245 Winters Savior (1/2)
Winter's body was burning hot and he could sense that the heat was coming from his heart. But no matter how much of his ice Mana he used, his son's body temperature wasn't going down. And poor Winter was still whimpering in pain.
His son said that he felt like his heart was being roasted by a hot flame.
”I will freeze Winter like how I did when he was born,” Kiho declared, then he turned to who was kneeling beside him while wiping off the beads of sweat on their son's forehead. ”It will stabilize his temperature and hopefully, freeze the burning sensation in his chest.”
To be honest, that technique was dangerous.
But since Winter's dominant Mana was ice, he was hoping that it would work the way that it did last time. Now that his memories were back, he was more confident with his abilities. Still, he wanted to be careful because this was the first time that Winter had begun his transformation as the Moon Serpent.
My son's little body couldn't handle it yet.
Tilly turned to him and nodded. ”Please do what you think is best for our son, Kiho. I trust you.”
”Thank you, hon,” he said, then he gently put both of his hands on top of Winter's chest. ”Everyone, please move away from my son.”
Everyone, excluding Tilly, stood up and moved away from them.
”Kiho, take care of Winter,” Tilly said, then she kissed their son's forehead. ”Winter, your Dad will save you.” Then, she turned to him with a serious look on her face. ”Hon, I will just talk to Brother Wixx and Lord Forrester.”
Kiho nodded, then he kissed his wife on the lips. ”Leave Winter to me, honey.”
***
TILLY gave Kiho and Winter one last look before she faced the people in front of her. ”Brother, Lord Forrester, I need to talk to you. Please go to the next room.”
Wixx and Lord Forrester both nodded, then they left the room quietly.
Brother Wixx is acting strange.
But she set aside that thought to turn to Julian who looked worried about Winter. She smiled at his son and squatted in front of him.
”Julian, don't worry. Your father won't let anything bad happen to Winter,” she assured her son, then she put her hands on his shoulders. ”Can you do me a favor, son?”
”Of course, Mother,” Julian said right away. His eyes told her that he was still worried about his brother. But she could also tell from his gaze that he was ready for whatever favor she would ask of him. ”What can I do for you?”
”Come down and assure our allies that everything is alright.”
He looked surprised by her order. ”Mother, do I have the right to represent you and Father?”
”Of course,” she said firmly, then she gently touched her face. ”Julian, you are our oldest son. If your father and I aren't available, you have all the right to be our representative. Why do you think that you do not have the right to do so?”
Her heart broke for Julian once again.
When would this child learn to think about himself first? Of course, she was happy to know that Julian thought of their family this way. But being too selfless was being cruel to yourself.
”Don't worry, Julian,” Solenn, who was standing behind Julian and beside Luna, said confidently. ”I will beat up everyone and anyone who'd have the audacity to speak ill about you and your family.”
His son's face turned red but he smiled at the little princess's words anyway.
”Please do that, Princess Solenn,” she told the little girl with a smile. ”Speaking of which, can I ask you to accompany my Julian?” she asked the princess, then she looked up at the witch. ”You, too, Luna. Please check on our allies and see if somebody was harmed because of Brother and Kiho's dispute a while ago.”
”Leave it to me, Tilly,” Luna said with a nod. ”Do what you have to do.”
”We'll protect Julian, Supreme,” Solenn assured her. ”We will support our young lord and make sure that everyone acknowledges him.”
She laughed softly at that. ”Thank you, Princess Solenn,” she said, then she turned to Julian. ”Can I leave this matter to your hands, Lord Julian Rosenberg Nystrom?”
In the empire, once a lady was married, she just naturally loses her right to use her maiden's name.
But she wanted to remind Julian that he came from two powerful clans albeit the sufferings that he went through in the past. She knew that her own family hurt him back then, but still, she wanted him to have his faith back on the blood flowing through his veins.
And it seemed to work.
The look of determination on her son's face said so.
”You can leave it to me, Mother,” Julian said in a confident voice. ”I will not bring shame to our family.”
”Hey, no pressure, my precious little cinnamon roll,” Tilly said, then she kissed Julian's forehead. ”Just do whatever you think is right and we will always support you.”
***
JULIAN didn't expect that once he returned downstairs, he would be greeted by the fighting Black Serpent Knights and Red Phoenix Knights.
Even Lady Solenn and Lady Luna looked upset with the sight that greeted them.
”Lord Denver,” Lady Luna called out to the former captain of the Red Phoenix Knights who looked frustrated while trying to tell the knights to calm down. But no one was listening to him. ”What is happening here?”
Lord Denver walked towards their direction while explaining. ”We saw the fight between the Black Serpent and the Red Phoenix a while ago,” he said, then he stood in front of them with his arms crossed over his chest. ”Since the Red Phoenix Knights are all Fire Mages like me, we are all naturally drawn to the Red Phoenix. My men started to cheer for Lord Wixx. And then, some of the Black Serpent Knights returned and heard the commotion. Since the Black Serpent Knights are people who have worked with Duke Nystrom back when he was still the captain of his squad, his men started to cheer for him. Before I knew it, my men and the Black Serpent Knights are already fighting each other. They don't listen to me.”