Chapter 168: Astra's Goals
Chapter 168 Astra's Goals
*Bam*
A sound was heard as Astra smashed her glass onto the table in front of her in frustration. From the slight redness on her face, one could tell that the Mystic Wine she had been drinking was finally doing its magic.
And why would it not?
It was the third bottle Astra had uncorked.
Yes, the Vesta Family head was going all out today and all this while, she hadn't said even a single word and had only been staring at Vaan ever since they returned from the Affinity Room after testing Vaan's Magic Affinity through the Affinity Stone.
"How am I supposed to explain this...?"
After a long while, Astra finally spoke up.
Vaan and Elara, who were sitting together glanced at each other, not knowing how to answer Astra's question.
Elara could understand Astra's state of mind, after all, she had witnessed the same absurd thing her teacher did, she however, decided to stop thinking about it and chose to side with Vaan. She could tell that he needed her help in dealing with Astra, not that she was being much of a help, other than being subjected to the family head antic's together with her fiancé.
"Answer me, how am I supposed to explain this...?"
Astra questioned as she glared at Vaan.
"Just say your son is gifted..." Vaan replied and as if saying that he wasn't supposed to answer like that, Elara tightened her grip on Vaan's hand she was holding.
And Elara's intuition was correct, Astra didn't like that answer at all.
"Gifted...?
Vaan Astra Vesta, you are an Element's Favorite, for three elements!
That is the highest possible affinity one can have, even having such a level of affinity with one element is enough to call a mage a Genius, but you have it with three!
Three Elements!
You think this can be explained with a mere 'my child is gifted.'!?
Do you even know how many questions would be raised after this is revealed!?"
Astra snapped.
"If you want... we can always hide my third element... If mother wants, I won't use it as often as my other two elements."
Vaan spoke. Fire and Water were already enough for him to overpower most of his enemies, he didn't need another element to continue winning.
"Huh? Why would you do that? You are my son, there is no need for you to hide anything. If anyone has any questions, they can come to me, I will personally answer all their questions."
Astra replied.
"..."
"..."
Vaan and Elara glanced at each other, not knowing how to react to Astra saying things that completely contradicted what she said before.
"Heh."
Suddenly, Astra laughed.
Then filling her glass with wine, she drank the content in one shot before smashing her glass back onto the table, then, with a big smile on her face, she continued,
"I expected no less from my child.
A Magic Genius that would change the entire world.
I would like to have a peaceful talk with the people who were eyeing 'my' Throne.
I couldn't answer them personally since I had to act like a 'responsible and impartial' leader, now, however, I have no reason to hold back.
Vaan Astra Vesta," Astra called out again.
"Y-Yes mother," Vaan spoke.
"This Battle of Heirs, I want you to dominate your enemies so badly that they won't even think about challenging you for the rest of their lives, is that clear?"
"Enemies...?"
Vaan was taken aback.
"Didn't you say that in the end we are all families and are supposed to act like a team..."
"Baah! Team my foot! We don't need teammates, we need subordinates!
Subordinates I tell you!
If you see them as teammates, they would simply walk all over you. Let them know that they are nothing but disposable subordinates. This is the only way you will be able to lead the family properly, otherwise, people like Draven and Risia would try to use their status to gather more power, creating conflicts and weakening the family from within.
Remember Vaan, Tyrants may be seen as bad rulers, but only the tyrants have the chance to create an empire so strong that no other enemies would stand in front of them. The Previous Vesta Heads only had one goal, to protect the Vesta Family from all the outside threats and continue its rich legacy by finding an heir that would continue their goal, but according to me,
That is a foolish Goal.
Why would you aim to 'protect' your family from outside threats?
Churches that support different Gods? Other Human Kingdoms? Dragons? The Demonkin?
Why would you want to protect our family from all these forces? What if you can't find a suitable heir who can do it? What if, with time, our family loses the influence and strength we have? Why take such needless risks?
Why not take things into our own hands?
Why not destroy all the enemies altogether?"
Astra spoke in a slightly tipsy voice and Vaan, who heard those words turned serious. He knew his mother was drunk, however, the words coming out of her mouth weren't gibberish. They were Astra's true feelings, her true goals, the goals that probably even the people closest to her wouldn't know.
"I failed."
Suddenly, Astra spoke.
Emptying another glass of wine, her face turned serious, and,
"Our enemies are much stronger than what I expected. Especially those Demons who have become much more active in these recent years. Destroying our enemies may sound grand and novel, however, actually pulling it off is a completely different thing.
The Four Kingdoms and the Churches that follow different Gods, especially the Church of Light, they are as strong as our family, if not stronger, the Dragons, those beings, although extremely little in number, every full-grown Dragon can face more than a dozen 7th Circle Mages alone, and then there are those Demons spreading chaos all over Agresia with their mysterious abilities that we know nothing of.
None of our enemies are something we can snort about, they are all strong. Strong enough to destroy our family if we make even a slight slip-up.
Let alone destroying them all, even holding on while the power balance of this world is on so much edge is a big challenge.
The Goals I have set for myself are too much for me to follow through.
Vaan, I will be honest, before you, I was planning to raise Elara as the next Family Head, this was also the reason why I engaged her to you, Vaelen, Lirael, Elric, Leif, none of them has what it takes to lead the Family, they are weak, their talent is mediocre at best.
Honestly, the Battle of Heirs that has been playing out all this while, it is nothing more than a farce, in my head, I was always planning to train Elara, raise her as my secret card, teach her about ruling the Family once she is ready, hold out till she is finally an Advance Mage, then, with support of my loyal subordinates, create a Faction that supports Elara as the next Family Head, and with the strongest Faction on her side, combined with the fact that she is the only 7th Circle Mage amongst all the Heirs, I would have chosen her as the next Family Head.
However, Elara's timid personality was a big barrier to my plan, she is talented, yes, but with how she is, even Elara is not suited to be the next Family Leader, I was actually looking for a Leader who would help the Family after Elara, but then,
You changed.
Elara might not be able to do it, but if it is you,
Then things were completely different.
Your Magic Talent is beyond anything I have ever seen,
Others do not know, however, I, who have seen you grow, know that you become a 3rd Circle Mage from a 1st Circle Mage in just a few months. This, combined with those Spirits you can see, who help you in a way that makes you different than any other mage, giving you unreasonable advantages,
It makes you so strong that my previous assessment of you being better than the Archmage Alienora Vesta might actually be correct.
You need to achieve what I failed to and what other Family Heads didn't even think about.
You were born to change history, Vaan.
You were born to do what other Heads of the Family could not do, what I could not do.
You were born, to not only keep the Vesta Family to the position it was in, but to uplift it and make it the strongest family there is.
A Family with absolute power and no potential enemy that can challenge us.
And for that, you need to become a Tyrant, Vaan.
A Tyrant that is a nightmare for all our enemies, whether they are enemies outside the Family, or inside."
Astra spoke, then, after taking another sip, she glanced at Elara with her red face and smiled,
"And while you do all this, you better take care of this angel I chose for you because if you hurt her like you used to in the past,
I will be personally kicking your damn ass."
...
*Breezy's Picture*