Chapter 145: 145
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THE SUN was almost up when Kiho finished "interrogating" the people who tried to attack the mansion last night. When he was done, the basement where he imprisoned the assailants was painted with blood. He hated that he had to come back to this kind of job. But he would do anything to protect his family.
I've said this before and I'll say it again: I'm willing to become a bad guy for Tilly. And now, for Winter, too.
"I'll take care of the rest, Your Grace," Captain Denver told him. "Please take a rest. You must be exhausted."
"I'm fine, Captain Denver. Thank you for worrying about me," he said while wiping off the blood in his hand using a white handkerchief. Then, he tapped the captain's shoulder. "I'll leave the rest to you, Captain Denver. I'll ask Miss Luna to assist you."
"That would be helpful, Your Grace."
"After I check on Tilly and Winter, I'll come back so the two of you could rest."
The captain just nodded, then he turned serious. "Your Grace, may I know if something happened to make Lady Nystrom that angry last night? Miss Luna didn't let me enter the room while she was giving birth to the duchess. But I could hear Lady Nystrom's loud cry back then."
His jaw clenched, and so did his fists when he remembered the tragedy that fell upon their family. "Tilly received a call from our Father. Lord Prescott is gone now. He was killed by an unknown man…" He trailed-off when he remembered something. Then, his eyes widened in shock while looking at Captain Denver. "Lord Denver was with Father…"
Pain crossed the captain's amber eyes. "That's right," he confirmed. "Father passed down his emblem to me last night. That only means that he's gone now. After all, an emblem couldn't be passed down to an heir if his predecessor is still alive."
His heart went out to the captain. Tilly would be devastated to hear this…
"If Lord Prescott was killed, then that means my father suffered the same fate," Captain Denver said in an understandably angry voice. "Duke Nystrom, did you get a clue as to who did to them from the conversation that Lady Nystrom had with Lord Prescott?"
He nodded. "We did. But can we talk about it once all of us have rested enough? I know that it's hard to do that at this moment. Still, I believe that we all need to rest first."
"I understand, Your Grace," the captain said. "Just like you, I had been into several wars, too. From there, I learned how important rest is. A knight should always take a break first before he fights a new battle. After all, a broken mind and an exhausted body will only get him killed."
"Thank you for understanding," Kiho said, then he held the captain's shoulders tight. "Captain Denver, please remember that the Nystroms are always here for the Denvers. We'll get through this together."
Captain Denver nodded, and when he spoke again, his voice cracked. "Thank you, Duke Nystrom."
WHEN Kiho arrived at the lobby of the mansion, he was surprised to see Tilly waiting for her.
And it wasn't just her.
The ice incubator of Winter was floating beside his wife.
He also noticed Miss Luna standing behind her, and so were the servants of the mansion who greeted him politely.
"Welcome back, hon," Tilly greeted him with a smile, then she handed him a warm towel. "Good job."
Kiho smiled and kissed his wife on the forehead as he thanked her. Then, he gently touched the ice incubator of his son. When he saw that Winter was asleep again, he turned to Tilly. "Honey, I'm grateful for the warm welcome. But shouldn't you rest for now? You just gave birth a few hours ago."
"Thank you for worrying about me, hon," Tilly said with a smile. "But I'm fine. I can still fulfill my duties as your wife and the lady of the manor."
He had always known that his wife was strong and amazing.
But to be able to stand so gracefully like she did now after just a few hours since she gave birth to their son? Damn, that was incredible.
Tilly wasn't just standing there. She was dressed and poised properly like a duchess that she was. He could tell from his wife's eyes that she was just enduring the pain and the exhaustion. But he knew why she was doing that when she could have just rested.
She's boosting the morale of our people.
Duchess Tilly Prescott Nystrom was a dignified lady through and through.
Father, do you see Tilly now? You raised a very remarkable daughter. She shines like a sun, always has and always will.
Kiho gently pulled Tilly for a hug. Then, he buried his face against her neck. Her warmth and her sweet scent were enough for him to revitalize. When he felt better, he looked up to stare at his wife's beautiful face. "My heart is forever yours, Tilly."
Miss Luna groaned as a light complaint.
The witch was the only person in the mansion who could openly express her protest whenever he and Tilly would do a public display of affection.
"What's gotten into you?" Tilly asked, her cheeks red with embarrassment. But her smile told him that she was happy with his sweet nothings. Still, she lightly hit his arm. "Stop it, hon. Spare our people from your cheesiness."
His wife's light teasing made their servants laugh "discreetly."
Ah, she succeeded in uplifting everyone's spirits.
At that moment, Kiho thought to himself: Tilly is my sunshine.
He just didn't know why he couldn't say it aloud.
***
TILLY'S heart was broken when she learned that Captain Denver's father– Lord Morgan Denver– also died the night his father passed away.
Lord Denver was definitely killed by the same person who killed my father.
She wanted to scream in anger but for some reason, she still felt calm. Her body temperature didn't even change. Usually, whenever she was angry, her body would start to burn.
It didn't happen this time.
But it's good that I'm calm.
Anyway, right now, she was in the tea room with Kiho and Captain Denver. They went there to have tea after breakfast. On the other hand, Luna volunteered to look after Winter with the head maid who wanted to serve the young lord. So currently, if she wasn't mistaken, the witch was in the master's bedroom with Louisa.
Saint Forrester already left before the sun rose up.
"I'll go to the North to retrieve the bodies of Lord Denver and Lord Prescott," Captain Denver declared, causing everyone in the room to turn to him. The captain continued talking, his eyes focused on her. "Lady Nystrom, according to Lord Prescott, you shouldn't go to the North whatever happens," he said, then he turned to Kiho. "Duke Nystrom, I know you wanted to retrieve Lord Prescott's body yourself. But I don't think it's wise to leave Lady Nystrom and your new born son by themselves. And I'm sure you don't want to do that." The captain gave everyone a passing look. "That's why I'll do it. I'll retrieve their bodies and while I'm at it, I will investigate their death. Since my father was a higher noble, and so was Lord Prescott, I'm sure that His Majesty would allow me to bring the Red Phoenix Knights with me."
Tilly was relieved to know that Captain Denver planned to bring his squad with him.
"I just have one favor, Duke and Duchess Nystrom," the captain said.
"What is it?" Tilly and Kiho asked at the same time.
"Please take care of my tower while I'm gone," Captain Denver said.
"Of course," she said right away. "Leave it to us."
"Captain Denver, just tell us if you need anything else," Kiho offered. "We will provide you with everything you'll need to make your travel comfortable."
Captain Denver smiled and nodded. "Thank you for the generosity, Duke Nystrom."
Kiho just nodded firmly.
"Captain Denver," Tilly said. When the captain turned to her, she gave him a sympathizing look. "My condolences."
The captain smiled sadly. "My condolences to you as well, Lady Nystrom."
"We will get justice for our fathers," Tilly promised him. "We will make the descendants of the Black Serpent pay for what they did."
***
WHEN NIA woke up, Aku was no longer beside her.
What a relief.
It wasn't the first time that she slept on the same bed as her brother. But every time that would happen, she would feel very exhausted. Smiling all night at the emperor wasn't easy.
And now, she had to pretend that she just woke up.
The past months had been hell for her.
She lost Lahara and Lady Alisa Hayward– two of her closest friends. And they both died trying to carry out their mission to protect her. But she couldn't even mourn them properly.
Then, she heard from High Priest Howard that Lord Eugene Huxley was captured and was thrown in jail after he attacked the tower of the "Fire Wielders." She felt bad for the count but at least, thanks to him, she discovered that the tower was full of Fire Mages.
Now House Denver had caught her attention.
"I need to make a move soon," Nia whispered to herself. "I have to steal Lady Nystrom's heart before Aku finds out why I need it."
***
"KIHO, I want to go back to Oakes," Tilly said while she was staring at Winter's sleeping face. Right now, she was sitting on the bed while watching her baby who was still in the ice incubator. When she didn't get a response from her husband, she turned to him and found him sitting on the windowsill while looking at her with warm eyes. The way he looked at her lovingly made her smile. "Why are you looking at me like that, hon?"
"I will never get enough of watching you and Winter together," Kiho said with a small smile. "You two are beautiful."
Aww, that melted her heart.
"Thank you, hon," she said with a smile. "You're beautiful, too."
He laughed softly, then he finally gave a comment to what she said a while ago. "I would also prefer it if we leave the Royal Capital now that Winter is here with us. But it wouldn't be easy and you know that. Now that you have given birth to our son, His Majesty would do everything to keep us here."
"I already figured out how we can move to Oakes."
Her husband looked surprised and amazed by what she said. "How?"
"You said that the assailants that you caught last night were from House Huxley and House Hayward, right?"
He nodded. "Yes. How can you use that to our advantage, Tilly?"
"Just trust me, Kiho," she said with a smile. "I can also use that to force His Majesty to finally let our family privatize the Black Serpent Knights."
For the past months, they filed a request for the Black Serpent Knights to be the private army of House Nystrom. His Majesty didn't approve nor rejected it. According to the palace's administration secretary, the emperor was "seriously considering it" for now.
But thanks to the attempted attack at their family last night, she thought of a way to force Emperor Aku to give them what she wanted.
"I want to bring the Black Serpent Knights with us to the Oakes," she continued. "And oh, I also promised Isabella before that I would make her my son's nanny. So I'm planning to fetch her later and bring her to the Oakes, too."
The only reason why she didn't bring Isabella (her old maid) with her when she moved into Kiho's mansion was because she asked the young maid to look after her father in her place. But now that Lord Prescott was gone, it was time for her to take Isabella in her new home.
I'll leave my father's mansion to our old head maid and head butler.
Of course, losing her father still hurt like hell. But unfortunately, she didn't have the luxury to grieve for a long time. After all, she believed that the best way to honor her father's death was to show him that he raised a strong and invincible daughter. She didn't want to make Lord Prescott worry about her.
Watch over me, Father.
"Tilly, you're scaring me."
Her thoughts were cut-off because of what Kiho said. When she looked at his face, she saw fear in his eyes.
"I'm scaring you?" she asked in disbelief. "How?"
"First of all, I want to let you know that I love how strong and independent you are," he said carefully. "But lately, I feel like you don't need me anymore, and that you can live without me." All of a sudden, his face turned red as if he just realized what he said, and that made him feel embarrassed. "I'm sorry if I sounded insecure, honey."
"I didn't sense insecurity from those words, hon," she assured him. Then, she stood up and walked towards him. As soon as she was standing in front of him, he opened his legs to accommodate her. Then, she wrapped her arms around his neck as his arms snaked around her waist. "I didn't mean to make you feel that way, Kiho. I just don't want to burden you so I do the things that I know that I can do on my own."
"You'll never be a burden to me, Tilly."
She smiled and kissed his nose. "I know that," she said. "Still, I want to help and support you as much as I can."
"Thank you, honey."
"I need you, Kiho," she said genuinely. "I need you as much as I need air to breathe." She kissed him on the lips this time. "I'll die without you, hon."
He blushed as if he was suddenly shy. But his eyes told her how happy he was at that moment. "You're rarely vocal about your feelings for me, Tilly. But whenever you are, you never fail to make my heart skip a beat. God, you make me go crazy."
She smiled at that. "Do you feel better now, Kiho?"
He nodded. "Thank you for reassuring me of my position in your life, honey," he said, almost a whisper. "I don't know why but sometimes, I feel like you'd slip away from me." He pulled her closer to him. "I'm scared of that happening."
"It won't happen, Kiho," Tilly assured him gently. "I'd never slip away from you."
Kiho smiled, then he buried his face between the valley of her breasts. "Tilly, you're like the sun," he whispered. "And I'm like a plant that can't live without sunlight."
***
"WELCOME BACK, Your Holiness," Aku greeted the saint when he saw him in front of the door that he knew His Holiness used as a portal.
He had been waiting there for almost half an hour now.
And he didn't wait in vain. He caught Saint Forrester appear from nowhere. It looked like the saint was in a hurry because he didn't notice him right away.
"Ah, I'm caught," Saint Forrester deadpanned. Despite what he said, the saint obviously didn't care about getting caught. Instead, he calmly faced him and bowed to him a little. "Greetings to the one and only moon of our Great Moonchester Empire."
He just smiled at the saint's "polite" greeting.
His Holiness is the only person who can greet me "politely" but still make me feel like he's insulting me.
As soon as he thought of that, an image of Lady Nystrom's knowing smirk entered his mind.
Ah, I stand corrected, he said to himself. The saint isn't the only person who can make me feel that way.
Anyway…
"The child of the prophecy was born earlier than expected," Aku said, still smiling. The saint wasn't in the temple last night. He wasn't a fool to not know where he went to. "Is he healthy?"
Saint Forrester definitely knew that there was no point in lying to him, so he answered him truthfully. "I can't say that the child is healthy. His life isn't in danger though," he said. "But he still needs to be incubated."
"Once he's out of the incubator, I want you to schedule the child's Purification."
The 'Purification' was a rite of passage that every born child in the empire needed to undergo to be fully accepted as a member of the society, and a citizen of the Moonchester Empire.
"With all due respect, you're not the father of the child, Your Majesty," Saint Forrester reminded him with an overly sweet– and obviously fake– smile. "Only Duke and Duchess Nystrom can decide for the date of the child's Purification."
"The child of the prophecy belongs to the empire," Aku said with his own "sweet" smile. "And doesn't the empire belong to me?"
***
KIHO suddenly felt like his body was being burned by a very hot flame, causing him to gently push Tilly away from him. He was worried that her body temperature might be rising uncontrollably again. But when he looked up at her face, she looked calm.
"Are you alright, Kiho?" Tilly asked worriedly. "You look like you're in pain."
He was about to tell her that he felt literally hot all of a sudden. But then, his gaze went past her when he noticed something strange happening behind his wife.
The ice incubator that he made for Winter was melting now!
Kiho's eyes widened in shock. "Tilly, I think our Winter is melting the ice incubator," he informed her, then he looked up at her face again to watch her eyes go round. Of course, he understood his wife's (cute) reaction. "It seems like our little rascal can already use the Mana that he inherited from you, honey."
And their little rascal wanted to come out now, huh?
***
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***
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THE SUN was almost up when Kiho finished "interrogating" the people who tried to attack the mansion last night. When he was done, the basement where he imprisoned the assailants was painted with blood. He hated that he had to come back to this kind of job. But he would do anything to protect his family.
I've said this before and I'll say it again: I'm willing to become a bad guy for Tilly. And now, for Winter, too.
"I'll take care of the rest, Your Grace," Captain Denver told him. "Please take a rest. You must be exhausted."
"I'm fine, Captain Denver. Thank you for worrying about me," he said while wiping off the blood in his hand using a white handkerchief. Then, he tapped the captain's shoulder. "I'll leave the rest to you, Captain Denver. I'll ask Miss Luna to assist you."
"That would be helpful, Your Grace."
"After I check on Tilly and Winter, I'll come back so the two of you could rest."
The captain just nodded, then he turned serious. "Your Grace, may I know if something happened to make Lady Nystrom that angry last night? Miss Luna didn't let me enter the room while she was giving birth to the duchess. But I could hear Lady Nystrom's loud cry back then."
His jaw clenched, and so did his fists when he remembered the tragedy that fell upon their family. "Tilly received a call from our Father. Lord Prescott is gone now. He was killed by an unknown man…" He trailed-off when he remembered something. Then, his eyes widened in shock while looking at Captain Denver. "Lord Denver was with Father…"
Pain crossed the captain's amber eyes. "That's right," he confirmed. "Father passed down his emblem to me last night. That only means that he's gone now. After all, an emblem couldn't be passed down to an heir if his predecessor is still alive."
His heart went out to the captain. Tilly would be devastated to hear this…
"If Lord Prescott was killed, then that means my father suffered the same fate," Captain Denver said in an understandably angry voice. "Duke Nystrom, did you get a clue as to who did to them from the conversation that Lady Nystrom had with Lord Prescott?"
He nodded. "We did. But can we talk about it once all of us have rested enough? I know that it's hard to do that at this moment. Still, I believe that we all need to rest first."
"I understand, Your Grace," the captain said. "Just like you, I had been into several wars, too. From there, I learned how important rest is. A knight should always take a break first before he fights a new battle. After all, a broken mind and an exhausted body will only get him killed."
"Thank you for understanding," Kiho said, then he held the captain's shoulders tight. "Captain Denver, please remember that the Nystroms are always here for the Denvers. We'll get through this together."
Captain Denver nodded, and when he spoke again, his voice cracked. "Thank you, Duke Nystrom."
WHEN Kiho arrived at the lobby of the mansion, he was surprised to see Tilly waiting for her.
And it wasn't just her.
The ice incubator of Winter was floating beside his wife.
He also noticed Miss Luna standing behind her, and so were the servants of the mansion who greeted him politely.
"Welcome back, hon," Tilly greeted him with a smile, then she handed him a warm towel. "Good job."
Kiho smiled and kissed his wife on the forehead as he thanked her. Then, he gently touched the ice incubator of his son. When he saw that Winter was asleep again, he turned to Tilly. "Honey, I'm grateful for the warm welcome. But shouldn't you rest for now? You just gave birth a few hours ago."
"Thank you for worrying about me, hon," Tilly said with a smile. "But I'm fine. I can still fulfill my duties as your wife and the lady of the manor."
He had always known that his wife was strong and amazing.
But to be able to stand so gracefully like she did now after just a few hours since she gave birth to their son? Damn, that was incredible.
Tilly wasn't just standing there. She was dressed and poised properly like a duchess that she was. He could tell from his wife's eyes that she was just enduring the pain and the exhaustion. But he knew why she was doing that when she could have just rested.
She's boosting the morale of our people.
Duchess Tilly Prescott Nystrom was a dignified lady through and through.
Father, do you see Tilly now? You raised a very remarkable daughter. She shines like a sun, always has and always will.
Kiho gently pulled Tilly for a hug. Then, he buried his face against her neck. Her warmth and her sweet scent were enough for him to revitalize. When he felt better, he looked up to stare at his wife's beautiful face. "My heart is forever yours, Tilly."
Miss Luna groaned as a light complaint.
The witch was the only person in the mansion who could openly express her protest whenever he and Tilly would do a public display of affection.
"What's gotten into you?" Tilly asked, her cheeks red with embarrassment. But her smile told him that she was happy with his sweet nothings. Still, she lightly hit his arm. "Stop it, hon. Spare our people from your cheesiness."
His wife's light teasing made their servants laugh "discreetly."
Ah, she succeeded in uplifting everyone's spirits.
At that moment, Kiho thought to himself: Tilly is my sunshine.
He just didn't know why he couldn't say it aloud.
***
TILLY'S heart was broken when she learned that Captain Denver's father– Lord Morgan Denver– also died the night his father passed away.
Lord Denver was definitely killed by the same person who killed my father.
She wanted to scream in anger but for some reason, she still felt calm. Her body temperature didn't even change. Usually, whenever she was angry, her body would start to burn.
It didn't happen this time.
But it's good that I'm calm.
Anyway, right now, she was in the tea room with Kiho and Captain Denver. They went there to have tea after breakfast. On the other hand, Luna volunteered to look after Winter with the head maid who wanted to serve the young lord. So currently, if she wasn't mistaken, the witch was in the master's bedroom with Louisa.
Saint Forrester already left before the sun rose up.
"I'll go to the North to retrieve the bodies of Lord Denver and Lord Prescott," Captain Denver declared, causing everyone in the room to turn to him. The captain continued talking, his eyes focused on her. "Lady Nystrom, according to Lord Prescott, you shouldn't go to the North whatever happens," he said, then he turned to Kiho. "Duke Nystrom, I know you wanted to retrieve Lord Prescott's body yourself. But I don't think it's wise to leave Lady Nystrom and your new born son by themselves. And I'm sure you don't want to do that." The captain gave everyone a passing look. "That's why I'll do it. I'll retrieve their bodies and while I'm at it, I will investigate their death. Since my father was a higher noble, and so was Lord Prescott, I'm sure that His Majesty would allow me to bring the Red Phoenix Knights with me."
Tilly was relieved to know that Captain Denver planned to bring his squad with him.
"I just have one favor, Duke and Duchess Nystrom," the captain said.
"What is it?" Tilly and Kiho asked at the same time.
"Please take care of my tower while I'm gone," Captain Denver said.
"Of course," she said right away. "Leave it to us."
"Captain Denver, just tell us if you need anything else," Kiho offered. "We will provide you with everything you'll need to make your travel comfortable."
Captain Denver smiled and nodded. "Thank you for the generosity, Duke Nystrom."
Kiho just nodded firmly.
"Captain Denver," Tilly said. When the captain turned to her, she gave him a sympathizing look. "My condolences."
The captain smiled sadly. "My condolences to you as well, Lady Nystrom."
"We will get justice for our fathers," Tilly promised him. "We will make the descendants of the Black Serpent pay for what they did."
***
WHEN NIA woke up, Aku was no longer beside her.
What a relief.
It wasn't the first time that she slept on the same bed as her brother. But every time that would happen, she would feel very exhausted. Smiling all night at the emperor wasn't easy.
And now, she had to pretend that she just woke up.
The past months had been hell for her.
She lost Lahara and Lady Alisa Hayward– two of her closest friends. And they both died trying to carry out their mission to protect her. But she couldn't even mourn them properly.
Then, she heard from High Priest Howard that Lord Eugene Huxley was captured and was thrown in jail after he attacked the tower of the "Fire Wielders." She felt bad for the count but at least, thanks to him, she discovered that the tower was full of Fire Mages.
Now House Denver had caught her attention.
"I need to make a move soon," Nia whispered to herself. "I have to steal Lady Nystrom's heart before Aku finds out why I need it."
***
"KIHO, I want to go back to Oakes," Tilly said while she was staring at Winter's sleeping face. Right now, she was sitting on the bed while watching her baby who was still in the ice incubator. When she didn't get a response from her husband, she turned to him and found him sitting on the windowsill while looking at her with warm eyes. The way he looked at her lovingly made her smile. "Why are you looking at me like that, hon?"
"I will never get enough of watching you and Winter together," Kiho said with a small smile. "You two are beautiful."
Aww, that melted her heart.
"Thank you, hon," she said with a smile. "You're beautiful, too."
He laughed softly, then he finally gave a comment to what she said a while ago. "I would also prefer it if we leave the Royal Capital now that Winter is here with us. But it wouldn't be easy and you know that. Now that you have given birth to our son, His Majesty would do everything to keep us here."
"I already figured out how we can move to Oakes."
Her husband looked surprised and amazed by what she said. "How?"
"You said that the assailants that you caught last night were from House Huxley and House Hayward, right?"
He nodded. "Yes. How can you use that to our advantage, Tilly?"
"Just trust me, Kiho," she said with a smile. "I can also use that to force His Majesty to finally let our family privatize the Black Serpent Knights."
For the past months, they filed a request for the Black Serpent Knights to be the private army of House Nystrom. His Majesty didn't approve nor rejected it. According to the palace's administration secretary, the emperor was "seriously considering it" for now.
But thanks to the attempted attack at their family last night, she thought of a way to force Emperor Aku to give them what she wanted.
"I want to bring the Black Serpent Knights with us to the Oakes," she continued. "And oh, I also promised Isabella before that I would make her my son's nanny. So I'm planning to fetch her later and bring her to the Oakes, too."
The only reason why she didn't bring Isabella (her old maid) with her when she moved into Kiho's mansion was because she asked the young maid to look after her father in her place. But now that Lord Prescott was gone, it was time for her to take Isabella in her new home.
I'll leave my father's mansion to our old head maid and head butler.
Of course, losing her father still hurt like hell. But unfortunately, she didn't have the luxury to grieve for a long time. After all, she believed that the best way to honor her father's death was to show him that he raised a strong and invincible daughter. She didn't want to make Lord Prescott worry about her.
Watch over me, Father.
"Tilly, you're scaring me."
Her thoughts were cut-off because of what Kiho said. When she looked at his face, she saw fear in his eyes.
"I'm scaring you?" she asked in disbelief. "How?"
"First of all, I want to let you know that I love how strong and independent you are," he said carefully. "But lately, I feel like you don't need me anymore, and that you can live without me." All of a sudden, his face turned red as if he just realized what he said, and that made him feel embarrassed. "I'm sorry if I sounded insecure, honey."
"I didn't sense insecurity from those words, hon," she assured him. Then, she stood up and walked towards him. As soon as she was standing in front of him, he opened his legs to accommodate her. Then, she wrapped her arms around his neck as his arms snaked around her waist. "I didn't mean to make you feel that way, Kiho. I just don't want to burden you so I do the things that I know that I can do on my own."
"You'll never be a burden to me, Tilly."
She smiled and kissed his nose. "I know that," she said. "Still, I want to help and support you as much as I can."
"Thank you, honey."
"I need you, Kiho," she said genuinely. "I need you as much as I need air to breathe." She kissed him on the lips this time. "I'll die without you, hon."
He blushed as if he was suddenly shy. But his eyes told her how happy he was at that moment. "You're rarely vocal about your feelings for me, Tilly. But whenever you are, you never fail to make my heart skip a beat. God, you make me go crazy."
She smiled at that. "Do you feel better now, Kiho?"
He nodded. "Thank you for reassuring me of my position in your life, honey," he said, almost a whisper. "I don't know why but sometimes, I feel like you'd slip away from me." He pulled her closer to him. "I'm scared of that happening."
"It won't happen, Kiho," Tilly assured him gently. "I'd never slip away from you."
Kiho smiled, then he buried his face between the valley of her breasts. "Tilly, you're like the sun," he whispered. "And I'm like a plant that can't live without sunlight."
***
"WELCOME BACK, Your Holiness," Aku greeted the saint when he saw him in front of the door that he knew His Holiness used as a portal.
He had been waiting there for almost half an hour now.
And he didn't wait in vain. He caught Saint Forrester appear from nowhere. It looked like the saint was in a hurry because he didn't notice him right away.
"Ah, I'm caught," Saint Forrester deadpanned. Despite what he said, the saint obviously didn't care about getting caught. Instead, he calmly faced him and bowed to him a little. "Greetings to the one and only moon of our Great Moonchester Empire."
He just smiled at the saint's "polite" greeting.
His Holiness is the only person who can greet me "politely" but still make me feel like he's insulting me.
As soon as he thought of that, an image of Lady Nystrom's knowing smirk entered his mind.
Ah, I stand corrected, he said to himself. The saint isn't the only person who can make me feel that way.
Anyway…
"The child of the prophecy was born earlier than expected," Aku said, still smiling. The saint wasn't in the temple last night. He wasn't a fool to not know where he went to. "Is he healthy?"
Saint Forrester definitely knew that there was no point in lying to him, so he answered him truthfully. "I can't say that the child is healthy. His life isn't in danger though," he said. "But he still needs to be incubated."
"Once he's out of the incubator, I want you to schedule the child's Purification."
The 'Purification' was a rite of passage that every born child in the empire needed to undergo to be fully accepted as a member of the society, and a citizen of the Moonchester Empire.
"With all due respect, you're not the father of the child, Your Majesty," Saint Forrester reminded him with an overly sweet– and obviously fake– smile. "Only Duke and Duchess Nystrom can decide for the date of the child's Purification."
"The child of the prophecy belongs to the empire," Aku said with his own "sweet" smile. "And doesn't the empire belong to me?"
***
KIHO suddenly felt like his body was being burned by a very hot flame, causing him to gently push Tilly away from him. He was worried that her body temperature might be rising uncontrollably again. But when he looked up at her face, she looked calm.
"Are you alright, Kiho?" Tilly asked worriedly. "You look like you're in pain."
He was about to tell her that he felt literally hot all of a sudden. But then, his gaze went past her when he noticed something strange happening behind his wife.
The ice incubator that he made for Winter was melting now!
Kiho's eyes widened in shock. "Tilly, I think our Winter is melting the ice incubator," he informed her, then he looked up at her face again to watch her eyes go round. Of course, he understood his wife's (cute) reaction. "It seems like our little rascal can already use the Mana that he inherited from you, honey."
And their little rascal wanted to come out now, huh?
***
PS: You may send gifts if you can. Thank you~
***
[NOTE: Please ADD my story in your LIBRARY so you can be notified when I post an update. Thank you! :\u003e]
THE SUN was almost up when Kiho finished "interrogating" the people who tried to attack the mansion last night. When he was done, the basement where he imprisoned the assailants was painted with blood. He hated that he had to come back to this kind of job. But he would do anything to protect his family.I've said this before and I'll say it again: I'm willing to become a bad guy for Tilly. And now, for Winter, too."I'll take care of the rest, Your Grace," Captain Denver told him. "Please take a rest. You must be exhausted.""I'm fine, Captain Denver. Thank you for worrying about me," he said while wiping off the blood in his hand using a white handkerchief. Then, he tapped the captain's shoulder. "I'll leave the rest to you, Captain Denver. I'll ask Miss Luna to assist you.""That would be helpful, Your Grace.""After I check on Tilly and Winter, I'll come back so the two of you could rest."The captain just nodded, then he turned serious. "Your Grace, may I know if something happened to make Lady Nystrom that angry last night? Miss Luna didn't let me enter the room while she was giving birth to the duchess. But I could hear Lady Nystrom's loud cry back then."His jaw clenched, and so did his fists when he remembered the tragedy that fell upon their family. "Tilly received a call from our Father. Lord Prescott is gone now. He was killed by an unknown man" He trailed-off when he remembered something. Then, his eyes widened in shock while looking at Captain Denver. "Lord Denver was with Father"Pain crossed the captain's amber eyes. "That's right," he confirmed. "Father passed down his emblem to me last night. That only means that he's gone now. After all, an emblem couldn't be passed down to an heir if his predecessor is still alive."His heart went out to the captain. Tilly would be devastated to hear this"If Lord Prescott was killed, then that means my father suffered the same fate," Captain Denver said in an understandably angry voice. "Duke Nystrom, did you get a clue as to who did to them from the conversation that Lady Nystrom had with Lord Prescott?"He nodded. "We did. But can we talk about it once all of us have rested enough? I know that it's hard to do that at this moment. Still, I believe that we all need to rest first.""I understand, Your Grace," the captain said. "Just like you, I had been into several wars, too. From there, I learned how important rest is. A knight should always take a break first before he fights a new battle. After all, a broken mind and an exhausted body will only get him killed.""Thank you for understanding," Kiho said, then he held the captain's shoulders tight. "Captain Denver, please remember that the Nystroms are always here for the Denvers. We'll get through this together."Captain Denver nodded, and when he spoke again, his voice cracked. "Thank you, Duke Nystrom."WHEN Kiho arrived at the lobby of the mansion, he was surprised to see Tilly waiting for her.And it wasn't just her.The ice incubator of Winter was floating beside his wife.He also noticed Miss Luna standing behind her, and so were the servants of the mansion who greeted him politely."Welcome back, hon," Tilly greeted him with a smile, then she handed him a warm towel. "Good job."Kiho smiled and kissed his wife on the forehead as he thanked her. Then, he gently touched the ice incubator of his son. When he saw that Winter was asleep again, he turned to Tilly. "Honey, I'm grateful for the warm welcome. But shouldn't you rest for now? You just gave birth a few hours ago.""Thank you for worrying about me, hon," Tilly said with a smile. "But I'm fine. I can still fulfill my duties as your wife and the lady of the manor."He had always known that his wife was strong and amazing.But to be able to stand so gracefully like she did now after just a few hours since she gave birth to their son? Damn, that was incredible.Tilly wasn't just standing there. She was dressed and poised properly like a duchess that she was. He could tell from his wife's eyes that she was just enduring the pain and the exhaustion. But he knew why she was doing that when she could have just rested.She's boosting the morale of our people.Duchess Tilly Prescott Nystrom was a dignified lady through and through.Father, do you see Tilly now? You raised a very remarkable daughter. She shines like a sun, always has and always will.Kiho gently pulled Tilly for a hug. Then, he buried his face against her neck. Her warmth and her sweet scent were enough for him to revitalize. When he felt better, he looked up to stare at his wife's beautiful face. "My heart is forever yours, Tilly."Miss Luna groaned as a light complaint.The witch was the only person in the mansion who could openly express her protest whenever he and Tilly would do a public display of affection."What's gotten into you?" Tilly asked, her cheeks red with embarrassment. But her smile told him that she was happy with his sweet nothings. Still, she lightly hit his arm. "Stop it, hon. Spare our people from your cheesiness."His wife's light teasing made their servants laugh "discreetly."Ah, she succeeded in uplifting everyone's spirits.At that moment, Kiho thought to himself: Tilly is my sunshine.He just didn't know why he couldn't say it aloud.***TILLY'S heart was broken when she learned that Captain Denver's father Lord Morgan Denver also died the night his father passed away.Lord Denver was definitely killed by the same person who killed my father.She wanted to scream in anger but for some reason, she still felt calm. Her body temperature didn't even change. Usually, whenever she was angry, her body would start to burn.It didn't happen this time.But it's good that I'm calm.Anyway, right now, she was in the tea room with Kiho and Captain Denver. They went there to have tea after breakfast. On the other hand, Luna volunteered to look after Winter with the head maid who wanted to serve the young lord. So currently, if she wasn't mistaken, the witch was in the master's bedroom with Louisa.Saint Forrester already left before the sun rose up."I'll go to the North to retrieve the bodies of Lord Denver and Lord Prescott," Captain Denver declared, causing everyone in the room to turn to him. The captain continued talking, his eyes focused on her. "Lady Nystrom, according to Lord Prescott, you shouldn't go to the North whatever happens," he said, then he turned to Kiho. "Duke Nystrom, I know you wanted to retrieve Lord Prescott's body yourself. But I don't think it's wise to leave Lady Nystrom and your new born son by themselves. And I'm sure you don't want to do that." The captain gave everyone a passing look. "That's why I'll do it. I'll retrieve their bodies and while I'm at it, I will investigate their death. Since my father was a higher noble, and so was Lord Prescott, I'm sure that His Majesty would allow me to bring the Red Phoenix Knights with me."Tilly was relieved to know that Captain Denver planned to bring his squad with him."I just have one favor, Duke and Duchess Nystrom," the captain said."What is it?" Tilly and Kiho asked at the same time."Please take care of my tower while I'm gone," Captain Denver said."Of course," she said right away. "Leave it to us.""Captain Denver, just tell us if you need anything else," Kiho offered. "We will provide you with everything you'll need to make your travel comfortable."Captain Denver smiled and nodded. "Thank you for the generosity, Duke Nystrom."Kiho just nodded firmly."Captain Denver," Tilly said. When the captain turned to her, she gave him a sympathizing look. "My condolences."The captain smiled sadly. "My condolences to you as well, Lady Nystrom.""We will get justice for our fathers," Tilly promised him. "We will make the descendants of the Black Serpent pay for what they did."***WHEN NIA woke up, Aku was no longer beside her.What a relief.It wasn't the first time that she slept on the same bed as her brother. But every time that would happen, she would feel very exhausted. Smiling all night at the emperor wasn't easy.And now, she had to pretend that she just woke up.The past months had been hell for her.She lost Lahara and Lady Alisa Hayward two of her closest friends. And they both died trying to carry out their mission to protect her. But she couldn't even mourn them properly.Then, she heard from High Priest Howard that Lord Eugene Huxley was captured and was thrown in jail after he attacked the tower of the "Fire Wielders." She felt bad for the count but at least, thanks to him, she discovered that the tower was full of Fire Mages.Now House Denver had caught her attention."I need to make a move soon," Nia whispered to herself. "I have to steal Lady Nystrom's heart before Aku finds out why I need it."***"KIHO, I want to go back to Oakes," Tilly said while she was staring at Winter's sleeping face. Right now, she was sitting on the bed while watching her baby who was still in the ice incubator. When she didn't get a response from her husband, she turned to him and found him sitting on the windowsill while looking at her with warm eyes. The way he looked at her lovingly made her smile. "Why are you looking at me like that, hon?""I will never get enough of watching you and Winter together," Kiho said with a small smile. "You two are beautiful."Aww, that melted her heart."Thank you, hon," she said with a smile. "You're beautiful, too."He laughed softly, then he finally gave a comment to what she said a while ago. "I would also prefer it if we leave the Royal Capital now that Winter is here with us. But it wouldn't be easy and you know that. Now that you have given birth to our son, His Majesty would do everything to keep us here.""I already figured out how we can move to Oakes."Her husband looked surprised and amazed by what she said. "How?""You said that the assailants that you caught last night were from House Huxley and House Hayward, right?"He nodded. "Yes. How can you use that to our advantage, Tilly?""Just trust me, Kiho," she said with a smile. "I can also use that to force His Majesty to finally let our family privatize the Black Serpent Knights."For the past months, they filed a request for the Black Serpent Knights to be the private army of House Nystrom. His Majesty didn't approve nor rejected it. According to the palace's administration secretary, the emperor was "seriously considering it" for now.But thanks to the attempted attack at their family last night, she thought of a way to force Emperor Aku to give them what she wanted."I want to bring the Black Serpent Knights with us to the Oakes," she continued. "And oh, I also promised Isabella before that I would make her my son's nanny. So I'm planning to fetch her later and bring her to the Oakes, too."The only reason why she didn't bring Isabella her old maid with her when she moved into Kiho's mansion was because she asked the young maid to look after her father in her place. But now that Lord Prescott was gone, it was time for her to take Isabella in her new home.I'll leave my father's mansion to our old head maid and head butler.Of course, losing her father still hurt like hell. But unfortunately, she didn't have the luxury to grieve for a long time. After all, she believed that the best way to honor her father's death was to show him that he raised a strong and invincible daughter. She didn't want to make Lord Prescott worry about her.Watch over me, Father."Tilly, you're scaring me."Her thoughts were cut-off because of what Kiho said. When she looked at his face, she saw fear in his eyes."I'm scaring you?" she asked in disbelief. "How?""First of all, I want to let you know that I love how strong and independent you are," he said carefully. "But lately, I feel like you don't need me anymore, and that you can live without me." All of a sudden, his face turned red as if he just realized what he said, and that made him feel embarrassed. "I'm sorry if I sounded insecure, honey.""I didn't sense insecurity from those words, hon," she assured him. Then, she stood up and walked towards him. As soon as she was standing in front of him, he opened his legs to accommodate her. Then, she wrapped her arms around his neck as his arms snaked around her waist. "I didn't mean to make you feel that way, Kiho. I just don't want to burden you so I do the things that I know that I can do on my own.""You'll never be a burden to me, Tilly."She smiled and kissed his nose. "I know that," she said. "Still, I want to help and support you as much as I can.""Thank you, honey.""I need you, Kiho," she said genuinely. "I need you as much as I need air to breathe." She kissed him on the lips this time. "I'll die without you, hon."He blushed as if he was suddenly shy. But his eyes told her how happy he was at that moment. "You're rarely vocal about your feelings for me, Tilly. But whenever you are, you never fail to make my heart skip a beat. God, you make me go crazy."She smiled at that. "Do you feel better now, Kiho?"He nodded. "Thank you for reassuring me of my position in your life, honey," he said, almost a whisper. "I don't know why but sometimes, I feel like you'd slip away from me." He pulled her closer to him. "I'm scared of that happening.""It won't happen, Kiho," Tilly assured him gently. "I'd never slip away from you."Kiho smiled, then he buried his face between the valley of her breasts. "Tilly, you're like the sun," he whispered. "And I'm like a plant that can't live without sunlight."***"WELCOME BACK, Your Holiness," Aku greeted the saint when he saw him in front of the door that he knew His Holiness used as a portal.He had been waiting there for almost half an hour now.And he didn't wait in vain. He caught Saint Forrester appear from nowhere. It looked like the saint was in a hurry because he didn't notice him right away."Ah, I'm caught," Saint Forrester deadpanned. Despite what he said, the saint obviously didn't care about getting caught. Instead, he calmly faced him and bowed to him a little. "Greetings to the one and only moon of our Great Moonchester Empire."He just smiled at the saint's "polite" greeting.His Holiness is the only person who can greet me "politely" but still make me feel like he's insulting me.As soon as he thought of that, an image of Lady Nystrom's knowing smirk entered his mind.Ah, I stand corrected, he said to himself. The saint isn't the only person who can make me feel that way.Anyway"The child of the prophecy was born earlier than expected," Aku said, still smiling. The saint wasn't in the temple last night. He wasn't a fool to not know where he went to. "Is he healthy?"Saint Forrester definitely knew that there was no point in lying to him, so he answered him truthfully. "I can't say that the child is healthy. His life isn't in danger though," he said. "But he still needs to be incubated.""Once he's out of the incubator, I want you to schedule the child's Purification."The 'Purification' was a rite of passage that every born child in the empire needed to undergo to be fully accepted as a member of the society, and a citizen of the Moonchester Empire."With all due respect, you're not the father of the child, Your Majesty," Saint Forrester reminded him with an overly sweet and obviously fake smile. "Only Duke and Duchess Nystrom can decide for the date of the child's Purification.""The child of the prophecy belongs to the empire," Aku said with his own "sweet" smile. "And doesn't the empire belong to me?"***KIHO suddenly felt like his body was being burned by a very hot flame, causing him to gently push Tilly away from him. He was worried that her body temperature might be rising uncontrollably again. But when he looked up at her face, she looked calm."Are you alright, Kiho?" Tilly asked worriedly. "You look like you're in pain."He was about to tell her that he felt literally hot all of a sudden. But then, his gaze went past her when he noticed something strange happening behind his wife.The ice incubator that he made for Winter was melting now!Kiho's eyes widened in shock. "Tilly, I think our Winter is melting the ice incubator," he informed her, then he looked up at her face again to watch her eyes go round. Of course, he understood his wife's cute reaction. "It seems like our little rascal can already use the Mana that he inherited from you, honey."And their little rascal wanted to come out now, huh?***PS: You may send gifts if you can. Thank you~***NOTE: Please ADD my story in your LIBRARY so you can be notified when I post an update. Thank you! :\u003e
