"This isn’t me being unfilial..." Alaric thought.

He had long noticed Raika’s unnatural affection towards him.

One might think that it bordered between motherly love and yandere.

He had ignored it, waiting for more evidence, but this was surely enough.

She was a yandere.

He had to tread lightly.

"She seems to be a powerful water mage, maybe she could be helpful..." he said innocently.

Raika’s eyes calmed, the lightning streaking around her body lessening.

She thought he was attracted to her, thought he wanted her as a fiance.

"We can get you a tutor, not to mention you will start the academy soon..." Her voice fell into a plea.

The lightning completely disappearing from her form.

The crowd stood in silence, watching the mother-and-son drama.

"...I don’t want any old man, I prefer someone my age..." Alaric began to act his age, a child ready to throw a tantrum.

"...and they said she is the champion of water..." he added.

Raika should have remembered that he was the champion, but she hadn’t really paid attention to what the elves had said.

Only remembering that he would be a great mage.

"A Supreme, but she is just a child..." The two went back and forth,

the crowd trying to figure out who Alaric was to be exchanging words with Raika.

"Ahh, the rumored cursed child of the Vulcan..." the plump elderly woman exclaimed.

Before she could finish her words...

Crackle!!

Lightning fell at her feet, mere centimeters away from her.

Her eyes widened in shock, hairs standing on end, the clap of thunder making her ears ring, the dispersed lightning numbing her sense of touch.

She slowly turned, her gaze meeting that of an enraged Raika.

"What... did... you... say..."

She couldn’t hear her but was sure those were Raika’s words from her lip movements.

She fell at Raika’s feet, "I am sorry..." apologizing intently.

The rest had thought the same, elated they hadn’t spoken it out loud.

"She is really the Thunder Princess..."

If they had doubted earlier because of her looks, they fully believed her identity because of her temper.

"She is a first resonance, how will she help you..." She ignored the elderly woman entirely, her rage subsiding.

She wasn’t one to beat someone when they apologized, unless they deserved it, and this woman didn’t.

She was just a civilian.

"Yes, and that is why it’s good. I can learn alongside her, and see how she does it..." Alaric continued to pursued her.

He couldn’t care less what the woman had said.

He expected at least this much when Raika told him he was basically the cause of a civil war.

Per his expectations, he should have been ostracized at Red Lotus Village.

Maybe they were too far from the Capital to have heard of the rumors, or maybe they were too beaten by war to care.

But whatever the case was, no one had called him names there.

"...It’s not my fault I can’t control water effectively." Though it stung his heart to pull the guilt card, he had no other choice.

To protect the child, he needed her close by.

And in the current times of war, the safest places were the two capitals.

Staying here would surely endanger the girl.

"..." Raika couldn’t retort.

She still felt guilty for Alaric’s current predicament.

The moment she lost her abilities, unable to help Aiden at the birth celebration, flashed through her mind.

"Only if..."

Only if she could help, Alaric wouldn’t have had this cursed fate.

"Ok..." She agreed. Alaric jumped up in excitement, though internally he felt a pang in his chest, he didn’t want to use the guilt card.

" Kai, do you want to come to the Capital with me " Alaric inquired, Kai looking at her confused.

The people around had heard it all, all turning towards Kai and her mother.

Kai didn’t really understand what they were saying, something about them wanting to be friends, but her mother did.

"Em..." She was at a loss for words.

Shrinking under the gaze of everyone.

"Em..."

Knock!! Knock!!

A knock broke the heavy silence.

"I have to get that..." she rushed into the house, glad something had distracted them.

Leaving the crowd in suspense.

They wondered what she would say, even though she barely had a choice.

...

"What should I do..." as she walked to the front gate, she mused over her answer.

Her child’s fate lay in her hands.

She was but a simple flower vendor, her husband drafted to war three years ago.

He had been the one making all the important decisions; she was merely the one who kept the house together.

How was she supposed to answer something like this?

"A prince... wants my Kai to be his tutor?"

It sounded absurd.

"What if they are only toying with us..."

Her steps slowed.

" Can Kai even do it? She is smart, yes, but she is still a child. What if she says something wrong? What if she offends them? "

A shiver ran down her spine.

Commoners could not refuse nobles, much less royalty.

Yet neither could she readily agree.

" What would you do...? " she thought, picturing her husband’s face.

Reaching the door, she let out a long sigh.

"Hello, Miss Lily..." Aodh greeted her warmly.

Her heart almost jumped out of in shock.

"What is the vice count doing here..." she thought aloud, quickly covering her mouth in surprise.

Aodh only smiled.

"I am here to present my gifts for your daughter’s awakening," he said politely, but Kai’s mother understood the underlying meaning.

I heard your daughter is a supreme and I want to verify...

"Please come in..." She could only let him in, her unease deepening.

Aodh entered, followed by maids with gifts.

She nervously guided them to the backyard.

Aodh scanned his surroundings, his gaze falling on Raika and the red-eyed child.

It stayed for a second, realization dawning on him.

"Thunder Princess..." Aodh bowed respectfully, going down on one knee.

"Get up..." Raika couldn’t be bothered with such formality.

"What is she doing here... Are they here to overthrow the Count..."