Mommy Villainess

"CONGRATULATIONS on your eighteenth birthday, son."

Julian smiled at his mother's warm greeting.

Tonight was the eve of his birthday celebration. But the banquet that Emperor Auro prepared for him would be held tomorrow night. Thus, only he and his mother were celebrating in his room right now.

[I invited Father but it seems like he won't make it.]

Again.

"Your father is busy, Julian," Lucina Mroganna, his mother, said while slicing the cake that she personally baked for him. "Please understand that your father is a busy man. He runs the empire with His Majesty."

"I understand, Mother," Julian assured her. "I'm just glad that I get to spend my birthday with you."

His mother smiled and put the slice of cake on his plate. Then, she handed him a fork. "My precious son, your marriage partner has been decided."

He almost dropped the fork but thankfully, he managed to control his emotion. His smile froze for a moment but when he met his mother's gaze, he forced himself to relax. "May I know what kind of a lady she is, Mother?"

"She's the current Sun Priestess, and she came from the branch family of the Amelias."

The Amelia Clan was the traitorous clan that betrayed the Rosenberg Clan to steal the latter's position.

After Lord Solaris disappeared, the Amelia Clan led the remaining Fire Mages.

Naturally, the Sun Priestesses for the past few years came from either the Amelia Clan or one of their branch families. Since Sun Priestesses were usually born with a weak body, they often died early. Thus, the position was frequently vacant.

"Her name is Claudia," his mother said while slicing the cake again. This time, she was probably getting a slice for herself. He had a feeling that his mother was keeping herself busy to avoid his gaze though. "Just like the other Sun Priestesses, her body is naturally weak. But her Mana is big enough to carry an heir in her womb. Julian, you know why your marriage partner has to be a Sun Priestess, don't you?"

He nodded before he responded. "I know, Mother," he said gently. "Only a Sun Priestess could give birth to a powerful Fire Mage."

"That's right, son," his mother said when she faced him again. "Julian, no matter what other say, you're still a Fire Mage. You are the sole heir of the Rosenberg Clan, and you are the only one who have the right to lead the Fire Mages. Once you marry Lady Claudia, we will begin to control the Fire Mage Clan again."

He smiled sadly. "But I'm not a Rosenberg, Mother. I don't have the right to lead the Fire Mages."

Most of the remaining Fire Mages even hated him and his mother.

That was the reason why he couldn't use his fire freely. He was afraid to be criticized by the Fire Mages. To be honest, he wanted ice to be his main power. But he wasn't good at it.

[And it's not like I can ask Father to teach me…]

"It doesn't matter whether you're a Rosenberg or not," his mother said firmly, then he touched his face. "You will still be the new Fire Archmage, son."

Julian forced himself to smile and nod. "I understand, Mother."

***

THE EVE of his birthday, Julian secretly left the palace.

He made sure that his mother was already asleep. It was hard to do but he actually put some strong sleeping medicine that he put in the tea that he served his mother earlier. The medicine was tasteless and odorless so she didn't notice it.

[I'm sorry, Mother.]

To be honest, he had been discreetly following the movements of the remaining Fire Mages recently. Emperor Auro had already lost interest in the Fire Mages ever since he had successfully "raised" Fire Wielders. Thus, the emperor stopped spying on the Fire Mages.

But Julian didn't stop observing him.

And it was because of the dream that he had been having these days.

That led him to buy a very expensive long-distance teleportation scroll. The coordinates that he put in the scroll were the coordinates needed to get to the Redsun Desert. It was one of the most dangerous places in the empire because of the monster lair there. But the dreams that he saw led him to that place.

He was shocked at what greeted him.

Mount Sola was covered with what seemed like blood. The mountain was glowing red. And most of all…

Julian's eyes widened when he saw hundreds of people with red flaming wings ascending the sky. Ah, no. Those weren't ordinary people. "Fire Mages," he whispered to himself in disbelief. "But where are they going…"

He trailed off when he realized the answer to his question.

Now he finally understood the mystery behind the missing Fire Mages, and the reason why Emperor Auro couldn't find them no matter how much he searched the whole continent.

"The sky," he whispered to himself again. "They're hiding in the sky."

He was amazed.

It was unimaginable. But the thing that amused him most was the fact that the idea was executed perfectly. Whatever kingdom it was that was created in the sky, it must be amazing to hide itself well from Emperor Auro.

For some reason, the image of the late Supreme Fire Mage Soleil Rosenberg entered his mind. Then, his heart began to thump hard and loud against his chest.

[It was her– this was definitely her idea.]

"How did you find this place?"

He instantly turned around and summoned his weapon– a sword made of red flame. Since his instinct kicked in, he swung his flaming sword in the direction of where the voice came from.

A lady around his age easily blocked his flaming sword with his flaming arm.

He was shocked when he recognized the young lady.

"I saw you in my dreams," Julian said, surprised. "You were the one who kept telling me to come to this place."

"Now that's strange," the lady that looked familiar to him said while looking at him in amusement. "Only Fire Mages who are still loyal and faithful to the late Lady Soleil Rosenberg are supposed to receive my message." She pushed his sword away, sending him flying in the process. "But you're Julian Moonchester– the precious nephew of that bastard Emperor Auro Moonchester."

He frowned, then he shook his flaming sword until it disappeared.

"Did I make a mistake?" the lady, dressed in a hooded maroon robe, asked herself. Then, she crossed her arms over her chest while observing him. "Either that, or the precious nephew of the bastard emperor is a discreet yet devoted believer of the former Supreme Fire Mage."

He flinched, and he was unable to deny that.

In his heart, he still loved and respected the late Lady Soleil Rosenberg. No matter how much his mind deny it, his heart still knew the truth. The late Supreme Fire Mage was his true mother. But he didn't want to hurt the feelings of Lucina Morganna, his other mother.

"It seems like the latter," the strange lady said, then she clasped her hands together. "You wouldn't have received my message if you have even a tiny bit of ill feelings towards our precious Lady Rosenberg." She smirked at him. "Will your precious "Uncle Auro" lose his fondness for you if he finds out that you're still faithful to your roots as a Fire Mage?"

He answered her question with another question. "Who are you?"

"I'm just a Fire Mage like you," she said, then she pointed at the sky where hundreds of Fire Mages were still ascending the sky. "I'm the one who gave them phoenix wings to fly. I also covered the entire desert with my Mana. Those who have not been invited wouldn't be able to see or hear anything happening in the desert. They could still see Mount Sola but not the red Mana that covers it at the moment."

"Is that your Mana?" he asked, curious. "It looks like blood."

She just smiled at him.

"You shouldn't have easily revealed all of this to me," he said while shaking his head. "What will you do if I tell Emperor Auro everything?"

"Do you think I'll let you leave this place with your memories intact?"

Ah, so that was why she wasn't flustered.

The lady had the power to erase memories.

"If you can erase my memories, then why didn't you do it right away?"

"Because I have something to ask of you first," the lady said cheerfully, then she approached him and extended her hand to him. "Julian Rosenberg Nystrom, would you like to come with us?"

'Julian Rosenberg Nystrom.'

To hear his name followed by his parents' last names almost made him cry.

But he didn't want to shed tears in front of a stranger. So he clenched his hands and held back his tears. Still, he wouldn't deny that he was happy to hear someone acknowledge him as the son of Lady Soleil Rosenberg and Lord Kiho Nystrom.

"I am not a Rosenberg," he said firmly although it hurt him to say that himself. "You haven't answered my question yet, lady. Who are you?"

"Since I'm going to erase your memories soon, I'll answer that," she said as she dropped the hand that she extended to him earlier. "I'm the real Sun Priestess of the Rosenberg Clan, and I'm the daughter of the Fire Archmage Solaris."

"Liar," he said. Even though he told himself many times that he wasn't a Rosenberg, he still studied the history of the clan well. "Lady Solenn disappeared before Lord Solaris. If you were her, you should have been older than you look. Moreover…" He looked at her suspiciously. "You're not human."

She laughed softly as if she already expected that he'd know she wasn't human. "If I'm not human, what do you think must I be?"

"A Spirit?"

"That's right," she said with a nod. "But I didn't lie when I said I was Lord Solaris's daughter."

"I don't understand…"

"Lucina Morganna used to be the Supreme Fire Mage's Spirit Guardian but now, she's pretending to be your mother," she cut him off, then she smiled bitterly. "I hate that it's what I have in common with that wench."

Julian was shocked. "Your Lord Solaris's Spirit Guardian…?"

The lady that claimed to be Solenn smiled. Then, in just the blink of an eye, she was already in front of him. "That's a secret," she said softly, then she put her hand on the top of his head. "I hope we see each other again in our next life, Julian Rosenberg Nystrom."

***

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