"I DIDN'T know that you're interested in being a model, Lady Nystrom."

"It's not that I'm interested in modeling," Tilly said, then she sipped her tea. "I just wanted to have a grand entrance that would give you a heart attack. Unfortunately, I forgot that you're a heartless person."

Kiho, who sat beside her, stifled a laugh.

Of course, Aku Moonchester didn't look impressed.

Heh.

Right now, they were in the tea room next to the parlor room where she almost gave in to Kiho's seduction.

Argh, I want to relive that moment.

Anyway, when they entered the tea room, Aku Moonchester was already waiting– with some tea and a variety of snacks.

"Interesting," Aku commented when he put his tea cup on the table. "You have a sharper tongue now than you did in the past as Soleil Rosenberg, Lady Nystrom."

"I'd like to think that we're two different persons, thank you very much," she said sarcastically, then she dropped the subject. "Elis Ripperton stalked me the other day."

"What?" Kiho asked with furrowed brows. When she turned to her husband, she noticed that he looked pissed. "Elis Ripperton is the new captain of the Blue Dragon Knights. Did he do something inappropriate to you, Tilly?"

For a moment, she thought Kiho's memories came back. But she realized that it was just his jealous side showing up again.

With or without memories, Kiho is still my Kiho.

"No, he didn't. And he can't anyway," she assured Kiho, then she gently tapped his cheek. "Thank you for worrying about me, Your Grace."

Kiho, obviously pleased by the physical contact that she initiated, smiled shyly.

"Duke Nystrom?"

"Just call me by my name, Tilly."

She just smiled at his request. "Can you leave the room for a moment? I need to talk to Aku Moonchester in private."

Protest was evident on his face as he slightly pouted. "Can't I stay? Or do you still not trust me enough?"

"Please?" she asked instead of answering his questions. She wanted to assure Kiho that he still owned everything of her. But not in front of the puppet. "There's something that I need to settle with Aku Moonchester. It's something between us only."

Her husband scowled and didn't move an inch from his seat.

She gave him the best puppy dog eyes that she could muster at the moment.

Of course, Kiho gave in easily. "Fine," he said. Then, he looked at her with pleading eyes. "Please don't leave without saying goodbye to me, Tilly. I'll wait for you outside."

She smiled and nodded. "I'll come to you once I'm done here."

Kiho looked relieved by that. Only then did he politely excuse himself to her and Aku Moonchester. After that, he quietly left the tea room.

"It seems like Kiho doesn't need his memories back," Aku Moonchester commented. "With or without them, he's still a fool for you.��

She just sipped her tea.

"On the other hand, it seems like your feelings for him disappeared when you lost your memories," the emperor continued. "It looks like you're playing with Kiho's feelings so that you can have him in the palm of your hand. Honey trapping, is it?"

"Impressive," she said in a sarcastic tone. "It amazes me how you were able to tell that I'm using honey trap to wrap Kiho around my fancy finger. But you let Nia Moonchester make a fool of you for many lifetimes."

He glared at her.

She smiled sweetly in return. "As I was saying a while ago…" she started to change the topic. "Elis Ripperton told me that you're willing to work with me now."

The emperor nodded. "Tell me your deal, Lady Nystrom. I want to listen to it first before I bring Nia into this conversation."

Well, she didn't mind.

After all, Nia Moonchester wasn't needed in that conversation yet. The princess was nothing more than collateral anyway.

"First of all, I want to reclaim my position as the Duchess of Oakes," she declared. "I won't let you acquire the wealth and the properties that House Prescott cultivated all these years through manipulating House Nystrom. I know that you can't afford to announce that I'm a Fire Mage anyway."

"What made you think so?"

"If revealing my identity to the public will benefit you, then you should have done that when I disappeared five years ago," she said casually. "But you didn't. It's because you know that once your people find out that Fire Mages have survived, there will be chaos."

"Interesting theory," he said, then he sipped his tea.

"Am I wrong though?" she asked with a raised brow. "I heard that instead of exposing House Denver and the Vermillion Tower as Fire Mages, you made it look like you sent Captain Denver to a mission that he wasn't able to complete. Apparently, out of shame, House Denver and the Fire Wielders went into hiding. You know what's more interesting? I also heard that there are idiots who think I ran away with the captain."

"What are you getting mad for?" he asked with a raised brow, too. "As soon as you returned to the Royal Capital, you already cleared that rumor. I know that it was you who spread the rumor about the Duchess of Oakes being "abducted." You even spread pictures to back it up."

"I just spilled the truth," she said. "Anyway, I want you to release an official statement and confirm that I was really abducted. I want House Huxley to take on the blame."

The emperor smirked bitterly. "Lord Eugene Huxley was already dead. He was burned into ashes. I'm sure you're the one behind that."

Well, she wasn't.

But she could easily come up with the conclusion that Captain Denver and the rest might have been the ones who ended House Huxley.

Very good, boys.

"Perfect, isn't it?" she said, acting like she was really the one who ordered for the count to be burned into ashes. "A dead person can't defend himself." She sipped her tea again before she continued. "Or do you want me to drag House Hayward instead of House Huxley?"

This time, he looked surprised.

"I have evidence that House Hayward was there the night Kiho was attacked," she continued, then she smiled sweetly at him. "Aku Moonchester, how's my mother-in-law?"

The look on his face told her that he was starting to get pissed. "If you have evidence to prove it, then why are you still keeping it?"

"Because we still both need the power and authority of the Moonchesters," she said seriously. "Aku Moonchester, what I need and what you seek are both in the same place– and it's in the land that needs to drink the blood of the current Moonchester emperor, the current saint that has the blood of the Forresters, and surprisingly, the blood of the Supreme Fire Mage and the Black Serpent that are tied by marriage."

"That's so precise," he said with a raised brow.

Of course, the last part was a b*llshit that she made up.

The land that she was talking about didn't require that the Supreme and the Black Serpent had to be married. She just made that up to ensure that Aku Moonchester wouldn't try to ruin her marriage with her husband.

"Do I look like I'm here to just mess with you?" she asked with a smirk. "I'm forcing myself to face you right now even though I want to throw up just to make a deal with you. If you want to cancel this, just say so."

"And what will you next if I really cancelled this deal?"

"I hope you're prepared for war, Aku Moonchester," Tilly said seriously. This time, she wasn't sprouting b*llshit. She didn't spend five years in Solarium just planning out a strategy. Those five years were also spent in physical training of every Fire Mage warrior. "You only have two choices: you either accept my terms, or we start a war right here, right now."

Because with just a snap of her fingers, Solarium would literally fall from the sky and the Fire Mages wouldn't hesitate to attack the empire.

Of course, as soon as I get what I want from Aku Moonchester, we will attack right away.

It seemed like Aku Moonchester realized that she wasn't bluffing. "Let's continue this talk in the Eclis Church," he said. "Nia could only be reached through the portal in the church connecting to the temple where she's currently locked up."

***

KIHO was waiting for Tilly patiently.

He had waited for her for five years. Waiting for another five minutes or so was easy. The important thing was she was here now.

I hope her meeting with His Majesty ends soon.

He knew that he couldn't trust Aku Moonchester so he was worried about Tilly. Although he knew that she was capable of taking care of herself, he still didn't want to be complacent. He didn't have memories of his past yet but he believed that one of the reasons they lost to the emperor before was the fact that they had been too confident about themselves.

We can't make the same mistakes.

"You're here, my little Nystrom."

He turned around and was surprised to see a woman who seemed to be illuminating from head to toe.

Her hair was white, her skin was porcelain, and her dress was also white.

He saw a glimpse of her here and there whenever he was summoned in the Royal Palace for the past five years. If he remembered it correctly, this woman was the madam of House Hayward. He remembered because she often used the carriage with the House Hayward's crest during her visits in the Royal Palace before.

The emperor never properly introduced Lady Hayward to him, so the fact that she was looking at him with familiarity was making him uncomfortable.

And did she just call me "Little Nystrom?"

Argh, that sounded awful.

"We need to talk," Lady Hayward said with a smile, then she casually walked towards with him while her hands reached out to touch his face.

He took a step backwards because only Tilly and Winter were allowed to touch him without permission. When he was about to tell Lady Hayward off, he was surprised when all of a sudden, he found himself in the middle of a ring of fire.

The flame was hot, but not enough to burn him.

But it looked like Lady Hayward's hands were caught up in the flame because she screamed while holding her hands close to her chest.

"Hello, Lady Hayward," Tilly, who emerged from behind him, greeted the madam with an evil (but sexy) smile on her beautiful face. "Who told you that you can touch my husband, huh?"

Kiho couldn't help but smile sheepishly. Tilly called me her "husband."

***

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