TILLY couldn't look at Sentinel after he caught her making out with Kiho.

She would admit that she was shameless when it came to seducing her husband. Still, that didn't mean she'd be comfortable knowing that other people saw her intimate moment with Kiho. She wasn't an exhibitionist.

"How did you get here, Sentinel?" Tilly asked him suspiciously, finally gathering the courage to look at him. "Have you been following us since we left the temple?"

Right now, they were having tea in the tea room.

Kiho and her were sitting side-by-side and sitting across from them were Sentinel and Luna. They gathered in that room after Sentinel reappeared again.

"Unfortunately, yes," Sentinel answered. "Lord Wixx asked me to be your spirit guardian, Lady Nystrom. I missed my chance to introduce myself to you when your husband found you at the prayer room earlier."

And the "spirit guardian" probably missed the other opportunities.

When she arrived at the mansion, she fell asleep. When she woke up, she went to the study with Kiho to look at the empire's map. And then, that was when Sentinel appeared after catching her making out with Kiho.

Gosh.

"Spirit guardian?" Kiho asked in astonishment. "I heard only powerful mages have spirit guardians." He turned to her. "As expected, you're really amazing, honey."

"Thanks, hon. But I think it's only because I have the Red Phoenix's heart," she said, then she turned to the spirit guardian. "Sentinel, where were you? Are you somewhere inside my body?"

Kiho frowned. "I don't like the sound of it."

"I'm residing inside your heart, Lady Nystrom," Sentinel said, then he sipped his tea. Amazingly, even though he was a spirit, he could also function like a normal person now that he was out of her heart. "Unfortunately, when I'm awake, I can see everything within your field view."

"Poor you," Luna said sympathetically to Sentinel. "I can perfectly relate to you, Sentinel. I also want to throw up whenever I see the Duke and the Duchess of Oakes flirt to each other."

Okay, Tilly blushed in embarrassment.

Kiho's cheeks turned red as well.

Gosh, are we really that flirty in other people's eyes?

"Do you really have to be inside my heart 24/7?" Tilly asked shyly. "I mean, I have a husband and I don't want someone spying on us."

"I agree," Kiho said firmly. "And what about when my wife is taking a bath? I'll kill you if you look at her body."

"I have no interest in a child's body," Sentinel said. "And don't worry. As long as you are near me, I can stay in my human form. In short, from now on, I'll stay in this body. I'll just return to my spirit form if I need to protect your heart."

"Protect my heart from what?"

"From awakening," the spirit guardian said. "There are people who are capable of sealing your heart but it would never be enough. But now that I'm here, I'll make sure that no one could literally play with your heart."

"Why can't I awaken, Sentinel?" she asked curiously. "I already know that I have the heart. The royal twins already know that I know who and what I am. Shouldn't it be more beneficial to us if my heart awakened? Wouldn't it make me super strong or something?"

"Of course, you'll be strong once your heart fully awakened," Sentinel agreed. "But you can't control your power unless the Red Phoenix is awake as well. Otherwise, you'll go insane."

"I'll go insane?" she asked."Why?"

"Wrath fuels the flame of the Red Phoenix," the spirit explained. "Whenever you're angry, your heart will start to awaken. But once your heart awakens, you'll be driven with madness. And if that happens, you'd want to burn everything around you."

She couldn't deny that.

I almost lost control a while ago.

"We should really find Wixx then," Tilly declared. "We must go to the island that worships the sun."

""Island that worships the sun?"" Luna asked in surprise. "That's too long for a name. And I haven't heard it before. Did the Red Phoenix ask you to go to that island?"

She nodded. "Apparently, the residents in that island are on our side. According to him, the people there will help us find his real body." She turned to Sentinel. "Do you have other information about the island aside from the fact that it's located in the East?"

"Unfortunately, I have been stuck in the prayer room with Lord Wixx for a very long time," the spirit said. "Their island has always been hidden and so they change locations whenever outsiders find their hideout."

"Why did the human bird send you to Tilly if you couldn't be of any use?" Kiho deadpanned.

Luna stifled a laugh.

Sentinel looked shocked.

Tilly, on the other hand, almost choked at her husband's frankness. Then, she gently elbowed him. "Hon, he just said that he's here to guard my heart."

Kiho turned to her. "I'm here for you."

She smiled at that and gently pinched his cheek. "Thank you, hon. That's so sweet."

"Oh, god," Sentinel complained. "There they go again."

"You have to get used to it, Sentinel," Luna said to the spirit guardian. "They're shameless when it comes to showing public display of affection."

Tilly cleared her throat and pulled her hand away from her husband's face. Then, she faced Sentinel again. "After our vacation with our father, let's head to the East." She turned to Kiho. "Would that be okay, hon?"

"Of course," Kiho said. "I'll go anywhere with you and for you, Tilly."

She giggled at that. "You still give me butterflies, Kiho."

He tilted his head at one side. "I haven't given you butterflies yet, honey. Would you like me to get you some?"

She laughed softly at his obliviousness. She was about to explain what "butterflies" meant when she heard Sentinel and Luna "cough" loudly.

Should I kick them out?

"Duke and Duchess, I think we should call this a night," Luna told them. "I'll try to look for the clues about the island that worships the sun."

"I'll join you," Sentinel told Luna. "Would that be okay?"

"Sure," the witch answered. "I need help anyway."

"Then, you can use the room next to Miss Luna," Tilly told Sentinel. "If you need anything else, just call Louisa– the head maid."

Sentinel nodded. "Thank you, Lady Nystrom."

"You had a long day, honey," Kiho told her. "You should rest now."

***

"YOU HAVE good books here, Miss Luna."

"Just call me 'Luna,' Sentinel," Luna told him while she was pulling out more books from a huge box. "And thank you. It was hard to acquire those books and most of them are banned in the empire."

"I can see why," Sentinel said. When she turned to him, she saw the spirit guardian sitting on the floor while flipping the pages of a thick, black book. "These are the books that tell some truth about the history of the empire."

"Uh-huh," she agreed. Then, she sat down in front of him. "But I'm sure that the books that the Sherwoods are keeping are much more amazing."

"The Sherwoods, huh? The keepers of history," the boy said. "They're still around?"

She nodded. "Yes. But I think that the current generation is clueless about the Beast Gods. I don't think that the older generations have passed down their knowledge to the new ones. But unfortunately, the dumb emperor told the current lord of House Sherwood about the Black Serpent."

"The Black Serpent," Sentinel said, then he looked up at her with knowing eyes. "Do you know that Duke Kiho Nystrom is the Black Serpent, Luna?"

"Yes, and that's why I want to ask you something important, Sentinel," Luna said seriously. "What's the relationship between the first Supreme Fire Mage and the Black Serpent?"

***

"HON, are you still looking for the island in that map?" Tilly asked curiously. When she got out of the bathroom, she found Kiho sitting on the windowsill while holding the map. "Did you find something?"

"I'm looking at our territory," Kiho said. "The land of Oakes."

She walked towards him and sat on his lap. Then, she took a peek at the map. "Oh. I almost forgot how big our territory is. Now it makes me feel more excited to visit our land with you. I'm sure you'd love Oakes."

"I'll be fine anywhere as long as we're together," he said. "And of course, I'd love to visit the land that's under our protection now. I want to see what we can do for our people."

She smiled at that, liking the fact that Kiho has fully accepted his role as the duke. "To be honest, it's been a while since I've been to Oakes. So I'm glad that we'd be visiting our land soon. I want to get to know our people again. I want to oversee Oakes with a different perspective now that I'm more mature than before."

Their title as the Duke and Duchess of Oakes came with huge responsibility, of course.

"Kiho?"

"Yes, honey?"

She leaned against his chest and turned to him. "I don't want to raise Winter in the Royal Capital. I want us to settle in Oakes instead. Would that be okay to you?"

"I'm actually thinking about that, Tilly," he said as if he was surprised that they were thinking about the same thing. Wow, that was some soul mates stuff, huh? "Not just that. To be honest, I want to be independent from the empire."

"Huh?"

"Tilly, let's fight for our territory's independence," Kiho said seriously. "We're going to have a war against the royal family anyway, so why not use that as an opportunity to gain our independence and get away from His Majesty?"

Tilly covered her mouth with her hands when she gasped.

Why didn't I think of separating our duchy from the empire before?

***

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