TILLY felt exhausted after smiling for the emperor for more than twenty minutes. Thank goodness Emperor Aku let her use one of the parlors in his palace. Now she had the room all to herself. The royal maids also served tea for her a while ago.
[Tea is life here.]
Well, she needed refreshnt again even though she just had tea with the emperor. Using her brain to co up with careful but witty retorts was very tiring. But at least, she picked up pieces of important information from their conversation.
First, the emperor also knew that she was a Fire Mage. He was probably aware of her heart, too. She wasn't really surprised because he was Princess Nia's twin brother and fianc. Plus, he was the emperor. He couldn't be clueless of his surroundings.
[But the last thing he said is the most worriso of all.]
His Majesty purposely told her that he was looking forward to eting her son as a warning.
[He wants my son and that's the only reason why he's keeping alive.]
That also ant that the emperor would kill her as soon as she gave birth to Winter.
[Scary.]
"Tilly?"
Tilly was startled when Kiho entered the parlor room. She blinked in surprise because she didn't hear him knock. "Oh."
"I've knocked several tis, Tilly," Kiho said while walking towards her. "I got worried when you didn't answer so I went ahead and opened the door. I apologize for startling you."
"It's okay, hon," she said, then she tapped the space next to hers. "Co here."
He nodded, then he sat beside her. "The emperor's maid told you were waiting here. Are you okay?" He touched her forehead with the back of his hand. "You look pale."
"I'm just tired."
"May I know what you talked about with the emperor?" he asked politely. "His Majesty didn't tease you, did he?"
[No, he just threatened my life.]
"His Majesty just wished a safe pregnancy," she said. "He said he'll look after in place of Her Royal Highness."
His face softened up. "Oh. That's nice of His Majesty."
It kind of hurt her to be reminded that Kiho trusted Emperor Aku. Well, she was confident that he would still choose her over His Majesty. But she knew that his choice would hurt him. After all, Kiho had a good relationship with the emperor.
"Do you want to rest here more or do you want to go ho now?" her husband asked worriedly. "You look really tired, honey."
"I want to go ho," she said. "Aren't you coming ho with ?"
He shook his head. "Unfortunately, I still have a eting with His Majesty. Today, he will officially assign Blake as the temporary captain of Black Serpent Knights. I also have to file my leave of absence, as well as the mo about Blake's new position."
She pouted. "You sound busy."
"Sorry, honey," he said apologetically, then he kissed her on the forehead. "I'll try to go ho as early as I can."
"Kiho, can we go on a date tonight?" she asked him. "I don't care how late it is. I want us to go to a place where there would only be the two of us. Do you know a place like that?"
He nodded. "I'll ask my n to clean it up for us."
She shook her head. "Please don't. I don't want anyone else to know where we'll be eting up tonight."
"You look serious, Tilly," he said worriedly. "What's wrong?"
"We have sothing serious to talk about later, Kiho," she said. "Please don't ask what it's about. You'll find out later."
Kiho looked at her long and hard before he nodded. "Alright. I'll pick you up at later. But please, rest as soon as you get ho." He placed a hand on her tummy. "You and our Baby Winter need a lot of rest, as per the doctor's advice."
"Okay," Tilly said, then she hugged him. "Please co ho as soon as possible, Kiho."
***
"IS IT really wise to give Lady Prescott a hint that you already know who she really is, Your Majesty?"
"Of course," Aku answered Captain Sherwood's question. Right now, they were in his office while waiting for Kiho and Vice Captain Blake. He knew that they had ti to talk right now because Kiho said he'd walk Lady Prescott to the carriage first. "If Lady Prescott knows that her life is in danger, then she'd definitely ask for her fellow Fire Mages to protect her."
"Do you think that the hiding Fire Mages have already made contact with Lady Prescott, Your Majesty?" Captain Sherwood asked. "Do you think Duke Prescott and the vassal families under them are hiding his daughter's real identity?"
"Duke Prescott doesn't know that his wife was a Fire Mage. He's not aware of Lady Prescott's real identity as well," he said. "I attended Lady Marianne Prescott's funeral many years ago. I can tell when a person is lying to my face. And the last ti I saw Duke Prescott, his eyes are still clueless. And if he knows the truth, I should have felt remorse from him no matter how much he hides it."
"Does it an soone else helped Lady Prescott awaken?"
"Uh-huh," he said. "Lady Prescott knows who she is. I felt that when we were talking a while ago." He smiled when he rembered their conversation. "I should have known that Lady Prescott was special when Nia suggested that I choose her as Kiho's partner. Unfortunately, my beloved had tricked into believing that she just wanted her friend to rise up in the society."
"It's not that Her Royal Highness has tricked you, Your Majesty," the captain said. "You know that she has a hidden agenda but you just chose to turn a blind eye."
He laughed at how true that was. "I let Nia do all the things she did behind my back because I wanted her to think that she has freedom. If I breathed against the back of her neck every minute of her life, she would have felt suffocated. That's why I chose not to look at the things she wanted to hide from , such as the owner of the heart that she wanted. I also pretended that I didnt know she was killing off Fire Mages just to keep her by my side."
"Her Royal Highness believed that she had fooled you, Your Majesty."
"That's what makes her cute," he said with a smile. "But since she failed to do what she wanted to achieve, then I shall continue it in her stead as her twin brother and lover."
"I'm surprised that you managed to control your anger, Your Majesty," Captain Sherwood said in amusent. "I thought you were going to kill Lady Prescott after I told you that she has the heart of the Supre."
And that ant only Lady Prescott could have ordered the replica to burn Nia alive.
"At first, I was really mad and I even swore to kill whoever it was that caused Nia to end up that in that terrible state," he admitted. "But after a few days of watching Nia unconscious, I felt glad that she fell into a coma. I don't care even if her physical beauty doesn't recover 100%. What's important to is that she's alive" He smirked before he continued. "And that she could no longer run away from . Not in that horrible state."
"You're crazy, Your Majesty," the captain said with a smirk. "No wonder Her Royal Highness is desperate to get away from you."
He just laughed it off. "I can't kill Lady Prescott anyway. Not yet, at least. I still need her to give birth to her son."
"Will you really let the boy live despite the prophecy, Your Majesty?"
"Of course," he said. "I need the Kiho and his child to get what I want in the future."
"Speaking of Captain Kiho, do you think he's not aware of Lady Prescott's identity?"
"He is not aware," he said confidently. "For now."
"What if Lady Prescott confesses her identity to Captain Kiho?"
"I'm betting one hundred percent that Kiho will choose Lady Prescott over ," he said with a laugh. "Kiho and I are the sa. We will abandon everything for our lover."
The captain's forehead knotted in confusion. "Wouldn't that be a problem, Your Majesty?"
"I will turn a blind eye to Kiho's betrayal for a year," he said firmly. "I will leave their family alone until Lady Prescott gives birth to her son."
"But why wait for a year, Your Majesty?"
"Because I'm sure that in a year, Lady Prescott is going to prepare for a war against . That ans she'd secretly et up with her allies," he explained. "All I need to do is wait for the perfect timing and catch them all together. If I ask my people to follow her, then she'd be very careful. But if I leave her alone, then she'd let down her guard. It will be easier to catch her and the other Fire Mages that way."
"Oh, that makes sense," Captain Sherwood agreed. "But what about Kiho? I'm sure he won't leave Lady Prescott and their child."
"Kiho's son can stay with us despite his Fire Mage blood because the child is one of the keys I need. But Lady Prescott is replaceable. We can throw her away after she gives birth to the child," Aku explained. "And most of all, I have a way to make Kiho return to my side."
***
[THE WAR begins now.]
Tilly was thinking deeply while she was alone inside the carriage. She asked Damian to sit beside the coachman because she needed to think.
[The emperor clearly gave an ultimatum.]
In a year, Emperor Aku would take her child away from her.
She was pretty sure that the emperor would leave her alone to make her lower her guard. He definitely wanted her to ask help from her allies so that he could catch her all together. But that also ant that the emperor wasn't aware yet of whom his real enemies were.
[I have to be careful to protect the Denvers as well.]
Then, there was the thing about the High Priest, too. During the three days that she would serve his temple, she had to find the truth about the prophecy.
[I need to know why His Majesty needs my son.]
But above anything else, she had to let Kiho know about her real identity first. She needed all the ally that she could get. And of course, she wanted her greatest support to be her husband.
[Kiho, you're going to choose and Winter right?]
***
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