"SENTINEL, I'M leaving her to you," Wixx told his servant while raking his fingers through Lady Nystrom's hair. She was already asleep and he let her use his lap as a pillow. "Guide my sister to me."

"I'll do my best, my lord," Sentinel said. "I also want to find your real body. Lady Nystrom wouldn't stand a chance against the Moonchesters without you."

"I know," he agreed, then he looked down at the lady who used to be his little sister in the past. "No matter how much I hated the Black Serpent in the past, I don't have a choice but to leave Lady Nystrom in his care as well. He needs to protect the heart…" He looked at her stomach area. "As well as the Moon Serpent– the one who could swallow the moon."

"The child of the legend has to be born," his servant said. "I can't believe that the Moonchesters allowed the heart and the Black Serpent to have a son."

"Aku Moonchester needs the child," he said. "But to be honest, I'm not really worried about the emperor. The one that we should be really wary of is Her Royal Highness. She'll do everything and anything to undo the spell that Soleil had put on her soul in the past."

"The princess is really the cause of all evil in the empire," Sentinel said while shaking his head. "But I have to say that the punishment that Lady Soleil bestowed upon Her Royal Highness was also quite wicked."

"Yes, the punishment was evil but the princess deserves it," he said firmly. Then, he leaned against the post behind him. "I'm getting sleepy, Sentinel."

Sentinel understood what he meant because he got down on one knee and bowed to him. "I will protect Lady Nystrom and the Moon Serpent with my remaining energy, Lord Wixx," he vowed. "And my lord, we will find you at all cost. Please rest well until we meet again."

"See you later, Sentinel," he said.

They had spent so many decades in that prayer room together. But they didn't need a dramatic goodbye. After all, both of them believed that they would see each other again.

The sad thing was he wouldn't be able to communicate with anyone else once his consciousness returned to his body. Because once he came back, he would forget everything that he experienced while his consciousness was separated from his physical body.

He also wasn't sure if he was going to wake up right away, or what kind of situation he would be in once his consciousness returned to his real body. After all, who knew what kind of spell the "cage" the Moonchesters made for him had?

"Finding me wouldn't be easy but I trust you," Wixx said softly to Lady Nystrom, then he leaned down to kiss her on the forehead. "I'll be waiting for you, my foolish but wonderful little sister."

***

"HEY, LUNA."

Luna flinched when she heard the familiar irritating (but sexy) voice in her head. But she didn't appreciate that he entered her mind while she was in the carriage with Kiho and Captain Sherwood. Well, she could talk to him in her mind but she had to control her facial expression.

That would be difficult because talking to the bird man would always leave her irritated.

"What did you do?" Luna asked him in an accusatory tone inside her head. "What happened to Lady Nystrom? Is she okay?"

"I'm really happy to talk to you as well," the Red Phoenix said sarcastically. "Hearing your angry voice never fails to make my heart jump in joy."

And yet, he said those words in a very dry tone.

She clenched her fists in annoyance.

See? He's very irritating!

"Lady Nystrom is here," he said when he probably realized that she was pissed. "Don't worry because she's fine."

She was relieved to hear that.

Duke Nystrom would definitely lose it if something bad happened to his wife.

Honestly, she still wasn't sure if Kiho was really okay.

She expected him to run or use a horse to get to the temple right away. But he remained calm and chose to ride the carriage instead. The duke even brought Captain Sherwood because according to him, he needed to keep an eye on the captain.

"Luna, I'm going to leave Lady Nystrom in your care."

Okay, she was shocked to hear that. "Hey, are you leaving?"

"Unsealing a small part of Lady Nystrom's past memories had depleted my remaining energy. I'm losing my unconsciousness now," he explained. "Lady Nystrom almost awakened because of the memories that she has retrieved."

She was surprised to hear that. The moment she saw Lady Nystrom, she already felt how strong the seal was. She knew that she didn't have the power to break the spell. "Wow. I can't believe you managed to unseal a part of her memories even though you didn't have your physical body."

"The seal is stronger than I expected though so I wasn't able to unseal everything," he explained. "I'm certain that there are gaps in the memories that she retrieved so she must have been confused. I just hope that she found something useful in them."

"You already did good," she praised him because he deserved it. "Thank you."

"Did the nasty snake feel the heart's awakening?"

"Yes," she said. "He's acting strange right now. But I can't knock him out because we have an unexpected companion."

"Don't worry," he comforted her. "I've put the heart to sleep again. The Black Serpent won't awaken now."

"That's a relief."

There was an awkward pause before he spoke again.

"Thank you for everything you've done for me, Luna," Wixx said. "See you."

And just like that, the stupid bird man cut the link in their minds.

Was that supposed to be his goodbye?

That's it?!

Luna's cheeks burned in embarrassment when a realization dawned upon her.

Why am I expecting more from that bird man?

***

KIHO blinked several times and was confused when he found himself in the carriage. For some reason, he felt like he just awakened from a nap. The last thing he remembered was the earthquake. But when that happened, he was in the mansion.

But how come he was in the temple now?

"Tilly," Kiho whispered to himself when his mind had cleared.

"We're on our way to the temple, Your Grace," Captain Sherwood told him.

He was surprised to find the captain sitting closely beside her. As reflex, he scooted as far away from him as possible. "Captain Sherwood…" He gasped when he realized that the earthquake must have caused an accident. "Why the hell are we in a carriage?"

He wanted to get out of the carriage and run to the temple instead. After all, he was sure that he could get there faster than their ride.

"It was your choice to use the carriage, Your Grace," Luna told him. The witch was sitting across from him. "And don't worry because we've just arrived."

He was relieved to hear that.

As soon as the carriage stopped, Kiho stepped out and ran towards the entrance of the temple.

He got nervous when he saw the priests and priestesses outside. After an earthquake, it was only natural for people in a building to get outside. But it seemed like not everyone from the temple was able to get out quickly because he couldn't find Tilly.

The High Priest wasn't there as well but he didn't care about him. After all, the High Priest was always protected by the Holy Knights.

"Excuse me," Kiho said to one of the priestesses. "I'm Lady Nystrom's husband. Have you seen my wife?"

"I'm afraid that Lady Nystrom is still inside, Your Grace," the priestess said with a hint of worry in her voice. "The knights are already looking– Your Grace, it's not safe to enter the building yet!"

He turned to the priestess to bow as an apology, but he didn't stop running.

When he got inside the temple, he trusted his instinct. He couldn't explain why or how but he could tell where his wife was.

After running for a few minutes, he finally reached an isolated room. He felt a strange energy from inside that made his skin crawl. But he ignored that and kicked the door open. His eyes widened when he saw Tilly lying on the floor– unconscious.

God, he suddenly felt his heart in his throat.

"Tilly!"

He ran towards his wife and kneeled beside her. He checked her pulse right away and was relieved to feel that her heart beat was normal. His wife was just sleeping.

"Tilly," he gently called her while he was carefully moving her until her head was using his lap as a pillow. Then, he touched her face. Her body temperature was a little warmer than usual. "Honey?"

Tilly slowly opened her eyes. She stared at him for a few seconds as if she was making sure that it was really him. Then, for some reason, she suddenly broke into tears.

Of course, he panicked right away.

"What's wrong, honey?" Kiho asked worriedly while checking if she had injuries on her body. "Are you hurt? Where? Tell me."

"I had a bad dream, Kiho," she said between sobs. "You were cheating on me with a black-haired woman in my dream."

He didn't know why but he remembered the woman he saw in the fish market a few days ago. He could swear that when he saw her, she had jet-black hair. But when he blinked, the woman's hair suddenly turned brown and remained that way until he left the place.

For some reason, he felt guilty even though he didn't do anything wrong.

"I'm not cheating on you and I'll never do it, Tilly," Kiho promised her. "Although recently, I met a strange woman. When I saw her, I can swear that she has jet-black hair. But after a few moments, her hair turned brown."

He felt his chest lighten after he confessed that incident to his wife.

But when he saw the devastated look on her face, he instantly regretted what he did.

"You met a woman with a jet-black hair?" Tilly asked in a cracked voice. "Were you attracted to her, Kiho?"

"Of course not," Kiho denied firmly. "She made me feel uncomfortable but that's it." He held her hand and kissed her knuckles. "Please believe me, Tilly."

***

TILLY was shocked.

She only said that she had a "bad dream" about Kiho "cheating" on her because he didn't want him to ask anymore as to why she was crying. It wasn't like she could tell him that she saw some painful memories of her past life.

But she didn't expect Kiho to confess that he met a black-haired woman.

Lucina Morganna is already here?

Tilly suddenly wanted to commit crime of passion.

***

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! :>]