KIHO'S knees almost gave up under Tilly's heavy bloodlust.

Her words, her aura, her very existence now screamed power and authority. Ordinary people would have already dropped to the ground because of the pressure oozing from her.

Count Huxley wasn't weak. But since Tilly's bloodlust was directed at the count and he was just attacked by Tilly's strange Mana, it was only natural that he wouldn't have the power to fight against a bloodlust as heavy as that.

If Tilly's heart completely awakened, he wouldn't be surprised if she became more powerful than he was.

Hot, Kiho thought while looking at Tilly with heated gaze. My wife is so hot.

Literally and figuratively.

***

"IF YOU want to protect your princess, then you better keep your mouth shut," Tilly warned Count Huxley. "And you better keep it a secret from His Majesty as well. If the emperor finds out about Her Royal Highness's condition, then I assure you– the whole empire will know the princess's secret, too."

"I don't have any intention to tell His Majesty," Count Huxley said between shallow breaths, then he looked up at her with a blank look on his face. "My loyalty lies with Her Royal Highness and not with the emperor."

She didn't show it but she was relieved to hear that.

His Majesty can't know Her Royal Highness's condition yet.

"But Lady Nystrom, you should know that His Majesty already knows that the Fire Wielders are actually Fire Mages," the count said with a smirk. "Even if I keep my mouth shut about the princess's condition, it wouldn't change the fact that your days are numbered now."

"His Majesty already knows who I am so nothing changes even if he knows the tower's secret," she said calmly. "Because whether His Majesty knows about the existence of the Fire Mages or not, I still won't let him touch any of them."

"How arrogant of you," the count said. "What makes you think that you can fight His Majesty? I may not personally like the emperor. But between you and His Majesty, I will choose to side with the royal family." His brows furrowed in confusion. "And aren't you a part of the Royal Faction, Lady Nystrom? Shame on you for betraying the royal family and siding with the Fire Mages." He glared at her. "You're a traitor, Lady Nystrom."

Kiho snapped and tried to attack the count.

Luckily, he stopped when she grabbed him by the arm.

"My loyalty lies with the people and not with who's sitting on the throne," she declared proudly. "An emperor who kills innocent people for his own interest doesn't deserve my loyalty. Don't even bother trying to justify His Majesty's hostility towards the Fire Mages because no one in the empire knows the truth."

The count just rolled his eyes. "I don't give a damn about your reason for betraying the royal family. But I'm certain that you can't win against His Majesty. After all, the emperor is the only moon in the empire."

"We also have only one sun in the empire. His Majesty being the only moon doesn't sound that special to me," she said bluntly. "And remember this, Lord Huxley: the sun is bigger than the moon."

Count Huxley looked like he didn't have anything more that he could say.

"The royal knights will come and arrest you later," Tilly said, then she turned her back on him and started to walk away. To be honest, she was starting to feel very tired. She didn't want Count Huxley . "Enjoy your jail time, Lord Huxley."

***

AS SOON as Tilly was out of the basement, she felt her body grow weak.

She knew that Kiho would be there to literally catch her and she wasn't disappointed. The next thing she knew, she was already leaning against her husband's solid chest. He had his cold hands on her shoulders.

"Do you want to rest first, honey?" Kiho asked worriedly. "We can visit Flint later. Since it's Miss Luna, I'm sure that the operation will be a success."

"And the operation is still ongoing, Lady Nystrom. You can't still see Flint," Captain Denver added. "I suggest that you take a rest first. We have plenty of guest rooms in the tower. Please allow me to prepare one for you."

She knew that she couldn't win against these two overprotective men. Plus, she was really tired and she might collapse if she didn't take a break. "Alright, you win."

"Please give me a minute to prepare a room for you, Lady Nystrom," Captain Denver said, then he bowed politely to them. "Please wait at the lounge area for now. I'll come and pick you up once the room is ready, Duke and Duchess Nystrom."

After that, the captain left.

Kiho carried her in his arms and brought her to the sofa in the lounge area. The sofa was facing the glass wall, giving them the beautiful view of the forest at the back of the tower. Only then did she realize that the sun was already setting.

It has been a long day.

"Tilly, is something wrong?" Kiho asked her worriedly when they were seated side-by-side on the sofa. "It looks like something is on your mind."

"I just feel bad for saying that Her Royal Highness is useless just because she's infertile," Tilly admitted in a soft voice. Well, no one was on that floor other than her and her husband. Still, she didn't have the energy to talk louder than that. "I mean, the princess is a b*tch and I can never forgive her for all the things that she did to ruin my life. Still, it was low of me to say that. A woman's worth isn't based on whether she can bear a child or not."

In that world, a woman's worth was definitely based on her ability to bear an heir– especially since Her Royal Highness was the future empress.

But she experienced a life in the modern world. She learned how to be a strong, independent woman in that lifetime. One of the lessons that she would never forget was that women weren't made just to bear children.

So saying that Her Royal Highness was useless for being infertile made her feel so awful.

"I'm sorry, Winter," she said while gently caressing her tummy. "I'm sorry because you had to hear that from mommy."

"Tilly, you're too kind," Kiho said, half-proud and half-worried for her. "I don't know how to protect your innocence once the war begins."

"I'll be fine," she assured him. "I know that there are things that I have to sacrifice to protect the people I love. But I'll make sure that I won't let the war make me jaded. I will still try to be kind when I need to."

"I will make sure that you won't lose that kind heart of yours," he promised her. "Let me be the villain and do all the dirty jobs for you, Tilly."

"If you're going to be the villain in this war, then I'm going to be the villain's wife," she said with a smile, then she gently pinched his cheek. ���I'll wear my red lipstick and go with you anywhere– even to hell."

"You don't have to do or say anything, Tilly," he said. "You already own my everything."

She laughed at his cheesiness, but she rewarded her husband with a light kiss on the lips. His eyes told him that a peck wasn't enough. But she scolded him right away. "Later. We can't do it here."

"Okay, I'll wait."

She just nudged him as a response. Gosh, my husband's libido is crazy high.

"I was shocked when I heard you say that Her Royal Highness is infertile," Kiho said to probably distract himself from getting a hard-on. "I know that you mentioned that in the past, you discovered the princess's secret and revealed it to the public. I didn't know that the secret was her being infertile."

"To be honest, I didn't want to reveal it to Count Huxley because I'm afraid that His Majesty will find out about Princess Nia's secret."

"But why?" he asked with furrowed brows. "Wouldn't it be good for us if we exposed Her Royal Highness's secret to the public?"

"Yes, but the risk is bigger than the advantage that we'll gain," she said while smoothing the crease on his forehead with her finger. "If we exposed the princess's secret now, she'll just get exiled. I'm pretty sure that the emperor won't let Her Royal Highness get executed. Plus, I'm afraid that His Majesty might declare our son as his heir if that happens. If the emperor makes Winter his heir, he will have the right to take our child away from us."

Anger instantly crossed his eyes. "I won't let His Majesty take our son away from us."

"Yes, we won't let that happen," she agreed. "There's one more thing that I'm afraid His Majesty might do once he finds out that Her Royal Highness is infertile."

"What is it?"

"Find the cure," she answered with a hint of fear in her voice. "Kiho, in my first life, His Majesty found out that Miss Luna can fix the princess's body."

His eyes widened in surprise. "Miss Luna can fix Her Royal Highness's infertility?"

She nodded as confirmation. "In that lifetime, I asked my men to kill Miss Luna because I didn't want her to fix the princess's body."

He looked shocked, and then he gave her a sympathetic look. "You're different from that Tilly, honey," he said gently, then he pulled her for a warm hug. Technically, his body was cold. But still, for her, his hugs had warmth in them. "You weren't in your right mind then."

His word warmed her heart.

"I don't want His Majesty to find out about Miss Luna's ability to fix Princess Nia," she said while wrapping her arms around his waist. "I'm not powerful enough to protect Miss Luna yet. That's why I don't want to expose Her Royal Highness yet."

"I understand, Tilly," Kiho said while gently patting her back. "Thank you for taking care of the people you love. You���re doing good."

"Kiho?"

Kiho pulled away from the hug to look at her in the eye. Then, he gently caressed her face with the back of his hand. "What is it, Tilly?"

"I hate to say this but…" Tilly started, then she covered her tummy with her hands. She didn't want Winter to hear the words she was going to say next. Well, she was aware that covering her tummy with her hands wouldn't work. Still, it gave her comfort. "I think we should kill Count Huxley before the noble trial begins."

***

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! :>]