“b.i.t.c.h! Wh.o.r.e! She’s fearless with my son over there with her. She dares threaten me? She’s just a surrogate mother and she dares call herself his mother?!” The empress scrunched up the letter and threw it into the fire. She grabbed her hair angrily. She threw her drawing onto the ground, put her feet onto the table and looked up to the roof to think.

Alice walked in when she heard the sounds. She looked at the empress blankly and asked: “What are you doing, your majesty?”

The empress put her feet down, got up in an annoyed way and replied: “Ah, it’s the matter with the elves. The elves are a real annoyance. Unfortunately my son is with them so I can’t do anything. That woman rejected my proposal and even sent me a drawing of Lucia and my son. d.a.m.n I’m mad!”

Alice looked at the drawing. The empress tore the part with Lucia in it while she kept the prince’s part back very carefully. Alice smiled and said: “Your majesty, if you had just annihilated them last time then you wouldn’t have to deal with this annoyance now. It looks like his majesty is still able to accept you.”

“I agree. But I never thought Luna would be able help to back then.” The empress rubbed her hair and then continued, “Now that woman isn’t even agreeing to my son’s marriage. If he gets married over there, it’s going to be very difficult for him to return. Therefore, we must go through with his wedding here. The problem is that he’s not here now.”

The empress angrily tossed her pen aside, only for the tip of the pen to land on the prince’s drawing on the table. The empress screeched and then leapt over. She looked dismayed and upset as she desperately tried to get rid of the ink. Alice watched the empress hopelessly as she acted completely unbecoming of her status and let out a heavy sigh. She said: “If only the elves were more stubborn and brought an army over to start a war.”

“No, my son wouldn’t be happy. I won’t do anything that would make my son unhappy. It wasn’t easy to get him to call me ‘mom’ and let me approach him. My wish has come true already. If I make him unhappy again then I’m not worthy of being a mother.” The empress thought about it deeply for a while and continued, “Send a letter to Castell saying this: one month later, I shall personally head to the elven imperial capital to discuss my son’s marriage. It looks like that woman won’t accept unless I go.”

Alice was shocked by what she heard. She tried to advise against it: “Your majesty! You are the ruler of the continent! You manage half of the continent! How can a grand ruler like yourself personally go there. Even if we had to discuss his majesty’s marriage, it should be their ruler coming to the royal capital! You are showing them too much respect if you go to them, is that not right?!”

“I can’t help it. I’m his mother and he happens to be over there. I’m not going there as the ruler of a nation, nor will I go there with all the ceremonial things. I’ll ride there alone as his mother. I won’t embarra.s.s the empire.” The empress looked at Alice. That was something that really hurt the esteem in which Alice held her. It was something the empress never would’ve accepted in the past and yet she was now smiling happily about it.

“As a mother…?”

“That’s right. Being his mother makes me happier than being an empress.” The empress looked at the north, clenched her teeth and continued, “There may be a chance to change things if I personally go there and talk to her. I don’t care how much humiliation I must suffer as long as long as my son can return. I must personally give my son a

happy marriage and see my grandchild. I’ve killed for half my life. This is my only wish now.”

“Your majesty……”

“Hey, hey, what are you looking like that for…?” The empress looked at Alice who was on the verge of tears, laughed and continued, “I was never an elf. I’m a human. I’m nearly forty already. Half of my life is already gone, so I no longer yearn for the world or whatnot. As a woman, what I want next is a family. That’s all Alice. If you have time, you can go on blind dates too. I think Castell isn’t bad, that is if you like young men.”

“Your majesty……”

“Alright, alright. It’s decided. When I head north to the elves, the palace will be in your hands.”

“Understood.”

Current time at the elven imperial capital.

I lied on mom’s thigh as I watched mom play with the birds with a smile and asked: “Mom, how exactly do you use magic?”

A cool breeze blew past. It was really comfortable to lie on mom’s thigh for an afternoon nap under the tree. Mom looked down to look at me with a smile. She then let the bird go, stroked my forehead and replied: “It’s very hard for me to explain it clearly to you, my son, because using magic is just like an innate ability for elves, just like eating. Hmm, but you may not be able to sense the mana in in your surroundings with your berserk mana condition. Let mommy give you a simple explanation.”

Mom shook her hand and a ball of fire appeared. She then waved her hands and it transformed into an ice-pick. She waved her hand again and it transformed into a ball of lightning. Mom looked at me and explained: “Magic isn’t creating something from nothing, but using elements in the atmosphere to create something. For instance, the fire ball mommy made was created using the fire element in the atmosphere. Magic staffs are made from all sorts of gems which possess magical properties, which allow the wielder to gather mana at higher speeds via the magic-imbued gems. Of course, mommy doesn’t need to gather mana. Mommy can use all sorts of magic just by thinking of them.”

Mom waved her hand consecutively, creating fire phoenixes, lightning b.a.l.l.s, ice horses and all sorts of other things before erasing them into nothingness. Mom tilted her head and said: “Just like that. Elves are very sensitive to the elements in the atmosphere due to the mana in their body, which is why we can gather them. The stronger one’s magical power is, the easier it is to utilise it. You can give it a try, son. You just have to imagine the result of your magic. Of course, while your magic is berserk, there’s still a small part of your mana which can be used.”

Mom pulled a tree leaf off and placed it lying down on her hand. I watched on in shock as the leave twitched around, transformed into a small paper crane and then spread its wings and flew. Mom picked up another leaf and placed it in front of me. She smiled and said: “Alright, I’ll leave you with this one. I’m not asking for you to perform excellently. Just flipping it over is enough.”

“Flip it……”

“That’s right. Focus your attention on it as you look at it and then imagine what it’s like once flipped.” Mom tilted her head and then added, “Of course, you can’t use the mana in your body so you can’t do it as easily mommy. You’ll be able to experience magic at in all its glory on full-moon nights because your mana will flow on those nights. Once you release the mana, you’ll feel relieved too. But if you were to release it, you would probably destroy the entire imperial elven capital since you’re mommy’s son after all.”

I stared at the leaf intently and intensely imagined flipping it. But it was honestly far too abstract. My subconscious was laughing at me for acting like a r.e.t.a.r.d. If even I don’t believe in myself, how am I going to do it? I focused all of my attention on the leaf intently. I was almost able to count all the marks on it but it didn’t even budge.

“Don’t rush, son. Take your time. Flipping a leaf is very simple for you.”

Mom didn’t feel disappointed. She looked at me with a smile.

And so, I leaned on mom and stared at the leaf intently, imagining what it was like flipping over…… And finally, the leaf shook and flipped over.

“Splendid son.”

Mom patted her dress and got up. I felt like I was exhausted, like all my energy was spent on the leaf.

I wasn’t sure if I flipped it over with my mana or if the wind blew it either. Mom stood up and looked at the sky. She smiled and said: “How unfortunate, my son. It’s past your time to go out and play, so you can only accompany mommy now~.”

“Mom! You set me up!!”