FOR SOME reason, Kiho suddenly felt very irritated. In fact, he accidentally froze the teaspoon he was using to stir his tea. Why am I suddenly feeling this way?

"What's wrong, Your Grace?" Luna, who was sitting from across him, asked. "What did the poor teaspoon did wrong for you to freeze it?"

Right now, they were back in Lord Prescott's house.

They brought Captain Sherwood's men along with them and locked them up in the basement. Before that, they made them write and send a letter to the captain with his message. He told Captain Sherwood that if he didn't give him a proper explanation before the day ended, he would kill his people.

After that, Louisa made tea for them. The head maid was the only servant that he brought along from the mansion. To be honest, he didn't think about bringing servants with them. But when he realized that he'd be alone with Luna, he changed his mind. He didn't want other people to see him with another woman and create a nasty rumor from it.

In the past, he didn't care about what other people thought about him. But now that he had a wife, he wanted to be careful of his actions and protect his family in all aspects.

"I felt irritated for some reason," Kiho answered Luna's question after the ice in the teaspoon melted. Since it was only an accident, the ice he created was very thin that it melted by itself. "Miss Luna, aside from the High Priest, are there other males in the temple?"

When he sent off Tilly in the temple this morning, she was fetched by priestesses. He was relieved then. But now, he realized that other priests might be in there as well.

He really didn't know much about the temple since he wasn't a religious person. Maybe it was because he grew up as an orphan. But in the past, whenever he was asked by the adults around him to pray, he would feel strange. Like he wasn't supposed to worship anything or anyone. And he didn't know why he would feel that way.

���Of course there are other men in the temple aside from His Eminence," Luna said as if she was wondering why he asked the obvious. "The temple is the house of priestesses and priests. Plus, since it's also the house of the saint, the Holy Knights are there as well. Are you worried that your beloved wife would be surrounded by other men?"

His cheeks burned in embarrassment, but he still nodded as a shy confession.

"With all due respect… are you stupid?"

He almost choked at the witch's direct mockery. But he knew where she was coming from so he couldn't really get angry at her.

"The High Priests, the priests, and the Holy Knights have taken a vow of celibacy," Luna reminded him while shaking her head. "No matter how lovely you think Lady Nystrom is, no one would hit on her in the temple."

"You'd never know," he countered. "Tilly is beautiful inside and out."

"Your Grace, how much do you love Lady Nystrom?" Luna asked seriously. "I don't mean any harm by my question. I'm just genuinely curious. I mean, aside from being a Fire Mage, she also has the heart that Her Royal Highness wants. I know that you're very strong. But can you really protect her and your child from the whole empire?"

"I'll probably die along the way," he admitted in a soft voice. This was the thing that he could never say to Tilly. But for some reason, he could open up to Luna. After all, the witch was someone he knew he could trust. "I'm not that arrogant to think that I'd escape the war against the royal family unscathed. But before I die, I'll make sure that Tilly and our son would have a safe future. They are the reason I'm living. And I'm willing to die for them."

The witch smiled sadly. "Thank you for your honesty, Your Grace."

"Please don't tell Tilly the things I just said," he asked her. "She'd be upset if she hears it."

"I won't tell her, Your Grace," the witch assured him. "May I ask one more question, Duke Nystrom?"

He sipped his tea before he answered. "Go ahead, Miss Luna."

"What if Lady Nystrom isn't the woman in the prophecy?"

His forehead knotted in confusion. "Tilly was able to carry my child in her womb. How can she not be the woman in the prophecy?"

"Then, let me rephrase the question," the witch said. "What if there's another woman who is more deserving of Lady Nystrom's place? What if one day, she suddenly shows up?"

"Even if she shows up, it wouldn't change anything," he said firmly. "My heart, my mind, my soul, my body, my Mana– everything belongs to Tilly now. I admit that I'm grateful to the prophecy because it led me to Tilly. But if the same prophecy would ruin my relationship with my wife, then I'd go against the heavens just to be with Tilly until the end of time."

Luna smiled warmly. For some reason, she looked like a mother looking after her child. Was she that old for her to see him as a child? "That's all I want to hear from you," she said. "I am and will always be rooting for you and Lady Nystrom."

Kiho wasn't sure what Luna was talking about but he was relieved to confirm that she was really on their side. "Thank you, Miss Luna."

***

"LADY Nystrom?"

Tilly blinked several times before she turned to Lilly, the priestess who was explaining the task assigned to her. "Yes, Miss Lilly?"

"Are you okay?" Lilly asked worriedly. "You suddenly went as stiff as a statue."

"I'm fine," she assured the priestess with a smile. Then, she respectfully pointed her hands at the gold statue of the Red Phoenix. The "apparition" that she saw disappeared when Lilly woke her up from her daze. "I was just absorbed at how beautiful the statue is."

The priestess smiled proudly. "Your Grace, would you like to offer a prayer to the Four Ancient Beasts before you begin your task? We can leave the room to give you privacy."

"Would that be alright?" she asked politely. "I don't want to cause inconvenience to everyone."

"Praying is important to everyone in the temple, Your Grace," the priestess assured her. "And as a pregnant woman, we know that you'd want to pray for the safe delivery of your child. We will give you privacy."

"That would be nice," she said with a smile. "Thank you, Miss Lilly."

"You're welcome, Lady Nystrom," Lilly said before she bowed to her. "Take your time praying, Your Grace."

After saying that, Lilly asked the other priestesses to leave the room.

She politely nodded when they bid her goodbye. And once she was alone in the chamber, she stood in front of the gold statue of the Red Phoenix.

"Come out," Tilly said to the statue while crossing her arms over her chest. "I know I wasn't hallucinating earlier."

A few moments later, the statue was suddenly engulfed in red flame.

Then, the handsome young man she saw earlier appeared again. This time, she had the chance to look at him properly.

The stranger's long flaming hair was red. He wore a simple red robe with gold accents. The robe itself wasn't properly tied. And thus, his wide expanse of white chest was exposed. She also noticed that he was bare-footed.

Still, he looks very regal.

"Kids these days are really rude," the Red Phoenix dude said. "But even though you're rude, you're still the heart so I'll let it slide." He extended his hand to her. "Come, I'll bring you to my chamber."

She grabbed his hand but not to let him take her anywhere.

Remembering what she learned from Kiho and Captain Denver, she made her body temperature rise with the intention of burning the strange being. It worked because red flame came out of her palm and burned the "being."

"Aw!" the handsome man complained before he pulled his hand away from her. Then, he hissed at her face. "How dare you– aw!"

She pressed her still burning palm on his forehead, causing him to jump away from her.

"How dare you hiss at my face," she complained to him. "You fake."

His forehead knotted in confusion. "Fake?"

"If you're the human form of the Red Phoenix, you wouldn't get burned by my flame," she told him in a cold tone. "Do you think I'll believe you just because you told me that you're the owner of my heart?"

He looked confused, then he suddenly laughed. "Why did you suspect me?"

"I didn't feel anything when you appeared before me," she explained. "When I saw the replica of the Red Phoenix, my heart thumped hard against my chest. I found you attractive, but that's it. I didn't feel anything special about you even though you claimed that you were a celestial being."

"I'm relieved," the dude said. "The previous "vessels" of the heart didn't even find me suspicious and just came with me willingly."

"Where did you bring them?"

He smiled sweetly– the kind of smile that made her skin crawl. "To their death, of course. Dumb b*tches don't deserve the heart of my master."

"Ah," she said. She had already met the lunatic royal twins so meeting another crazy and cruel dude didn't faze her anymore. It was kind but yeah, she was starting to become jaded. "So, you serve the Red Phoenix."

"Yes, the Red Phoenix is my master," the man said, then he politely bowed to her. "You may call me 'Sentinel,' Lady Nystrom."

"You already know my name."

"I know everyone who was born with the heart," he said with a smile. "But out of all of them, you're the only one who deserves to have the heart of my master. After all, you are directly connected to the first Supreme Fire Mage."

Her knotted in confusion. "What do you mean by that?"

"I'll explain later," he said. "Don't you want to meet the real Red Phoenix?"

"I do,��� she admitted. "I have business with him."

"Then, please prepare yourself."

Okay, that gave her goosebumps. "What do you mean by that, Sentinel?"

Sentinel just gave her an apologetic smile, then he snapped his fingers. "I'm sincerely hoping that you'd be able to return safely, Lady Nystrom."

Before she could even ask, the room she was in suddenly changed.

Tilly found herself being engulfed in a red flame. She never knew what it felt like to be burned because fire never hurt her…

… until that moment.

The flame engulfing her whole body was very, very hot.

It hurts– it hurts so much!

Tilly embraced her stomach and even though she hated crying, she couldn't help but scry and scream in so much pain. The flame, even though it was burning her to death, still felt familiar, giving her an idea of where it came from. "F*ck you, Red Phoenix!"

***

KIHO's body suddenly turned ice cold.

He didn't know why but all of a sudden, his already low body temperature dropped down even more. He was shaking and every part of him felt numb. In fact, he couldn't feel anything!

But his heart was thumping so hard and so loud against his chest.

Tilly and Winter… Kiho said in his head because he couldn't even move his lips. They're in danger!

***

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