TILLY didn't take her eyes off of Lucina Morganna whose face was as red as a tomato now.

But she made sure that her emotions wouldn't show on her face. So she was pretty certain that even though she was seething inside, she looked calm on the outside.

"I apologize for my insolence, Duchess Nystrom," Lucina Morganna said, humiliation and frustration both evident on her lovely face. Then, she bowed politely to probably hide her emotions from her. "My name is Lucina Morganna, daughter of Baron Luis Morganna." She raised her head and when she looked at her again, her face was now filled with confidence. "But soon, I'll be adopted by House Huxley."

Okay, that surprised her.

Lucina Morganna wasn't adopted by House Huxley in my past life.

But she did her best to remain pokerfaced.

"Good for you," she said. "Hang in there, Lady Morganna. The high society isn't for the faint-hearted. But seeing how you bravely approached a duchess and her husband as if we're supposed to know you, I suppose you'll be fine."

Translation: "you're too thick-skinned so I guess you can survive by sucking up to people with power."

Judging by the way Lucina Morganna's face turned red, she assumed that she got her message loud and clear.

"Honey?"

Tilly smiled when she saw Kiho walking towards her. "Hi, hon."

When Kiho saw Lucina Morganna and recognition crossed his eyes, he frowned immediately. Then, he stood by her side and kissed her on the forehead. "We can come in now, Tilly. Captain Denver will fetch us at the lobby."

"Okay," she said, then she turned to Lucina Morganna who was looking up at Kiho. The audacity. "Ah, Kiho. Lady Morganna here is saying that I should know her since according to her, you've already met her twice." She looked up at her husband who visibly twitched when she smiled "sweetly" at him. Yep, you should be nervous, hon. I know that you have a reason for not telling me about your second meeting with her. But I'm still a little pissed. "Her name is Lady Morganna. We should stop calling her 'Lu-something' because it's rude."

"Okay, honey. Both meetings were irrelevant to me so I don't understand why she put it that way," Kiho said as if Lucina Morganna wasn't there. Then, he turned to the woman without bothering to hide his irritation. "Lady Morganna, I don't know why you approached my wife this time. But I don't want this to happen again so if you have something to say to me, say it now."

Lucina Morganna suddenly looked hopeful.

"Then, I should leave the two of you alone," Tilly said with a smile. When Kiho turned to her with a confused look, she cupped his face between her hands and tiptoed to kiss him on the lips. It was quick, but deep. Passionate enough to show Lucinna Morganna that I'm the wife now and always will be. "I'll wait for you inside, hon."

Kiho, although looked confused, nodded and followed what she wanted him to do. "I'll be quick, honey."

"I know," Tilly said, then she turned to Lucina Morganna with a smile. "Have a good day, Lady Morganna."

***

LUCINA was humiliated.

Lady Nystrom leaving Kiho with her only meant that she didn't see her as a threat. That meant the duchess was confident that her husband wouldn't get swayed by another woman, no matter what happens.

That's not the lady I saw in my dreams.

The "Lady Prescott" that she remembered was an insecure lady who would often humiliate her whenever she saw her with Kiho. And whenever "Lady Prescott" would do something to embarrass her, Kiho would look disappointed in his wife.

That was the reaction she was hoping for.

She thought that Lady Nystrom would make a scene. If the duchess humiliated her for being jealous, she thought she would have a chance to show Kiho that he married the wrong woman.

Were the dreams I saw just mere dreams and not premonitions?

"Lady Morganna, please don't waste my time," Kiho said bluntly. "I hate making my wife wait for me."

This was definitely the Kiho in her dreams.

He was nice and gentle to me in the dreams I saw…

"If you have nothing to say, then I'll leave–"

"No, wait," Lucina said with urgency in her voice. She knew that Kiho wasn't exactly being nice to her right now. But still, she wanted to make the most of little time she was given with him. "Duke Nystrom, I'd like to properly thank you for saving our town from the rebels that wanted to invade our land." She bowed politely to him. "My utmost gratitude, Your Grace."

"In behalf of my troop, you're welcome."

She waited for him to say more but he didn't.

When she raised her head, she was disheartened to see that the duke was looking at the direction where the duchess probably went to.

Is he always looking for the duchess?

The duke turned to her. "Do you have anything else to say, Lady Morganna?"

She shook her head. "Nothing else at the moment, Your Grace."

"Then, goodbye," Kiho said bluntly again. "I hope you don't approach me or my wife again, Lady Morganna."

After saying that, he walked away and never looked back again.

Not even once.

To say that she was heartbroken would be an understatement.

"You can't treat me this way, Duke Nystrom," Lucina whispered to herself. "You have what I need to survive without the help of Her Royal Highness."

I should kill Lady Nystrom now.

***

WHEN Tilly entered the tower's lobby and saw Luna, relief flooded her system. As soon as the witch stood in front of her, she hugged her and closed her eyes tight. At first, Luna's body stiffened. But eventually, the witch relaxed. "Just give me a moment, Miss Luna," she whispered. "I need someone to literally hold me now. I'm sorry if this bothers you."

"It's okay, Lady Nystrom," Luna said, then she gently patted her back. "If you need someone to talk to, I'll listen. If you don't want to talk right now, it's also alright."

She just heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Miss Luna."

Now she kind of regretted not telling Luna about her past life yet.

She had already told Kiho that this wasn't her first life. Telling Luna about her first one would probably be beneficial to her. But she would do that later. Right now, she just wanted to rest her aching heart.

It hurts. Meeting Lucina Morganna hurts. And it scares me.

She may have acted like a tough cookie in front of Lucina Morganna a while ago.

But deep inside, she was shaking in fear. Even if she was angry at the woman, it wouldn't change the fact that in the past, she managed to steal Kiho and Winter from her.

She knew that it wouldn't happen in this life time because Kiho loved her now.

Still, trauma was something hard to overcome.

You'll be fine, Tilly gently reminded herself. Kiho loves you, and so does Winter. You aren't controlled by anyone this time. You can definitely protect your loved ones. And most of all, you came back stronger.

***

TILLY was relieved that Kiho came back when she already got her sh*t together. "Hon, that was quick."

"We have nothing to talk about," Kiho said, then he wrapped his arms around her. "Tilly, I'm sorry. I forgot to tell you about meeting Lady Morganna last time."

To be honest, she was happy but also kind of shy now that her husband was hugging her in front of the Fire Wielders in the lobby. But she guessed it was too late to "fix" their image anyway. After all, they were now known as a clingy couple in this whole empire.

Gosh.

"I was supposed to tell you but it was too irrelevant for me to remember," he continued. "The only reason I remembered meeting her again was because Captain Sherwood told me that House Huxley adopted Lady Morganna."

"I heard about it from her as well," she said. "Lady Morganna is a lower noble since her father is only a baron. But once House Huxley officially adopts her, her social status will improve as well. But I don't know why House Huxley would adopter her when the count doesn't need a sister. I find it very suspicious."

"To be honest, I don't want to think about anything related to her," he confessed. "But I guess we should keep an eye on her movements."

"Uh-huh."

Their moment was interrupted when they heard a loud cough.

Tilly immediately pulled away from Kiho's hug, then turned around to face Luna. She smiled right away when she saw the witch carrying a familiar baby. "Julian," she greeted the baby while walking towards him.

She noticed an elderly woman with a gentle face behind Luna.

Ah, she must be Julian's new guardian.

When she reached the witch and the baby, Luna introduced her to Celine– Julian's guardian. After the introduction, Celine left to give them private time with Julian.

"I missed you, Julian," Tilly said when she carried the baby in her arms. "Oh, you got heavier. That's a good thing."

"Yeah, the baby is healthy," Luna said but there was a hint of worry in her voice. "His Mana is unstable though. If it isn't for the amulet that he's wearing, his Mana as a Fire Mage would have been exposed a long time ago."

"That's right," Kiho agreed. "But I heard it's normal for babies to have unstable Mana because they don't know how to control their power yet."

She heard what Luna and Kiho said. But she was very fixated on Julian. The baby was very pretty, and there was really something about him that seemed special. She had already felt that the first time she saw the baby. "How are you, Julian? Did you miss me?"

Julian giggled and the sound he made was music to her ears.

Then, the baby touched her chest with his small and plump finger. She didn't know if it was just a co-incidence or what but the child's index finger pointed at the exact location of her heart.

I remember he also did this to me before…

And just like in the past, when Julian pointed a finger on her chest, her heart suddenly throbbed painfully.

It hurts so much!

Luna probably noticed the pained look on her face because she suddenly but carefully grabbed Julian from her.

She was glad that the witch did that because as soon as Julian was no longer in her arms, she felt herself falling to the ground. But of course, Kiho caught her right away. He carried her like a princess and hovered over her with a worried look on his face.

"Tilly, what's happening?" Kiho asked with a hint of panic in his voice. "Where does it hurt?"

Tilly could only shut her eyes tight and as soon as she did, she saw an image of Flint on the ground…

… drenched in his own pool of blood.

No!

***

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