261 When Ice and Flame Collide (1/2)
He also noticed that the blood and the wound in the corner of the Keeper's face were gone.
Wait… could it possibly be…
An illusion?
It made sense, actually. How could Julian slap Jameson when his brother didn't even reach the Keeper's waist? But he and Roarke definitely saw a hand that slapped Jameson, which made him think that what they saw was an illusion created by Julian's water technique.
Right. Dad has both ice and water Mana. I heard that one of my father's water techniques have something to do with creating powerful illusions.
”I don't want to raise my hand against somebody who follows my mother so please don't make me do that, Jameson Crawford,” Julian said, his voice was still cold but he looked calmer now than a while ago. ”The next time I hear you insult my father, the hand that would slap you would no longer be an illusion.”
Ah, so it was really an illusion meant to threaten the foul-mouthed Keeper.
I knew it. My brother isn't the violent type. He's still scary though.
Winter's thoughts were suddenly cut-off when in the blink of an eye, Roarke and Jameson were now kneeling in front of Julian.
He was too distracted to watch the two's movements. But he could tell that Roarke just forced Jameson to kneel. After all, Roarke had his on top of Jameson's head while forcing the foul-mouthed Keeper to bow in front of his brother.
”We crossed the line, Lord Julian,” Roarke said in an apologetic tone while bowing his head low (and pushing Jameson's head down even more). ”We apologize for our rudeness. I will also discipline Crawford so this kind of thing won't happen again.” He turned to Jameson, his different-colored eyes glowing menacingly. ”Crawford, don't you have something to say to Lord Julian?”
Jameson kept silent for a while before he decided to open his mouth. ”My deepest apologies, Lord Julian,” he said, not uttering a single curse this time. ”This won't happen again.”
”Thank you for understanding,” Julian said in his usual gentle voice. Oh, his brother was back to normal. ”You're dismissed, Jameson and Roarke. Rest assured, Winter and I won't interfere with our parents' fight.”
Roarke and Jameson both nodded respectfully.
Then, Roarke practically dragged Jameson out of the room.
”So, Jameson can talk without cursing,” Winter said in amusement, breaking the silence between him and his brother. ”It seems like you disciplined him well, Brother.”
To be honest, he also noticed that his brother referred to the Keepers without adding 'Lord' to their names, unlike before when he was very formal with them.
Julian turned to him with an awkward smile on his face. ”Did I scare you, Winter?”
His brother scratched his cheek as if he was shy. ”Father never taught me anything in the past.”
Oh.
”But I used to watch him use his water technique to punish his people without physically hurting them,” his brother continued. ”Father creates this amazing bubble that he calls 'Water Sphere.' Anyone entrapped in that sphere would experience Father's powerful illusions. I just kind of copied his technique.”
”You didn't use a Water Sphere though.”
He didn't even see or feel his brother's water Mana.
”I can't control ice and water Mana properly because my main one is the fire that I inherited from Mother,” Julian explained. ”So instead of making a Water Sphere, I just summoned a little amount of water and swiftly gathered them up our heads.” He pointed at the ceiling and when he looked up, he noticed that it was wet. ”To be more precise, instead of a sphere, I created some sort of ”ceiling.” That's why you and Roarke were also able to see the illusion that I made.”
He looked at his brother and clapped appreciatively. ”Brother, you're good.”
”You can do it, too, Winter,” his brother said, then he playfully ruffled his hair. ”Your dominant Mana is ice. Using water would be easier for you than it was for me. And I'm sure that Father will teach you the water techniques that he mastered if you asked him to.”
”Let's learn together from Dad later,” he said. ”Brother, are you okay? You seem out of it.”
”Ah,” he said, then he paused for a while before he spoke again. ”Winter, are you not bothered by the memories that we saw? Even if we didn't personally meet in that lifetime, I was still the cause of your death back then.”
”Brother, would you laugh at me if I say that I don't consider that lifetime as a real one?” he asked seriously. ”I want to consider that as nothing but a cruel nightmare. Although it ended tragically, I'm still grateful that the Sun God showed us the things that we don't remember. At least now, we know that there's a way to safely draw the Holy Scepter inside you, Brother.”
”That's right,” his brother agreed. ”If we look at it that way, then there's no more reason to dwell on the past. Lessons have been learned, and the same mistakes won't be repeated. Hopefully.”
”And that's why I don't understand why Mom and Dad are fighting,” he said, then he turned to the window where they could clearly see the black phoenix and the ice serpent fighting in the sky. ”Well, I can see why Dad feels guilty for what happened to our family in the past. But I thought Mom will be more forgiving and patient towards our father. I don't understand why Mom has to be angry when Dad is already feeling down. She also doesn't need to be violent.”
Based on what they saw a while ago, it was obvious that it was their mother who attacked first. And he knew in his heart that in this lifetime, his father would never hurt their mother.
”Why does Mother have to suppress her anger for Father?”
He turned to Julian. ”Huh?”
”You just asked why Mother has to be angry when Dad is feeling down,” his brother said sternly. ”Is Father a child throwing tantrum that Mother has to pacify? I understand where Father is coming from. But how about our Mother's feelings?”
He clenched his fists because he didn't know how to respond to that. ”Brother, why are you scolding me?”
”I'm not scolding you, Winter,” he denied calmly. ”I just want to know why it seems natural for everyone to expect Mother to be the one to suppress her feelings for Father's sake. You also said that Mother shouldn't have used violence.”
He gulped and for some reason, his brother's words made him feel guilty even though he knew that Julian was only stating facts.
”In the past, as Kalel Nystrom, Father practically killed Mother,” Julian continued in a sad voice. ”In the previous life that the Sun God showed us, Father caused Mother great pain even if he just tried to save her. But when Mother hit Father a while ago, you already called it violence?”
Okay, that made him feel really bad about himself.
”I'm not saying that violence is right. It isn't, and it's never the solution to a problem,” his brother cleared. ”All I'm saying is we need to be lenient to Mother. We all know that Mother is strong– physically, mentally, and emotionally. Because of that, we almost never bother to check on her. We keep on relying on her and expect her to always be on her best condition. But once she made a mistake once by hurting Father during an argument, we already think that she's on the wrong. You know why? It's because we overestimate her. We tend to forget that despite her lineage, she's still a human who has limits.”
Now he felt ashamed of himself.
Everything that Julian said was right. He didn't even notice it.
”Mother was wrong for attacking Father but let's not crucify her,” Julian said with a soothing smile. ”Mother is kind and patient to us. Once she realized her mistake, I'm certain that she will never do it again. Even though Mother has a bad temper and she says mean things when she's angry, she's not a violent person. She wouldn't hurt or kill people unnecessarily.”
”You're right, Brother,” Winter agreed, then she scratched his cheek. ”Thank you for helping me understand our parents' situation better.”
***
”AREN'T you going to stop them?”
”No,” Luna said as a response to Lord Denver's question. Both of them were standing in front of the house while watching Tilly and Duke Nystrom fight. ”It's about time that Tilly lets off some steam. She has a bad temper, but she has a ridiculously long patience for her husband. It's unhealthy to always prioritize the duke's feelings over her own.”
Of course, fighting among themselves during that critical time wasn't wise.