Abrindo os olhos, Arthur olha para o teto do seu quarto e sai da cama. Ao lado da cama há uma mesa com livros em cima. Ele pega um dos livros, que trata de estudos sobre comportamento de mana.

Arthur segura o livro e abre a porta do seu quarto. Imediatamente, as empregadas que limpavam o corredor abaixam a cabeça e o cumprimentam.

“Bom dia, jovem mestre.”

Arthur acena para eles e passa por eles. Assim que ele passa, eles voltam às suas tarefas. A casa era grande, na verdade, era uma mansão enorme. Arthur caminha pelos corredores e cômodos da casa, indo em direção ao salão principal. Havia muitas salas separadas com diversas atividades nobres, como música, pintura e outras.

A casa, em particular, tinha muitas pinturas, cada uma delas de altíssimo valor. Arthur sentiu um orgulho imenso ao olhar as pinturas enquanto passava. A pessoa que pintou os quadros era quem Arthur mais admirava: sua mãe.

Alice foi uma mulher incrível desde o início. Ela pintou pinturas de altíssima qualidade, compôs músicas únicas e teve uma extensa rede social em círculos nobres. Não havia dúvida para ninguém de que ela era uma verdadeira nobre e representava muito bem essa nobreza.

Chegando no salão principal, Arthur senta no sofá e começa a ler o livro. Uma melhor compreensão de como funciona a mana certamente o tornaria mais forte.

Ele pensa em Seraphine. Ela era perigosa; seu controle sobre mana era sem precedentes. Sendo capaz de camuflar sua mana a ponto de não sentir nada, e relembrando seu comportamento, não parecia que ela estava escondendo isso ativamente. Então Arthur presumiu que fosse simplesmente seu puro talento.

Primeiro Ambrose, que parecia ignorar a magia, e depois Seraphine, que era completamente misteriosa.

"Suspiro", Arthur exala, parando de ler o livro e fechando os olhos por um momento.

"Algo está errado?" uma voz suave passa por seus ouvidos. A dona dessa voz é uma linda mulher, usando um elegante vestido preto.

Arthur olha nos olhos verdes da mulher e diz: “Mãe, me desculpe, não sabia que você estava em casa...”

Suas palavras são interrompidas quando Alice se aproxima dele e acaricia sua cabeça. "Ouvi falar da sua vitória contra Nasus. Muito bem, filho. É uma pena que você não o tenha matado."

Então Alice olha para o livro que ele está lendo e sorri feliz. "Muito bem, filho."

Ela se senta no sofá ao lado de Arthur e pergunta: “O que você acha das pessoas na sua sala?”

"Eles são úteis. Entre os plebeus, Sophie tem um grande talento em magia. Jhon, por outro lado, ainda não mostrou muito, mas é trabalhador. Acredito que ele só precisa de mais conhecimento. Nicolas Bellator tem excelentes habilidades de combate e adaptabilidade , além de demonstrar boa inteligência. Selene Lunaris é a pessoa mais valiosa na sala. Até agora, não posso prever exatamente o nível de suas habilidades," Arthur responde com a maior precisão que pode, olhando diretamente para sua mãe sentada ao lado ele.

Seu sorriso se torna descaradamente forçado por um momento. Alice fala: "Plebeus? Não imaginei que tanta sujeira estaria na academia, muito menos na sua sala de aula, meu filho. Você não pegou nenhuma doença, pegou?"

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"Calm down, Mother, I'm fine as I said. They are useful," Arthur quickly responds to calm Alice.

Alice looks at Arthur for a moment, her emerald eyes gleaming with a cold light. She commands, "When they are no longer useful, discard these commoners. Until then, use them to the fullest. But remember, they should never be seen as people in your eyes," she emphasizes the last part clearly.

"Of course, Mother. I've never thought of any of them as anything more than pieces," Arthur says, reassuring Alice.

"As for the other two, you've struck gold, my son."

"The Bellator family is a powerful military family, being a Marquess house. Keep Nicolas close. In the future, he may become an important piece, especially if he becomes the head of the Bellator family," Selene says with a soft smile on her lips. Her words contrast with her gentle expression.

"Lunaris, undoubtedly one of the most powerful families in the empire, being a Ducal house. They usually don't interact with anything outside their territory and are untouchable, even your father, the Emperor, rarely interacts with them." Alice says this with a pensive and curious expression.

"I figured as much, Mother. Selene has shown herself to possibly be the third or second strongest person I've seen in the academy," Arthur says with clear confidence. "That's why I've chosen her as my main piece. Soon, I'll have her under my control."

Alice gets up from the sofa. "Come with me, let's paint a bit."

Arthur gets up and follows Alice. They pass through the living rooms, and all the maids lower their heads and don't raise them until Alice is out of sight.

Arthur was happy to see his mother. He hadn't seen her much lately; she was busy with her own affairs, and he was almost always at the academy. Painting with her was one of the most enjoyable activities he did as a child. She always played with him through music and various other forms of art.

As they arrive at the painting room, Alice picks up a blank canvas and some paints. With a thin brush, she dips it into red paint, then begins painting on the canvas in front of her. The movement of her fingers is smooth, resembling a leaf being swayed by a gentle breeze, or a serpent growing as it feeds. The paint flows across the canvas, and each time Selene changes brushes or paint colors, it's as if a new universe is created on the canvas.

Admiring until the end, Arthur sees a beautiful garden of red lotuses with various fantastic animals around.

After finishing her painting, Alice looks at Arthur and starts laughing. "What on earth is that you painted?" she laughs uncontrollably.

Confused, Arthur looks at the canvas in front of him. He had been painting while watching Alice paint.

A painting that resembles a distorted version of Alice's painting is reflected in Arthur's eyes. The lotuses are melting, as if bleeding, and the animals are distorted, appearing to have some sort of issue with their spines.

"You've always been terrible at doing anything like this," she picks up another canvas and starts painting again. She says to Arthur, "Watch carefully. I'll go slowly. Copy my movements."

"Of course, Mother," Arthur says with a genuinely happy smile.

Arthur actually didn't enjoy painting. He found it boring and tiring, and he didn't understand the meaning of art or why some pieces were expensive while others weren't. Despite growing up surrounded by beautiful paintings in the house, all the paintings his mother made were equally unmatched in his eyes. Despite not enjoying it, he had fun when he did it with his mother. With her teaching him again and again several times, it was one of the few activities he wouldn't be punished for if he failed, and his mother always beamed with pride when showing off her talents and skills to him.

Alice was a fallen princess from a neighboring kingdom. It seems that the people rebelled against the royalty, and Alice's parents were executed, along with all her relatives. She was sold to the empire to become one of the emperor's wives. At the time all this happened, Alice was a teenager who saw her life being destroyed and controlled by those around her without being able to do anything. Alice deeply hated everything in this world—the people of the kingdom who banished her, the emperor who bought and used her.

He heard this story secretly from the maids talking among themselves one day. At the time, he became even more certain of something he had always believed—his mother was an incredible person whom he should always listen to. Even though he was the son of the emperor, his mother loved him. Of course, she punished him severely if he didn't meet her expectations, but her smile was genuine when she spoke to him, unlike when she was near other people.

In addition to becoming emperor, there was something else Arthur planned to do afterward—he would destroy those who took over the kingdom that rebelled against Alice's family.

They spent the whole day painting and talking about trivial matters.

Alice says, "I'm tired. I'm going to bed, and you should too, Arthur." Alice smiles with her usual soft and gentle smile.

Blinking in surprise, he hadn't even realized how quickly time had passed. He gets up and starts walking, and they walk together to the hallway where the bedrooms are located.

Alice kisses Arthur's forehead. "Goodnight, my son. Remember, in this whole world, the only person you can trust and the only person who is truly your family is me."

With that, Alice enters her room and closes the door.

As cores do cabelo de Alice eram de um magnífico tom de vermelho, como o lótus vermelho mais brilhante do lago.

Na verdade, o vermelho era a cor favorita de Alice, assim como a de Arthur.

Arthur entrou em seu quarto, sua motivação reacendeu. Ele não deveria ver nenhuma das pessoas da academia como indivíduos, mas sim como peças de valor.

Deitado na cama, Arthur ponderou se deveria ter conversado com ela sobre Ambrose e Seraphine. Ela pode ter dito algo útil. Mas ao fechar os olhos para dormir, Arthur decidiu não pensar mais nesses pensamentos. O dia que passou com a mãe foi suficiente para mostrar que ela estava certa e que os ideais de um herói estavam errados. Afinal, em uma história, sua mãe certamente seria uma vilã pela forma como trata os outros, mas aos olhos de Arthur, ela é a maior heroína de todas.

Acomodando-se mais confortavelmente na cama, ele pensa mais uma vez: 'Definitivamente me tornarei o imperador'.