232 A Fire Mage is Still a Mage (1/2)
Right now, she was sitting on the windowsill of her room while waiting for Roarke, Winter, and Julian to get ready. The Keeper was helping the young lords in packing the stuff they needed to bring while travelling.
Roarke volunteered to do the job so that Tilly and Duke Nystrom could leave the mansion early.
Before Tilly left, she told her a piece of information that Duke Sherwood relayed on her.
”Stella, you fool,” Luna whispered to herself. ”Why would you want to give birth to a Moonchester?”
She was aware that Stella looked up to Nia Moonchester when they were still in the White Tower. But she didn't know that her sister was that obsessed with the royal family for her to connive with them.
Still, she couldn't think of enough reason for Stella to want to become the empress. Her sister had never shared that kind of dream with her before.
”Lady Luna?”
Her thoughts were cut-off when she heard a knock on the door. When they let them in, Roarke and the young lords entered the room.
The three gentlemen looked ready to leave.
”Lady Luna, the young lords are ready,” Roarke said. ”Should we depart now?”
”Yes,” Luna said, then she stood up. ”We should hurry and bring back our allies from the North as soon as possible.”
***
NIA ACCEPTED the hand that Captain Ainsworth when she stepped out of the carriage.
She wasn't surprised when she saw Lucina sprawled on the ground. After all, she heard the commotion a while ago. To be honest, she didn't expect Lucina to come at the Supreme as soon as they arrived at the temple.
What a shameful behavior.
”Return,” Nia ordered Lucina while looking down at her. Well, she was also looking down on her for showing her such disgrace. ”You will not come out without my permission again.”
Lucina seemed like she didn't have to choice but to obey.
After all, the Supreme's bloodlust told them that she was ready to kill her former spirit guardian right then and there.
A few moments later, Lucina's whole body slowly turned into a thick, black smoke. Then, it became a ball of black smoke that hit her chest without warning. It didn't hurt and her body simply absorbed it.
She figured that she couldn't hide the fact that Lucina was dwelling in her heart after Lady Nystrom regained her memories, so there was no reason for her to pretend that she wasn't connected to Lucina. And so, she allowed the spirit guardian to return inside her heart in front of the enemies.
When she faced Lady Nystrom, she didn't look shocked by what happened.
”Greetings, Nia Moonchester,” Lady Nystrom greeted her with that signature smug smile of hers. ”It's been a while.”
”Of course,” the Supreme said. ”The Moonchesters' memories of the past will only become clear whenever I retrieve mine.”
It was a spell that the Supreme cast before she died.
A Fire Mage was a mage who just happened to have the ability to control fire. But at the end of the day, they were still mages who could perform powerful spells. And of course, the most powerful of them was Lady Nystrom, thus she became the Supreme Fire Mage.
Before she died as the Supreme, she put a spell that would protect her reincarnation from her past enemies. It was the type of spell that would make the Moonchesters forget who she looked, and how her Mana felt. They would only remember her as the Supreme once she remembered who she really was.
And that was the reason why in the past, she didn't recognize ”Lady Tilly Prescott” as the Supreme right away. She only realized that she was the heart that she was looking for when Lady Nystrom finally awakened as the Supreme. That was the same for Aku.
”That's true,” Nia said. ”But you were harsher to me than anyone else in the Moonchester family, Lady Nystrom. After all, you made it sure that the amount of memories I will retrieve is only equivalent to the amount of memories that you will remember. I lived all this time with gaps in my memories because you're so slow in remembering your past. Thanks to you, Aku is always one step ahead of me in this lifetime.”
The Supreme fell silent for a few seconds. But the mirth in her eyes was unmistaken. No wonder she sounded so condescending when she spoke again. ”There was a time that you don't remember, Nia Moonchester,” she said. ”A lifetime similar to this, but you succeeded in your earlier plan and got me killed without Aku Moonchester realizing who I really was.”
That intrigued her.
The Supreme was detestable but she wasn't a liar. And the confidence on her face told her that she was being serious.
A lifetime that I don't remember?
”Are you curious, Nia Moonchester?”
She flinched when she heard Lady Nystrom's voice in her head. Only people in her caliber could enter her mind without permission. ”Get out,” she snarled at her in her mind. ”Don't annoy me more than you already have, Lady Nystrom.”
”I will tell you about the life that I mentioned a while ago once the binding vow is done, Nia Moonchester,” Lady Nystrom said. Ah, so that was the reason why she suddenly entered her mind. She probably didn't want Aku to hear about their secret deal. ”I'm being generous to you, am I not?”
”Shut up,” Nia said, then she cut-off the link in their mind. Then, she looked straight in the Supreme's eye. ”You're really annoying in every lifetime, Lady Nystrom.”
***
”DID YOU bully Nia Moonchester a while ago?” Kiho asked Tilly while they were in a waiting room. High Priest Howard ushered them there a while ago, then he brought Nia Moonchester and Captain Ainsworth to the next chamber. Apparently, Aku Moonchester was yet to come. ”The royal princess looked so pissed at you.”
”I told her about the life where she succeeded in her plan,” Tilly told him, then she turned to her with a ”bright” smile that gave him the creeps. ”The one where you divorced me and married Lucina Morganna, hon. The one where I was accused of treason and was beheaded in public. The one where a traitorous spirit guardian was able to laugh at her master's demise after she stole her husband and son. The one where you broke my heart into million pieces, Kiho.”
He didn't have an excuse for the terrible thing that he had done to his wife in that lifetime. The reminder was painful but he had to accept it because he really wanted to atone for it. ”I don't have memories of that lifetime but if you leave me for it, I won't blame you, Tilly,” he said sincerely. He would probably die if she left him. But to be honest, he deserved it. ”Just please know that I regret it with all my heart.”
”Forget it,” she said, then she gently patted his cheek. ”Winter remembers that lifetime but he doesn't hate you. That means you didn't marry Lucina Morganna out of your free will. It seems like our son can't tell us what really happened in that lifetime. But the fact that he still wants us to be together is proof that he understands your reason for abandoning me back then.”
”I really don't deserve you and our children,” he said with a sigh, then he kissed the palm of her hand. When she just smiled at that, he changed the topic. He knew that his wife wasn't particularly fond of dwelling on their past mistakes. ”Honey, is it really okay to tell Nia Moonchester about that lifetime?”
”Yes,” she said with a firm nod. ”When Nia Moonchester was exiled, it seems like she isn't as motivated as before to bring down Aku Moonchester. I need to give her hope– hope that she could beat her tormentor in this lifetime. Plus, the upcoming battle will be more interesting if Nia Moonchester goes all-out as well.”
”Honey, you can be ruthless sometimes,” Kiho said in amusement. ”I love it.”
Tilly laughed and gave him a kiss on the cheek. ”You love everything about me, silly.”
***