My Son, Selim
From anyone on the outside, I have a near perfect life. I have a lovely wife whom I spent most of my years with and a heathy, thriving young son. They would never guess that my young son is actually older and stronger than I am.
When I became Furher, I had to say Selim was a relative of mine. We may have come from the same place, but we are not the same. He is a powerful homunculus who is capable of dismembering a group of soldiers with ease. He has the power to make your shadow turn against you. His actual voice could send chills up your spine. I could not win in a head-on match against him. That's why I should never try to infuriate him.
My poor, innocent wife have no idea who she cuddles daily. I am grateful Father let me keep my marriage. If she ever questioned my rise to power or my alleged 'son', my siblings would have disposed of her in a few seconds. She should never know of the constant danger she is in. The danger does not come from foreigners or traitors, but from me and who I call my father, brothers, and sister.
My son, Selim, is a great actor. I wonder how long it would take him to snap out of the innocent boy act. Anything could shatter the image I was given. My greatest fear is my wife finding out the truth about her beloved son or her devoted husband. I am always anxious whenever Selim is near my wife; he could ruin everything simply because he grew tired of pretending. So I decided to confront him about it.
"You better not do anything to hurt her, Pride." I demanded the second we were alone. It was nighttime and we were standing in Selim's childhood room.
Selim looked at me puzzled for a few seconds and then he scrunched his face into an unforgiving look. I have to keep my composure even when I am taunting a demon, because this is for my wife. "I have no intention of harming my mother." Selim used his actual voice to say that.
"She is my wife. You have no connection to her, I do. If you do anything to harm her…" It took everything I had to keep my voice stern.
"I care about her, too." Selim interputed me with a deep growl. "I don't care what happens to you, you're disposable."
I was taken aback by his response, but it was better than nothing. Selim's innocent eyes turned into a dark, piercing stare and his Ouroboros tattoo formed on his head. He could attack me at full force at any time. I decided to stop while I was ahead. "Fine, I don't care what happens to me either, as long as she is safe."
Selim turned to look at a small family portrait of the three of us. It was in a wooden picture frame sitting on top of his dresser. Then, he sighed deeply. "Bradley, I've had many false fathers since I was first created, but never any mothers."
I stood there listening to ever word. I had no idea of his past, just Father's plans for the near future. Selim turned to me, still scowling me. "I'm offended that you think so poorly of me. She has shown more compassion towards me than all of the previous sham fathers combined. I do consider her my mother."
"And I consider her my wife." I added swiftly. "As long you promise not to harm her, I will consider a truce." I held my hand out for him.
Selim stared hard at me, considering what I said. I felt relief when he grabbed my hand, shook it once, and pledged, "Truce."