Chapter 42 - The Devil's Smile

Astoria's POV

Astra seems to be enjoying her cookies while the boys are arguing about who is the strongest between me and the beast of Mount Dunka.

"What are you talking about?! Mama is the strongest! The beast doesn't even have any magic nor mana!" It's embarrassing since they are talking about me.

"Boys, keep your voice down." Adelaide finally joins us. She seems in distress.

"What's wrong? Astor said no?" Adelaide shake her head no.

"He said yes. But Lady Federica has quite a rude mouth on her. Astor seems enjoying himself so I guess he likes her." Huh? But Astor is the type of person who view decorum as an important aspect is a person.

"Well. As he is happy, we are happy." I see.

"What about Astrid?" Adelaide smiled.

"Astrid and Nicholas really is a match from the heavens. Nicholas- that boy is scared of Astrid. He is such a sweet little boy before but now he is a handsome man who really cares about Astrid. I was not wrong when I said Nicholas has a thing for Astrid." I'm really glad to hear that.

As I turned towards the window, I saw Astor and Lady Federica walking towards the garden.

"Are they arguing again?" I asked while pointing at Astor.

"I guess so. But you know what they say, couples who argue are bound to be together. Perhaps that is why Astor agreed to marrying her." I guess so.

"This is only the beginning, right? We manage to get the Flames and Holmes family to our side through marriage. What's next on the agenda?" Adelaide smiled.

"Well, we only get to moves our rooks now. The rest of the pieces on the board will be able to move once the rooks completed their mission. For now we have to wait and see where this is going. The pawns are on standby to assist the rooks. We have no choice but to wait."

This woman refered to the twins as chess pieces to confused the triplets who are still too young to understand. On the board, I hold the king's piece. I could only move once the queen told me too. But every decision suggested will go through me for confirmation. Adelaide, who holds the queen's piece act as the mastermind and strategist.

"Mama, what does it mean to be the spare?" Astra's question made us confused.

"The spare? Where did you heard such word?" I asked. The boys then explained to us that one of their friends refered to Astra as the spare.

"He said since Astra couldn't see, she is the spare. But we don't know what he meant by saying that." I turned to Adelaide.

"The spare means she has no official rule as the imperial family. But that is not true. Astra is a princess too. So what if she couldn't see with her eyes? That doesn't mean she is the spare. That boy- tell me his name. Momma take care of him." Astra immediately grabbed Adelaide's hand before shaking her head.

"Momma, don't do that. The people are calling you a tyrant because of this. Stop making a bad rep for yourself just because of such a small thing." Adelaide scoffed.

"They dare to look down on my children?! As a mother I can't let this go! I-" I placed a hand on Adelaide's shoulder before shaking my head lightly.

"You're showing bad example to the boys. Didn't we agree to be a good parents to them? Just look at how Astor and Astrid grew up to. They are an exact copy of us." Adelaide seems to realises something as I said that.

"What is happening out there?" Huh? I turned towards the mirror and saw lighting while the sky is blue. I got up from my seat and look out the window to see Astor and his future spouse sparring using magic sword.

"What on earth is happening down there?! They are putting eveyone at risk for sparring without proper protection!" I push the window open and was about to jump off when Adelaide stopped me.

"Are you insane?! We're on the fifth floor!" I smirk.

"Honey, I jumped off a dragon while it was flying. This is nothing. Keep the children safe." I have Adelaide a small smile before jumping off the fifth floor and land on the ground as light as a feather. Learning how to make used of my mana is probably one of the best lesson I get from Moloch.

Speaking of Moloch, why is that demon hiding behind a bush?

"Enough! You're endangering everyone with your magic! Can't you see the demons are affected by your action? Astor you should know better!" Astor immediately let go of his sword but not lady Federica.

"I understand that the Holmes family are also famous for producing talented swordman and swordwoman. But your action today cause wuite a ruckus within this palace walls. Not all residents here are humans. Some are sensitive to magic and mana burst. They are children playing around not far from here too." The lady finally let go of the sword and apologised.

"What's the cause of this fight?" I asked while giving Moloch the order to cleanse the area. This dense magic will kill any normal person.

"Astor said he is a better sword user than me who had been trained by experts of my family since I could walk. So I challenged him to a duel." That's it?

"That reasoning is childish! So you're willing to go this far just because you felt threatened?" Lady Federica didn't say anything.

"And you- Astor you know better than to fall into temptation. You're lucky that your other mother is with your young siblings. What if she's the one who came here instead of me? Are you willing to go back to the snowy mountains for your punishment?" Astor shake his head no.

"I'll make sure to be on my best." Lady Federica gave Astor a look.

"Lady Federica, do you have some time to spare? We need to talk- just the two of us." The lady nodded.

"Astor, leave." Astor nodded before leaving us. I smiled and led the lady towards the garden.

"How do you feel after spending a few days here in the palace?" The lady hummed.

"It's fine. It's smaller than my home but I guess it's understandable. The empire only exists for over ten years, yes? Well, at least that's what Moloch said in our lesson. Also, why would a demon was given the task to teach imperial children? Isn't that weird?" I smiled.

"Moloch may be a demon but he is also Adelaide's retainer. I'm not sure what your family had told you about us but it's best not to question all that in front of my partner. She has the demons under her control. And those demons are willing to do anything she ordered them to. You wish to destroy a kingdom? With a simple snap of Adelaide's finger, that kingdom will fall in a day. That's how frightening my partner is." Federica hummed.

"So what exactly do I have to do to be in her good graces? Because I have my own reason to be here. And I'm sure you do too." I laughed. Adelaide was right about Federica.

Astor would never be able to say such words to anyone just like this girl did. Astor needs someone like Federica by his side.

"Tell me, Federica, what do you want to accomplished in your life right now. What's your ultimate wish to fulfil?" Federica stood beside me and said,

"I want to protect the people I care and love about. As of now, my mother's life is in danger. I need power- I need your family influence backing me up so my mother wouldn't face the same consequences as my father did." Oh- that's interesting.

"And the only person who could give me what I want is your son." I laughed. This girl- I like how greedy and straightforward she is.

"Astor, you heard the lady. Come here." Federica was surprised.

"So you were eavesdropping?!" Astor shrugged his shoulders.

"Mama, will I be able to help Federica?" Astor's question surprised me.

"Perhaps. But you better start now if you like to help her." Astor hummed.

"How do I do that?" I smiled.

"First, don't skip your lessons. Second, keep your eyes open and listen to your surroundings. Esspecially when you're with momma and me in a public setting." That should be enough hint to keep him busy.

Just because he gave Astrid the crown, that doesn't mean he could be lazy and ignore his lessons.

"I'll keep that in mind."