Once Balem was happy. Back when his mother was alive he needn't worry about such trivial manners such as ruling earth. He was free and shared a bond with his mother that his siblings wouldn't understand. Titus thought he knew her. Sure he could read her face like a book, but most people could if they knew her well enough. Kalique and her mother weren't very close. It was an average familial relationship, they loved each other to an extent but nothing more. Balem however had been her outlet and in return she had been the one who truly understood him. Deep down they were alike in nature, but unlike him she was able to make friends and put on a facade. Perhaps that was where Titus got his tendencies to lie. Balem never was one for lying, preferring to be frank in his business. Never cutting around corners still got him where he needed. Not always as seamlessly as Titus at first, but as Titus's betrayals became more obvious Balem's work would remain intact.
Things weren't perfect by any means. Even Balem couldn't deny how inhumane the harvests really were, and how selfish and greedy it was to steal peoples lives just to extend their own. But as much as he hated the idea, eternal life enticed him. As it did with his mother. She clung to life, valuing her life more than her children it seemed at times. Her business was booming and the Abrasux family was becoming more and more well known. Over time they were called royals, simply because of their production of youth serum. It was exhilarating, knowing how many people depended on him and his family. It began to tear on him however, the millions of lives needed for eternal youth was taxing. Sure, they weren't the ones to kill. They were simply the ones who called for the harvest. No matter how many times Balem told himself he wasn't a murderer, everything led back to him.
Everyone has a breaking point. As time went on Balem lost any empathy he once had. He was cold and calculating, no longer caring for the lives lost. He would do whatever was necessary to be seen as better in his mothers eyes. Once he was her favorite without question, their bond was on a deeper level than that of his siblings. Now she seemed to be slipping away from all of them. Leaving the three siblings to vie for her attention. As her eldest he was to be perfect, no mistakes would be tolerated. He tortured, killed and stole to get what he needed. All that mattered was to be better, he would not fail her again.
As a child, Balem's mother was all that he had. While his siblings were off making friends, as Kalique did, and lovers, in Titus's case, he was busy studying. He had no need for friends as long as he had her approval. All he needed was for her to be happy and she would do the same. The other kids would tease him, he wasn't attractive like his brother, or naturally charismatic as his sister was, instead he was deadly smart. Someday it would be an incredible asset, but it further isolated him from the children his age. As he grew older, his mother was his only friend, the only one to be there for him. He grew reliant on her praise, needing her to reassure him that he wasn't worthless. Balem needed to be best in her eyes, to be any different would be considered failure.
His mother came to hate the harvesting, and in turn the youth serum. The use of others lives to sustain her own was no longer an option and she made moves to stop the business. Balem knew that his mother was going to die. Whether it would be by old age, a political enemy, or even by his own hand he didn't know. She had made a lot of enemies in her life, and now the public was turning against her. The youth serum had been a part of their lives for thousands of years and now she sought to change it. He worried for his mothers safely and for that of his business. If his mother was successful than his life's work would go down the drain. He, along with the rest of his family would be left penniless.
Despite popular belief Balem wasn't heartless. He cared very deeply for his family and wanted nothing more than to make sure they were ok. He also cared for himself and his well being and over the years he was no longer sure what was more important. When he faced his mother about her decisions, it was unclear which motivated him. He tried to tell her what she was doing and how it would affect her family, along with the rest of her people, but she wouldn't listen. As the fight went on his temper rose and he snapped. A red haze overcame his vision and he was certain that he wasn't thinking clearly, but he couldn't stop. With each hit, his rage grew. All those years he had spent doing his best to please her and she decided to push him away because of her guilt. It sickened him. So as she lay, bloody on the floor begging for him to kill her, telling him how much she hated her life now, he lost it.
There was nothing he regretted more than what he did that day. However he could see why he did it and over the years the he hardened himself to the reality that he would never see him beloved mother again. He bottled up his emotions, only letting them out when there was no one to see it. He would be perfect even without her there, cold and calculating. He couldn't afford to let him emotions show, so no one could use it against him. He would never love again, he didn't know if he could handle the pain.