KIHO felt a familiar kind of warmth in his chest when Tilly ran towards him as soon as she saw at the main entrance.

Before she married him, he was used to his servants' emotionless greetings whenever he would arrive. But this time, his wife was her to welcome him home. And he also noticed that ever since she moved into his residence, the servants had started to treat him more kindly. In the past, it was obvious that they were only doing their jobs. But now, he could see and feel the respect that they had for him.

[It must be Tilly's influence.]

He almost smiled at the thought. But then, he remembered that she was pregnant and shouldn't be running. He went to her as fast as he could and held her by the shoulders.

"Honey, please don't run," Kiho begged her. "I don't want you or our baby to get exhausted."

Tilly pouted because of his light scolding. "Okay."

[God, she's so adorable.]

He cupped her face between his hands and leaned down to kiss her. His urge to do so was so strong that he didn't mind the servants around them. He was sure that they wouldn't watch anyway.

He was about to close his eyes when he caught the figure behind Tilly.

[Duke Prescott?!]

Well, he didn't mind showing affection to Tilly in front of the servants. But her father was a different case. To be honest, that duke still made him nervous.

Kiho immediately stopped trying to kiss Tilly. He even pulled his hands away from her face. Then, he stood straight and bowed at the duke who was throwing daggers at him with his eyes. "Good evening, Your Grace."

"Good evening, Captain Kiho," Duke Prescott greeted him sternly when he stood beside his daughter. "Do you mind walking me to my carriage? Tilly is insisting to do that but I don't want her to exhaust herself."

"I don't want that to happen as well, Your Grace," he said. "Let me accompany you instead."

The duke just nodded before excusing himself to wait by the entrance.

"I'll walk your father to the carriage, Tilly," he said to his wife. Then, he cupped her face again and kissed her on the forehead. "Wait for me."

"Okay," Tilly said. "I'll ask the chef to prepare our dinner. I invited Father to join us but he said he had a dinner meeting with a business partner. Please remind him to take a rest, too. My father is tired of my "nagging" but he might listen to you."

"I will."

After that, he left the mansion to accompany Duke Prescott for a walk.

He knew that they had something important to talk about. Tilly was probably aware of that so she didn't insist to join them.

"Captain Kiho, I know about the tragedy that happened at the Hunt," Duke Prescott started. "But still, I want to congratulate you for catching the replica of the Red Phoenix. I heard that thanks to you, Her Royal Highness was saved by His Majesty in time. Good job."

"Thank you, Your Grace," he said politely. "I wouldn't have done it without your guidance."

An awkward silence ensued after that.

[Uh, why am I not as sociable as my Tilly?]

"Tilly said that you decided to quit your position as the captain of the Black Serpent Knights," the duke said, breaking the silence while they were walking by the rose garden. "Have you made a decision regarding my offer?"

"Yes, Your Grace," he said. "Having my own name will help me protect Tilly and our child even more. For our family, I decided to join the high society."

The duke stopped walking so he also did. Then, they stood facing each other.

"That's a wise decision, Captain Kiho," Duke Prescott told him. "The high society is filled with corruption and it has a dirty history. But not every member is bad. You just have to find the right people that would support you as a genuine ally. More importantly, the rise of the new generation of young nobles is promising. With you as an addition to it, I'm sure that the empire would be in good hands." He put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm entrusting House Prescott to you from now on, Captain Kiho."

He was touched.

Until now, he still couldn't believe that Duke Prescott had been very accepting of him from the start. And he even entrusted the House Prescott to him even though he was just a commoner who lucked out in life.

"Thank you, Your Grace," he said genuinely. "And please call me comfortably. You don't have to call me "captain" since I already quit."

Well, that was temporarily.

But he was determined to convince the emperor to let him go after a year.

"If that's what you want, Kiho," Duke Prescott said, then he cleared his throat and turned his gaze away from him before he continued. "You shouldn't also be too formal with me. You can call me the same way Tilly does."

He froze at that request.

[Doesn't Tilly call him "Father?"]

His cheeks burned. He didn't have the chance to meet his father. The closest thing to a father figure that he had was Emperor Aku.

But now, the duke was saying that he could call him "Father."

God, he didn't know that he could still be a crybaby at that age.

Kiho bowed his head in respect to his father-in-law, and also to hide his tears. "Thank you for being good to me, Father."

And his father comforted him by gently tapping his shoulder.

[Ah, I gained another family member thanks to my lovely wife.]

***

TILLY wasn't really happy to know that instead of relieving Kiho from his position, Emperor Aku only gave her husband a year-long vacation.

[We should work hard until the emperor couldn't do anything but let go of Kiho.]

Well, she had already expected that it wouldn't be easy to separate her husband from the emperor. But at least, Kiho would be away from the royal family for a year.

"Sorry, honey," Kiho said while kissing her neck. Right now, they were in the giant tub of their bathroom. She was sitting between his legs while leaning against his solid chest. And of course, his hands were wandering on her body�� particularly on her chest area. He loved playing with her breasts after all. "I should have tried harder to convince His Majesty to let me quit. But he's in a sour mood. I didn't want to lose my limbs."

"You did a good job, hon," Tilly comforted him. "Once you become a duke that's needed by the empire more than a captain for a squad, the emperor couldn't do anything but to let you quit."

"I'll work hard to be a duke worthy of Father's legacy."

She turned to him in surprise. ""Father?"'

He blushed and when he talked, it was obvious that he was embarrassed. "The duke allowed me to call him "Father.""

"That's so nice," she said excitedly. "I was wondering how long the two of you would be so formal with each other. I'm glad you fixed that already."

He smiled and kissed her on the lips.

"Kiho, I want us to visit my mother's grave with Father," she said, more excited now. "Would that be okay with you?"

"Of course," he said. "I'd love to meet your mother as well. But can we do it next week? The emperor will give a speech tomorrow. Then, I have to teach Blake what to do as a temporary captain. And oh, we're also required to attend Miss Lahara's funeral."

She froze when she heard that. "F-Funeral?"

"Ah, right. It's still a secret from the public," her husband said. "Unfortunately, Miss Lahara didn't survive the replica's flame. She combusted and was turned into ashes."

That made her feel guilty.

Not wanting Kiho to see her distress, she looked away from him and hugged her knees close. She was hoping that he wouldn't notice that she was shaking.

[God, I killed a person.]

She was angry when she ordered the replica of the Red Phoenix to burn Princess Nia. Lahara might have protected the princess and so, she was also caught up in the flame. Even though she knew that the mage-knight deserved to die, she still felt guilty that it was her who caused Lahara's death.

[You have to be strong, Tilly], she told herself. She reminded herself that being soft-hearted wouldn't help her protect herself and her family. If she wouldn't kill, then she wouldn't survive the war that she started. [This is just the beginning.]

"Honey, are you alright?" Kiho asked worriedly, then he kissed her shoulder lightly. "You're trembling. Are you cold?"

"A little," Tilly said, then she turned to her husband with a sultry look in her eyes. "Can you warm me up, hon"

"Will pleasure, my lady."

And then Kiho gently grabbed her by the waist and pulled her up.

With Tilly's back on her husband, she sank down on him, taking him all the way, reversed cowgirl-style. They moaned simultaneously at how good it felt to finally have their bodies become one again after a long, tiring day.

[Let's forget about anything else for now.]

***

"LET'S make a deal, Captain Sherwood," Aku told him while he was sitting on the table. Captain Sherwood was standing respectfully a few feet away from him. They were in the office and Sir Gregory was standing outside. "If you tell me where the heart is, I'll show you what you really want to see."

Captain Sherwood grinned. Now that he was exposed, it seemed like the captain didn't have any plan to hide his real nature from him. "Do you know what I want to see, Your Majesty?"

"All the Sherwoods that I have met are the same," he said with a smirk. "You want the sleeping sea beast, don't you?"

The captain's smile faded. "Have you found it, Your Majesty?"

"The royal family has many secrets, you know?" he said playfully. "I know that you also want to see the real Red Phoenix. But only one Ancient Beast had captivated the Sherwoods."

Captain Sherwood smiled, the frenzied look in his eyes becoming more evident. "Can you really show me the sleeping sea beast, Your Majesty?"

"Of course," Aku said smilingly. "I know where to find the real Black Serpent."

***