BEING aware that she was being mind controlled, Tilly didn't resist anymore.

[Captain Denver said that the trick to fight mind control is to be aware of the surroundings and pretend that you succumb to the controller.]

So she quietly followed Lahara to the tea room where Princess Nia was waiting for her. When the mage-knight pulled a chair for her, she obediently sat down across Her Royal Highness. Her movements were minimal because she was afraid to get busted so she didn't have the luxury to look around her. But she could tell that the room was luxurious, something that would fit the empire's only princess and future empress.

Anyway, after she was settled in her seat, Lahara stood behind her instead of Princess Nia. Her nape suddenly felt cold. She felt like death itself was breathing against the back of her neck.

[It's a warning. Lahara stood behind me so she could easily kill me if she needs to.]

As a person with a warm body, she broke into a cold sweat.

She could easily act like she was being controlled but hiding her fear was a different matter. If it was only her life in danger, she wouldn't be this scared. But knowing that Winter was already growing inside her womb, she feared for her son's life more than anything else.

[Don't worry, baby. Mommy will protect you at all cost.]

"Would you like some tea, Lady Prescott?" Princess Nia asked in a sweet voice while holding a teapot so gracefully.

Tilly slowly nodded her head, acting as stoic as she could. "It would be an honor to be served by you, Your Royal Highness."

The princess just smiled at her, then poured her some tea like she said.

[How can be a beautiful woman like her be so rotten inside?]

"Lady Prescott, let me ask you one thing," Princess Nia said, then sipped her tea elegantly before she continued. "Do you think Captain Kiho would win the Hunt? Tell me honestly."

"Yes, Your Royal Highness," she answered truthfully. It looked like the princess was waiting for an explanation so she gave her one. "Kiho prepared a lot for the Hunt. He went to training under my father's supervision for a week."

"Duke Prescott was a war hero," Her Royal Highness said in amusement. "When I was a little girl, I would often welcome His Grace to the palace along with the previous emperor and their entire troop. Come to think of it, your father and my father had a long history together."

"I honestly don't know much about my father being a war hero, Your Royal Highness," she confessed. "I heard stories of it from our servants. But my father doesn't want to talk about it with me."

"Understandable," the princess said. "Men believe that women shouldn't be involved in wars so they wouldn't even talk about it in our presence. After all, the gentlemen of our empire only want the ladies to smile and stay pretty." She smiled bitterly. "Fools."

"That's true," she agreed with Her Royal Highness. "But a younger generation of men doesn't have that kind of mindset anymore. Especially the ones we call "new money folks.""

The "conservative" men from the old families still strongly thought that women were nothing more than a trophy wife.

To be honest, Tilly wasn't sure if her father was one of them. Sometimes she would feel like the duke was looking down on her because she was a woman. But other times, she couldn't help but wonder if her father was doing that on purpose so she wouldn't think about leaving the mansion. He had been overprotective of her ever since she was a child.

"Is Captain Kiho included in the generation that you're talking about, Lady Prescott?" Princess Nia asked.

"Yes, Your Royal Highness," Tilly answered. "Captain Kiho is very open-minded and thoughtful. He gives me the utmost respect and he treats me as an equal."

Well, Kiho could be overprotective most of the time. But it wasn't suffocating and he knew his boundary so she didn't make a big deal out of it.

"How lovely," Her Royal Highness said in the dullest voice she had heard from her yet. "Based on your confidence in Captain Kiho, then I must say that he might win the whole Hunt."

She didn't respond to that because she suddenly felt nervous.

"I'll be honest with you, Lady Prescott," the princess said. "I'd be dead if Captain Kiho wins the Hunt. So why don't you go and make your husband lose?"

Her forehead knotted in confusion.

And she felt threatened when Lahara put her hands on her shoulders. Suddenly, Tilly couldn't move. The mage-knight was definitely using her power to freeze her in her seat!

[This is against the law! No one is allowed to use a spell or wield a weapon in the presence of the royal family!]

That was the reason why Damian and the other knights were told to wait outside for their masters. After all, wherever the emperor was would be a safe place because of the barrier that would be automatically put to ensure His Majesty's safety. That said barrier was now around Castle Vania. Thus, there was no need for personal guards in his presence.

If Lahara was using her Mana, then that could only mean that the room had a spell that could hide the use of power in there.

"Lady Prescott, you feel sick so you're going to leave the castle and go home in your carriage," Princess Nia ordered her while her red eyes were glowing dangerously. Tilly could feel the weight of her every word being carved in her mind and body. No doubt that the princess was using her mind control on her. "Once you step out of this room, you'll forget about everything that we talked about. You won't even remember that I summoned you. If you understand, then get out of here now."

"As you wish, Your Royal Highness," Tilly said before she bowed and stood up to leave the room. [Now how should I protect myself from an overpowered princess?!]

***

KIHO threw the lifeless and bloody body of the last high-level Crades in the area on top of the other bodies that he had just slain. It created a mountain of corpses that would definitely scare the remaining weak-leveled Crades around. With that, he was sure that they wouldn't leave their hiding place to attack the hunters that would later come that way.

Once the wildest and the most dangerous flesh-eating monsters were killed, the weaker ones wouldn't dare to come out anymore. That was why the emperor ordered the captains of the Four Orders to slay the precarious Crades first before they joined the Hunt for the ancient beast.

[My job here is done.]

As if on cue, he heard a melodious cry from above that gave him goosebumps.

When he looked up at the sky, his eyes widened in awe.

[The Red Phoenix is beautiful…]

The legendary bird was ten times bigger than an average eagle, with brilliant scarlet and hold plumage. And yes, it was indeed engulfed in flame that looked hotter than normal flame.

Duke Prescott taught him the method to temporary seal the Red Phoenix to capture it. He was also aware that the Red Phoenix was a flaming bird. But still, he didn't expect it to be that intimidating. Now he knew why it was called the "sky beast."

Kiho swallowed hard.

[Why do I feel like I'm going to be burned into ashes once I touch the Red Phoenix?]

***

TILLY somehow felt that she'd get ambushed on her way home so she asked the coachman to bring her to the hunting grounds instead. As far as she knew, the Golden Tiger Knights were assigned at the border of Forest of Enryu to make sure that non-participants wouldn't enter.

The coachman tried to convince her to change her mind but she was adamant. She was a duke's daughter so the knights wouldn't hurt or capture her. At most, she would just be escorted back to the castle.

[And that's my goal. I need to be surrounded by knights for my protection.]

She was trying to contact Kiho as soon as she got in the carriage but she couldn't reach him. It was probably due to the barrier around the Forest of Enryu. The protection was put around the forest so the Crades wouldn't go past the border and attack civilians.

When contacting Kiho failed, she tried to call her father. But for some reason, she also couldn't reach the duke. Her father didn't attend the Hunt because of a business trip. But even if he was in another town, it should have been easy to contact him.

[Is my communication device bugged?]

Her thoughts were cut-off when the carriage suddenly crashed into something.

She thought she was going to fly out of the coach. But out of the blue, an arm wrapped around her waist. The next thing she knew, she was already out in the open. To be precise, she was inside the forest without anyone else in sight…

… and she was definitely not safe.

Tilly gasped when she realized that the "man" holding her was literally a shadow. But it had a physical body that seemed to be stronger than average humans. The thing that bothered her most was its familiar silhouette. She felt like she knew to whom that shadow belonged to.

Sadly, she didn't have the time to figure out whom it reminded her.

And that was because the shadow suddenly stabbed her in the heart with a dagger.

Instead of pain, she felt numbness. Her body suddenly felt so heavy and the next thing she knew, she was lying on the ground while facing the bright sky. Thankfully, the sun was being covered by thick clouds so it didn't hurt her eyes as much as she expected. It still felt uncomfortable but she had to endure because she couldn't move an inch.

[This is paralysis.]

She didn't know why but she was suddenly super aware of her own body. Heck, she could even tell that her heart just stopped beating.

[Wait… I'm going to die at this rate!]

And suddenly, she heard another heartbeat. It was weaker than hers, and it seemed like the sound belonged to a smaller heart.

[Smaller heart…?]

It must be Winter's heart!

Based on her calculations, she must be approaching four weeks of pregnancy right now. She was sure that the heart of the fetus shouldn't have been fully-developed at that stage yet. But nobles like her were different from average humans.

It wouldn't be a surprise if their babies developed faster than normal.

[If I die here, Winter will die as well!]

Tilly's original plan was to avoid the royal family's drama and live a peaceful life with Kiho and Winter. She wanted to be the richest noblewoman in the empire so she'd gain the freedom to remove their family from politics. Heck, she was even willing to give up her nobility.

She thought that Princess Nia would stop bothering her when her plan to use her to expose the royal secret failed. To be honest, she knew that the princess wanted something from her. But she stopped herself from digging further because she wanted to avoid dealing with it.

Hah! She was a fool to think that Princess Nia would leave her alone if she bowed to her and pretended that she was on her side.

[Father, I wanted to listen to you. Even though you're a duke, I know that we can't stand against them at our current state. So I intended to keep my head hanged low before the royal family until we become untouchable even for them. I just want to have a peaceful life with Kiho and Winter. But now, I know that I can't achieve that by acting passive.]

Now she was fully awake from her foolishness.

[It's either kill or be killed.]

And she had no intention to die by the hands of Princess Nia again.

Just the thought of Her Royal Highness was enough to summon an ungodly amount of rage in her heart. Her body felt so warm until she was literally engulfed in a red flame. Surprisingly, she wasn't being burned.

In fact, the warmth of the flame embracing her was comforting.

At the same time, she also heard a melodious cry that seemed to be reaching out to her.

[Come], Tilly told to whoever or whatever it was that was calling her. [Come to me, Red Phoenix.]

***

[NOTE: Please ADD my story in your LIBRARY so you can be notified when I post an update. Thank you! :>]