"I THINK WE should kill Count Huxley before the noble trial begins," Tilly said. "I don't think he'll stop until he kills Flint or any other Fire Mage. He might even go after our family now that he knows that I betrayed the royal family. Killing the count is a sensible thing to do."

Kiho's heart broke when he heard those words from Tilly's mouth.

Of course, he was used to hearing stuff like that because of the nature of his job as the captain of the Black Serpent Knights. But hearing that from his lovely wife hurt him.

I wish Tilly stays as my wife and Winter's mother.

But of course, that was nothing but a wishful thinking.

Tilly was the Supreme and she was now responsible for the lives of her fellow Fire Mages. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the future of their kind was now resting on her shoulders. Of course, she would be forced to mature and act like a true leader.

Most of all, Tilly was being targeted by the royal family. Learning how to fight would benefit her and increase her chance of survival.

"Tilly, I'll be there for you every step of the way," Kiho said, then he touched her face. "I agree with your decision. Even if Lord Huxley gets imprisoned, I'm sure that he won't be treated like a criminal because he's associated with Her Royal Highness. He'll still have the means to get back at Captain Denver and the tower."

She nodded in agreement. "And I don't trust Lord Huxley. He's definitely going to tell Her Royal Highness about the Fire Wielders' real identities once the princess wakes up."

"Let's talk about it with Captain Denver later."

She raised a brow at him. "You're done being jealous?"

His face turned red as if he was suddenly embarrassed. "I know that I've been childish a while ago. I am "sober" now."

To be honest, he could be irrationally jealous sometimes because he loved Tilly so much. This was the first time that he wanted someone so bad and therefore, he would do everything to keep his wife by his side.

But after seeing the brave face that she was showing him right now, he felt ashamed of his immaturity. This wasn't the time to be jealous of men around his wife. They had a war to fight and they had so many people to protect now.

"Thank you for being honest with your feelings, hon," Tilly said with a smile. "You know that you're the only man for me, right?"

"I know, honey," Kiho said gently, then he pulled Tilly for a hug. "You should take a rest for now, honey," he said gently. "It won't be good for you and Winter if you get too stressed."

"You're my best stress-reliever so I'm fine," Tilly said while putting her head on his shoulder. "Thank you for taking care of me and Winter, Kiho."

He kissed the top of her head as a response.

***

"TILLY, please take a nap first," Kiho, who was sitting beside her as she was lying on the bed, told her while pulling up the blanket up to her neck. "I'll wake you up once Flint's operation is over. According to Captain Denver, Miss Luna and the other Healing Mages aren't done with the operation yet."

Tilly nodded at what her husband said. She didn't have the energy to be stubborn this time. Plus, she wasn't a doctor so she couldn't do anything for Flint but to wait.

Anyway, right now, they were in the guest room that Captain Denver prepared for them. The captain left them alone for privacy. Aside from the accommodation, Captain Denver also asked his servants to prepare tea and snacks for them.

Speaking of snacks…

"Kiho?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm hungry."

"Oh," he said, then he turned to the tea table. "We have tea and snacks here." He turned to her again. "What would you like to have, honey?"

"Ice."

Kiho's eyes widened in surprise. "You want to eat ice?"

She pouted and nodded. "Weird, right?" she asked nervously, then he gently placed her hands on her tummy. "Kiho, I'm craving ice and I think it's because of our Winter."

Now he blinked as if he didn't know what to do. "I'm sorry, Tilly. I wish I knew what my mother did when she was pregnant with me."

"It's okay, hon," she comforted her husband, then she touched his face. "This is our own journey as parents. Wouldn't it be fun to discover things about my pregnancy together?"

He looked relieved by that. "That's true. I want to learn a lot of things with you," he said. "Let me ask the servants for ice."

She grabbed his arm when he tried to stand up. "Kiho, I want your ice."

He looked confused, then he shook his head. "I don't think it's safe or clean to eat my ice, Tilly."

"But that's exactly what I'm craving for," she insisted. "I want to eat ice made of your Mana, Kiho. Winter wants your ice with your Mana."

"Are you sure, Tilly?"

She nodded firmly. "Let's try it, Kiho."

"Are you really, really sure?"

"I'm very, very sure."

"Alright," he said, obviously giving in to her request. "Promise me that if my ice tastes bad, you'll spit it out."

She raised a hand. "Promise."

He ruffled her hair affectionately before he stood up. "I'll prepare it right away."

"Thanks, hon."

"No problem."

She watched Kiho go to the tea table, pick up a cup, and cover the opening with his hand. A few moments later, she heard continuous soft thumps. She was certain that it was the sound of ice cubes (hopefully) falling inside the cup.

Kiho put the cup in the saucer with a teaspoon, then he went back to her side. "Here, honey," he said while holding the teaspoon with an ice cube on it. "I made the ice as soft and as thin as I could so it won't hurt your teeth."

"Thank you, hon," she said, then she opened her mouth.

Her husband fed her the teaspoon of ice cube.

She started to munch on the ice cube that broke in one bite. Like her husband promised, her teeth didn't hurt. For some strange reason, eating the ice made her feel energized. She could feel her body absorbing Kiho's Mana going straight to her womb.

When she felt little flutters in her tummy, her body froze.

"What's wrong, honey?" Kiho asked worriedly. "If it tastes weird and it makes your tummy hurt, please spit it out."

"No, I like the taste," she said. Then, she turned to him with a smile. "Kiho, I think Winter likes it as well. I felt his tiny heartbeats."

He looked excited to hear that. "Really?"

She smiled and nodded. "Your ice is the best, Kiho."

"I didn't know that my ice is edible but I'm glad that you and our baby enjoy it," Kiho said with a big smile that showed his dimples. Ah, he was really excited about being a father. "Winter, it looks like your dominant Mana is ice," he said gently, his one hand placed carefully on her tummy. "Please be healthy inside your mommy's womb. Don't worry, I'll take care both of you so all you have to do is grow steadily in there. Hang in, buddy. Your mommy and I can't wait for you to come out."

Tilly teared-up at the sight of Kiho gently talking to their baby who was still inside her womb. She could easily imagine how good he would be to Winter once their son comes out. God, thank you for giving me another chance to be with my family.

***

WHEN Tilly woke up, she was surprised to see Luna beside her instead of Kiho.

After eating a cup filled with ice cubes made from her husband's Mana, she fell asleep with Kiho resting beside her. But he wasn't in the room now.

"Duke Nystrom asked me to guard you while he's out with Captain Denver," Luna explained when the witch noticed that her eyes were looking for Kiho. "Captain Sherwood has arrived to arrest Lord Huxley. His Grace didn't want to wake you up because you were sleeping peacefully, Lady Nystrom."

"That's very Kiho thing to do," Tilly said with a smile, then she got up and did a light stretching. "How was Flint's operation, Miss Luna?"

"It was a success," the witch said. "His vitals are now stable. But he's in a medicine-induced coma for now. Rest assured, the child will wake up soon."

"I know that Flint is safe in your hands, Miss Luna."

Her brows furrowed in confusion. "Why do you trust me so much, Lady Nystrom?"

She smiled sadly at her question. "This isn't the first time that we've met."

"I already know that. I had a feeling that you already met me before," she said casually. "You have the heart of the Red Phoenix so being reincarnated is possible for you. But I want to know what kind of relationship did we have in your past life, Lady Nystrom. You often look at me with sad eyes, you know?"

"I was a bad person in my first life, Miss Luna," she confessed nervously. "I wanted my son to be the next emperor. So when His Majesty found out that you could fix Her Royal Highness's infertility, I asked my people to kill you." Tears started to form at the corner of her eyes. "I technically killed you in my past life, Miss Luna. I'm so sorry."

"Calm down, Lady Nystrom," the witch said while patting her shoulder. "May I know what kind of people did you hire to kill me?"

"I asked my personal knights to do the job."

"Are these knights as strong as Duke Nystrom or the other captains of the Four Orders? Or at least as strong as a whole squad of Holy Knights?"

She shook her head. "As far as I remember, the knights in my previous life were all average knights."

"Then, they definitely didn't succeed in killing me, Lady Nystrom."

She blinked in surprise. "But how can you say that, Miss Luna?"

"I know my strength, Lady Nystrom," Luna said with a smile as if she wanted to comfort her. "The only people who can kill me are people at the captains' level. Or at least a squad of Holy Knights. If you hired average knights to kill me, I'm 100% certain that they didn't succeed in their mission."

Tilly blinked back her tears. Luna was right. There was no way a strong witch like her could have been easily killed by the average knights of House Prescott back in her previous life. "What could have happened to the Miss Luna in my first life if she wasn't killed then?"

***

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