KIHO was just about to leave when the ground shook hard.

An earthquake…?

He immediately turned to Tilly who was now embracing the ice incubator protectively. It seemed like she noticed him hesitating because she gave him an encouraging smile.

"Go," Tilly told him in a calm voice. "I'll protect our Winter. But I'm worried about our servants."

"Leave them to us," Saint Forrester said. "I can feel Miss Luna's aura around the house. She probably created a barrier to protect the mansion and the servants. You know how powerful the barriers that the witch makes, don't you?"

He and his wife both nodded as a response.

"Then, I'm really going this time," Kiho said, then he turned to Tilly again. "I'll be back quickly, honey."

Tilly smiled and nodded. "Winter and I will be waiting for you, hon."

***

"WELCOME, Your Majesty."

Aku ignored the High Priest's greeting and walked past him.

He didn't need to ask where Nia was because first, he knew where her room was. Second, he could feel his beloved's presence. He didn't waste any time so even though running was disgraceful for an emperor like him, he still did.

"Nia," Aku said as soon as he entered Nia's room.

Nia, who sat on the bed in her night gown, smiled weakly at him. "Brother."

He immediately sat on the edge of the bed and hugged her, his face buried against her neck. "I've missed you, Nia. Are you okay? Do you need anything?"

"I only need you, Brother."

That made him smile.

Now, he was calm.

He looked up at Nia and touched her face. "I've really missed you."

His advisors prevented him from visiting Nia in the temple for the past months because the empire had important visitors from various neighboring kingdoms.

Remembering what happened these past few months made him feel quite annoyed.

After all, the "visitors" that he had to entertain were princesses and higher noblewomen from their allied kingdoms. His advisors invited several high-ranking ladies from all over the empire as candidates to be his Royal Noble Consorts.

In their law, an emperor could have up to three Royal Noble Consorts and each one would be given the title of 'Queen.'

But of course, the empress would always have the highest authority. In fact, their law also stated that the empress was the one in-charge of the Royal Noble Consorts. That meant that the empress had the power to strip a concubine off her title.

Though his advisors might be crazy if they thought he would take a Royal Noble Consort when he wasn't married to Nia yet.

Not that he had plans to get one.

Nia is the only one for me.

"I've missed you, too, Brother," Nia said with a smile.

"I'm happy to hear but please call me by my name," he said. "We're going to get married soon, Nia."

"I apologize, Aku," she said. Then, she touched his face. "You look tired. Did you hurry over here?"

He nodded. "I can't wait to get to you. I used the portal connecting my palace to the temple. But still, it felt like an eternity." He let out a sigh of relief. "I'm so glad that you're finally awake. I've been waiting for this news for so long."

"I'm sorry for making you wait, Aku," she said in an apologetic tone. "But now that I'm back. I'm not going anywhere."

"I will protect you better this time, Nia."

She suddenly fell silent. And when she spoke again, her voice was filled with sadness. "Aku, it has already been months since I fell into a comatose state, right? Do you know who burnt me to crisp?"

He clenched his hands tight before he answered. "It was the Red Phoenix."

"That's not what I want to hear."

He let out another deep sigh. "I already know that Lady Nystrom is the owner of the heart."

"'Nystrom?'"

"Lady Nystrom is the former Lady Prescott that you know," he explained. "'Nystrom' is the family name that Kiho chose when he inherited Lord Prescott's title."

"So, you already know that it was Lady Nystrom who almost killed me."

"Yes."

"And what did you do to punish her?"

"Nothing," he confessed. "I didn't punish Lady Nystrom."

As expected, she looked upset. "Why didn't you punish her?"

"Because I have no evidence that she asked the Red Phoenix to attack you," he said. "And I know what you need from her, Nia."

She looked shocked by that.

"I know that you need the heart but I don't know what for," he said firmly. "But whatever it is, I cannot let you steal Lady Nystrom's heart. At least, not now." He cupped her face in his hands. "Nia, I want you to ask your men to pull out from the mission you gave them."

Her eyes widened in shock. "Aku…"

"I know you," he said. "While you were in a comatose state, your "collection" has arrived in the Royal Capital. I have confirmed that none of them visited you in the temple. But they kept moving around. That gave me the idea that you might have given them some sort of instructions just in case something bad happened to you. Based on that, I can tell that you also asked them to steal Lady Nystrom's heart once she gives birth to his son."

She didn't deny it.

"One of your people had already messed up," he continued. "I don't want that to happen again, Nia. Stop them now before they attack Lady Nystrom."

Hurt crossed in her eyes and she didn't move an inch.

Ah, so stubborn.

"Nia, I'm saying this for your own good," he told her calmly. "Kiho will just kill your people. Worse, they might capture them alive and use them against us."

"I know that Kiho Nystrom is strong," she argued. "But so are my people."

He shook his head. "Those people aren't on Kiho's level. Moreover, right now, the saint is on their side. Even without his Holy Scepter and complete divine power, you know that His Holiness is capable of eliminating your entire collection, don't you?"

That seemed to finally make her give up. "Alright, I will ask them to drop the mission."

"Good girl," he praised her, then he kissed her on the forehead. "You don't need the heart, Nia. I can give you anything and everything in the world." He looked at her straight in the eye. "Except for death and separation. We'll always be together, remember that."

She just nodded. "Aren't you going to ask me why I kept it from you? That I know that Lady Nystrom is a Fire Mage. "

"We have a lot of things to talk about, Nia," he said. "But I don't want to ruin our reunion." He gently pinched her chin. "Why do you not look like you're happy to see me again?"

She pouted and gave him a puppy dog eyes. "I still want the heart, Aku."

"Nia…"

"I know why you don't want me to lay a hand on Lady Nystrom," she said in a hurt voice. "It's because of Kiho, isn't it? You've always treasured him. Is he more important than me, Aku?"

He laughed softly at her silly question. "Nia, do you seriously doubt your position in my life?"

She shook her head. "But why do I feel like I'm competing with your precious Kiho?"

"Are you jealous?"

She pouted, then shook her head like a child throwing tantrums. "I am not."

"You're the most precious person in my life, Nia," he told her softly. "I need Lady Nystrom alive for now. But once I get what I want, I'll give her to you myself."

"Promise?" she asked like a child, and she even raised her hand and extended her pinky to him.

She's so cute.

That made him smile because he was the one who taught her the "pinky promise" when they were children.

"Promise," he said, then he hooked his pinky with hers. "Just focus on your recovery for now, okay?"

Nia nodded, then she covered her mouth when she yawned. "Are you going to spend the night here, Aku?"

"Of course," Aku said, then he pulled her closer for another hug. "We have to make up for lost time, my beloved Nia."

***

AS SOON as Kiho stepped out of the mansion, the earthquake stopped, and so did the heavy downpour.

He also realized that he had almost nothing to do when he saw the pile of dead bodies in the garden. Captain Denver was there, holding a sword in his hands. Based on the deadly injuries that he saw in some of the corpses, it was obvious that they were killed by the captain's sword.

At first, he was confused as to why Captain Denver needed to use a sword when he could easily fight with his fire.

And that was when he realized that his fire might have been quenched by the rain.

"Duke Nystrom," Captain Denver greeted him. "Something strange happened. When the earthquake began, the people with stronger Mana started to flee away fast. The only ones who were left are the people with weaker Mana that weren't able to move during the quake. I've killed the ones who tried to kill me. But most of them are still alive and unable to move." He motioned for the trees around where the assailants were probably hiding. "For some reason, the quake seemed to freeze them."

"Thank you for informing me, Captain Denver," he said, thin ice already forming underneath his feet. "I'll make a snowman out of each of the remaining assailants, just like what I promised our little rascal."

"I won't stop you, Your Grace," Captain Denver said. "But please don't kill all of them. We need information."

"I'll try," Kiho said, non-committal. "Unfortunately, I need an outlet for my anger."

***

TILLY was relieved when the quake stopped. She immediately checked on her little cinnamon roll inside the ice cube. Winter seemed to be fine, and he didn't wake up despite the strong quake a while ago. "Are you okay, Winter? Don't be afraid. Everything is fine. Your mommy and daddy are here to protect you."

Much to her surprise, Winter suddenly opened his eyes.

Then, her baby looked at her with huge and round golden orbs– just like Kiho's eyes whenever they glowed.

God, their little cinnamon roll was so beautiful.

"You've got your father's eyes," Tilly said, her voice cracking. "I wish Father was here to see you, Winter. Your grandfather was looking forward to meeting you. I'm sure he would have been very delighted to meet his grandson."

She didn't know if it was her or Winter was really looking at her with sad eyes.

Does he understand what I'm saying?

She had a hunch that Winter had the memories of his past life. But Luna told her before that there was a possibility that his memories might get erased once he was born.

But the way he looks at me…

Her thoughts were cut-off when she saw Winter raised his little arm as if he wanted to touch her face.

She automatically placed her hand against the ice cube to reach for his hand.

But the ice wall was literally between them.

"Do you want to comfort mommy?" she asked with a smile. "Thank you, Baby Winter. My heart feels warm because of your concern."

Winter smiled at her– showing her his deep dimples on either side of his small face.

"Right. You got your daddy's dimples," Tilly said, delighted. "Gosh, you've got all our pretty genes, little "rascal.""

***

In the Island that Worships the Sun…

"THE MOON Serpent has been born."

"That means the Supreme has already fulfilled her role."

"Now, there's no reason for her to stay with the Black Serpent anymore."

"It's time for us to take back our sun."

"We will now descend and fetch the Supreme– it's time for her to finally come back home."

***

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***

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