"I refuse. I will not allow my child to be killed."

Wait, what?

A long moment of silence followed after my mom's declaration

.

"Emilia, calm down. No one will be killing the little squirt." It was my granny who broke the silence with good news.

Whew. I won't lie, you guys had me there for a second.

"Even if he is a rude child, I would not allow that to come to be."

You could've stopped it at no one killing me and that would have been fine.

My granny then continued. "I didn't tell you any of this but I guess this is as good a time as any." she eyed my mother with a pitying gaze.

"Mom, what is it?" my mom asked warily.

My father watched the whole thing with a gaze that reflected the cogs spinning in his mind.

"Are we going to get some sort of seal applied on him?" it was my father who asked.

"What?" My mother whipped her head to my father.

"I had always suspected how, despite our race being the strongest of all races, we are treated as the outcasts, as servants. No, slaves even. Did the royal families cut some sort of a deal with the races?" it was clear that father did not hold a... positive view of the races.

I was curious about what he meant about being treated like slaves.

But why would I have to be killed?

The whole fuss started after my cruise down Mana lane.

Did I do something too amazing?

"Hunny, that's not-" mom tried to argue.

"It's the truth." my granny cut over my mom. "Despite the power the mages of our country possess, we are the minority when compared to the might of the races combined. But despite even that, we still stand a good chance of taking over the world. But a war of such magnitude would destroy the world, and having realized that, your (Father's) great-grandfather, the king of Dragon's Peak at the time of the Great war 500 years ago, called for a truce. And realizing that the Dragonborn would not be trusted, he created the binding seal that made our royal families loyal to the races."

My mom stared, eyes wide, with disbelief clear on her face as she had been stunned into silence.

Wow, can't believe the only difference between my race and last name is a single letter "e". The first Dragornborne must have been too lazy to think of anything. Or maybe they were that proud of what they were. I'd never truly know the truth of that but I did know that I would have done it out of laziness.

"I suppose the seal would be the 'birth mark' that all royals have at the back of their left shoulders." Father's voice sounded calm, but the aura I got from him felt more like the calm before a storm, the statement making my mom reach out for the back of her shoulder by instinct.

"Yes." Granny nodded. "Are you upset?"

"Am I supposed to be happy?" the ice that dripped from my father's question dropped the temperature in the room a few alarming degrees below zero.

She kinda walked into that one.

"I understand that this is not the news anyone would like to receive, but you really should watch your tone when you talk to me child. I may be your mother-in-law, but I am your Leader first. You will not speak to me as if I was your child."

Oh ho-ho, grandma is not to be trifled with. Watch yourself father.

"I may very well be talking to a child if you were foolish enough to go ahead with this ludacris binding nonsense."

I could practically see sparks flying between the glares my granny and father shared as their offending auras combined, then the mixture flooded the kitchen.

I felt goosebumps all over my body as I shook in fear. All instincts in my body screamed for me to run but I couldn't. As the toxic aura flooded me in waves, I had illusions of how easily either of them could kill me in a moment less than a blink of an eye.

I felt my chest tighten, then I burped as I threw up, unable to hold the cries that left my vocal cords afterwards. I hadn't felt such fear even when I died in my previous life.

My mom was pulled out of her stupor by my loud cries, along with father and grandmother getting pulled out of their glaring contest, the offending auras they were both emitting now a thing of the past.

"Do you see what you two have done?" my mom did not sound pleased as she picked me up, wiping the vomit off me.

Grandmother stood up. "Either way, you cannot stop the binding. As members of the royal clans, and as candidates for the next King and Queen of Dragon's peak, you will have to accept the circumstances as they are. For the lives of your people, you will have to comply. And remember Bel, it was your ancestor that started the dilemma we are in." she walked away with those words, and she was about to walk out the door when father spoke up.

"And you remember, Emeralda, that it was your ancestor who started The Great War in the first place." Father rebuked in kind. I sensed prejudice from the way he said it.

Grandma just left the room with a visible slump of defeat to her shoulders, while I continued to cry.

You'd think that I would have calmed down now that the killing intent was gone, but the presence of my father was making it hard for me to calm down. It was like his killing intent had left an imprint on me that was making me reject his presence. He was no longer the hopeless nerd father I knew and (reluctantly) loved, but a man I feared and wanted nowhere near me..

Father then whipped his head around to stare at mother like he was a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Emilia I-" he tried.

"I think it would be best if you also gave Sebastian and I some time alone."

"But-" he tried again.

"Now, Bel." mom was more forceful this time, her tone indicating that she was done with the matter.

Father left, reluctantly.

"Shhhh, it's okay now my little dragon."

It took a while, but I was finally able to settle down with only my mom and I now left in the room.

Tears were brimming at the corners of her eyes the entire time. Mom was doing her best to be strong after hearing all that had been said. She wiped the tears away before they fell, then breathed in, and then out, leaving behind a more calm expression on her face. It was impressive how quick she could calm herself.

My calm had also returned, and my mind went straight to the argument grandmother and father had. I had to admit it made sense what grandmother said, but I could not help but disagree. Yes, they agreed that it was for the good of the world, but who were they to decide my fate like that? I didn't start that "Great War" of theirs; as much as it was my ancestor who started it.

I refused to be some puppet for the Kings and Queens of "the races". It was beneath me. I did not want to serve anyone but myself. How else was I to stay true to my desires if I had to take orders from someone else? The life I wanted demanded I stand alone at the top, just like my mother and father did in my previous world.

Okay killing me for the sake of the world makes sense now. I was probably walking in the footsteps of my ancestor with my villainous thoughts. Which would mean that that sparkly viewing thingy was something the ancestor who caused the war could do. Bah, who cares? As long as I get to do what I want.

But for my mom it had to be the hardest. Due to her kind nature, she probably strived for the best for her country her whole life, only to find out that if her people decided to go against the races, then the royals could be ordered to massacre their own people.

With the gap in power I could imagine between a royal Dragonborn and a normal one, I could see the masses getting wiped out quite easily. In other words, Dragon's Peak could sieze to exist if the leaders of the races woke up on the wrong side of the bed. On a mere whim. It also wasn't helping that father pulled a dick move by retorting to the hag like that.

For my mom, who was willing to lay anything on the line for me, I imagined that she did not want the binding seal on me just as much as she did not want me dead.

The freedom of Dragon's Peak was a facade, and the lives of their people hung on a thin thread that could break at any moment, so I couldn't blame my father for reacting the way he did. How could you say that you were protecting someone when you were the sword over their head ready to decapitate them at any given moment at someone else's discretion?

The hag must have had a hard time coming to terms with it too. I could tell from her sour mood that she was still quite reluctant about the whole thing.

They were all validated to feel and react how they reacted, but I still couldn't help but not care. What mattered was what I want, and I did not want any if this. But for the time being, none of it was under my control. Even if I did not want it, I'd still get the seal. I was weak, and as such, the strong got to decide my fate.

■■■

From that day, my family started to fall apart..

■■■

Mom spent all of her days with me. Whatever she did, I was with her. I was impressed by how easily she picked up the crib from my room, carrying it around all the parts of the house she spent her time at.

It still had not sunk in for me that I had been isekai'd. I mean, yeah I guess I wanted it since dying probably sucked, but actually being isekai'd was out of this world. Pun definitely intended.

We mostly occupied the living space, my mom reading the red book to me every chance she got. I was glad for that, even though it did not offer much in the ways of this world. The book was mostly the history of the Dragonborne family, that was obviously written in such a way that would portray us as favourable.

I guess history is the same no matter what world you're in. But nowhere in the book did they mention the Great War. Must have been kept secret. or maybe it would appear on the later parts of the book, I hoped.

With a few days of being read to, and me demanding the book in every waking moment, mom finished the Dragonborne encyclopedia in a week. And it was useless.

Nowhere did it mention "The Great War", or my ancestor who started it. It only talked of the heroes of our bloodline. And hearing about dead people was not fun.

If they were so great, then why are they so dead? I grumbled internally.

They weren't the heroes I wanted to hear about. They did not have the ultimate power that I was looking for. Sure, I would probably piss my pants under their killing intent, but still.

I'm a baby who can only crawl, even a dog's killing intent would probably be enough to make me piss myself.

So if the ability to make me piss my pants was largely universal, what criteria would I judge my heroes on? It would be whether their presence in a situation calmed me down or not. Whether I felt safe or not was what I felt was most important, and none of the dead heroes looked like they had what it took to provide that sense of security.

So, since my mom spent all her time with me, I rarely got to see father and grandmother. The only times I was guaranteed to see them were breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Even then though, I did not want to see them. Their presences made me uncomfortable, and I couldn't help but recall their killing intents, which would then make me cry.

Mother tried the routine for a week, but with a week of me crying every time I got close to father and grandmother, mother decided that not seeing them was the best solution.

While father was a danger to me, he was a good husband to my mother. He went out of his way to do the little things to make mom smile. Be it the occasional hug, the occassional kiss on the cheek, bringing a pretty flower from the garden, or just skipping his work to spend his time with mother and I. I admired all that about him.

The hag was mother's mother. I don't think I have to explain how that, alone, made the hag irreplaceable..

I could tell from how muddled her aura was that mom missed father and the hag. More than the binding, it was the fact that I always ended up crying when father and grandmother were in the same room as me that was causing a rift in our family.

It made me feel awful how they could not spend time together. It was clear to me that the killing intent incident was a psychological obstacle that I had to conquer if I wanted my family to return to normal.

Mother and father also spoke less, and in the event that they did speak, it always escalated into an argument. Arguments that were the cause of waking me up from my naps more often than not. It was the type of arguments that would make make couples settle for divorce. And as they both grew tired of arguing, the wedge between them grew as they gave each other the silent treatment.

I did not want to be the baby that ended a good marriage, a good bond between mother and daugher, and somewhat of a bond between son-in-law and mother-in-law. Okay, what father and the hag had was not a bond, it was... something. Like they agreed that they would tolerate each other for mom's sake.

But I still couldn't help but be scared.

Their auras (father's and grandmother's) gave me goosebumps, and not the pleasant kind. The closer they got to me, the more the sensation that felt like the air was getting sucked out of my lungs worsened. It would leave my chest tight and hot, two sensations that did not make for a pleasant experience to endure. It felt unfair being expected to fight off something like that as a baby.

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I may have thought that, but I knew it was something only I could fix, and I knew just the perfect trick to it.

Well, it was more like I thought it would work, and less like actually knowing it would work. I couldn't see the future to know whether it worked or not. It was a thorny path of uncertainties. It-oh, sorry, I'm trailing off.

Back to the story.

The plan had two steps. Step one: conquer the trauma the killing intent left on me. Step two: learn how to speak. Nothing sent a better message than actually saying it. Except text messages. This world had none of that though, thank goodness. It was good old fashion talking in person. I didn't like talking to people, I just liked how it would be harder to find me when I disappear.

Aaaanyway, with the plan in mind, I set out with good intentions, expecting only the worst before everything became okay.

■■■

It wasn't easy.

■■■

A month passed with mom continuing to spend her time with me, reading various story books for me. While she was spending quality time with me, I was analysing her. When she woke up, when she was likely to fall asleep during the day, when she prefered to eat... Those kinds of things.

Mother was reading a story book for me when she yawned.

Any moment now. I was waiting for her to reach her limit.

We had both eaten a few minutes prior to her reading to me. And one habit mom had was how she got sleepy after eating. It was cute honestly, and it was the perfect weakness for me to capitalise on.

She read a few more paragraphs, her yawns coming in deeper and more frequently the more time passed. A few minutes later and she was asleep, slumped against the sofa, despite her best efforts of trying not to.

Later alligator. I crawled out of the living space, my destination the library where my father was usually at.

The house was quiet as I crawled through the main corridor that connected all the rooms together. The silence was unnerving, stewing the guilt in my stomach into a thick ball of self-loathing.

I will fix this. I told myself.

Reaching the library after crawling through the dead corridor, I sat just by the library door. It wasn't too close, and it wasn't too far. It was just close enough for me to feel my father's aura, and just far enough for me not to be completely overwhelmed by it.

There was the occassional sigh, shuffle of paper, thud of a book, and creak of a chair that indicated that father was busy with his work.

My chest tightened up as it burned. My sweat glands worked overtime the same time I gasped softly for air. My vision grew blurry as the edges of my eyes stung because of the tears I was barely keeping at bay. I could feel a lump in my throat, trying to force its way out. It would, no doubt, be a loud scream if I allowed it to escape. But I didn't allow it, I just couldn't. My situation was unpleasant at best, but it was the only way I could think of to get used to the aura that scared me so much.

There was no room for failure; the pressure making me feel even more awful about the situation.

After spending a few minutes at the library enduring my father's aura, I crawled to grandmother's room and did the exact same thing, where I sat outside next to her door.

I reacted pretty much the same way that I reacted to father. The unpleasantness was out of this world.

After spending few minutes at grandmother's room, I crawled back to mom where I slept next to her. Having to keep from my trauma causing a panic attack took a toll on me. I was mentally and physically exhausted, and I needed rest.

From then I woke up in time for dinner where I ate with my mother in the living space.

It was like the three adults had agreed on an unsaid rule; that dad would use the library, mom would use the living space, and grandmother would stay locked up in her room; because they never crossed paths. As far as I knew, at least.

After dinner, mom carried me, crib and all, to her room with father where she waited for me to sleep so that she could also sleep.

■■■

It was a tedious few months of working my mental state through the wringer to conquer my wall of fear when winter rolled in.

I was born on February 18th, so my birthday was only a season away. I did not want father and the hag to miss my birthday. I deserved to be celebrated, especially since I was forced to deal with so much crap at a young age.

Between getting used to the auras of my father and grandmother, I spent a lot of time trying to speak to my mother.

I would try to say that I love her over and over, while hugging her. And since she enjoyed singing, I'd try to sing with her. She was surprised at first, but gradually grew accustomed to it.

We'd sing together and I'd get to see her smile, giggle, laugh, and dance around. She'd even lift me up to stand so that she could make me dance or lift me up to her arms and dance around with me.

Ahem! I admit I may have enjoyed the singing and dancing. Only just a tiny bit, okay?!

So while the mental states of father and grandmother were deteriorating, I did the best I could for my mother because I knew how delicate she was.

Mom was the strongest in the house, and that was why I worried about her the most. Strong people were the ones most in need for someone to be there for them.

Everything I did, I did with purpose, and it also had some unintended outcomes too.

The more I spent time outside the library and outside my grandmother's room, the more I was slowly getting accustomed to their auras as intended. The unintended outcome was how I learnt to sense their mana signature to the point where I could tell how agitated they actually were.

Father was riddled with guilt and regret, with a saturation of sadness and loss in the mix. He must have missed mother as much as I could tell she missed him. Yes he probably missed me too, but I really didn't miss him all that much.

Grandmother was filled mostly with regret, her aura growing murkier and murkier with every passing day.

Mother felt lonely. I was there with her, but even I knew that father and grandmother held a place in her heart that I could never replace.

They were all slowly falling apart, and they were using me as an excuse for it.

Unfair if you ask me. they should have been running around for me dammit!

I was making progress with step one. Step two was...

"Goo gaa wa goob." ... A complete mess.

■■■

As time passed by mercilessly, my days of boob-sucking my meals coming to a regretable end, the pressure on me increasing, and my family growing further apart, I spent more time trying to speak.

It was hard but I could feel the control start to become stable just a little tiny bit; not really. The words for my ultimate plan were starting to be barely coherent; not really.

I was also delighted by how father's and grandmother's auras were no longer frightening to me. If anything, their auras felt more disgusting to me than frightening, like a bad odour.

"Goo wa goob ga..." I was sitting next to the hags door preoccupied with speaking to myself when the door opened.

"Hm?" the hag grave me a confused stare.

Shit, retreeeeeaaaaaaat! I crawled for the hills, leaving her behind.

From then on the incidents of the hag finding me outside her door grew. They grew to the point where she even caught me outside the library.

Getting caught by her was a hindrance to my plans but hiding from her would be harder - not to mention tiring - so I decided not to hide. I carried on as usual, only crawling away when she caught me.

It had turned to some sort of game, where, sometimes, I'd sit on the other side of the door from where she usually found me. When she turned to see me on the other side, I'd stick my tongue out at her, and giggle at her reaction of surprise as I crawled away. It was a game we played so much - throughout the entire winter - that I could feel her mental state start to stabilize.

I was also delighted by how I was liberated from the discomfort her presence made me feel.

■■■

I welcomed spring with having successfully stabilized both my mom and my grandmother. I was proud of myself but I knew that it was no time to celebrate since I still had work to do.

The only problem - if I Ignored how I still could not talk - was my father. He was growing more emotionally unstable by the day. It had become a norm for me to hear something break in the library, then followed by a curse, because he was so frustrated, sad, lonely, and tired.

Mom and grandmother had me, but he had no one.

I need to fix that.

I figure if I could cheer the guy up a bit, he might get the peace of mind necessary for him to fall asleep.

When I poked my head into the library, I saw him standing, his hand running through his bluish-navy hair in frustration. Then he sighed and sat down with a slump, his chin on his folded arms.

I crawled to him. I was not even trying to hide my approach but he did not notice me.

"!" he yelped when he felt me tugging at his pants, then looked down in alarm. "Hm?"

Despite the discomfort I felt being so close to him, I held out my arms towards him. He took me up to his lap gently.

Hey, nice handling dude. I was impressed.

"Hey little dragon." he smiled at me.

Now having gotten my opportunity, I tugged on his shirt, pulling myself up just enough to plant a kiss on his cheek. Then I settled down to his lap.

Father's eyes widened, his hand touching where I had kissed him. He was silent for a few moments, then he broke out into giggles, the ice in his blue eyes melting to a warm gaze as a pink hue blossomed on his cheeks. But-

I can't believe I gave my first kiss away like that! I wept internally.

Sure, mother had kissed me more than I could count, but I had never been the one to initiate. Just thinking about it was weird.

Still, seeing father smile so sincerely made me all warm; the dark aura I had felt from him becoming a thing of the past. I tried to stop it, but it happened anyway; my lips drew up into a smile too.

The next moment, I found myself playing with him. Well, if it could be called that. Father was rather clumsy, and just hopeless. He did not know what counted as a game for children. Thus, his form of playing was teaching me about his research.

He started by explaining to me the concept that was mana. He talked of Mana as an energy that mages could harness. Mana had four affinities to it; Fire, Water, Wind, and Earth. Mana itself, in its purest form, was neutral, and it was the ability of a mage to change its form that gave it an elemental affinity.

The races were born with a natural affinity to one element, which was called their Primary Affinity. The Primary Affinity was the element that the mana of a mage had an easiest time being able to change its form into, and the mage would have a harder time mastering an affinity that opposed their Primary Affinity.

Still don't know which affinity I have. I bet it's fire though. it was the most suited for a dragon after all. Which means, I would have a harder time mastering water. Don't know what I'd need that element for anyway.

Father continued, explaining how, from the Elemental Affinities came Deviant Affinities. Those were obtained from a mage mastering one element completely and then being able to advance its form.

He mentioned the most famous ones; Fire Creat to Lightning Creation/Manipulation, Water Creation/Manipulation to Blood Creation/Manipulation...

No, I take it back! I take it back! I want to learn water too! blood manipulation sounded sooo cool.

... Wind Creation/Manipulation to Sound Creation/Manipulation or Air Manipulation or Storm Creation/Manipulation, and Earth Creation/Manipulation to Metal Creation/Manipulation or Gravity Manipulation or Lava Creation/Manipulation.

I am now aware which elements are most powerful.

It made sense since Wind and Earth were everywhere.

But why is he teaching all of this to a baby?

"Then you have your Rare Affinities." father went on like it was normal to teach all this to an infant.

A Rare Affinity entailed to the ability to use mana at its purest form. He mentioned that those with Rare Affinities had a better grasp of their Rare affinity than their Primary Affinity. His example was mother and her healing abilities.

"Like how your mother has a better grasp of her healing abilities than her primary affinity for Fire." he said it like I knew what he was talking about.

Well, I did know about mom's healing abilities. I was yet to be exposed to her abilities with fire.

I just can't seem to imagine such a gentle woman weilding such a fierce element. mom was too sweet to be playing around with something as dangerous as fire.

The playing slash lesson ended when father fell asleep on the desk.

I had wanted him to sleep, only to get more than I bargained for. I wasn't going to complain since it helped me understand the going-ons of this new world I was in.

Now to sleep too.

I climbed off father carefully, holding on to his pants for dear life as I slid down his leg. My feet touched the oak floor and I sighed in relief; getting hurt was not on my agenda.

With my mission accomplished, I crawled back to mother. I found her still sleeping on the fluffy carpet.

I lifted up her arm, that was heavier than I thought it would be, then I crawled next to her.

"Hmph!" I placed the arm just below my feet.

No way I'm placing something so heavy on me.

No sooner had I lay down comfortably, mom's arm returned.

Oh God I'm going to die!

Her hand lended on me gently as she drew me even closer to her.

Oh.

Considering how heavy the arm was for me to lift, I was surprised how it felt as light as a feather now that she had me secured next to her.

"I love you, my little dragon." mom mumbled in her sleep.

I snuggled closer to her, her warmth embracing me in what I could tell was unconditional love.

I love you too mom.

I fell asleep with a big smile on my face.

■■■

A hellish six months had passed, now deep into summer, and I was still not ready to bring my plan to life.

Speaking was too hard, and coupled with the fact that I had to attend to the mental states of three people, meant that I didn't get enough time to practice.

Their moods might have improved, but they still didn't talk to each other. Whether it was pride or fear, I did not know. What I did know, however, was that I was tired of all of it. It had to end.

All my hard work would have been for nothing if I spent my birthday with only my mom.

I was tired and frustrated; thus I made the impulsive decision to go ahead with the plan despite the inconvenience of not being able to articulate my speech.

Mom had just fallen asleep when I crawled out of the room. I stopped at the main corridor that connected all of the rooms in the house together.

It's now or never. I took in a deep breath and sighed. Let us begin.

I took in another deep breath.

It sucked. It really did. As much as my family had been depressed about not being together, it hurt just as much because I was the cause of it. I missed my gentle and cheerful mom, I missed the caring hag, and I missed my dad, even though he was as harmless to me as acid rain to a crop field.

I may have kept them all above water during the separation but my neglegent of my own mental health was making itself known. My soul was fourteen years old, but the same could not be said about my brain. My brain was still at the infancy of its development, so the stress I felt was real, very real.

I had been running around the house for months, tending to their mental states while I ignored my own. But now that I had a moment to myself, time to reflect on myself, I could see the cracks, and the moment I acknowledged their presence, everything came falling down on me. I don't know where I had gotten the strength to brave through the struggles, but it was gone now. I was stripped, left bare to face my raw emotions alone.

I dragged my pudgy hands down the oak of our floor. A lump came up to my throat, its viscosity of such high quality that I failed to push it down. It won.

"WAAAAAHHH!" a loud cry left my mouth.

They were all emotions I was bottling up, and they came up at the worst possible moment. It wasn't how I wanted the plan to go. My heart was going against the wishes of my mind, and there was nothing I could do about it.

Mom, father, and the hag, they all appeared at the same time, finding me crying alone in the corridor.

"Mama!" the loud call came from me. "Baba!" came another one. "Hick, gra-ma!"

They were all surprised when I called out for them.

"I kerts!" I yelled to the top of my lungs. It was the best attempt I could manage of "it hurts". My original intention was "I love you," but my heart was in charge.

They stood frozen, eyes wide. The corridor was silent for a while, the only thing that could be heard being my cries of sadness and sorrow. Then I saw tears brim, then they fell, trickling down their faces.

I wanted a hug.

No,

I needed a hug.

So I stood on my own and toddled towards them.

I had learnt to stand and walk on my own a while ago, but I did not want any of them to miss it. It was a monumental moment for any parent, and I did not want mom to witness the moment alone. I wanted to spare all of them that pain. I did not want mom to be reminded of being separated from her husband and mother every time she saw me walking, and I did not want the hag and my father to feel like they weren't there for me.

I felt three pairs of arms wrap around me.

It was warm, and I felt that I belonged nowhere but in their embrace.

It was what I had been looking for, and I got it.

My eyes closed, falling asleep in their embrace.

■■■

Emilia pulled a blanket over her sleeping boys, a soft smile on her face.

Bel slept on the couch, with Sebastian on his chest.

"You gave birth to a monster, Emilia." Emeralda spoke from behind her daughter.

"Gosh mother," Emilia giggled. "You always say these things about Sebastian."

"I mean it this time."

Emeralda went on to tell Emilia about what Sebastian had been up to. Telling the mother how Sebastian had been watching over all over them daily, and at equal intervals, and how she had caught the baby muttering to himself sometimes. It didn't constitute normal baby behaviour, but the fact that they were offspring of the union between a dragon and a human was already bizarre enough.

Emeralda smirked. "I'm telling you, the squirt is something out of this world."

If only they knew.

"I'm glad then." Emilia turned to look at her son. "He'll need that for what is coming."

"..."

"What is it?" Emilia smiled gently.

Emeralda had gone silent all of a sudden. It. was how the older woman reacted when she felt cornered.

"Bah, I'm sorry, okay?" said Emeralda, rubbing her head in feigned frustration. She did not know how to apologize without making things awkward.

"It's okay mom, I know."

"And I see your features are starting to return to normal." Emeralda changed the subject; pointing at Emilia's hair. "Hopefully your behaviour also goes back to normal."

It was true enough. Emilia's locks, once white and clear, were now ashen like a leaden sky.

No, it was more like Emilia's hair had always been ashen, but that started to change gradually when she was pregnant with Sebastian. They had never heard of a pregnancy doing something as bizarre as changing the mother, yet it happened before their eyes.

The pregnancy had caused an uproar amongst the royals, and everyone was looking forward to see the baby that had done something never thought possible.

Before Sebastian was born, they knew he was something special, and now that he had been born, he proved to be more than special by unlocking the All-Seeing eyes.

Eyes whose power was said to have consumed their ancestor who ended up starting The Great War.

I'll make sure to raise you right, my little dragon.

It was a promise Emilia made to herself, and she was going to keep it no matter what.

"But what do you mean about my behaviour mother?" Emilia was confused. She was sure that nothing about her had changed.

"Bah, nothing." Emeralda waved it off, "Just forget it."