Lady Alice

Opening his eyes, Arthur looks at the ceiling of his room and gets out of bed. Next to the bed, there's a table with books on top of it. He picks up one of the books, which is about studies on mana behavior.

Arthur holds the book and opens the door to his room. Immediately, the maids cleaning the hallway lower their heads and greet him.

"Good morning, young master."

Arthur waves to them and walks past them. As soon as he passes, they return to their tasks. The house was large, indeed, it was a huge mansion. Arthur walks through the corridors and rooms of the house, heading towards the main hall. There were many separate rooms with various noble activities, such as music, painting, and others.

The house, in particular, had many paintings, each of them of very high value. Arthur felt immense pride as he looked at the paintings while passing by. The person who painted the pictures was the one Arthur admired the most—his mother.

Alice was an incredible woman from the beginning. She painted incredibly high-quality paintings, composed unique music, and had an extensive social network in noble circles. There was no doubt for anyone that she was a true noble and represented that nobility very well.

Arriving in the main hall, Arthur sits on the sofa and begins to read the book. A better understanding of how mana works would certainly make him stronger.

He thinks about Seraphine. She was dangerous; her control over mana was unprecedented. Being able to camouflage her mana to the point where he couldn't sense anything, and recalling her demeanor, it didn't seem like she was actively hiding it. So Arthur assumed it was simply her pure talent.

First Ambrose, who seemed to ignore magic, and then Seraphine, who was completely mysterious.

"Sigh," Arthur exhales, stopping reading the book and closing his eyes for a moment.

"Is something wrong?" a soft voice passes through his ears. The owner of that voice is a beautiful woman, wearing an elegant black dress.

Arthur looks into the woman's green eyes and says, "Mother, I'm sorry, I didn't know you were in the house..."

His words are interrupted when Alice approaches him and strokes his head. "I heard about your victory against Nasus. Well done, son. It's a pity you didn't kill him."

Then, Alice looks at the book he's reading and smiles happily. "Very good, son."

She sits on the sofa next to Arthur and asks, "What do you think about the people in your room?"

"They are useful. Among the commoners, Sophie has great talent in magic. Jhon, on the other hand, hasn't shown much yet, but he's hardworking. I believe he just needs more knowledge. Nicolas Bellator has excellent combat abilities and adaptability, as well as demonstrating good intelligence. Selene Lunaris is the most valuable person in the room. So far, I can't exactly predict the level of her abilities," Arthur responds as accurately as he can, looking directly at his mother sitting beside him.

Her smile becomes blatantly forced for a moment. Alice speaks, "Commoners? I didn't imagine such filth would be in the academy, let alone in your classroom, my son. You haven't caught any diseases, have you?"

"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.

The colors of Alice's hair were a magnificent shade of red, like the brightest red lotus in the lake.

Indeed, red was Alice's favorite color, just like Arthur's.

Arthur entered his room, his motivation reignited. He shouldn't see any of the people at the academy as individuals but rather as pieces with value.

Lying back on the bed, Arthur pondered whether he should have talked to her about Ambrose and Seraphine. She might have said something useful. But as he closed his eyes to sleep, Arthur decided not to dwell on those thoughts anymore. The day he had with his mother was enough to show that she was right and the ideals of a hero were wrong. After all, in a story, his mother would certainly be a villain for the way she treats others, but in Arthur's eyes, she is the greatest hero of all.

Settling more comfortably into bed, he thinks once again, 'I will definitely become the emperor.'