TILLY wanted to stop Kiho, but his kisses were so good that she couldn't help but moan into his mouth.

Even though his body was literally cold, his touches and little ministrations still burnt her skin. And although he was on top of her, instead of feeling crushed against his huge body, she actually felt like she was molding into him. She found his weight lovely and perfect for her taste.

Gosh.

"Kiho," Tilly moaned when Kiho began trailing open-mouthed kisses on her neck, down to her collarbone. His hand was also between her legs now, caressing her inner thigh that almost made her leak. "Hon, stop. I told you– we can't have sex here."

"Please call it "love making," instead, honey," Kiho slightly scolded her when he stopped kissing her. He stopped right away when she told him to. Then, he raised his head to face her properly. His hand didn't stop caressing her inner thigh though. "We're not making love right now. We're just making out, aren't we?"

"I know what you're doing," she accused him, her hips shamelessly pushing up to meet the hand between her legs. When she realized what her body was doing, she forced herself to behave. Then, she grabbed his hand and gently slapped it. "Bad hand. You're trying to seduce me to make me forget that we're in a temple."

He bit his lower lip, probably to stop himself from smiling. It looked like he found her action endearing. "God, you're really so cute."

"Let's just cuddle," she said, then she opened her arms. "Come here."

He gave her a small smile before he gently collapsed on her. Then, he moved her until she was using his arm as a pillow. His other arm was wrapped carefully around her tummy.

Because of their position, she felt his erection against her hip. "My poor baby. You're going to have blue balls all night."

His brows furrowed in confusion. "What are blue balls?"

She gently cupped his erection. When he flinched, she pulled her hand away from his manhood. "Sorry, hon," she said immediately. "Does it hurt?"

"Just a bit."

"That's what I meant when I said you're going to have 'blue balls' all night," she explained. "It refers to unrelieved sexual arousal."

"Oh," he said, then he blushed. "Oh."

"Will you be okay?"

He nodded. "It's fine. I'm used to enduring pain."

"Sorry, hon."

"It's okay," he assured her, then he pulled her closer to him. "I like cuddling with you so much that I don't feel the mild pain in my… balls."

She laughed at that. "Gosh, I've really corrupted your innocence!"

"I'm a willing victim," Kiho said casually. "Tilly, can we kiss again? I promise my hands will behave this time." He gave her puppy dog eyes. Not that he knew he was doing that. He just naturally looked cute whenever he wanted to ask for a "reward." "Please?"

"Sure," Tilly said between giggles. Then, she cupped his handsome face and kissed him on the lips. "Just kisses, okay?"

***

LUCINA Morganna was almost hopping in joy as she made her way to Duchess Nystrom's chamber. She was dressed like a priestess now. And to make her disguise more convincing, she brought a calming tea that could give people a good sleep. She'd use it as an excuse as to why she had to visit the lady's room at that hour.

I hope to get a glimpse of him again.

She could feel the Black Serpent. To be honest, she didn't expect that he'd be at the temple as well. But she was glad that she visited Her Royal Highness tonight.

Just a glimpse will be enough.

Her excitement was cut abruptly as soon as she stepped inside a "zone" that she didn't notice. A "zone" was a kind of spell that could protect a person inside a certain radius. If a "dangerous entity" entered the radius, the spell would be activated.

And thus, her whole body felt a huge electric shock– causing her to drop the tray that she was holding. The tea cup shattered as soon as it hit the marbled floor. She almost fell on the ground as well.

If she was weak, she would have been toasted by now.

It hurts, Lucina complained while wrapping her arms around her electrified body. Who can make a powerful yet unnoticeable protective spell like this?

***

LUNA flinched when she felt the protective spell she put on Lady Nystrom got activated.

"What's wrong?" Sentinel asked. "You suddenly spaced out."

"The protective spell I put on Lady Nystrom just got activated," she answered while trying to connect her mind to Kiho.

"Is the duchess under attacked?"

"I'm not sure," she said, feeling frustrated that it was taking long for her to connect to the duke's mind. "The entity that stepped into the zone I created was powerful. I'm not sure if it's evil. But the zone I made recognized it as dangerous because it's too powerful to belong to an ordinary person."

His brows furrowed in confusion. "How powerful is it?"

She swallowed because to be honest, the Mana she was feeling was very familiar. "The Mana I feel right now is kind of similar to the Mana of the Moonchesters. To be precise, it's very close to Her Royal Highness's power."

The spirit guardian looked shocked. "Are you sure?"

"I'm not," she admitted. "To be honest, the Mana I'm feeling is very strange. Like I said, it resembles the strong Mana of the Moonchesters. But it's also different."

"How is it different?"

"I can't explain it," she said. "But whatever it is, I need to warn the duke and the duchess."

"Yeah, you should," the spirit said. "You haven't connected to the duke's mind yet?"

She shook her head and was about to answer when she suddenly heard a buzz in her head. That meant the duke had linked his mind with hers.

Finally!

But her relief was soon replaced by fluster when she heard Kiho's heavy breathing.

Her cheeks instantly burned. Yeah, she had been alive for more than a hundred years. But she was still innocent in all aspect, okay? Though that didn't mean she had no idea why the duke was breathing heavily at the moment. He was with Lady Nystrom so naturally, they would be very intimate with each other.

Argh!

She hated couples who shamelessly flirt in front of other people.

And she hated horny couples more.

God, why do I have to serve horny masters when I'm single?!

"Miss Luna," Kiho said between shallow breaths. "Is there a problem?"

"Yes," she answered with wide eyes. "With all due respect, you and the duchess have very high libido."

Sentinel almost choked on his saliva.

On the other hand, she heard the duke "cough" loudly as if he was trying to cover up his embarrassment.

Yes, you should be embarrassed.

"Anyway, you better stop what you're doing, Your Grace," she said seriously after scolding the duke.

She didn't want to pry in someone else's sex life, okay? But she had to call out the Nystroms. As their babysitter– uh, guardian, she didn't want them to die from failing to notice an enemy because they were too busy with each other.

And most of all, as the heart of the Red Phoenix and the Black Serpent himself, they had a reputation to protect!

"A dangerous entity entered the zone," Luna informed the duke in a serious and urgent tone. "The enemy is practically outside the room you and the duchess are using, Your Grace."

***

KIHO immediately got up as soon as Miss Luna informed him that an enemy was lurking outside. He reached for his sword that he placed beside the bed when he took off his jacket a while ago. "How dangerous is it, Miss Luna?"

As soon as Tilly heard him, she got up with a worried look on her face.

"It's highly dangerous, Your Grace," Miss Luna said. "The Mana I feel is kind of similar to the Moonchesters."

His eyes widened. "Similar to the Moonchesters?"

"I don't know what exactly it is," the witch said. "I'll try to dig deeper later. But for now, protect yourselves. The entity has managed to break the protective spell I put on Lady Nystrom. That means they are strong. Sentinel and I are on the way to back you up."

"Alright," he said. "Thank you for the warning, Miss Luna."

"No problem," Miss Luna said. "Please be safe, our dear duke and duchess."

After that, the witch cut off their connection.

Miss Luna mentioned before that linking their minds together would literally give her headaches so as much as possible, she would refrain from doing that. But if she had to, she'd keep it short for her own safety.

Tilly and I are really lucky to have Miss Luna and Sentinel on our side.

"Kiho, are we under attack?" Tilly said with a hint of worry in her voice. "And the enemy has the same Mana as the Moonchesters?"

Ah, his wife was really sharp.

Tilly easily picked up the important information to make a sensible conclusion from simply listening to his conversation with Miss Luna.

God, I really love her.

"That seems to be the case," he confirmed. Then, he extended his hand to her. "Come here, honey."

She nodded, then she held his hand and let him pull her up. After that, he picked up her silk robe and helped her put it on.

"Thanks, hon," she said, then she held into her arm. "Should we call the High Priest?"

"Let's see if we can deal it with our own first," he said while pulling out his sword from the sheath. "We can't trust anyone close to the royal family. Just stay close to me."

She nodded. "Okay, hon. I'll try not to be a burden."

"You'll never be a burden to me, honey," he assured her gently. Then, he pulled her and hid her behind him as he headed towards the door. "Don't be scared, Tilly. I will protect you. You and our Baby Winter."

"I know that, Kiho," she said in a calm voice. "I'm not afraid because I know that you're going to protect us."

He was glad and proud to hear that.

Nothing is more gratifying than being trusted by my most favorite person in the world.

When he reached the door, he turned to Tilly and signaled her to keep quiet by putting a finger on his nose. When she nodded, he let go of her hand and motioned her to stay there.

After that, he went out of the room.

He didn't want to admit this but he had goosebumps as soon as he felt the presence that Miss Luna talked about earlier.

It's really strong.

In one swift movement, he went to attack the enemy. He saw a figure clad in cloak at the end of the hallway. The energy he felt was coming from it so he attacked it without hesitation.

He grabbed the hood, forced the enemy to face him, and slashed their neck.

Too bad they managed to get away from him.

He couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman because of its loose cloak. Also, the person was wearing a plain white mask that covered their face.

But he didn't care about that.

He raised his sword to stab the enemy in the chest.

Unfortunately, they managed to get away from him. The enemy suddenly vanished and when he blinked, he found them already a few feet away. He tried to stop them using his ice that was now shaped like whips.

But much to his shock, the enemy grabbed the ice whips with their bare hands…

… and melted his ice as if they were ordinary ice.

"Wait!" the enemy said in a voice that sounded metallic.

They're concealing their real voice.

But he didn't care. As if he would stop just because they said so.

Instead, he inched closer to the enemy and grabbed them by the shoulder. Then, he pinned them on the wall with his arm pressed heavily against their bleeding neck. He tried to stab them in the chest but much to his shock, he suddenly lost the feeling of his arm. He couldn't move no matter how hard he tried to.

All of a sudden, he was paralyzed.

The binding spell that the enemy used was close to the one that Miss Luna used on him before. But this one was definitely stronger.

Goddammit!

"I'm not your enemy," the dangerous stranger said in an annoying metallic voice. "Please believe me, Your Grace. I'm on your side."

"Are you after my wife?" he hissed.

The enemy didn't answer.

"Then, you're an enemy," he declared. "I don't claim anyone as an "ally" if they are after my Tilly or our Winter."

""My Tilly…?""

He wasn't sure but the enemy sounded hurt.

But to hell with that.

"Yes, my Tilly," he repeated with conviction while mustering all the strength and Mana he had. Thankfully, it worked. As soon as he felt his arm again, he moved it to stab the enemy with the sword in his hand. But just like earlier they suddenly vanished. "Shit."

"I'm really on your side, Your Grace."

He turned around to face the enemy. He was about to attack them again. But when he saw them slowly vanishing while being engulfed in a silver and black light, he stopped because he knew that the enemy had already made their escape.

When a body vanishes like that, you can't touch it anymore.

"Please believe me," the enemy pleaded in a cracked voice. "I will never hurt you, Kiho."

Hearing the enemy call his name affectionately made him feel disgusted beyond belief.

"Shut the hell up. Only Tilly is allowed to call me that way," Kiho hissed angrily. "The next time you come near my wife again, I'll murder the f*ck out of you."

***

LUCINA fell on the ground as soon as she escaped from the temple.

But she didn't really get away far. She only managed to make it to the roof of the building next to the temple. But this time, she managed to completely conceal her presence. She was sure no one could come after her in that state.

Kiho…

She removed her mask and touched her bleeding neck.

It hurt but the fact that Kiho slashed her neck with the full intention of killing her hurt even more. He didn't even stop for a second to listen to her. The burning anger in his golden eyes told her that he was serious about finishing her off. He even cursed at her.

But worst of all, Kiho looked at her as if he was disgusted by her very existence.

Yes, she was wearing a mask and a voice changer to conceal her identity.

But she was hoping that he would feel something when they clashed. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. Instead, she almost died by his hands.

"He said "my Tilly,"" Lucina whispered to herself, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Kiho, did you really fall in love with the duchess?"

***

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