the video of your fight with the emperor. I'm glad the recorded video was clear.”
Apparently, she put a hidden camera in herself when she fought Aku Moonchester.
When they played the video, they discovered a lot of important things because of the emperor's big mouth during the fight.
Also, she noticed several other stuff because she played the video every single day.
The mention of her brother's name made Luna blush. But she immediately caught herself and became composed again. ”Of course, it's very important for us to rescue the Red Phoenix. Still, I'm on your side, Tilly. If you descend back to earth with Lord Wixx, the emperor and the b*tchy princess will focus on your brother. If that happens, I doubt it if they'll even consider the deal that we plan to offer to them.”
”I know, right?” she said while shaking her head. ”But you know how stubborn Wong is. And the Keepers listen to him– even Solaris. After all, he's the de facto leader.”
”If the plan gets delayed, I bet Lord Winter will be disappointed again,” Luna said worriedly. ”The young lord is really looking forward to be reunited with his father.”
”I also want him to reunite with his daddy the soonest. But I can't be selfish,” Tilly said with a smile. ”This is one of the burdens that I need to carry as the Supreme Fire Mage.”
***
”MOMMY, when will we prepare to leave the island?”
Tilly felt her chest tightened because of Winter's question.
She just tucked him into bed and was about to leave his room when he asked her about their departure. For a few seconds, she just sat still on the edge of the bed while thinking of an excuse. But she realized that her son was smart so lying to him wouldn't work.
”Winter, our departure might get delayed,” Tilly said to her son honestly. ”Something came up.”
”It's the Keepers, isn't it?” Winter asked with a frown. ”I've always known that the Fire Archmage and the Keepers don't want you to leave the island, Mommy. They won't stop making excuses because they don't want to lose you again.”
”Winter, don't say that,” she scolded her son. ”Wong and Sentinel found clues as to where your Uncle Wixx may have been locked up. They want to prioritize rescuing the Red Phoenix first before we descend back to the empire.”
”But what if it takes years before you rescue Uncle Wixx?” he complained. ”Can't you just send another group to save my uncle?”
”I already suggested that,” she said. ”But we haven't reached a conclusion because we're still waiting for Wong and Sentinel.”
”Uncle Wong will definitely convince the Keepers to rescue Uncle Wixx first,” he said with another frown. ”Mommy, Uncle Wong hates us. He definitely doesn't want us to leave the island because he wants to torment us.”
”Winter, I know that Wong is mean to us. But he's not petty,” she said, then she changed the topic. To be honest, Wong was very hostile to her so she didn't have that much conviction to defend him from her son. ”Don't be hasty, son. I know that you can't wait to reunite with your daddy. But we still have to be very careful.”
Winter let out a frustrated sigh. ”Mommy, for the past five years, another child has stayed with my dad and pretended to be me. What if Dad gets attached to Julian and he forgets about me?”
”How did you know that?”
He bit his lower lip while looking so guilty.
”It was Jameson, wasn't it?” she asked while shaking her head. ”That big mouth…”
Out of all the Keepers, Jameson was the closest to her son.
Knowing that Jameson was a simple-minded guy, she wouldn't be surprised if her son was able to manipulate the Keeper to tell him the information that he needed.
”Winter, you're so crafty,” she complained. ”I wonder where you got that from.”
Her son smiled cheekily. ”I got it from you, Mommy.”
”I'll take that as a compliment,” she said with a laugh. But she got serious right away. ”Winter, we have a hunch that your father, just like me, has lost his memories. However, I still believe that he hasn't forgotten about us. That's why I know that when we see him again, he will come back to us.”
”Yes, but I still don't like the fact that Julian is closer to my dad now.”
Tilly felt a painful thump in her chest.
She remembered that in the video with her fight with Aku Moonchester, the emperor revealed that she had a second child with the Black Serpent.
After they watched the video, Luna confessed that she knew about the second child. According to the witch, her second son was Julian– one of the young Fire Mages that they adopted as Kiho Nystrom's brothers.
Luna apologized to her and said that they didn't tell her about the second child in fear that she might lose her mind.
And it really happened.
”Mommy, are you okay?” Winter asked worriedly. ”You suddenly fell quiet.”
Now she was nervous.
To be honest, she hadn't told Winter about Julian yet because she thought he was too young to understand. But now that she knew how smart her son was, maybe it was time for him to know the truth.
I also don't want him to keep on getting jealous of his own brother.
”Winter?”
”Yes, Mommy?”
”You don't have to be jealous of Julian,” Tilly said, then she held his hands tight. ”Winter, Julian is your real brother.”
To say that Winter was shocked by her revelation would be an understatement.
All hell broke loose then.