TILLY COULDN'T help but smile while staring at her baby bump in the mirror.

Since the weather was sunny today, she opted for a light off-the-shoulder yellow dress that was kind of loose in the tummy area. Yet, her baby bump was still obvious. She didn't know when it happened but now she couldn't hide the bulge– not that she had any intention to do so.

She was proud of her baby bump.

Hello, Winter.

"Leni, Lani, look at my baby," Tilly said at the twins with a smile. "We're going to meet him very soon."

Leni and Lani both smiled and bowed before they spoke in unison. "Congratulations, Your Grace."

Ah, right.

She brought the twins along because she knew that she would be tired to move on her own once her training with the saint began. Plus, she trusted Leni and Lani the most. She knew that the twins genuinely cared for her.

And they're no longer scared of Kiho.

"I'm going on a stroll with Kiho and Father but you don't have to accompany me," Tilly said with a smile. She didn't want to bring her maids because she was going to have a talk to her husband and father about her mother. And her mommy was a Fire Mage. Even though she trusted the twins, she still wanted to be extra careful. "You may stroll the town in your free time. Just ask the guards to accompany you. I'll give you allowance so don't hold back and spoil yourselves, okay?"

Leni and Lani both looked shocked by her generosity. With teary eyes, the twins bowed and spoke at the same again. "Our utmost gratitude, Your Grace."

***

LADY MARIANNE Prescott's grave was actually the beautiful garden behind the Prescott Mansion in Oakes. And in the middle of it all stood a huge tree with pretty orange and reddish leaves that fit the "sunny" feels their territory was known for.

"Your mother's urn is buried under her favorite tree," Lord Prescott said while looking up at the giant tree with one hand placed on its trunk. "This tree is called Fire Tree because of the color of the leaves."

Tilly blinked several times when she heard the name of the tree. "Oh. I just remembered that we're supposed to look for the Great Free Tree to uncover the truth behind the Fire Mages' "betrayal" against the royal family."

Gosh, she had a lot of things to do but she couldn't start properly without "powering up" first. Like Saint Forrester said, she needed to master her strengths if she wanted to at least protect herself if she needed to. She figured that it makes sense so she prioritized her training before leaving the Royal Capital to look for the Great Fire Tree and the "land that worships the sun."

"That can wait, Tilly," Kiho said to her gently. "I know that we have limited time. But still, we shouldn't be hasty. We should be fully-prepared before we go anywhere."

"I agree with Kiho," her father said. "But let's talk about that later." He turned to her. "Tilly, why don't you introduce your husband to your mother first."

She smiled at her father before she turned to the giant Fire Tree in front of them. Then, she respectfully curtsied and bowed at it. "Mother, how are you? Your daughter has come to visit you." After paying her respect to her mother's grave, she turned to Kiho with a smile. "Mother, this is Duke Kiho Nystrom– my kind husband."

"I'm not as kind as you think I am, Tilly. But thank you for believing in me," Kiho said gently, then he turned to the Fire Tree and bowed respectfully. "How are you, Mother? I'm Kiho Nystrom– your precious Tilly's husband. I have blood in my hands but ever since I met your daughter, I promised myself that I will live an honest life for her. And now that we're having a child, I swear that I will continue to atone for my sins while taking good care of them. Please look after us in heaven."

She got emotional after hearing Kiho's sincere words.

Gosh, he's making me cry for a good reason.

She held her husband's hand. When he turned to her, she just smiled and brought their hands near the trunk. He immediately got what she wanted to do.

They both placed each of their hand on the Fire Tree's trunk.

Oh, it's warm.

She was just starting to enjoy the tree's warmth when all of a sudden, she felt her heart thumped hard against her chest.

The next thing she knew, Sentinel was already standing behind her.

"Who are you?" Lord Prescott asked while pointing a gun at Sentinel.

Ah, Father is still nimble for his age.

Speaking of being nimble, her husband has a quick reflex as well.

Kiho stood protectively in front of her when her father pulled the gun out of the holster in his waist. Her husband was probably worried that Lord Prescott might accidentally fire the gun and hit her or something. After all, Kiho never runs out of things to worry about when it comes to her safety.

"Father, he's a friend," Tilly said. She planned to introduce Sentinel to her father but it slipped her mind. The appearance of the saint in her life really messed up all the plans she made in her head. "His name is Sentinel and he's the spirit guardian of the Red Phoenix. He left Sentinel to me before he disappeared."

"Ah, is that so?" her father said while putting the gun back in the holster. "Tilly, you haven't even told me the full details of your encounter with the Red Phoenix."

"I'm sorry, Father," she said. "I was too busy these days."

"Our apologies, Father," Kiho added. "We plan to tell you everything in this trip."

"I'll listen to it later. For now…" Lord Prescott turned to Sentinel. "State your business, young man."

"I'm older than you though," Sentinel said. When her father glared at the spirit guardian, Sentinel cleared his throat before he answered politely. "I didn't mean to come out," he said, then he looked at the Fire Tree. "But when Lady Nystrom touched this tree, I was suddenly pulled out of her heart. This tree is strange…" He placed a hand on the trunk. Then, much to their surprise, his whole body got engulfed in an orange flame. "Just as I suspected."

"What is it, Sentinel?" she asked curiously. "And you're literally burning. Are you okay?"

The spirit guardian turned to her. "This is my original form, Lady Nystrom. I'm not human– I was made from the flame of the Red Phoenix."

"Oh."

"Anyway, this whole tree is covered with magic from the life force of your mother," Sentinel said. "Lady Nystrom, your mother left a long message for you."

Okay, that was a pleasant surprise.

"My wife left a message in that tree?" Lord Prescott asked, obviously shocked and pleased by the news. "How come I never felt the magic in that tree?"

"It's an ancient magic that only old Fire Mages like me could recognize,�� the spirit guardian said, then he turned to her. "Lady Nystrom, try to burn the tree with your fire. The magic around the tree must be broken first before the message shows up. And the only thing that can break it is the flame of the person who is supposed to read the message. In this case, it's you."

Actually, that made her nervous.

At her current state, she wasn't sure if she could burn the tree down when the only thing she could do right now was to light a candle with her finger. But of course, that didn't mean that she would give up easily.

"I'll give it a shot," she said. Then, she took a deep breath before she placed her hands on the trunk. Please make it work.

She concentrated hard enough until her hands were both covered with red flame.

But that was it.

She couldn't make the flame grow bigger no matter how much she tried.

Dammit!

"Tilly, please don't push yourself too hard," Kiho said while placing a cold, gentle hand on her shoulder. "We can't be hasty, remember? Just because you can't do it today doesn't mean you can't do it tomorrow."

Her husband's words were enough to calm her down.

Kiho is right. It's not like I only have a day to burn the tree down. I need to train first– and that's exactly the reason why we brought the saint along.

"Thank you, Kiho," Tilly said to her husband with a smile. Then, she turned to Lord Prescott. "Father, can we go ahead first? Kiho will help me with my training." She gently tapped the trunk with her hand. "I want to read Mother's message as soon as possible."

"Alright. Go ahead. I'll stay here and spend time with your mother," Lord Prescott said, then he turned to Kiho. "Don't be too hard on my daughter, Kiho. Remember, your wife is pregnant."

"Yes, Father," Kiho said with a polite bow. "We'll be careful."

***

"YOUR HOLINESS, I'd like to begin my training as well.���

Forrester gave Kiho Nystrom a dire stare.

Right now, the duke was in his room.

A few minutes earlier, the Black Serpent and his wife barged into his chamber while demanding him to begin his training now. When he agreed, the little Supreme bolted out of the room and said she'd just change her clothes really quickly.

Surprisingly, the clingy duke who never takes his eyes off of his wife decided to stay instead of escorting the little Supreme back to their room.

"Sure," Forrester said. "But I have to say that I'm surprise that you let your wife return to your room alone."

"Tilly isn't alone. Sentinel has returned inside her heart," Kiho said. "My wife is very focused on her goal to master the fire technique so I want to do the same."

"Yeah, whatever," he said, then he walked towards him and motioned him to crouch down.

"What it is, Your Holiness?" the duke asked when he crouched down.

As soon as Forrester could reach the Black Serpent's chest, he poked his chest with his finger several times in just a blink of an eye.

Like he expected, Kiho was paralyzed in a matter of seconds.

Sealing complete.

Yeah, he sealed the Black Serpent's ability to use ice temporarily.

"If you want to master the water technique, you have to stop relying on your ice first," he said to the paralyzed duke who couldn't even blink right now. "You have to wake up a bit, little snake."

All of a sudden, the thunder roared angrily in the morning sky.

When he turned to look outside the window, he was greeted by the dark clouds that covered the sun. To ordinary people, it would look like it was about to rain. But he knew that the dark clouds and the continuous thunder weren't because of bad weather.

The sky god is angry.

Forrester smirked and raised his middle finger as a response to his father's rage. "Shut your trap, old man."

***

Author's Note: Everyone, I already said last time that this is going to have a happy ending. And cheaters DON'T deserve happy endings. Get it? ;)

If I have to describe Kiho (in all eras/lifetimes) in two words, it would be: CINNAMON ROLL.

This is Urban Dictionary's definition of a "cinnamon roll" character:

"A character that is very kind and sweet but faces more hardship and suffering than they truly deserve."

I think I have said many times (through Tilly) that Kiho is a cinnamon roll. :>

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PS: You may send gifts if you can. Thank you~

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