章 1988: Ice Empress and Mother of a Nation

Eska was a woman who was regal and arrogant in an Empress-like sort of way. By comparison, Mae was far more motherly in nature. If one could be considered an Icy Empress, the other was more like the Mother of a Nation. 

It was quite interesting to view this from afar because Ryu didn't expect to see such a thing from Mae. 

Inwardly, he was actually quite thankful that he made the decision to let her grow on her own. If he hadn't, who knew if he would have accidentally suppressed this side of her? 

Although this had certainly always been a part of her personality, it had never been so pronounced. Despite the fact both Hope and Selheira were years her elder, she seemed to be the most mature of them all. 

He couldn't help but chuckle. Selheira was at most a few decades older than Mae, but Hope was tens of thousands of years older. This was definitely a bit embarrassing on her part.